Can you tell us what your book is about?
My
protagonist Joss finds herself having to make mortgage payments without help
from her depressed, stoner boyfriend who has just moved out, and the company
she works for folds leaving her suddenly unemployed, and she is forced to sell
her house, on which she takes a financial loss. She decides to camp out in a
vacant complex of school buildings to give herself time to decide what to do
next. It turns out the building is used by a gang of teenagers for wild,
drug-fueled parties and Joss soon finds herself both repelled by their
charismatic evil leader, as well as sexually attracted to him. She knows he is
dangerous even before she finds his girlfriend’s dead and violently abused body
in the school library. During this time, she meets and befriends two other
people in difficulty: Emma, a narcissistic thief living with her dog in a
stolen car and Ashley, a young homosexual who is heartbroken by the fact that
he has been expelled from the Jehovah’s Witness church because he is gay. When
her former boyfriend reappears as a born again Christian, Joss is immersed in a
journal she found that contains the thoughts of a Muslim teenager who becomes
increasingly radicalized. Her struggle to understand her former boyfriend and
this young man’s spiritual quests prepare her to make some hard decisions about
her future. Between the Cracks She Fell is about a woman who falls off
the grid and the explosive consequences of betrayal, survival in troubled
times, and the pervasiveness of religious domination.
Why did you write your book?
The idea for this book came from three ideas that
intersected.
The first idea presented itself via me a young
man who had been disowned by his family. I had recently started a new job and I
had immediately felt a connection with this guy – let’s call him Ashley –
because he, like me, was originally from South Africa and he had come to Canada
in 2000, as had I.
When I asked him about his family, he told me
that he didn’t see them any more, that they had disowned him, he was
excommunicated.
I was incredibly shocked. I come from a very
close-knit family and I can’t imagine something like that.
“But why on earth would they do that?” I asked.
“Because I’m gay,” he said to which I replied
that wasn’t any reason at all to kick him out.
“They’re Jehovah’s Witnesses,” he said as if
that explained everything but I still didn’t understand and he explained their
way of thinking, that homosexuality is a sin and he needed to repent, or he
would not go to heaven along with his family.
“But surely they speak to you in secret?” I
asked, simply unable to grasp the concept of one’s family just abandoning a
member like that. “How old are you?” I asked him.
“I’m twenty-two,” he said, “and they don’t
speak to me. Not even my twin sister. My Mom meets me for coffee every six
months or so, to see if I have repented, or if she can persuade me to.”
“Not even your twin sister,” I echoed. “I just
can’t get my head around that. How long ago did this happen?”
“Two years ago. I’ve been fine really. I
couldn’t live a lie. The funny thing was, or maybe it’s not so funny, I was
actually going to propose to my long-time girlfriend, ask her to marry me but
then instead, I ended up telling her I am gay.” He grinned. “Not exactly what
she was expecting. But I needed to do it. I didn’t have a choice. Or, I did
have a choice, I could live my whole life a lie or I could be myself.”
I just knew that I would find a way to write
about his story. He was so lovely, so gentle and so kind, a talented artist and
we soon became good friends. I asked him if I could use him as a muse in a
story that was forming in my head and he agreed.
The second idea came from urban exploration. I
love being an urban explorer and I have set off alarms more than once, I can
tell you! I do live by the code; go in if you can find a way, don’t break
things, don’t destroy, don’t steal, leave everything as you found it.
I often search websites looking for places that
other explorers have posted and I found a mention of an old school a couple of
hours outside of Toronto and I persuaded my husband to take a trip.
The first time we went was in the middle of
winter and there was definitely enough there to pique our interest in returning
in the spring.
In the meantime, I did some research and found
that the school had been many things in its time; a prisoner-of-war camp for
German officers in the Second World War, an English school for Chinese
immigrants and an Islamic school, the last of which had fallen into bankruptcy
and the local government was trying to figure out what should be done with it.
When we returned to the school, it was very
easy to get into all the buildings (of which there were many). In one room, I
found some scraps of paper written by a former student; some ramblings, a poem
and some homework and that made me wonder about the kids who had boarded there.
So I had three things which converged into a
single book idea… firstly, Ashley being disfellowshipped. Then the school with
the Islamic kid’s jottings (Islam, a religion with which I was unfamiliar, a
religion which is clearly having a powerful impact on the world and about which
I wanted to learn more), and then, the school itself.
The history of the buildings was so remarkable,
and so was the destruction that had been wrecked upon them; violent damage that
had taken concentration and work and focus and I found myself wondering about
the perpetrators of all that ruin.
What kind of kids (or young adults) would have
that much anger, and that much time to invest in the almost-systematic
destruction of a place?
I knew I had good ideas for an overall story
but I still needed a protagonist and I found her fairly easily.
A friend of mine had been talking about her
primary reason for marrying her husband and it was because she could trace his
genealogy back to the first settlers of Canada – he came from a solid bloodline
and she wanted that for her children.
“Imagine,” she said, “not knowing the genetic
pool from which you’ve sprung. It’s unthinkable!”
At least, it was unthinkable to her. Her
comments immediately made me want to develop a character obsessed with her
ancestry because this was something that couldn’t have interested (or worried)
me less in my real life.
I think that’s why I write books – I try to
explore themes about things that I really am unperturbed by but which seem to
cause others a lot of distress, and religion is surely one of them, along with
family trees.
But then I stopped myself short — who would be
interested in reading a book about religion and fragmented families? But once
an idea is had, it cannot be ignored, for it raises many questions which I
personally needed answers to. Sometimes I think I also write books to answer
the questions in my head about things that are bothering me in the world.
I had decided that my main character, a young
immigrant woman from England, would take a summer to live off the grid in the
old school and somehow become involved with the young Islamic student and a
fellow who echoed my disfellowshipped friend.
Homelessness and religion… surely the kiss of
death for a novel? I had other aspects for sure, the young kids who had destroyed
the school headed up by Lenny, one of my favourite fictional bad boys ever, and
there was also the ex-boyfriend of my protagonist; he was the main reason she
ended up homeless and alone. And there would be crime, of course there would,
Ashley’s boyfriend was a shady realtor, Imran (the Islamic student) seemed
intent on jihad (or was that just an idle threat?) and Lenny’s crime-driven lifestyle
would result in a young girl being murdered – all crimes which Joscelyn (the
protagonist) solves. All she wants is some time to be left alone, to regroup
and think, but she ends up sorting out a whole bunch of crimes and finding
resolution to the things that had happened to her.
She also believed that her mother killed her
father by hitting him over the head with a cast-iron frying pan and she gets to
the bottom of that once and for all.
Do you tend to base your characters on real
people or are they totally from your imagination?
As
mentioned, this book started from a conversation with a real person and was
inspired by a real person and the hurt he had suffered at the hands of
religion. So this book started with him but then his character, Ashley evolved
into someone completely different. Characters definitely have lives of their
own, and sometimes I don’t even like them very much. But they are who they are
and I very much enjoy letting their individuality shine though. Sometimes I am
amazed that I even had the insights that I did and that’s when I know that all
of this is a gift really; it’s not me, it doesn’t come from me, I am just the
grateful channel through which it flows and I get to live vicariously through
many different lives.
All of my books have started out with a real
person in one way or another but the encounter could just be a glance across a
room, it did not have to be a relationship. That’s part of the fun, looking at
someone and then imaging their lives – meanwhile in reality, you don’t have a
single clue about what that person does or who they are.
Are you consciously aware of the plot before
you begin a novel or do you discover it as you write?
This
is going to sound odd but it’s a bit of both really. I start off with a glimmer
of an idea and then I toy with all the problems and solutions thereof that I
can and then I try to formulate a plot but sometimes the character’s actions
prevent that particular thing from happening. So then you have to come with
something else because you can’t change who the character fundamentally is –
well, you can but then the whole tone of the book changes. I am very open to
changing plot and I mull ideas constantly, scribbling them down. I am only
really happy with a book once I have a first draft and at least 70 000 words.
Does the setting play a major part in the
development of your story? Yes, absolutely.
The school made all the
difference in the in the world and it was one of the three reasons for the
book’s very being.
Have you suffered from writer’s block and what
do you do to get back on track?
Fortunately I have not. Not yet! And I think
that if (when?) I do, I will just do a lot of reading and enjoy it. Writing is
supremely tough and it tends to grab me by the throat and shake me — not
exactly a fun-filled relaxing experience! So I am not sure a respite from it
would be such a bad thing.
What do you like the most about being an
author?
Readings. I love doing readings. I get to see
people respond directly to the words and that’s magical.
What is the most pivotal point of a writer’s
life?
The moment she (he) gets to hold that brand new
copy of a brand new book. It just never gets old.
What kind of advice would you give other
fiction authors?
Try to come up with new and exciting plots and
characters. That’s my advice to myself daily. Think, think, think! Think of new
things! Think!
About The Book
Title: Between The Cracks She Fell
Author: Lisa de Nikolits
Publisher: Inanna Publications
Publication Date: September 15, 2015
Format: Paperback / PDF
Pages: 350
ISBN: 978-1771332255
Genre: Suspense Thriller
Buy The Book:
Discuss this book at our PUYB Virtual Book Club on Goodreads by clicking HERE
Book Description:
The award-winning author of the Hungry Mirror, West of Wawa, Glittering Chaos and The Witchdoctor's Bones delivers an original and riveting new novel about societal betrayal, familial loss and religious jihad. A suspenseful and lyrical read, Between The Cracks She Fell is a powerful - first person narrative about the explosive consequences of betrayal, survival in troubled times and the pervasiveness of religious domination.
When Joss finds herself having to make mortgage payments without help from her depressed, stoner boyfriend who has just moved out, and the company she works for folds leaving her suddenly unemployed, she is forced to sell her house, on which she takes a financial loss. She decides to camp out in a vacant complex of school buildings to give herself time to decide what to do next. It turns out the building is used by a gang of teenagers for wild, drug-fueled parties and Jess soon finds herself both repelled by their charismatic evil leader, as well as sexually attracted to him. She knows he is dangerous even before she finds his girlfriend's dead and violently abused body in the school library. During this time, she meets and befriends two other people in difficulty: Emma, a narcissistic thief living with her dog in a stolen car and Ashley, a young homosexual who is heartbroken by the fact that he has been expelled from the Jehovah's Witness church because he is gay. When her former boyfriend reappears as a born again Christian, Joss is immersed in a journal she found that contains the thoughts of a Muslim teenager who becomes increasingly radicalized. Her struggle to understand her former boyfriend and this young man's spiritual quests prepare her to make some hard decisions about her future. Between The Cracks She Fell is about a woman who falls off the grid and the explosive consequences of betrayal, survival in troubled times, and the pervasiveness of religious domination.
Book Excerpt:
Exodus
I reached my destination with no great sense of joy but at least I wasn't crying.
A purple, red and black pentagram marked the path ahead of me and the sea of grass rolled this way and that and my throat closed and my eyes stung but I swallowed the tears.
I tried to pretend I was Gibreel Farishta, a hero bigger than me; that tuneless soloist tumbling out og thin air; what an entrance, yaar.
First you have to die. Ho ji! Ho ji! How to ever smile again, if first you won't cry?
But there would be no more crying for me. My former life was dead. I needed to escape for a while, hide out and then, once I got my energy back. I would figure out what came next.
Right now all I could say was that I was alive, and that is the point I guess, much like Gibreel, standing, with pigs falling out of his face and no God to help him.
I held my arms aloft and waded through the knotty field, as if paddling through an upward flowing river, pushing forward against the current.
The summer offered shoulder-high fragrant grasses laced with thistles and weeds and despite the misfortunes of past events, I was not blind to the beauty of the tiny lilac flowers or the red roses that grew wild and free.
I could see the buildings in the distances. It had been a while since I had seen them but they sprawled low at the other end of the playing fields, just as I remembered.
I had packed for the task at hand; knife, bottled water, flashlight, pillow. Kind of funny really, how natural this solution felt, like it was some kind of okay. It wasn't the first time I'd purposefully left the grid; my first solo adventure had taken place when I was eleven. Tired of school, friends, mother, swimming lessons, and tuck shop lunches, I hid out in a farmer's shed, armed with books and apples and bars of chocolate. i stayed for two nights and two days, sleeping in a hairy horse blanket that I shook free of cobwebs and drew close around me, breathing in that rich scent of dry sage, dust, leather, sweat and all the other good things that horses smell of. I returned home when I ran out of food and reading material. Mum was furious but I wasn't sorry; I'd done what I needed to do and it was the same this time, although there was less choice in a sense, as I had in fact lost my house to the bank and my job to the recession and my boyfriend to a nervous breakdown.
I could think of no other way to heal, to regroup and to find the solo me that I could rely on. I had made a mistake, relying on Shayne but I would get over that. I would get over everything.
Book Trailer: http://bit.ly/1h9oqnN
About The Author
Originally from South Africa, Lisa de Nikolits has been a Canadian citizen since 2003. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Philosophy and has lived in the U.S.A., Australia and Britain.
Her first novel, The Hungry Mirror, won the 2011 IPPY Awards Gold Medal for Women's Issues Fiction and was ling-listed for a Relit Award. Her second novel, West of Wawa, won the 2012 IPPY Silver Medal Winner for Popular Fiction and was one of Chatelaine's four Editor's Picks. West of Wawa is available in bookstores and online.
Her third novel, A Glittering Chaos, launched in Spring 2013 to reader and review acclaim, and is about murder, madness, illicit love and poetry.
Her fourth novel, The Witchdoctor's Bones was launched Spring 2014 to reader and literary acclaim. The Witchdoctor's Bones is a thriller about the darkest secrets of African evil; the novel seamlessly weaves witchcraft and ancient folklore into a plot of loss, passion and intrigue and a holiday becomes a test of moral character.
Her fifth novel, Between The Cracks She Fell, was published in Fall 2015 and has been called "a whirligig-ride into the dark recesses of "what-next?" It is a compelling and multi-layered penetrating and twisty tale of insurrection."
"A lyrical and deeply moving examination of emotional pain and faith on a collision course with organized religion. Lisa de Nikolits highly believable and human characters are outsiders struggling to find meaning, and perhaps hope, in contemporary urban society. With a deft and confident clarity of style, she explores the complex interplay of faith, crime and social isolation. Highly recommended." - M.H. Callway, award-winning author of Windigo Fire (Seraphim Editions).
Connect with Lisa:
Author Website: http://www.lisadenikolitswriter.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/lisadenikolits/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lisadenikolits/
The Mesdames of Mayhem: http://mesdamesofmayhem.com/about/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/LisadN
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