We are so thrilled to chat with Nicola Kraus, co-author of So Close. Here, Nicola shares a few facts about herself and the five books that have inspired her writing most!
A tissue box with a hand-embroidered cover from my Godmother. My monogram is NWA. It’s my “Straight Outta Compton” tissue box cover.
A few years ago Tina Fey was on David Letterman and, as he was singing her praises, she replied, “My husband thinks I’m monstrous.” I can be monstrous. My opinions are not mushy. My vision is not fuzzy. I am telling myself to shut up and chill out 99% of the time.
My desk. I only just bought a laptop for the first time last week because I need it to work with clients. But I only like to write at my desk in my office, surrounded by my wallpaper, under my chandelier. If I’m not here then I’m not working.
The Booker Prize winning Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker. They’re about England coming to grips with Post Traumatic Stress during World War I, imagining a fictional relationship between Wilfred Owen and Sigfried Sassoon, who were at the same mental hospital, Craig Lockhart, at the same time. I can read them again and again.
Naked by David Sedaris. It was the first time I realized that my literary voice could just be me telling the truth as I saw it, that funny was valid.
Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding. Helen Fielding exploded our brains with a new kind of honesty about how women’s minds worked. It’s gotten so watered down over the years, but she was the first and it was painfully funny.
The Emperor’s Clothes by Clare Messud. She comes at the narrative multiple times throughout the novel from multiple character’s viewpoints, which really changed my thinking about structure. I’ve been wanting to write a novel from multiple POVs ever since.
And I’m going to add here, as a writing coach, that for upping your structural game there is nothing like watching really high-level television because you can see the math play out in 23 or 45 minutes. Conflict introduced, conflict escalated, protagonist tries all the comfortable ways to solve their problems, protagonist steps out of their comfort zone and soles the problem. Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Mr. Robot, Mad Men, Transparent. These are master classes in plot, structure, character development and just great fucking writing. So honestly, I am a voracious reader of novels, but those are for me. My professional ah-hah moments have all come watching TV.
What are the five books that inspire you most? Tell us below!
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