This is the life and biography of N.H.J. Bartholomé. N.H.J. Bartholomé is the self published author of fantasy novels, including the Sutarebil-trilogy. She has always wanted to become a writer (big cliché but still the truth), since she learned how to write. Her books have been written in both her native language Dutch and in English. Her dream is still to reach as many people as possible with her books. She currently lives in the south of the Netherlands with her darling cat in her apartment. She can almost say she has her own library, as the number of books steadily creeps towards the coveted thousand.
Early life
N.H.J. Bartholomé was born Natasja Henriëtte Johannes Bartholomé on 29-05-1992. She grew up in the city of Heerlen, in the southern parts of the Netherlands. She started writing at the age of six, writing short stories like the ones by Carry Slee in her school notebooks. At age fifteen during tedious school classes she started writing The Bond between Sisters, all with pen and paper. The Sutarebil trilogy was born.
After high school, Natasja moved to Nijmegen, where she studied Dutch Language and Culture at the Radboud University. During this time, she also took several minors in English literary subjects, which helped her gain a strong command of the English language. After finishing her studies succesfully she returned home to start her working career from the south.
Career
After her studies, she worked in a bookshop for a while and as a transcriber, before landing in the world of marketing—thanks to the hit series Friends (thank you, Chandler Bing!). During the COVID period, she worked remotely for an online marketing agency, but discovered that working from home full-time wasn’t quite for her (unless she was retreating into writing her own books). She then joined a local online marketing agency. After two years (and having learned a great deal), she realised she preferred to focus on one topic in depth rather than working for multiple clients. This led her to a training company, where she now works as an in-house content marketer, allowing her to grow and develop personally every day.
Publishing The Bond between Sisters
Natasja wrote The Bond between Sisters when she was just fifteen years old. The Reunion of Loved Ones and The Ultimate Power soon followed. Her passion for writing fantasy stories was sparked early on, but ever since this trilogy, she has never written in any other genre. In a world filled with magic, dragons, elves and Orcs, she found the perfect outlet for her writing talent. Besdies, she could completely lose herself in the fantasy realm she created.
During her literary studies, she realised she wanted to do something more with the Sutarebil trilogy. She wanted these books to reach an audience. The fantasy genre is still somewhat of an underdog in the Netherlands, still Natasja noticed a growing interest in this particular genre. Therefore, she seized the opportunity. She discovered a self-publishing platform and decided to take a chance by publishing her first book.
Never give up
The first print run didn’t yield much. She was still young, and her writing style was not yet fully developed. There was no AI to generate a fantasy map or book cover, so she created everything herself and digitised it. Paint was her best friend. It wasn’t until she ended up in marketing at the age of thirty that she discovered the possibilities the internet had to offer. She gave The Bond between Sisters a full edit, this time with greater success. Although she still missed the broader reach a traditional publisher could offer, she managed to establish herself locally. This led to several fantasy events and even a feature on the About Books podcast by publisher Zilverspoor. Shortly after, she wrote the origin story The Freedom Fighters (2024) from scratch. This novel was specifically written for, and released during her first public appearance. Meanwhile,The Reunion of Loved Ones was edited and digitised, and hit the market in early 2025.
Upcoming projects
Natasja is currently working on editing and digitising the final book of the Sutarebil trilogy: The Ultimate Power. At the same time, she’s working on a brand-new trilogy set in the Victorian era (thanks, Julia Quinn, for your brilliant Bridgerton series). The release date for this historical romantic book series has not yet been announced.
Want to know more?
Questions are always welcome. Add Natasja on one of her social media channels or send her a message using the contact details on this website.
If you’d rather see her explaining her books and writings, check this podcast on YouTube. (NOTE: this video is in Dutch)