Neurodivergent Author Interviews - Sarina Langer

1) As an author, do you write neurodivergent characters? 

I do, but for the longest time, it was by accident. One of my current main characters, Esta (of A Dream of Death and Magic ‘fame’), had ADHD before I knew she got it from me! She was also queer before I realized she got that from me, too, but that’s another interview.


I’m currently writing Book 16 (I think?). I’m sure if I went back over all previous characters, I’d find other examples, but there are a lot of them, and I didn’t pay any attention to neurodiversity representation at the time—I just figured I didn’t have the right since I totally wasn’t neurodiverse myself *ahem*.


I was diagnosed with ADHD last year August and have since been put on the autism waiting list, so I haven’t known for long. Now that I do, I can represent with purpose.


2) What types of neurodivergency have you included in your work?

I’m sure more of my main characters than Esta have ADHD, but I’d have go back over every character I’ve ever written to know for sure. I’m pretty sure several characters have anxiety.


There’ll be more in the future, but plotting (and writing and worldbuilding and editing and—) takes time.


3) How does your neurodivergency impact your writing?

Honestly, a lot, and it’s on both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between. It took me years to figure out a balance and compromise with myself that works—something that has enough structure for me to know where I’m going but with enough flexibility that I can flail all over the place.


Every writer has days where they feel like they can’t write. For me, it’s not a choice on those days, and it took me a long time to accept that I have no control over it. If my brain says no, it’s a non-negotiable no. Fighting it only makes the executive disfunction worse and makes me feel terrible (cue the ‘why can’t I just do it??’ guilt), so instead, I take the day off now so my brain can rest as it wants/needs to. I’m getting better at not feeling guilty about that, too, but it’s an ongoing journey.


My actual writing works the same. I’ve always said that I’m neither a plotter nor a pantser, because I’m a bit of both. I need the structure and direction a plot and outline give me, but I need the freedom to explore and to leave the path that pantsing lets me have. It’s nice to know I can’t lose my way entirely when I write no matter how far I wander. My plot will still be there to guide me back if I get lost.


I usually have more than one series on the go at once, because it’s crucial I switch projects between books. If I work on the same series book after book without a change of scenery, I burn out. Hard. I need the distraction of a different series between drafts and books so my brain can enjoy Shiny New Project syndrome or the process starts to feel too rigid and I move too far in the other direction, where I can’t do anything at all. I also need to know what I’m coming back to or there’s too much freedom.


It might sound chaotic or non-sensical to some (though personally I really don’t think it is), but I’ve learned to trust the process over the years. My first book is 10 this year. I’ve had a lot of time to adjust how I work and lean into my neurodiversity rather than fight it, even before I knew what was going on.


And I’m fairly confident I wouldn’t have written 16 books in 10 years without hyperfocus. That may not seem like a huge number compared to other authors, but I take a lot of time over each book, making sure the characters are heard, the story is told right, I understand the world correctly, etc—and all that is after the initial idea collecting, the figuring out, the plotting. I let every book rest for at least a month (preferably longer) before I start the First Big Edit. Then there are professional editing rounds, beta versions, sometimes I share the alpha version, final readthroughs… My cover designer and formatter need time, too. Don’t get me started on the research. I can’t knock out a new book every three months. It takes time for me to craft my books. So, 16 books in 10 years might not be a lot to some, but for me, it absolutely is, and hyperfocus made it possible.


4) What aspects of neurodivergency do you wish were more mainstream and that more people understood?

I’ve seen the take that it’s trendy to have ADHD or autism right now. Sit down and listen. There’s nothing cute or instagrammable about literally being unable to do The Thing. There’s a reason both are categorized as disabilities – because for me, when executive disfunction kicks in (generally without warning and without my permission), it feels like the part of my brain I need has been shut off, and no, I can’t just turn it back on again.


Having lost your keys once happens to everyone. Needing to put your own belongings in your own way, physically, so you have to step on them because you don’t remember they exist otherwise every time does not.


It’s not ‘everyone seems to have ADHD and autism these days’. It’s ‘people are finally getting diagnosed correctly.’ I’m 36 now, and I was just as AuDHD-tastic 30 years ago, when no one cared to notice my symptoms – but if they had, it would have made a huge difference, if not to my schools then to myself.


‘I might know that I need to do my accounts, sort out my laundry, or catch up on emails, but sometimes, my brain just won’t let me. This isn’t me being lazy or difficult or trying to get out of something; it’s me struggling against my brain, trying to figure out how to do something I’m just not wired to do.’ (Unmasked, by Ellie Middleton)


5) Do you have any other neurodivergent authors that you would recommend?

I will never not recommend Nicole Eigener’s books. If you love dark, romantic, gothic, queer vampires, her books are for you.
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Charlie Knight also deserves a shout-out for their incredibly readable queer romances and seafaring adventures.


I’d also recommend SK Gregory’s books, but you’re already on her blog, so I probably don’t need to tell you.


6) What are you working on next?


I can finally turn my attention to a series I’ve been desperate to write for a few years now. All other projects are now out of the way. I’m writing dark epic fantasy again, folks <3 The project has changed significantly to when I first had the idea several Christmases ago (it also has nothing at all to do with Christmas, but sometimes, when we give our brains a much-needed break, they come up with good stuff), and I’m excited to finally (not sorry for the repetition, by the way – finally finally finally) dive in properly, do all the world-building, really get to know my seven POV characters, figure out the plot. It’s been a lot of fun, and there’s so much left to do. Watch this space (well, not this space, that’s Sam’s; watch my space, on my website or my newsletter).

Sarina Langer is a dark fantasy author of both epic and urban paranormal novels. Her characters knew she's queer (demi and pan) and has ADHD before she did (and they didn't say *anything* to her!).


She’s as obsessed with books and stationery now as she was as a child, when she drowned her box of colour pencils in water so they wouldn’t die and scribbled her first stories on corridor walls.


(‘A first sign of things to come’, according to her mother. ‘Normal toddler behaviour’, according to Sarina.)


In her free time she usually reads one audiobook, one ebook, and one paperback (one for every occasion), plays video games, and obsesses over mythology.


She has a weakness for books on writing and pretty words. (Specificity, anyone? Or perhaps nebulous?)


Sarina lives with her partner in the south of England.