✉ Self Interview by Lisa de Nikolits, author of The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist’s Solution

Today returning author Lisa de Nikolits takes over our blog to tell us about herself and her work in this quirky self-interview.

The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist's Solution (1 December 2019, Inanna Poetry & Fiction Series, 302 pages), a Suspense Thriller, is Lisa's latest release. "A serio-comedic thriller about a post-retirement couple who embark on an unintentionally life-changing around-the-world adventure, The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist's Solution is about the meaning of life, healing from old wounds, romantic love at all ages, and how with love and passion, we can make a difference, at any age."

"Lisa de Nikolits sets readers on a rollercoaster ride of clever twists and unexpected turns. The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist's Solution is a lot of fun and filled with some believable, yet zany characters. It bounces between the viewpoints of Lyndon and Margaux, a retired couple whose marriage speeds steadily downhill after Lyndon decides to call it quits and runs off. It's the ultimate story of marriage meltdown told in a style all Lisa's own, and this one should be on everybody's must-read list." --Dietrich Kalteis, author of Zero Avenue

|| Synopsis || Teaser: Excerpt ||  Guest Post: A Self-Interview! || About the Author || Giveaway & Tour Stops ||

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Self Interview by Lisa de Nikolits, author of The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist’s Solution

by Lisa de Nikolits

Hello Lisa!  I’d like to ask you three questions, let’s get up close and personal!  So, to start, tell us something about yourself readers might not know.

This is what happens when I cook! I’m guilty of panicide! And I was simply baking butternut! So tragic!! #notacook #badcook

I can’t cook!  Cooking is such wonderful artistry.  When I tell people I can’t cook (with the implication that I don’t really want to, either!) they kindly shower me with recipes, but I’m not good at following rules of any kind and by the second line, I start winging it.  Bad idea!  Last Christmas, I decided to make Melk Tert, a traditional South African custard pie and I succeeded in making the filling but only because my husband supervised me and he wouldn’t let me derail by even the slightest ounce!  He’s a marvellous cook whereas my go-to cooking comes down to two things: baking and boiling.  I bake a potato pretty much every night, boil some cauliflower or broccoli, arrange it artistically on a plate alongside a colourful designer paper napkin (choosing my napkin is an end-of-day-ritual treat!), then I throw on a bunch of Frank’s Hot Sauce, add a dollop of canned soup (currently Cream of Celery) and I’m good to go.

And if it sounds like I’m a health nut, that’s far from the truth!  Regular top ups of chocolate and hazelnut coffee get me through the day and if I had my druthers, I’d have birthday cake for breakfast every morning, corner slice please, with lots of icing!

With regard to my inability to follow rules, a lot of readers assume that authors are just like their protagonists but the only one who bears any resemblance to me is Amelia in The Nearly Girl, my fifth book.  Amelia nearly gets things right, but she gets them very wrong at the same time.  However, whereas the worst consequences in my life are that I mess up a recipe or end up getting lost in Toronto (which happens more times than I can tell you), Amelia stumbled across a crazed psychiatrist and ended up nearly losing her life.

But I wish I could cook, and I often wish I wasn’t so ‘nearly girl’ when it comes to cooking, catching buses, following instructions and seeing the obvious.  I often miss things that are right before my eyes and it’s a little awkward when people point out what I’ve missed!

What’s the most exciting thing that has happened to you?

My whole life has been an interesting surprise!  I thought I had it all figured out when I was young – I was going to live in South Africa for my entire life, write, try to get published and be happy!

But then instead, I travelled all around the world, lived and worked in Australia, London and of course, Canada.  I’ve been to China, Japan, Peru, Europe and all kinds of exotic places!  If you’d have told my twelve-year-old self how my life would turn out, she would have shook her head emphatically – no way!

And then I got used to life being one interesting surprise after another and perhaps I felt a bit worried that I’d used up all my good luck for the unexpectedly good twists and turns which is why I wrote The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist’s Solution.  Because the book is all about life coming up with different plans just when you thought there was nothing new left.

If you knew you'd die tomorrow, how would you spend your last day?

The last day: behind my computer

That’s a rather morbid question!  But actually it’s one I often think about.  I’d get my next manuscript ready for my publisher!  I’ve already repeatedly told my publisher and my husband (and yes, it’s even in my will) that, should I unexpectedly pass, they are both entrusted to get the finished manuscripts out there into the world.

That sounds kind of crazy, doesn’t it – my last day on earth and I’d spend it behind my computer, working on my books.  But that’s how much they matter to me.  There are two books lined up: The Rage Room and Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon and I’d do as much as I could on both of them.

Oh, The Rage Room sounds fascinating!  Tell us a bit about that!

Hmm… Lisa, you said three questions!  That’s four!

LOL, well, I told you I can’t follow the rules – or maybe you told me that!  Anyway, tell us about The Rage Room.

The Rage Room: Page 12 of 235! Settling down to my line edits. 

Okay!  I had an idea years ago, to write about a man who wanted to be the perfect husband, father and son and because he couldn’t achieve it (he’s in debt up to his eyeballs and about to be fired), he comes home on Christmas Eve, looks around at the Hallmark perfection of the moment and decides that there is a way he can keep it like that forever.  He kills his family.  That way they’ll never know what a loser he is or how he failed them.

Pretty dark, I know.  The novel was intended to be a suspense psychological thriller about family dynamics and the average Joe trying to succeed in this life, and how, as time went on, he couldn’t hack it.

But when I began to write the novel, it morphed into a time travel story.  Talk about stressful!  I hate time travel!  It fries my brain!  But I needed it in order to explore the moral compass of the story, to be able to look at the permutations of what might have saved him or saved his family.

Sounds like an interesting read!  Well, thank you, Lisa for this one-on-one today and thank you, Dear Reader, for reading this post!  We hope you’ll pick up a copy of The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist’s Solution!

The Occult Persuasion
and the Anarchist's Solution
Available NOW!

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