An Interview with Author Nathaniel Terrell about "Before the World Moves On"

We sat down for an interview with the author of "Before the World Moves On", Nathaniel Terrell, to speak with him about his work and his experiences being an author. A poet, storyteller, author and artist, Terrell explains to us how his work came to be, where he drew his inspiration from and what it means to be a man in midlife in this ever changing world.

Many thanks to Nathaniel for entertaining our curiosity and questions.

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself! Who are you, how did you get into writing, which work of yours are you most proud of?

A: Thank you for the opportunity to share my book with your audience! My name is Nathaniel Terrell and I am a poet, storyteller, author and artist. I initially started writing to calm an overwhelming desire to express myself. Then writing became an outlet to ease pain and sometime during that span, I fell in love with writing and creating. The work that I’m most proud of is my current book titled, Before the world moves on.

Q: What’s the book about? Tell us where the story takes us.

A: Before the world moves on is a moving, powerful collection of poems, stories, anthems and songs. The title comes from my current mindset in this ever changing world.

It’s written from the perspectives of a man in midlife, fighting demons, in deep reflection, faith and trust in God, and also processing measures of maturation. This manuscript is inspired by the signs of troubling times, and loud calls for change, a vivid imagination, a need to express creatively while telling stories , dealing with consequences of bad choices and at the same time spreading positive vibes.

Q: What are the most important themes you wanted to get out into the world with this book? Did you struggle to incorporate them into the writing?

A: Each piece is composed from a spectrum of experiences, thoughts and emotions.

The messages are powerful, relevant and relatable especially to anyone in the process of healing, at a crossroads and, or are questioning life, purpose and working to better themselves in the midst of great odds. It was a pleasure writing this collection and it brought me joy to bring it all together.

Q: How long did it take you to write this book? Did you grow in your writing during this time?

A:  Some of the pieces included in the manuscript are from 2019 but the bulk of the book was written after my last collection( Is there not a cause?) and that book was published in 2021.

I had to lock in to write this book which helped shape my growth mentally, spiritually and physically by adapting new routines and committing to greater discipline.

Q: The usual question is, of course, why people should read your book. We’ll get to that later, but why would you read your book, if you hadn’t written it?

A: I would read it because I’m a fan of quality poetry, short stories, word play, free verse, sad love songs, lyrics. And rhymes and thought provoking anthems.

Q: So… Why should people read your book?

A:  This book is my best collective effort in the past seventeen years as a writer. This book offers a glimpse into the soul of a poet. Many themes that echo throughout are really scenes of everyday life that many can relate to. This book touches on topics such as life and death, divorce, fighting injustices, grief, anger, love, faith, moments of hopelessness, praising God, accountability and a whole lot more.

Q: Are there any characters that you wrote parts of yourself into? Or did you detach yourself from the story to write from an entirely different perspective?

A: Quite a few stories and poems were directly influenced by experiences that I went through or situations that hurt me, taught me or by the grace of God, I survived. There are also poems and stories included that are mere figments of my broad imagination.

Q: Are there any scenes or plot points you cut out because they just didn’t work?

A: Several pieces did not make the final draft for various reasons. Two major contributing factors in that decision were, they may have been redundant meaning there was a poem similar that I felt was more powerful or relevant. The second reason, the pieces didn’t fit well with the overall flow and theme of the manuscript or fit better with upcoming releases.

Q: Where did you draw inspiration from, when you were looking for outside inspiration? Did you do a lot of research? Did you look for pictures with the right vibe?

A: Honestly, I watched a lot of documentaries, one in particular that was a tremendous source of inspiration was Stax Soulsville USA.  Another source of inspiration, the political and social climate in this country. Also listening to several genres of music (jazz, old school r&b, rock hip hop, classical etc.) . The final source of inspiration was observation and also nature.

Q: Are there any easter eggs in your story, or things that you’d only see if you read the book a second time?

A: My writing style is very direct. I write as if I’m speaking to an audience. No easter eggs. It’s hard to say if the reader would miss something in the book after only reading it once. I would like to think that reading my book more than once would add potency to the emotional provocation. But what do I know?

Q: Rapid fire word association. One word (yes, you’re allowed more for titles) to describe your book for different topics. Here we go. 1: song, 2: different book, 3: color, 4: meal or food, 5: weather type, 6: environment (forest, cinema, kitchen, etc.), 7: mood.

A:  1. That’s life  (Frank Sinatra)  2. The rose that grew from concrete (Tupac  Shakur)  3.  Blue Flame  4. Seafood boil   5. Quiet storm  6. Stage  7. Heightened

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about you or your book?

A:  Many of the poems included in my book are also spoken word videos featured on my youtube channel as well as my instagram and X pages. If anyone would like to enjoy samples from the collection, feel free to visit and please like, share and subscribe. That would be a tremendous help to my Youtube channel and social media pages.

Youtube- natejstory4994  

Instagram/Threads-  @natej.story 

X-  @NateJstory   

TikTok- @natejtsory

Q: Lastly, where can people find you and your book?

A: Warrington Publishing –– click here

Amazon –– click here

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