Nicole Fanning
Nicole is a smitten wife and super proud dog mom to three rambunctious rescue dogs. She is an old school romantic, with a proclivity for a little mischief, and an obsession with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Her debut novel, Catalyst, is the first incendiary installment of the Heart of the Inferno Series, which follows the story of a dangerous mafia don and the girl who became his only exception.
Marina Raydun: I've written a novel in two parts before but never a trilogy. How does the process work for you: do you conceptualize the entire novel ahead of time, or do you craft one installment at a time?
Nicole Fanning: Yes, Catalyst, Ignite, and Flashpoint I wrote out the entire plot, for each chapter, in all three books, before I ever allowed myself to write a single word of the actual manuscript.
MR: When did you first begin writing? What made you want to become a storyteller?
NF: I was ten when I started writing. At the time I was in love with The A-Team, and even though the show had gone off the air before I was born, I used to write my own new episode ideas and give them to my mother to send in to the producers.
In regards to the Heart of the Inferno Series, and Catalyst, I've had this idea for several years, but never really had the time to write it out. Then came the Pandemic, and suddenly all I had was time. It ended up being a blessing because it reminded me how much I enjoyed it, and I just hoped to bring a bit of needed escapism to my readers as well.
MR: What is your favorite underappreciated novel?
NF: I am a big fan of Chuck Palahniuk's "Choke."
MR: What does literary success look like to you?
NF: When my fans reach out to me to tell me that my books gave them a book hangover or touched them in beautifully inexplicable ways.
MR: What’s the most difficult part about writing characters from the opposite sex?
NF: I think transitioning your point of view from one to the other, especially in back-to-back chapters, can be a bit challenging at times.
In Catalyst, my female main character, Natalie, is this sweet-yet-feisty all-American nurse, who is content with living a simple life. Jaxon, on the other hand, is a playboy-billionaire-alphahole, who has lived a life of entitlement and violence as the head of a dangerous underground mafia.
They have such different thought processes and personalities that sometimes I will write several chapters from one perspective and then go back and write the counterpart chapters in the other perspective to stay in the right frame of mind.
MR: How did publishing your first book change your writing process?
NF: I learned how important it is to have the right team around you. When I published Catalyst in April, my social media presence was practically non-existent. I had to accept that finding and growing my following wouldn't happen overnight. Thankfully, I have been very fortunate to have developed such an incredibly enthusiastic fanbase as well as a phenomenal team of internal support.
MR: Is there one topic you would never write about as an author? Why?
NF: The death of a pet. Since their lives are so short in reality, they at least get to live forever in my books.
MR: What are you currently reading?
NF: Because I am currently deep in the trenches of writing Flash Point, which is the third book in the trilogy, the only books I am allowing myself to read are Catalyst and Ignite in an effort to stay in the right headspace.
But I do have an extensive TBR List that is waiting for me when I finish!
MR: What do you think about when you’re alone in your car?
NF: The last chapter I wrote, and the one I am currently writing. I love to listen to my playlist and just get lost in the story I'm crafting.
MR: Is there a book that people might be surprised to learn you love?
NF: "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" by Tucker Max
Find Nicole Fanning’s books here: Nicole Fanning on Amazon