NINA KIMBERLY THE MERCILESS, the fantastic podiobook by Christiana Ellis, debuts in print tomorrow, May 15th, from Dragon Moon Press. Buy your copy on Friday, May 15th, and help Christiana and NINA ambush the Amazon charts!
I had the privilege of editing the print edition with Christiana and I’m very excited to see its release. Described as “Monty Python meets Princess Bride”, NINA is a must-read for lovers of fantasy and humor. I also had the privilege of interviewing Christiana about NINA, writing and reading:
GH: Where did the seed of the idea for Nina Kimberly come from?
Christiana Ellis: Nina Kimberly started with a single sentence. Before I knew anything else about her, I had the line: “Nina blushed, then cut the man’s head off.” The line seemed to show up fully formed, and I found myself just wanting to know more. Who is Nina? Why does she respond that way? And it ultimately grew from there. I wanted to know more about what happened, who she is, where she came from. Where does she live now, what does she want? The entire first chapter, particularly in the first draft, was almost just a tour around her world, seeing what was there and how she felt about it.
In that sense, I had never really set out to write a comedic fantasy novel. Most of the genre fiction I had read was science fiction, rather than fantasy, so it was actually somewhat surprising to find myself writing about swords and horses and dragons. That’s not to say I was entirely unfamiliar with fantasy, of course. I enjoyed a lot of fantasy, but I also really wanted to write something funny, so once I realized that was the direction the story was taking, I couldn’t wait to dive in and poke fun at some of the conventions of the genre.
GH: Did you have the character and place names from the start? How did you come up with them? Did any of them change along the process?
CE: Generally speaking, I don’t know any character or place names until the time comes to start actually writing them on the page. Once that time comes, however, the amount of time I spend working on the names tends to be based on their significance to the story. A one-scene character generally gets named after just a few minutes of thinking, followed by, “Yeah, that sounds good.” A more significant character, usually I will choose names based on names that I have pleasant associations with, or that just seem to have the right flavor to me.
Sometimes, when I’m having a bit of trouble thinking of a good name, I’ll do a bit of research, looking for names that both mean something and that are interesting. “Tyrnon”, for example, is the name that Nina gives to the dragon. It’s a modified spelling of the Celtic name “Tiernan”, which means Lord of the Manor. But I spelled it with a “Tyr” from “Tyrannosaurus Rex”. To me, his name conveys a sort of dignity, but with a hint of danger, which is what I was really looking for. Sir Sievers of Moulin, on the other hand, is a bit more mundane. “Moulin” comes from “Moulin Rouge”, one of my favorite movies, and “Sievers” is a company that makes analytical laboratory instruments that I was working on at the time I was writing those chapters.
GH: Can you describe the process of writing, for you? Did you start with an outline for Nina or a general plot structure, or did it come to you as you wrote? Has your writing process changed since?
CE: My writing habits tend to change pretty dramatically in big swings. Writing a lot every day for a while, then a while with nothing. Sometimes it’s like it’s pouring out of me, other times it’s like pulling teeth. Generally though, I’ve found that just sitting down at the keyboard and typing anything, even if it isn’t the story, is usually enough to get me started. After a few sentences, the subconscious kicks in and off I go. That said, when I’m not feeling it consciously, I can force it, but often end up writing something other than the project I really want to be focusing on. Thus, I have lots and lots of unfinished projects.
For Nina, I didn’t have any kind of an outline at all until about half-way into the novel. I knew generally where Nina was going, and had some ideas about what would happen when she got there, but I really didn’t plan any of it out specifically until the time came to actually write those scenes. That’s my favorite way to write, really, to just create a character and then let them be themselves. That said, some projects, like a darker science-fiction novel I’ve been working on for a while, is simply too complex to even attempt without an outline. You’d have your two pov characters finally meet and realize that it’s been two days for one, and three days for the other or something. Outlines can help to keep track of multiple plot threads, but I find that it removes some of the spontaneity for me. Every project is a little different, and I often enjoy the different challenges, but organic character-based writing is what comes most naturally to me.
GH: What’s the ideal writing environment for you? (Computer? Notebook and pen? Outdoors? Music or silence?)
CE: Almost all of my writing is done at the computer, at a desk, with music playing in the background. I often choose orchestral movie soundtracks so I can choose a mood that evokes a specific emotional reaction, but I won’t be distracted by lyrics. When I get really stuck though, I can often break through a block by changing up the routine or the environment, like taking a little notebook to sit by a fountain at the park, or dashing off a few paragraphs while sitting in my car over lunch. Until I transcribe it to computer however, it feels like elaborate note-taking.
GH: What was the revision and editing process for Nina like? Does revising ever stop, or were you changing little things as you came across them while you were recording?
CE: All through the first draft of Nina, I was having a lot of trouble really knowing the William character, and really being able to understand him intuitively rather than having to puzzle through every little decision he makes. And since the book was largely written as a character-led story, that had a pretty significant impact on the plot. Once I managed to get a better sense of him, it produced an entire two-chapter mini-arc that hadn’t been in the story at all before. (It was the scam they run in the mountain town before meeting the wizard.) Also, it changed the way the end played out, not so much in what happened, but definitely the flavor of what happened and Nina’s response to it was much different.
Also, the first draft started the way that the book does now, but the second draft was revised to include a prologue of the time when Nina and her father first came to Langia. I eventually revised that prologue back out of existence for a couple of reasons. First, it delayed the real beginning of the story, which is Nina deciding to head out on her own. And also it played much more as pure comedy, rather than the more painful memory that it represented for Nina. The book already had plenty of humor, but I wanted the characters, Nina in particular, to ring true, and so to play the death of her father as a slapstick pratfall diluted that, and last but not least, the prologue would have meant that my original first line was no longer the first line!
Once I reached the third draft, the basics of the story and character were pretty set, and so each pass through after that was much more subtle. Ultimately it reached a point where I couldn’t really make any more changes to it. Not because it was perfect, but just because I felt like I was no longer improving it, just pushing the words around, so to speak.
GH: You’re doing a new and streamlined version of the Nina podiobook, to celebrate the print release. What inspired that, and what’s different about it? How does it feel to be reading Nina again, and is it different for you this time around?
CE: Part of what inspired it is the simple fact that the original version of the Podcast completed in late 2006, and although that means that it’s had lots of time to build an audience, it wasn’t exactly fresh in everybody’s mind leading up to the print release. So I wanted to do something to remind everybody about the story, as well as to introduce it to people who may not have heard about it already. I didn’t have the sequel ready to go yet, and so I decided a new version of the Podcast was in order.
I knew it was something worth doing because although I’m very proud of the original version, it represented a learning process, as I figured out how to do things. I included a lot of music and effects, which were fun, but occasionally distracting. I think that my abilities as both an audio producer and as a narrator have improved since then, so I thought it would be a worthwhile effort, but rather than simply replace the previous version, I decided to make the new one more like a traditional audiobook. Longer episodes, less music and effects, but improved narration and audio quality. At least that’s the hope.
It hadn’t been so long that I’d really forgotten anything about the story, but reading it again, especially out loud, after three years, made it fresh again, and I sort of re-discovered my own enjoyment of the story.
GH: Were you surprised by the positive response that Nina got? Was there one defining or memorable moment that stood out to you?
CE: Well, not surprised so much as pleased. I knew that I believed in the story. I’d written it not for any particular audience, but rather because it was the type of story that I enjoy, and I was proud of it. As far as audience reaction, believe it or not, that was almost a secondary consideration when I first started releasing the Podcast. Of course, I wanted people to listen and like the story, but at first for me, it was really more about my own enjoyment in producing the audio version. Then, of course, people did start to listen and a lot of them really liked it. I started getting wonderful emails from people who had enjoyed the story, I started meeting people at science fiction conventions who had heard the story. It was really exciting, but I think the one moment that really hit me hardest was when I heard from a thirteen-year-old listener who had dressed as Nina Kimberly the Merciless for Halloween. And it wasn’t simply a copy of Nina’s picture on the cover, there was attention to detail in that costume that really showed me how carefully she had read the story. That meant a lot to me.
GH: What are your influences as a writer?
CE: I think first and foremost I’ve got to mention both Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. I’ve been reading and loving their work ever since junior high, and though I don’t deliberately emulate either of them, they really showed me how a story can have both humor and characters that you care about. A lot of simple parodies don’t bother with character work, they just go for the jokes. But both Adams and Pratchett build the humor from character and situation, not just from twisting existing pop culture references. Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 also really drove this point home for me, the way that humor, rather than diminishing or diluting the dramatic potential of a story, can really go hand in hand with the tragic, resulting in something beautiful and entertaining, rather than trivial or depressing.
I have lots of other favorite authors, but the two I think have influenced me the most are John Varley and Stephen King. Both have a way of using language in a very straight-forward way. Not simplistic, but as a means of communicating with the reader. Of course, that’s what all writing is, but with both Varley and King, there is a flow that carries you right along, allowing you all the information you need, but keeping you very present in the story, right there with the characters, even when they are in bizarre or fantastical circumstances. Plus, I really enjoy the way that they both manage to portray very human, very relatable characters. Even when the characters live very different lives from mine, I always feel like I know them, I know where they are coming from, and I feel involved in the story right along with them.
GH: What do you like to read for fun?
CE: I read a lot of science fiction, both hard and soft. In addition to the writers I mentioned above, I also really enjoy Larry Niven and Greg Bear. But I also like reading a little bit of everything. Horror, fantasy, literary, historical, even non-fiction. I enjoy reading about actual science, especially things like neurology and psychology. But I’ll often pick up anything that catches my eye. I recently started “The Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency” and I’m loving it.
GH: Can we expect more from Nina’s universe, or more fiction from you?
CE: There will be a sequel for Nina, and possibly a third book, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Nina 2 is my next big project, as soon as I finish my current work-in-progress, which is a dark near-future science fiction novel. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be doing with that one when it’s finished, but I’ve been working on it for a long time, so I’ll be really glad to finally complete it. I’ve also got a handful of short stories, and the beginnings of a couple novels, one a near-future sci-fi novel, and another is a Young-Adult adventure novel which is a bit of a sci-fi, fantasy blend. I’ve also got it in mind to eventually continue my audio-drama series Space Casey. That and a stack of unused ideas a mile high, and I don’t see myself lying fallow anytime soon.
You can check out the podiobook versions of NINA KIMBERLY, both new NINA and NINA “classic” at NinaKimberly.com, or visit Christiana at ChristianaEllis.com. And remember to order your copy of NINA KIMBERLY THE MERCILESS from Amazon on May 15th!
