Nan Adams

Read this magazine interview and get to know all about Nan:

Nan Adams: the Lucinda Riley of the Low Countries Medium: Magazine Vriendin Written by: Lydia van der Weide

She is also known as the Lucinda Riley of the Netherlands: Nan Adams (62). Her addictive book series about The Alpha Women became a resounding success | mega hit. “I never could have imagined that I would still be fulfilling my childhood dream.”

"Major setbacks can sometimes lead to the most beautiful things. I am a prime example of that. When I was knocked over by a boy on a bicycle in 2018, I never could have imagined that it would be the beginning of my dream life. Although I did have to go through some very low points first... That morning, it seemed like a minor accident: a boy, who had just left school, recklessly collided with me on my granny bike. I fell, but immediately thought: oh well, I'll be back on my feet in no time. Not so: my pelvis turned out to be broken. I was working as a Pilates instructor in my own studio and did monthly retreats abroad. That was no longer possible for the time being. First I had to lie flat for six weeks, then I was in a wheelchair, and then I had a long rehabilitation. It was only March, but the doctor said, “You'll be busy with this for the rest of the year.”

Suddenly, I had no income and could do nothing but lie in bed. I was dependent on my husband for everything, even going to the toilet. The period that followed was a chain reaction of misfortune. The boy's parents held me responsible for the accident—unfairly!—and demanded money. A personal injury lawyer had to get involved. There was little left of me as an active, enterprising woman. When I was finally back on my feet, my ex-husband, the father of my children, died of skin cancer. That was incredibly sad, especially for my children, who were 27 and 24 years old at the time. To make matters worse, a few months later my second husband broke off our relationship, which also devastated me. We lived together in his house, so it made sense for me to leave. But finding another house is far from easy, and I had no money left, so I moved into my mobile home in the Veluwe. Just when I thought I was ready to resume my retreats, COVID-19 struck. Group lessons and trips abroad were no longer an option.

Sure enough: broken pelvis, broken relationship, and now my career was broken too. Could I sink any lower? Fortunately, I was entitled to TOZO, the benefit for self-employed people during COVID-19, 1050 euros per month. The only thing I had left was my dog Snor, my rock and support – and wonderful friends and family, who helped me wherever they could. I had a friend who would stock up when there were buy-one-get-one-free offers and then bring me a bag full of groceries. Another took clothes to a thrift store and gave me the money it brought in. Yet another offered to let me use her house as my mailing address. I did my shopping through Too Good To Go and grew cress for my daily vegetables. As a woman who had never known hardship, I found it very intense; there were days when I ate only bread and peanut butter. And I didn't know how there could be light at the end of the tunnel: I couldn't get a house as long as I wasn't earning anything, nor could I find a new love—who wants an unemployed person living in a campsite? No, there was only one thing to do: I had to create a new job for myself to get out of this hole.

I knew exactly how I wanted to do that: become a successful fiction writer. As a child, I already had a vivid imagination and loved reading and writing. In elementary school, I would show my friends empty notebooks and say, “Look, this is my book, I just don't know what's going to be in it yet.” Meanwhile, I devoured books such as The Famous Five and Pitty Goes to Boarding School by Enid Blyton, wrote diaries, and was on the school newspaper: anything to pursue my passion. But seriously pursuing my dream of becoming a writer? That didn't happen. I became a flight attendant and later a Pilates instructor. Around the age of forty, I had been given the opportunity to write a number of lifestyle books, including ones about losing weight and resetting yourself. It was great fun to do, but my real dream was to do something with my own imagination.

That dream came back when I was lying in bed with my broken pelvis. I remembered an American man I had once met who told me he wrote books that he offered as e-books. He had already written 27 and earned quite a bit from them. As I lay in bed and suddenly had all the time in the world, I thought: I'm going to write a detective story, a cozy crime. I had always loved Murder, She Wrote, and something like that appealed to me. It was wonderful to do; it really felt like an escape to another world. When it was finished, I offered it online, and sure enough, quite a few people bought it—although they were mainly family and friends. It had even become a whole series: The Brenda Park Mysteries. But it didn't earn me much, and even though I secretly dreamed of success, I had no illusions that it would happen. There are so many people with the same dream... why would I stand out?

But then one day, out of the blue, I received an email. From Ambo|Anthos, a renowned publishing house. Someone I knew—I still don't know who—had tipped them off about me and my self-published e-books. The publisher had just started a subsidiary, Loft Books, which published commercial fiction exclusively as e-books and audiobooks. They were looking for enthusiastic new writers. Would I be interested?

I stared at the email in amazement. Was I interested? Absolutely. This was my chance, and I was going to seize it with both hands! Like a madwoman, I set to work on three books about—ha ha!—a single woman in the Veluwe who solved murders. All the fun characters at my campsite were in it. The publisher was enthusiastic and the books sold reasonably well, but the breakthrough I secretly hoped for never came. Still, I decided not to give up. Not even when the TOZO ended. In order to stay focused on my dream, I sold everything I had, step by step: gold jewelry, designer clothes, silver photo frames, books, CDs, and tableware. I even cashed in my funeral insurance. Anything to get where I wanted to be.

And then something magical happened. The publisher asked me in a phone call if I could write books like Lucinda Riley, author of The Seven Sisters. I'll admit it right away: I've never read anything by her. But I immediately said yes, à la Pippi Longstocking: “I've never done it before, so I think I can do it!” And when I heard the ingredients of her books, I became very enthusiastic: historical novels, with storylines in different time periods and with many beautiful locations. I definitely wanted to give that a try!

It was my sister who gave me the idea for the first book. As a furniture maker, she had just bought a van whose glove compartment she couldn't open. “Why don't you do something with that?” she said. “Make a car, not a person, the main character in your book, one that hides a big secret.” That was the beginning of The Alfa Women, a book series in which everything starts with an Alfa Romeo and revolves around real power women. I traveled through time for it—the story is about four generations of women—and around the world. Not literally, I didn't leave my mobile home, but in my mind I went back to all the places I had ever been. And there were many: as a child, I had lived in many different places with my parents and sister because of my father's work. As a flight attendant, I had of course also visited many places, as well as for my retreats. One of the most beautiful places I had ever been to was Bellagio, near Lake Como. At the time, I had been given a tour of a Grand Hotel, and I had always planned to give a retreat there. Now that gem became the starting point for my first book, which is also titled Bellagio.

I came across incredible historical events, added a good dose of suspense, and even as I was writing it, I knew I had something good on my hands. I was completely absorbed in it. I went to bed on time in the evening, but when I woke up at two in the morning, my head was so full of inspiration that I had to get up. A cup of tea, a biscuit with sugar, glasses on, and I continued typing in my flannel pajamas. Until 5:30 a.m., when I would get a few more hours of sleep. Until Snor woke me up because he needed to go out. My dear dog kept me focused during that time; he made sure I ate (when he ate) and that I stretched my legs when I walked him. If he hadn't been there, I would probably have become completely alienated from the world. Now I often wandered around the campsite in a daze, barely aware of where I was. And I hardly saw any friends or family—I just wanted to keep going, going, GOING! After Bellagio, part two of The Alpha Women, Malibu, followed in the same frenzy, and then the third, Mayfair. Finally, I could breathe again. And wouldn't you know it: two days after I turned in that third part, I took Snor to the vet. He turned out to be much sicker than I knew. After another sleepless night with him, I had to put him to sleep. I was intensely sad, but also moved. It was really as if he had wanted to be there for me until I had accomplished this.

And then... the miracle I had hoped for happened. My series became a bestseller. Such a big bestseller, in fact, that the e-book-only publisher decided to make paper books out of it after all. More than 50,000 have been sold so far, which is a lot! The first time I received my royalties, I didn't know what had happened to me. Finally, money again, after all those years of being frugal. Finally, I could treat all the people I owe so much to. I could travel again. Surprise my children with something nice. I even had money to get powder brows and an upper eyelid lift—which, probably due to all the hard work, had started to droop over my eyes. I was invited to the book ball—so fantastic!—and signed books in dozens of bookstores, including at Schiphol Airport, something I had dreamed of doing since my days as a flight attendant. And I enjoyed it so much. Every now and then, I had to pinch myself. I had done it. I had simply done it: I had created a life for myself. My dream life!

A real Alpha woman

I've been enjoying that for a while now. I'm back in a brick house, and there's even been a man in my life for a while. Earlier this year, the fourth part of the De Alfa-vrouwen series was published: Het geheim van Amsterdam (The Secret of Amsterdam), an ode to my hometown and a tribute to Snor, who plays a major role in it. Meanwhile, I am already busy writing a new series, which will be launched in a big way early next year. And... there are even opportunities abroad! My daughter, mother, sister, and friends call me a real Alpha woman for how I have achieved this. Well, it runs in the family, because they are too: my mother and sister, but also my daughter, are my greatest sources of inspiration. They are so powerful and truly themselves. I hope my story encourages others. Because really, everyone has this in them. I want to shout it from the rooftops: believe in your own unique abilities. No one does it like you. Persevere, keep going—even when there are major setbacks. You can see what it has brought me. The fact that I am now being compared everywhere to a big name like Lucinda Riley is the best thing that could have happened."