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Lisa made a family road trip a little more interesting when she was ten by announcing that she had decided on her pee-u-da-name. After a moment of silence her father asked if she meant pseudonym? Exactly! And the name she had spent endless miles mulling over was Elizabeth Deane. Although Elizabeth Deane has no bylines, Lisa de Nikolits--the name Lisa's parents mulled over endlessly--has many.
At age twenty-one Lisa started out as a feature writer at a South African magazine. After a few months she was asked to pinch hit for the layout artist. She had found her true love--she enjoyed designing pages, it was fun! So much fun that she spent the next twenty years as art director for magazines including Vogue and Marie Claire.
But one of the best things about her job was that she got to meet remarkable women every day. Women who were crying out to be written about. So Lisa wrote. Late at night on borrowed typewriters and eventually a dinosaur of a PC. With orange type that flickered on a black screen, she captured stories of women who populated her days.
Her short stories have appeared in various anthologies, her poetry received a bronze medal in Canada, and her book Single Girls Go Mad Sooner was published in 1995. Along the way she's also dealt with the heartache of the book that went into final proofs before the publisher shut down because of financial troubles, leaving Lisa's literary baby stranded. Despite setbacks, this writer/art director/photographer who calls Toronto home is still "fired up" with the help of her supportive parents, feisty sister, and companion and fellow photographer Brandford Dunlop.
Find out more about Lisa by visiting her website: www.LisadeNikolitsWriter.com
The Hungry Mirror
By Lisa de Nikolits
Zero wins! Working at a fashion magazine, a young woman finds herself as the perpetuator of the myth of beauty. She spends hours retouching photos into perfection and fooling ordinary women into believing that perfection is achievable. She even fools herself. In starving herself she fast becomes trapped in a cage of addictions walled by self-hatred and filled with doubt.
This novel, written in first person, is the story of everywoman and her relentless struggle with body image. Finally the young woman realizes the choice is hers--to live or die. She learns to look beyond the media's definition of beauty, the complex friendships between women, the unspoken truths about marriage and sexuality as well as various religious and spiritual messages, ancient philosophies, fairytales and legends.
In the end, the young woman learns the true value of size zero is indeed nothing.
Genre: Poetry & Fiction
Hardcover: 244 pages
Publisher: Inanna Publications
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By: Wow!,
on 5/3/2010
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: body image, eating disorder, author blog tour, interview with Lisa de Nikolits, fiction and poetry, road to publishing, book giveway contest, The Hungry Mirror, Lisa de Nikolits, Add a tag
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By: Wow!,
on 5/3/2010
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: body image, eating disorder, author blog tour, interview with Lisa de Nikolits, fiction and poetry, road to publishing, book giveway contest, The Hungry Mirror, Lisa de Nikolits, Add a tag
12 Comments on Lisa de Nikolits, author of The Hungry Mirror, launches her blog tour!, last added: 5/5/2010
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Thanks for a great interview Lisa! What was so encouraging to me was that you worked-on and off-for a long time on this novel. Sometimes I think we worry that if a project is taking too long maybe it's flawed and we give it up. Readers, how long have you been working on your latest project?
This sounds like a book I would definitely like to read! :) I think the press is interesting, too as I had never heard of Inanna Publishing--I LOVE YOUR rejection story. (And I also don't stake my rejections to the wall, but some editors. . .NO, just kidding.) Anyway, thanks for the interview. Would love to win this book.
Margo
http://margodill.com/blog/
How fascinating! As a 40-something mother of three children, I definitely struggle with body image. But the truth is I can't remember a time when I didn't going all the way back to when I was as young as 8 or 9. This is a book I'd love to read.
Congratulations on your success! I like your comments on rejection! Laura Ingalls Wilder once said, the end seems sad, but it isn't, really, it is only the beginning of something new. That was when she didn't graduate school, since she was getting married. However, she did teach, and eventually wrote the "Little House" series. I, too, want to write a series of books, about staying in one place when growing up (hers were about moving about when growing up).
I also have an ongoing book about being a mother of a child who has two rare disorders that make him the only one, worldwide, with both. After 22 hours of brain surgery at age 15 (talk about body image), I want to inform all parents on how to optimize their own children's potential for typical and atypical children. I know if I can cut it down to the most important steps, it would be more "publishable". However, I cut things down to a Flesch-Kincaid reading score of 12.0 or higher, that is my problem. Does your editor or publisher have that in mind when they want you to do re-writes?
Great article, interview, and giveaway! I am a survivor of anorexia and continue to struggle with food, body image, and disordered eating. I would love to read a copy of this book.
Dear Jennifer, thank you very much for your comments!
I would have to ask my publisher but I don't think (I am assuming) that she was that mathematical about it.
My rewrites were predominantly content based; to bridge gaps in the story (I made some assumptions in my mind), to fix timelines, take out excess padding, provide more detailed character insights and change internal narrative into dialogue.
And then, taking my cue from my publisher's suggestions, I would run with the ball, often getting back to her and saying "I hope you don't mind but I changed this too..." So it was a great collaborative relationship.
I would suggest you write it exactly as you need to, and then your publisher can guide you from there
I would love to read this book, and may even buy it if I don't win it. ;) The themes are of interest to me and the interview made me even more interested. Then there's the bonus of the writer inspiration aspect of the chat. Wow!
Thanks, and I'll be following this tour.
thank you MP - and everybody! The themes are indeed complex ones, so I really appreciate the support and interest :))
This book sounds amazing. I find this topic is such an important one and yet one that is rarely discussed. I also love to hear about other writers that work on a project for years!
I really enjoyed this interview. As someone who has struggled with my weight and self-image for many years I am really interested in The Hungry Mirror.
this is a topic that needs to be explored. Sounds great. I just did an article on Anorexia in the elderly...Eating disorders affect every age...unfortunately.
Dear Sarah, I realised, when I was about 35, that my issues weren't going to resolve themselves.
I somehow thought that I would reach a certain age and my brain would 'come right' or that I would just outgrow my concerns.
But I realised that if anything, issues become worse unless treated, and I had a vision of myself in my sixties, still suffering the same torments and I didn't want that.
Thank you for writing that story.