Sylvie Nickels
AUTHOR

Sylvie Nickels

Literature & Fiction
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I am indubitably oldish, having started writing at the age of ten during the Second World War (1939-45). In those days I filled school exercise books with tales of a dragon who transported a pair of human children on adventures, first ducking and diving between searchlights, barrage balloons, descending bombs and ascending shells. Later I moved on to romantic short stories before shifting away from fiction to travel writing for about 35 years. In more mature years I returned to my first love, fiction, and hope to remain there until my last breath which I hope won't be too soon as I have several books to write yet. A fair share of triumphs and traumas through life has led me to a number of conclusions. Firstly, it is better to be part of the cure than part of the problem. Secondly, it is more effective to lead by example than to pontificate. Thirdly, reconciliation is preferable to revenge, whether it applies to nations or individuals. The latter features in my recent books. A recent trilogy of novels has as its theme 'what war does to people', especially the children and grandchildren of protagonists. The first of the three (Another Kind of Loving)deals mainly with the break-up of former Yugoslavia, seen through the eyes of a child of war-torn Sarajevo fostered by a couple in a village in Middle England. The second (Beyond the Broken Gate) broadens its scope to include the First and Second World Wars. The third (Long Shadows) focuses on the effect of World War Two on the foster father. Many of the characters are the same throughout the trilogy, though each book stands on its own. A later book, The Other Side of Silence, follows the relationship between a young woman and her late authoritarian father, embracing the Finnish-Russian War of 1939-40 and ranging from the UK and Finland to Australia and a slave camp in Germany. She has a developing relationship with a young Australian on a similar quest too. My most recent book, 'Courage to Change' deals with addiction, and is aimed at teenagers and young adults. About to be published (early December 2014) is an anthology of short stories entitled 'It'll be Better Tomorrow'. Beyond that a mystery story is brewing though I also feel moved to write on what is fast becoming a growing problem among an increasingly aging population : living with the poignancy and the humour of dementia. It is a subject on which all generations will need to develop a greater understanding. Much of my writing is based on experience - my own and that of my late husband who served in Bomber Command and was a prisoner of war in World War Two. He collapsed and died, aged 91,in February 2013 and left three stepsons. Following his death, I downsized a couple of times, eventually moving to our nearby market town, Banbury in north Oxfordshire. In due course I wrote a memoir about our lives and the many decades we had lived through, from the Second World War onwards. In due course I also decided to publish the three books on what war does to people as a trilogy, which came out early in 2019.
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