Check Out Nina Little’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nina Little.

Hi Nina, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I believe in the power of books to educate, alter perspectives, and inspire. After suffering through years of infertility including miscarriages, high-tech fertility treatments, an international adoption effort, and a diagnosis of a genetic blood disorder; I figured I had an important, relatable, and relevant story to share with the world.

As a former newspaper reporter and magazine editor, I had the writing background, and once I had an answer to my “unexplained infertility” and a surprise windfall in my motherhood journey, I knew I had the story. And so, my book Spirit Baby: Travels through China on the Long Road to Motherhood was born.

Part memoir and part travelogue, Spirit Baby tells of my five-year-long journey through infertility, my international adoption effort, my medical diagnosis, the many wonders of China, and the healing benefits of travel. Spirit Baby weaves together themes of longing, loss, and learning to live again while offering hope and celebrating the many paths to motherhood. My editor once said, “Think ‘Eat, Pray, Love,’ but for surviving infertility, set in China.”

If I can spread the word about my diagnosis of MTHFR (a genetic blood disorder that can cause fertility issues) and help one person on their road to parenthood and/or inspire anyone hurt and suffering to travel, I will consider my book a success and my job well done.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been easy publishing and promoting a memoir, in a market saturated with memoirs, during a pandemic! It seems every fading celebrity, retired athlete, world traveler, soccer mom, and loveable senior has a story to tell. Anyone and everyone can self-publish these days; but while it’s easy to publish, it’s impossible to promote when up against major publishers and corporations.

I’m proud to have kept my book local and high quality by publishing with a small publishing house in Colorado. I’ve learned to quickly let go of disappointments, always search out new opportunities, and enthusiastically celebrate achievements.

While it has been challenging to grow my audience, those who have read my memoir have predominately shared glowing reviews and the readers who have learned from my book and gone on to become parents and/or travel enthusiasts make it all worthwhile. I was thrilled when readers on Instagram voted Spirit Baby a Top Memoir (2019), a Top Ten Book of the Year (2020), and a Book of the Month (2021). Plus, Spirit Baby has been selected for the Staff Recommendation Shelf at several Barnes and Noble stores throughout Colorado.

In addition, I have been featured in several magazine articles and podcast episodes relating to infertility. Reviewers have called Spirit Baby, “a heartfelt and honest memoir,” “a reminder of why we travel,” and “a heartwarming and inspiring journey.”

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a reader, writer, and lover of books, what is most important to me is making connections (whether to characters, setting, or storyline). I absolutely love to hear from readers who have had a strong emotional connection to my book.

I’ve heard from couples dealing with infertility who could relate to my journey; parents, siblings, friends, and partners who have shared my book with those suffering from infertility; and numerous readers who have been tested for blood disorders after reading Spirit Baby. Not to mention, the countless readers who enjoyed my book based on a connection to China, an interest in Chinese history and culture, and/or a love of traveling.

Writing about infertility is intimidating; the topic can be triggering, depressing, and overwhelming. This is why, instead of creating another book focused solely on the technical side of infertility, I chose to blend my journey through infertility with a cathartic trip to China. I traveled to China during a time of great anxiety in my life, while languishing on an adoption waiting list.

I strongly believe that traveling during times of stress and sadness can be very healing. It’s hard to carry emotional baggage across an ocean and remain depressed when everything is new and exciting (and you’re served literal snake wine and hairy crabs for lunch). I am always happy to hear feedback that “while her journey is one with sadness and loss, she writes with such positivity that the overall feel of this book is uplifting and wonderful.”

One of the greatest compliments I have received is that my writing style is like “being taken by the hand” and “sitting down over a cup of tea with a dear friend.” Nothing delights me more than attending local book club meetings, autographing my book, and chatting with readers. It appears readers love the surprise ending to Spirit Baby!

What was your favorite childhood memory?
My love of travel began at an early age. I traveled all over the world via books (I was obsessed with Prince Edward Island, Canada due to my love of the Anne of Green Gables series). Lucky for me, my father was a pilot and together we traveled all around the United States and sometimes the world.

As a child, I remember pestering one of the queen’s guards in front of Buckingham Palace in London and eating a fried grasshopper on a stick while on safari in Tanzania. Reading and traveling fuel my love of world history, literature, and mythology. I love meeting new people, trying new foods and experiences, attempting to speak foreign languages, learning about various traditions and folklore, and immersing myself in local culture.

As a child, I wrote stories and drew pictures in a diary, in my youth I worked as a journalist interviewing others and telling their stories, and as an adult, I funneled my life and travel experiences into a book. As a writer and a mother, one of my passions is sharing books with my children and my favorite pastime is family travel adventures.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ninalittlebooks.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ninalittlebooks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NinaLittleBooks

Image Credits
Chris Little