An Interview with Nikki Anderson
By Alex Ness
January 4, 2022
Hello readers and welcome back. I am beginning this new year with a new Interview Project. Today's interview is with a writer who I met upon Twitter, Nikki Anderson. She is funny, bright and has a talent for excellent ways to brighten the readers of her twitter feed's day.
Hi Nikki, thanks for answering the questions in this interview.
Before we chat about your work and writing, please tell my readers a
bit about your world first? What region are you from, what has been
your career path prior to writing, are you married, do you have pets?
Nikki: I’m originally from Texas, raised in New Jersey, currently living in the Endless Mountains region of Pennsylvania. After graduating high school, I went to college in Canada, then moved to Sweden, Florida, and Louisiana. I consider myself a nomad of sorts and where I end up next is anyone’s guess. Prior to Covid, I traveled extensively and always kept my eyes open for where I wanted to land, which now remains to be seen.
Two dogs, two cats, and a horse round out the family members. They all bring something different to the table and keep me on my toes.
What about your life prior to writing was the most helpful in the
chosen path you've embarked upon? Were you always going to be a
writer?
Nikki: Like most writers, I enjoyed reading and writing from a very young age. When I was in seventh grade, my English teacher suggested to my parents that I might be a writer. That was the earliest mention of choosing it as a career. After that, I thought about it a lot, but it was always expected that I would take a more ‘stable’ path, so I spent my teens and twenties writing for enjoyment with no real purpose.
I believe the most helpful factor was the tremendous amount of reading I did. Everything from fiction to history to religious works to a wide variety of periodicals. Everyone has an imagination, to a degree, but reading extensively, in my opinion, opens the mind and vision to possibilities while also educating on many different subjects.
Expanding further on that theme, do you think writers are born with
a predisposition to write and tell stories, or beyond simply wanting
to tell stories, do writers become writers from work and efforts?
Nikki: I believe the source is a mystery to most writers. Nature versus nurture.
I was raised as an only child on a horse farm, so I spent a lot of my childhood alone, just my horse and me wandering open fields and pastures, often with a book in my back pocket. One could say that an upbringing like that will spark a wild and vivid imagination, but it’s also possible that I came into this world predisposed to it.
I’ve come to notice, though, that there are different types of writers. Some people just enjoy it and use it as a relaxation tool or a hobby. Others are so driven they can’t stop. They’re willing to leave a broken trail of relationships behind them if it means they can get out their stories. Writing is comparable to the air they breathe. I fall into the latter category.
As for work and effort, no matter what kind of writer you are, you can improve by writing more. The passion for it has to be in place first – just doing it repeatedly isn’t going to make you become something you don’t already want to be. Not in the creative world anyway.
What writers form the collective influences upon your writing? To
what extent are those who have influenced you also your favorites? If
they influenced you but aren't in your favorites, why would you
suggest that is so?
Nikki: That’s a complicated question because I don’t typically read the genre I write. Haha! So, I can’t really say that I have any direct influences.
As a child, my favorite authors were Walter Farley and S.E. Hinton. By the time I reached high school, my feet were firmly planted in classic lit. I’ve read everything from Shakespeare to Maugham to Tolkien. My favorite book is Wuthering Heights. My favorite poet is Robert Frost. My favorite author is Jasper Fforde, who is contemporary, but he has a fantastic series (the Thursday Next series) in which he comedically explores the literary world with characters across a variety of classics. I even took a year to study Dante and all of the politics and relationships involved in The Divine Comedy.
It was funny because when my editor went through my first book, he told me I have a tendency to write like I’m from the Victorian era, so it took a little work to eliminate some of that. Maybe I should write historical romance instead of contemporary!
You've mentioned that the genre you write within wasn't one that
you'd assumed would be your chosen genre? What had been the genre
that you assumed would be your area of writing? Why didn't it work
out that way?
Nikki: I never really had a plan for a chosen genre until it chose me. The story for the Acts series came to me in its entirety, and the drive to get it out of my head was so strong that I just started writing it. Perhaps it’s the psychology behind intimate relationships that fascinates me enough to write about them. I’m not exactly sure. I just know that as long as the romantic ideas keep coming, that’s the direction I’m going.
On your twitter feed you occasionally joke about enjoying Rum. Do you ever write while moved by the alcohol, or does writing require sobriety? As Edgar Allan Poe mentioned use of inebrients and was a great writer, editor, and poet, I am not judging you in any direction.
Nikki: When I first started writing Acts of Closure, I’ll admit that there was a lot of wine involved. However, the reason for that was because I didn’t know how to cope with the ideas that were coming to me, the character development, the emotions the characters were making me feel, etc. It all happened so fast, and it was very overwhelming, so yes, I leaned on alcohol as a coping mechanism.
That said, I do not recommend it. I have since stopped writing when I am enjoying a splash of an adult beverage because I am now better able to compartmentalize my writing life.
Do you ever have issues with writer's block? Why do you suggest
that happens, how do you escape from it? In the event you avoid
it, why do others experience it, in your opinion.
Nikki: Others may disagree with me, but I really believe that writer’s block is more a feeling of being stuck. Maybe we have an idea we’re struggling to fully develop, or we’ve reached a part of the story through which we don’t know how to navigate. Either way, we’re stuck, and when we feel that way, emotions like fear, inadequacy, and panic set in that only serve to exacerbate it. Next thing you know, you’re saying to yourself, “Oh, shit. I’ve got writer’s block!”
I do fall victim to it, and my solutions are to take a walk, listen to music, and take a shower. I don’t know what it is about the shower, but I’ve come up with some of my best ideas while in there.
What genre do you enjoy, but would never write within? Why would
you suggest that? Again, no judgment here, I worked with someone who I
like quite a great deal and he wanted me to write a romance for him to
illustrate. It was not easy, while I am content that whimsy and
romance are great, I prefer to experience them than write about them.
Nikki: I’d never get into something like sci-fi or fantasy. I enjoy a good Star Trek episode and the Star Wars movies, and I love LotR, but the world building is just too intense for me. My imprint partner, Jon Ford, writes epic urban fantasy and it just amazes me how his mind works to fit all these little puzzle pieces together. My brain would be twisted up like a pretzel in no time if I tried to do that.
In a perfect world, you are fabulously wealthy, have staff, luxury and you are able to write as much as or as little as you wish. What kind
of works could you imagine birthing with unlimited time, expenses
paid, and editors and proof readers devoted to serving you and your
efforts?
Nikki: Hey…where do I sign up for that?? Haha! I don’t really know what I’d do differently since writing is a full-time commitment for me now. If I had people who were dedicated to just me and my writing, maybe then I’d attempt something more involved because I’d have help organizing it.
I've interviewed many writers and many of the younger writers seem
to associate the making of their works into movies or television
series. Do you have that dream, or do you perceive your work as
purely being literary?
Nikki: I’ve yet to come across an author who hasn’t at least given it a little bit of thought. It’s fun to think about. But I also think it can be detrimental to self-esteem if it’s dwelled upon. It’s important to our confidence to remember that anything is possible, but to also focus on why we do this in the first place. If your goal is to write something that will make it to the screen, you’d be better off being a screenwriter and pitching to a studio than you would writing a book and hoping the right person will stumble across it.
So, when Hollywood sees this and asks where they can find me, feel free to give them my contact info! :D
So where can readers of this find you online?
My website is http://ntanderson.com, and I'm on Twitter,@nikki_twisted. I don't fuss with any of the other socials because Twitter is my happy place. :)
Acts of Closure is available on Amazon. https://amazon.com/Acts-Closure-NT-Anderson-ebook/dp/B08RJZ56F9/
The second book in the series, Acts of Confession, will be released at the end of January 2022. After that, I'll have a rom/com called Into the Closet coming out sometime next year, and then the final Acts book will be launched late 2022 or early 2023.
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