Literary Fiction
Date Published: April 16th
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
What is
the hardest part of writing your books?
I love to
write. But it isn’t a merely mechanical act. I need to be in the right place
mentally, with some quiet space. I work full time in a different profession,
also a creative realm, so it’s sometimes challenging to muster additional
creative drive for my writing.
My solution,
for the last fifteen years, has been to wake at 4 am. The house is quiet and I
can be alone with thoughts and my process.
What are your most played songs?
I tend to
lock onto a song or a set of songs, and listen to them over and over. I listen
for songs that carry a certain emotional energy, and which illicit mental
images that could fuel the story. But there’s a catch: I cannot listen to music
while I’m writing.
Do you
have critique partners or beta readers?
I have been a
part of two writer’s groups over the past decade or more. Trusted friends and
highly capable writers who share a passion for storytelling excellence.
Something happens in my head, when I read my story out loud to others. I hear
the words and rhythms differently, more acutely. And I have complete trust in
the shared intentions of my writing cohort, that we want to help each other be
the best writers we can be.
What book
are you reading now?
I often
circle back to books I have read and enjoyed, of certain authors whose voices
resonate with me. I will sometimes begin my writing by first reading a bit of
one of these stories. This seems to help me shift away from my analytical brain
to my emotional brain, which is where my best writing resides.
How did
you start your writing career?
I have always
loved to write. But I mostly wrote commentary and exposition, of architecture
and cities, and life. In one of my pieces, I used a vignette of a fictional
situation. It was powerful, and fun to write, and one of my readers asked me if
I’d considered writing a novel. Thus began my adventure, to write Death and
Life in the City of Dreams. Eighteen years later, the novel is complete. And it
was quite an adventure.
Tell us about your next release.
I have a
collection of short stories that will be released soon. The Boatman in the
Shadows is a collection of stories about the last day of something; a threshold
of someone’s life. These stories are varied, sometimes surreal, psychological,
and very human. There is darkness, but always ending in the light.
Nicholas Deitch is a writer, architect, and advocate for social justice whose fiction explores the intersection of cities, history, and human resilience. His passion for storytelling began when a colleague recognized the emotional depth of his nonfiction work. Since then, he has honed his craft, publishing short stories in Litro Magazine, Club Plum, and Santa Barbara Literary Journal. His short story “Grace Eternal” won Best Fiction at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference (2019).
Death and Life in the City of Dreams, his debut novel, is deeply influenced by his experiences in nonprofit leadership and the design of inclusive communities and urban places.
Originally from Los Angeles, he now lives in Ventura, California, with his wife and creative partner Diana.
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