Nicole Pisani

What was your favorite book as a child?

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan! I loved all his books growing up, but I will decidedly not recover from the emotional minefield that one put me through. I used to read curled up against my mother on the couch while she napped, and I had to try very hard to rein myself in when the protagonists got to Malta because “Oh! I know that café!” — I’d never been able to picture a scene in an American novel so clearly before then. Although his circumstances were rather unfortunate, one of my most beloved characters came out in that book, too. As a child, I wasn’t particularly exposed to the idea of being anything other than straight, so I didn’t quite understand that part at the time, but I knew it was important to me in some way or another.

What was the original reason or motivation why you started writing creatively?

I’ve always liked reading, and I suppose that led me to like creative writing, but it’s more than that. There’s a scene in The Handmaid’s Tale where Offred imagines putting Scrabble pieces in her mouth, running her tongue over forbidden fruit. I’ve had this sort of admiration for the “elusive” written word for a very long time, in the sense that I think of language as an ambiguous game which can have both good and bad ends, depending on how it is used or interpreted, but I can’t remember exactly when the “I want to be a writer” refrain first cropped up. Books, and their capacity for emotive/political impact, mean a lot to me, so I guess I wanted to return the gesture by “fuelling the pyre” (Hozier reference). It feels more like an imperative than a want, sometimes, but at the end of it I think that’d be my reason why.

What was the most adventurous or thrilling thing you ever did/experienced?

I haven’t been on any adventures yet, I’m sad to say. I went swimming in a secluded cave once, but drinking Thermos coffee on a sunny day with your mother and her workmates doesn’t exactly scream daredevil behaviour. The first time I cut my hair short felt significant in a thrilling way, though. It’s not the most dashing thing one could think of, but I grew up carrying around knee-length Rapunzel hair that I never much appreciated having, so by the time I’d convinced my mother to let me lop it off, being rid of it implied more than I can phrase.

Do you listen to music while reading or writing?

Yes, I do! I wouldn’t necessarily say it helps me concentrate, but it does keep me “motivated.” I usually listen to the same album or playlist on repeat until I finish a section of whatever it is I’m working on — I get distracted if it’s an unexpected song or something I don’t know the lyrics to. I’ve managed to land myself in the top 0.1% of Daughter listeners about 5 years in a row because of this (if I could be, I would be embarrassed). I haven’t been able to shut up about Stereo Mind Game since it was released, and Party is my new (11-month-old) speed-writing trigger. Last assessment season I researched and wrote a significant chunk of my assignments to Preacher’s Daughter and Inbred by Ethel Cain, too. Whenever I read for fun, though, I prefer listening to instrumentals or classical pieces. I owe great thanks to the people who curate those “aesthetic” playlists on YouTube for getting me through most days.