Horror Author Azzurra Nox on Writing While Driving (In Your Head, Anyway)

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.

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Today's guest for the WHAT is Azzurra Nox, Born in Catania, Sicily, she has led a nomadic life since birth. She has lived in various European cities and Cuba, and currently resides in the Los Angeles area. Always an avid reader and writer from a young age, she loved entertaining her friends with ghost stories.  CUT HERE, her debut paranormal urban fantasy was inspired by a nightmare.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

For my short story, “Whatever Happened to Peyton Rose?” in the anthology I put together, My American Nightmare – Women in Horror Anthology, my inspiration for the story mostly came from a nightmare I had this year. I was re-reading Pet Semetary from Stephen King this past winter and for the whole week I read it I was plagued with strange dreams, the worst being one about how every time I entered my bedroom, everything in the room was rearranged, the furniture, everything. And in the dream there was a secret door on the ceiling where at some point a myriad of dolls were visible from the opening. For some reason there was this underlining feeling of dread that permeated into my waking life as I startled myself awake. The nightmare left me feeling a little disturbed so I wrote down what the dream was about and figured at some point it might become useful to me. Sometimes nightmares I've had years ago, because they were recorded I've been able to use for stories years later. Like for my novel CUT HERE, where I began writing the novel in 2011, but actually had the nightmare that inspired the novel in 2008. 

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

After the initial idea, at least for the short story, "Whatever Happened to Peyton Rose?", I used the nightmare as inspiration, but I also knew that I wanted the story to be set in Hollywood, because I find that it can be a very dark, and creepy place. Many people often see it as the place where your dreams can come true, but more often than not, it's the place where your dreams don't come true, so broken dreams make for dark consequences, as perfectly embodied by the suicide of young actress Peg Entwistle in the 1930's when she launched herself from the letter H of Hollywood. I also was listening to System of a Down's Lost in Hollywood song on repeat to get into the dark, twisted mood of the story.

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

No plot of mine has ever been set in stone. I often am only certain of two things, how I want the story or book to begin, and how I want the story or book to end. The middle part often goes with the flow of whatever is inspiring me at that  moment or my current mood. So it's pretty much ever-evolving, and the only thing I know is where I want to get to, but the direction I take is a lot more fluid and less rigid than most writers allow themselves to be. Although I do use a rough outline of what I wish to cover that helps me to stay focused and not stray too far from the original plot I had in mind. 

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

I get lots of ideas, especially when listening to music. My mind somehow creates mini-films around the lyrics and music that often lend to writing short stories. I also get a ton of writing ideas when driving. Many times I've had whole pages written in my head whilst driving, only to find myself trying to recreate what was in my head a few hours later once I'm at the destination and can write, and failing to find the same words. I've seriously considered to get a tape recorder for those moments. 

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

It's often not me who does the choosing but rather the characters. The story with the loudest characters (as in their voices will taunt me in my sleep and throughout the day for weeks or months on end) are the ones who get their story written. It's a way to get them to shut up before going mad. Although all writers have a seed of madness in them. 

I have 8 cats (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

When I had kitties, I'd snuggle with them as I wrote. Now I've got dogs instead, and they're good writing buddies too, except when they get restless of me not leaving the room, so they try to bark me back to reality. Pets aren't a distraction for me or my writing though, I get more distracted by people. Unlike most writers nowadays, I just can't seem to master the whole writing in coffee shops sorta thing. Probably because I need my cluttered notes scattered all over the bed, the TV playing some horror movie as background noise, and my cute pups resting their heads against my feet. 

Wednesday WOLF - Raining Cats and Dogs

I'm a nerd. In fact, I'm such a big nerd that I tend to look up word origins in my spare time because I'm fascinated by our language. The odder the origin, the better. I've got a collection of random information in my brain that makes me an awesome Trivial Pursuit partner, but is completely useless when it comes to real world application. Like say, job applications.

In any case, I thought I'd share some of this random crap with you guys in the form of the new acronym-ific series. I give you - Word Origins from Left Field - that's right, the WOLF.  Er... ignore the fact that the "from" doesn't fit, and also that this first feature of WOLF is actually an idiom, not a word.

Today we'll tackle the phrase "raining cats and dogs." There are a lot of  erroneous assumptions about where we got this little gem, but the truth is that we have the same guy to thank for this as we do the outrage over eating Irish babies a little while back. Yeah, Mr. Jonathan Swift.

You might have guessed this, but big cities in the 17th and 18th centuries didn't exactly smell great. The unwashed masses... well... they were unwashed, and massing. Personal hygiene wasn't a big priority, and your neighbor's hygiene even less so. Got a full piss-pot? Toss it out the window! Done with you lunch? Throw it out the door! Did your cat die? Give her the boot!

I don't know if many people actually kept household pets back then, but the streets were overrun with strays sniffing out the garbage, and multiplying just as prolifically as the people. Crushed by carts, kicked by mean assholes, or just falling dead in their tracks of sickness and starvation, dead doggies and kitties could probably be found in streets everywhere.

And a good hard rain could run down those cobbled streets, turning it into a river and picking up all the detritus on its way, creating the image that it had actually rained cats and dogs. We probably never would have had this lovely idiom without Jonathan Swift immortalizing it in the last section of his poem, A Description of a City Shower:

Now from all Parts the swelling Kennels flow,
And bear their Trophies with them as they go:
Filth of all Hues and Odours seem to tell
What Streets they sail'd from, by the Sight and Smell.
They, as each Torrent drives, with rapid Force
From Smithfield, or St.Pulchre's shape their Course,
And in huge Confluent join at Snow-Hill Ridge,
Fall from the Conduit prone to Holborn-Bridge.
Sweepings from Butchers Stalls, Dung, Guts, and Blood,
Drown'd Puppies, stinking Sprats, all drench'd in Mud,
Dead Cats and Turnips-Tops come tumbling down the Flood.

Awesome! Who wants to go live in the Middle Ages??

Laney Nielson On Being Given the Who & What... Then Coming Up With the How & Why

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.

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Today's guest for the WHAT is Laney Nielson author of Peppermint Cocoa Crushes, the second novel in the new Swirl line for tweens from Sky Pony. Laney is a writer of middle grade stories and lots of to-do lists. She is a former classroom teacher with her masters in education. As a teacher, Laney loved teaching reading and writing (surprise, surprise) and nothing makes her happier than a student falling in love with a book or finding their voice.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

Unlike other stories I’ve worked on, the seeds (maybe I should say, the ingredients!) for Peppermint Cocoa Crushes were given to me. Becky Herrick, an editor at Sky Pony approached me about writing a novel for their new line for tween readers. I was super excited about her initial idea. She gave me the who (Sasha and her two best friends) and the what (they want to win the school talent show) and I needed to come up with the how and the why. Fun!

Figuring out why winning was important to Sasha was the first step. I also wanted to explore how Sasha who is a high achiever handles change. As we know, middle school is all about change—shifts in friendships, interests, and family dynamics. Not to mention physical and hormonal changes! Plus Sasha has experienced a number of recent upsets (her parents’ divorce, moving, her older sister going to college). That’s a lot! She copes by trying to take control. But she ends up not seeing every situation clearly. So there are mishaps and a major disappointment. As I developed the initial idea, I kept asking the questions we, writers ask: what if and so what. 

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

As I developed the synopsis, ideas for specific scenes kept popping into my head. I’d decided most of the story was going to take place between Thanksgiving and right before winter vacation. So I printed out the month of December from the calendar and filled in the events I knew I wanted. There were a couple of critical scenes I built the story up around. Then I began to break everything into chapters. 

This is the point in the process when I’m spreading index cards out on my dining room table and doing a lot of arranging and rearranging. I love my index cards! A few years ago I attended a Highlights Foundation Whole Novel Workshop where Alan Gratz showed us how he uses index cards to plan his stories. It was a light bulb moment— a great lesson for someone like me who previously wrote without a plan. I’m not too meticulous about it, but my index cards definitely give me a roadmap. Anyway like a lot of writers (and teachers) I believe in office supplies. If you’ve got a problem, there’s an office supply that can fix it! Plotting isssues? Grab a stack of index card! Okay, if only it was that easy, but you never know, a field trip to your local office supply store might just help. 

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

Yes, all the time, but with this project I needed to stay focused. (The deadline loomed large!) So the story didn’t change that much. After the first draft, my editor (the fabulous Becky Herrick) highlighted the areas that needed addressing. And then those changes were made but they were adjustments not a major plot overhaul. 

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

Ideas come to me all the time! For me, the hard part is figuring out how to grow the idea into a cohesive story readers will care about. Writing a pitch and a synopsis before I begin working on a story can help me see where the holes might be or if there isn’t enough there beyond the hook. Other times, I will get an idea that seems interesting but then I realize I’m not the person to write that story. Having an idea is only the beginning! I think for a story to work it needs to tap into an emotional truth that is personal to me.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

I try to write the one that’s been percolating the longest. That being said, I’ve recently stepped away from a manuscript I’ve been working on for a couple of years. It was a hard decision to make because I’d spent so much time with these characters but ultimately I didn’t have a clear enough vision for the story. I’m hoping a little time in the virtual drawer will help that one! I love it when I’m living inside a story. It’s hardest for me when I’m starting a new project (so many decisions to make!) or when I’m in between stories. 

I have 8 cats (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

Eight cats! I’m impressed. I also have a writing buddy (just one): my sweet dog, Olivia, but she likes her space. We both move from room to room. She’s looking for the perfect place to nap and I tend to set up in different spots depending on where I am in the process. When I’m working on the overall story which involves laying out index cards, I’m at the dining room table and when I’m writing a tough scene, I might sit on the sofa next to Olivia, hoping some of her serenity will rub off on me. The best thing about my writing buddy is that she is also my walking buddy! While she sniffs and does her thing on our walks, I often try to unknot a story tangle I’ve created or think through the next scene. 

Do you struggle finding inspiration to write when you are on deadline, or do you find that perspiration beats inspiration?

Writing Peppermint Cocoa Crushes was the first time I’d ever written a novel on a deadline. And it was a tight one! I wrote the first draft in six weeks. This required perspiration (and extra strength deodorant)! It also required daily writing goals. Rather than focusing on word count, I set goals for what scenes I was going to write each day. I keep an old school weekly planner for my writing life and when I finished my work for the day, I’d write down what I needed to do next. That allowed me to stay focused and it kept the story alive as I moved through the rest of my day. As for inspiration, most days it showed up. 

Writing Peppermint Cocoa Crushes was a lot of fun. I hope tween readers will curl up with all the Swirl novels! From pumpkin spice to peppermint cocoa to cinnamon bun to salted caramel, each one is great flavor!