Nicole Mainardi discusses the challenges of re-telling a classic fairly tale and the beauty and the beasts in DIY publishing.
YaYaYa: How did you get started writing?
Nicole: I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember! At first, it was just silly poetry (mostly about the sun and the moon; even then, I enjoyed the star-crossed lovers’ trope), and then a fully-finished novel based on a recurring dream I’d had when I was 10 or 11. But as soon as I fell in love with magical stories (cue Harry Potter) and Young Adult (cue Twilight and The Mortal Instruments), I felt like I’d finally realized I wanted to be a writer. As a teenager, I wrote angsty poetry and the first draft of the novel I’m querying that ended up being almost completely scrapped.
YaYaYa: A Curse of Thorns is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The specific story dates back to the mid-1700s, however, earlier tales with similar features go back as far as 4000 years ago. Which of the many versions introduced the fairy tale to you?
Nicole: The version of Beauty and the Beast that I knew first was the Disney version. I can’t count how many times I dressed up as Belle for Halloween when I was little! But, obviously, that’s a very romanticized version of it. When I read the real story (the most well-known version by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve), I thought the liberties that Disney took were so interesting, and wondered how I might put my own twist on it. That being said, I always wanted A Curse of Thornsto be my love letter to the story as I knew it, and not necessarily in its many iterations. So I strove to make it as romantic as the Disney movie, but still have some of the hardships that the original story had created for both Belle and the Beast.
YaYaYa: What is the core theme of A Curse of Thorns?
Nicole: I always love this question, because there are some writers that go in knowing they’re trying to fit their novel into a theme. And that works for them. For me, that would feel like I’m limiting myself to the potential of where the story might take me. But I believe that the theme for A Curse of Thornsis that love conquers all. Yes, it is about looking past the surface and not being deceived by appearances, but I think that the love Belle has for her sisters is what drives her more in this story than her love for the Beast. They are her reason for fighting so hard to stay alive. But her love for Bastian has also helped her love herself.
YaYaYa: Do you like writing series or “One offs?”
Nicole: It’s funny you ask this because I’m a firm believer that a complicated story can’t be told in just one book. But there were a couple things with A Curse of Thornsthat I did that I wouldn’t normally do, the fact that it’s a standalone being one of them (the other is that I wrote from the perspective of the main character’s love interest, which I will likely never do again unless the story calls for it). A couple people have mentioned to me that it has series potential with the way it ended, but I like open endings. Especially in the world I built for A Curse of Thorns, where a happy ending wouldn’t make sense for the plot. And, for me, this story reached its end in one book.
YaYaYa: What is unique about writing for the YA audience? What age group do you believe your readers fall into?
Nicole: I adore writing YA for the same reason I love reading YA: there’s never a dull moment, and the characters feel everything so acutely. Firsts are so important in YA, and I love the way characters get caught up in every moment. As for the age group my readers might fall into: I never like to make assumptions of what reading level any one person is at. I know people that were reading Stephen King books when they were eight years old, or powering through Jane Austen novels when they were in middle school. I end up writing for the more mature YA reader, though, so maybe starting at 13? I also believe that there is no limit for how old you can be to ready YA.
YaYaYa: How does magic and fantasy inform your writing?
Nicole: A LOT. I mean, seriously, it’s at the very core of every story I’ve ever written. The further I dove into A Curse of Thorns, the more magic I wanted to include in the world. I’d always wanted to write a story with the fae, but having them play a role in A Curse of Thornswas just what the story needed, and as I’d already done some research on them for another possible project, it was easy to weave them into the plot and into the lives of my characters. I honestly couldn’t write a story without magic or some element of fantasy. It’s too fun!
YaYaYa: What things have made you a better writer?
Nicole: READING. I always thought it was sort of a copout for writers to say this, but then I realized that it’s not always to pick up on the good parts of the story, but more to hone in on the kind of story you want to write, and what are the elements that you don’tlike in a story. Just like any other job, experience and a little homework is required to write a novel. What has also made my writing better is having critique partners. One of my friends, who is an avid reader of YA, read through A Curse of Thornsa couple weeks before publishing, and has also read a few iterations of my current WIP. I had another copyeditor friend edit the first fifty pages of the manuscript I’m currently querying so that it could be at its best. It’s so, so important to let other people read your work, even those awful first drafts.
YaYaYa: Do you have a writing routine?
Nicole: Not really. I mostly write when I can. I bring my personal laptop to work every day, in case I have the chance at lunch to knock out a chapter, or to edit some previous chapters. I do need music, though. And coffee fuels me!
YaYaYa: What do you consider your artistic roots?
Nicole: It’s funny because neither of my parents are very artistic. They’re both computer science people, so there’s not a lot of creativity there. But some of my other family on both sides are creative musically, so maybe that’s where it came from, genetically. Otherwise, when I was younger, I had time to write stories because I was alone more than some other kids were. I moved around a couple times when I was younger and am an only child, so I spent a lot of time with books, and eventually with my own stories.
YaYaYa: What do you read besides fiction?
Nicole: Poetry, I suppose? Non-fiction is not really my thing, unless it’s a part of history that I’m super interested in. I also love reading about different mythologies. I suppose that could be considered fiction, but for the people that believed it, those stories were real.
YaYaYa: Who are some of your favorite fiction writers in any genre and why?
Nicole: JRR Tolkien has had a huge influence on my other work, but JK Rowling is an obvious first choice as someone that sparked my love for storytelling. Her world-building in the Harry Potter series, and the way she created her characters, really stuck with me and has influenced a large part of who I am. My second choice might be an unpopular opinion, but Stephanie Meyer definitely influenced me as well. She got me to fall in love with YA, and I was always so impressed how well she captured human emotions, especially in her adult novel The Host. Another YA writer that I love is Cassandra Clare, who is the queen of urban fantasy in my opinion, and made me realize that I wanted to write YA. And finally, Leigh Bardugo. This is more of a personal one for me: I met Leigh at her second signing ever, I believe, and she and I have cultivated a friendship over the years. She’s also insanely smart and one of the kindest, funniest people you’ll ever meet!
YaYaYa: What got you interested in fantasy?
Nicole: The idea of being transported into another world that you get to imagine all on your own is truly astounding. The thing I love about books that movies can’t do is to leave so many things open to interpretation; your mind literally creates a world out of ink and paper and words on a page. And while that’s true for any book, fantasy is so expansive and beautiful that it hooks you from the first words and doesn’t let go until it’s buried its way into your mind. It’s a true escape from any reality that is not of this world, but somehow still wholly relatable.
YaYaYa: What makes a good fantasy work?
Nicole: I feel like this is up to interpretation. Reading reviews of any fantasy novel are normally so polarizing, that I’ve realized it’s just what appeals to each individual reader. But, for me, a good fantasy needs the following:
· Solid world-building: if you can’t keep track of your rules, your reader won’t be able to either, and they’ll definitely notice.
· A plot that is well-mapped out and doesn’t center around just one character: I believe the full extent of a fantasy plot cannot be told from one point of view. I think it does the story a disservice.
· Three-dimensional characters: while world-building is important, I believe the characters are much more important. Each one has to have a past, a present, and the possibility of a future (no matter how short that future might be).
· A romance: this may not be a popular opinion, but as a reader and a writer, I need some kind of romance, no matter how small a part it might play in the story. For me, it keeps me interested in the plot. I love world-building and think it’s so important, but I also think the relationships between people is what makes a fantasy special.
YaYaYa: Do you base your characters on people you know?
Nicole: Oh goodness, maybe? I don’t purposefully sit down and think about creating a character similar to my husband or my dad or my best friend. But my characters definitely have pieces of me in them; I can’t help seeing parts of myself in them, or even parts of myself that I wish were true.
YaYaYa: What have you learned from your readers?
Nicole: Mostly, I’ve learned how different people are and how varying their interests are. I love seeing how some parts of A Curse of Thornsresonated with certain readers, while others connected with different characters or scenes. I’ve also learned just how passionate YA readers are, and how lucky I am to be a part of the YA community!
YaYaYa: Were there any rules of fantasy fiction you wanted to challenge?
Nicole: This may sound strange, but I don’t go into something thinking that I need to purposefully “break the wheel”. If it serves the story, then I’ll include it in the plot or as part of a character arc. But I think that trying to break any rules on purpose—unless it’s the actual purpose of the novel—does harm to the story. Ideas, no matter how unique they are, always come from something else, so instead of trying to steer away from it, I veer into it.
YaYaYa: Do you use music or another medium to inspire you when writing?
Nicole: Absolutely! I almost always need music. For A Curse of Thorns, I listened to some of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack from Return of the King, but in the final rounds of editing, I listened to the soundtrack from the new live-action Beauty and the Beast. The right music always puts me in the headspace I need. I imagine my chapters like scenes in a movie or TV show, so listening to soundtracks really helps me.
YaYaYa: What would you add and what would you take away from your writing life to make it better?
Nicole: More than anything, I wish I could write full-time. Maybe someday. But for now, I’m starting to establish a career at my day job, and I can’t deny how helpful having a second salary and health insurance has benefited my husband and I. The one thing I wish I could take away, though, is my anxiety. I’m always reminded of when Marty McFly doesn’t want to mail in his tape to the record label in Back to the Future, and he says: “I don't know if I could take that kind of rejection.” I didn’t realize until I started seriously considered publishing my work how much I related to that. It’s one of the reasons why I self-published, to hopefully jumpstart my career as an author on my own terms, and give myself a confidence boost.
YaYaYa: Do you have advice for young writers?
Nicole: I used to ask authors this question all the time when I first started going to book signings as a teenager, and now I feel like I can finally answer the question! The first bit of advice is to push through that first draft. It’s going to be absolute garbage, and as long as you go in knowing that, it’ll be easier to complete the story you have planned out. Just finish it; that’s an accomplishment in and of itself. The second bit of advice is not to give up! There are always reasons not to do something—I myself am procrastinating a bit on my queries right now—but you need to remind yourself that it’s worth doing. The final piece of advice I have is to let people read your work. Seriously. Even when it’s that garbage first draft, if there are people you trust to read it and give you a critique, or at least advice on the plot or your characters or the world-building, do it. I made the mistake of notdoing it too many times, and am thankful for the few people I felt I could trust.
YaYaYa: Why did you decide to self-publish A Curse of Thornsvs querying an agent to get it published traditionally?
Nicole: A Curse of Thorns was very much a side project for about 5 years. I would work on it when I got frustrated with my other WIP, or when I was feeling inspired to work on this particular story, and it was actually an easier story for me to write considering the world I’d built around it wasn’t as immersive. It was like visiting an old friend. Which is the same reason that I didn’t want to traditionally publish it. I didn’t want it to change; I wanted it to remain a love letter to the Disney movie that shaped me, and a story that was so fantastical and yet still so relatable (and not nearly as messed up as the other fairytales). That’s why I never even tried to query A Curse of Thorns; it means too much to me, and yet it isn’t the novel I’ve poured my blood, sweat, and tears into. I also wanted to establish myself as an author, to get my name out there. Self-publishing was an easy choice for me forA Curse of Thorns, and even though it’s nowhere near my best work, I believe it’s one of the best things I’ve done for my writing career.
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