🖇️ Your Body of Mine: The Origin Story of My Debut Novel in English
On neuroplasticity, rhesus macaques, and the right title
In one year, my novel Your Body of Mine can be in your hands.
Today, I will share how this book came to be.
My agent pitched the manuscript as follows:
“The mind-altering science of Severance meets the chill of Nordic noir in Your Body of Mine, a speculative upmarket novel about two women battling over the dominion of their single shared body after a groundbreaking brain surgery.”
The story is set in the near future in Iceland, a country that left a deep impression on me when I first visited it in 2008. The rugged, wild landscapes, the intensity of glacial cold, the sense of isolation and defiance.
Your Body of Mine: The Origin Story
My books are born from many ideas running into one another in my mind. It’s impossible to trace each element to its source.
But for Your Body of Mine I can identify three things that led me to write this novel.
1. My Mother’s Alzheimer’s Disease
Years before my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, her behavior changed. She lost her ability to speak foreign languages, stopped driving in the dark, and became so anxious that even events that used to bring her joy, such as a visit from me, caused her excessive stress.
“Where will you sleep? How will you get here? What do you eat?”
I researched what might be wrong with her and what I could do to help. Essays on brain health brought me to the encouraging topic of neuroplasticity.
“Did you know our brain contains far more connections than there are stars in the Milky Way?” asks my protagonist in the novel.
The human brain is an open system, continuously changing to adapt to new circumstances. If part of our brain gets damaged in an accident or stroke, another part can take over essential tasks such as movement and speech. Our brain rewires, or even regenerates, so the whole organism can survive.
I couldn’t save my mother with what I discovered. Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by a failure of neuroplasticity, an inability to form new neural connections. But my fascination for what our brains can do was born.
2. A Newspaper Article
One day, an online newspaper article caught my attention. It was about a scientist who had successfully transplanted a brain from one rhesus macaque into another. Of course I immediately wondered about what this breakthrough could mean for people. What would it take for a human brain transplant to succeed?
I followed my curiosity deep into a rabbit hole and learned about organ rejection, grafting, nerve endings, stem cells, myelin sheaths, and the importance of serotonin levels for neurogenesis. I learned that sex can be very useful to rewrite the body map in our brain.
Along with the science, I got intrigued by the ethical implications of human brain transplants. What problems might arise between mind and body, donor and recipient? What laws exist or should be written?
I also pondered the question of consciousness in general and where it may reside. We often identify ourselves with our brain, our mind, yet living brains are embedded organs, body-bound. Perhaps it’s time to change Descartes’ maxim into: I feel, therefore I am.
3. The Title
Some authors plot their novels in advance and know the story they’re telling. I don’t. I write from character and consequence: I zero in on a dilemma, explore the field of possible actions, and follow the implications of my characters’ choices. In the end, my characters are transformed by their interactions with the world.
But writing like this comes with a risk: The causal chain does not magically draw to a close. One thing will always lead to another, so much so that the book’s ending might be elusive.
Because it’s difficult to find the story’s arc halfway through the writing process, I now force myself to imagine a finale in advance. I still write from character and consequence, but I think it through to the end: What will be my character’s final choice in this story? What leap of faith or sacrifice will she make?
When I landed on the title “Your Body of Mine,” I sensed right away that this was my anchor. It contained the main conflict—the struggle for dominion— and its resolution, even if that resolution wouldn’t be immediately obvious to readers. With this title, I could write this speculative novel. And so I did.
Your Body of Mine: What Happens Next
Your Body of Mine will be my seventh book, yet also my debut adult novel in English.
My first four novels were published in Dutch, my mother tongue, and the book I co-authored with my husband was written for younger readers.
I signed the contract for Your Body of Mine with my publisher Vine Leaves Press on the day they released my flash fiction collection, Woman of the Hour, and I took that as a promising sign.
The official release date for Your Body of Mine is 27 April, 2027.
This seems like a long time away, but there are lots of things happening in the meantime. Think: developmental editing, asking for endorsements, proofreading, writing an ambitious marketing plan that is totally unrealistic, writing the back-of-the-book blurb, designing and revealing the book cover, sending out publicity essays, organizing the book launch, and other exciting things I’m keeping a secret for the time being.
I will continue to write travel essays and report on my life as a nomad, but as the release date for Your Body of Mine approaches, I will publish a bit more than usual about my writing process and what it means to be an author in a highly competitive and AI-influenced market.
Not too long ago, I felt awkward about anything that reeked of promotion. I refused to convince readers to buy my books. They were supposed to be drawn to my writing as if by magic. But writing this post taught me an important lesson: Sharing my honest enthusiasm for my novel simply feels great!
Your Body of Mine is a speculative novel that blends the emotional devastation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go with the bodily unease of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian.
Are you a book reviewer or podcast host? Do you invite authors on your platform for guest essays or interviews? Please get in touch! I’m open to all sorts of ideas, from digital book club visits to giving workshops. Just hit reply or send me a message.
I’m Claire Polders, a Dutch nomad and author of six (soon seven) books.
I was born in Gouda—yes from the cheese—studied philosophy, moved to Paris, married an American, switched to writing in English, and fell in love with Japan.
On Wander, Wonder, Write I publish essays on my travels, my life, and my writing.
Find out more about my novels and stories on my website www.clairepolders.com.
By subscribing, sharing, commenting, and liking, you will draw more readers to my work. And I genuinely love your feedback. I’m grateful for your support.
My latest book, Woman of the Hour: Fifty Tales of Longing and Rebellion, can be bought wherever you usually go for your books.
Get it in print directly from my publisher (better royalties for me).
Get an ebook from Bookshop (a small extra for me at no extra cost to you).
Get an audiobook from Tantor Audio (available May 5, 2026).
Other options: Amazon or Barnes&Noble.
Would you like to read a preview first? Please find the title story here.
Linda Jackson 🌏 from Shellphone Chronicles recently wrote this kind review:
Author News
I’m performing in Wham! Bam! Thank you! Slam! on Saturday May 16 on Zoom at 5pm ET.
I will be reading a brief (4 min) nonfiction piece called “My Mother’s Head in the Back of a Car.” And ten other authors on Substack will join me with their essays.
Please come—it will be a blast!
You can find all the information on how to attend here.
Work with Me
If you’re a writer looking for feedback, editing, developmental support, mentoring, or book coaching, please read about my professional services on my website or contact me directly at myfullname@gmail.com.
Related Essays
Time to Say Goodbye
I just cut 5,000 words from my current novel manuscript. It hurts, knowing how much time it took me to write and edit these chapters. But I also feel relieved. The story is undoubtedly stronger now.
Cutting is essential in writing a book. Or as the Japanese would say, “Shikataganai,” meaning: “It cannot be helped.”
All my best,
Claire
P.S. Do you have a book coming out in 2027? If so, please tell me and link to anything you may have already written about it in the comments, so we authors can find one another.
Congratulations on this huge project Claire. I enjoyed reading the origin story and can't wait to read Your Body of Mine when it releases - it sounds intriguing. Cool that you used my review in your post today. My opinions still stands!
So exciting! I can't wait to read it. I am deep into the process of writing a pair of novels myself, so I will be following your experience with this one--as much as you'll share with us--with great interest.