Nisse Visser (NisseVisser)

Combine a first name only native Norwegians can pronounce properly (with variations for Bokmal, Nynorsk or Notral) with a rootless existence which has taken me hither and thither and the result consists of a lot of local differentiations in Over-the-Hills-and-Farawayland. I lived there for quite a while you see, and learned to respond to many different names.

For the first six or so years of my life I was called Nisse. Nisse was joined by Kaao-Niao and then variations of Nils & Niels. After that many more names were added by inadequate pronouncers of Norwegian (myself included, my passport says I am a subject of King Silly Billy of the Netherlands but I am but a poor excuse of a Dutchman and a worse speaker of Norwegian). These included: Neil, Neill, Nial, Nil, Niles, Nyls, Nile, Simba, Big Bob, Ouwe and Prutser.

Since Nisse can be taken to be the Scandinavian translation of the English Robin Goodfellow (also known as the Green Man, Wood Wose, Hooded Robin and Puck) I decided to use it as my scribbler's name.

I turned to telling fabulist dream-tales and the meaning of Nisse is apt for the setting of a chronicle which will span more than a century upon completion. The characters change and society changes but the Wyrde Woods in Sussex remain a constant in all of the planned books. The Wyrde Woods are real by the way, but in our generally accepted reality they are splintered. Some of them I shaped after having visited the locations all accross Southern England and parts of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Some of them I believed I had imagined till I suddenly stumbled into them; apparently they had existed all along.

The bio thingy on the back of my published novels (Escape from Neverland and Dance into the Wyrd) suggests I live in the Wyrde Woods and I do spend a considerable amount of time there; emerging every now and then to stare at piles of bills and an otherwise mundane frugal existence. Not a bad one, I have quite enjoyed the adaptation of a Bohemian lifestyle and get to spend a lot of time writing.

Writing about the Wyrde Woods.

In the Spotlight

Mental Muse

Brave souls speaking out against the stigmatisation of those coping with mental health disorders. Authors united in the 'Mental Muse'

In the Spotlight

An Uncomfortable Truth

Have I taken things to far with regard to instances of abuse in the Lord of the Wyrde Woods books ? A serious reflection and also the reason why I support Authors United Against Child Slavery.

In the Spotlight

TEASER: Dance into the Wyrd

A teaser from the second Wyrde Woods novel: DANCE INTO THE WYRD by Nils 'Nisse' Visser. An extract from Chapter 28: Fierce Dancing

In the Spotlight

Review: The Secret Hen House Theatre

My book review of Helen Peters' THE SECRET HEN HOUSE THEATRE

In the Spotlight

Sussex Wun't be Druv

Notes on the setting for the Wyrde Woods books, the Sussex countryside, the Mayfield Market Town development plans and a tip for experiencing the heart of sweet Sussex.

In the Spotlight

The People's Republic of Brighton & Hove

How I came to become a proud citizen of the People's Republic of Brighton & Hove

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  2
  Science Fiction

  TEASER from Time Flight Chronicles 1: Amster Damned

  2 years ago

  Teaser from Steampunked Amsterdam in Time Flight Chronicles 1: AMSTER DAMNED by Nils Nisse Visser

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  0
  Science Fiction

  Steampunking Poe in Brighton

  18 months ago

  A study of Brighton & Hove in England as a setting for Steampunk fiction

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  United Kingdom Political & Social Issues

  Stubborn Sussex: WILLIKIN OF THE WEALD

  19 months ago

  Stubborn Sussex is a series of articles exploring the motto 'Sussex wunt be druv' (Sussex will not be driven to do anything they don't like) in a historical context.