Nicole Evelina's Blog Member of the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors

Upcoming Events

For this month, we’re supposed to talk about an upcoming event and its offerings. I’ll list my author events below, but they are different than ones most of you would be interested in. So instead, I’d like to tell you about an event that the St. Louis chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) has planned. I’m on the board and planning committee.

Thursday, April 28
5:30–7:30 p.m.
Angad Arts Hotel
3550 Samuel Shepard Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63103

Join IABC-St. Louis as we celebrate communication, communicators, spring and surviving the pandemic at our first 2022 in-person event.

Current, former and prospective IABC members are welcome, as are students.

  • Members $25
  • Non-members $40
  • Students FREE with promo code

Save the date or register now. We’d love to see you there!

And if you are interested in getting to know me as an author, feel free to say hi at one of these in-person events.

June 23-26
Chanticleer Book Conference – 10th Anniversary
Bellingham, WA
Date, time and subject of presentation TBD

August 4-6
Romance GenreCon 2022
Kansas City, MO
Nicole will be attending and signing books

Emotions, the Characters We Love to Hate, and Paying it Forward

Image purchased from Adobe Stock

February is all about emotions, specifically love because of Valentine’s Day. Emotions are one of the keys to a great novel. Without them, there is no connection between reader and story or reader and author. They are also a core component of the conflict that drives a novel forward.

Think about your own experience. When is the last time you kept going with a book you didn’t feel strongly about? Probably not recently. But sometimes we “hate-read” books we don’t like just like we “hate-watch” watch TV shows we don’t like–either waiting for them to get better or continuing on because we just can’t believe how truly bad they are. In the same vein but on the opposite end, we continue on with books we love because we can’t wait to see what happens next.

Then there are the characters. Obviously there are those we love and care about but some of the best are the ones we love to hate. Any character that strikes us with strong emotion (positive or negative) is a testament to the skill of the author (or actor, if it is on TV). I still remember the first time I encountered a character like that. I was probably 18 or so and watching the show Roswell (the original, not the remake. Yes, I am that old). The character of Tess made me so mad, I was in awe of how much I hated her. (Oddly enough, the actress who played her, a very young Emily DeRaven, has become one of my all-time favorite actors.)

As an author, I still keep her in mind when writing my villains. They are ton of fun to write and if I can make my readers feel an ounce of the loathing I felt for Tess, I have truly accomplished something. It’s hard to explain how to do that. You have to create a character who is abhorrent, but give them qualities that still make them attractive at the same time. So they can’t be cardboard evil; you have to feel sympathy for them as well. For example, in my only contemporary novel, Been Searching for You, there are two villains, Nick and Mia. Nick is a total jerk, but he has a history of being kind to the main character, Annabeth, so while you don’t want to see the two of them together, you can’t totally hate him, either. Mia is Annabeth’s best frenemy.  She’s complete witch but you also see her taking care of Annabeth as well, so while you want to shake or slap her, you can also see why Annabeth keeps her around.

But emotion isn’t just for the page and the reader. It’s for the author, too. There is a saying “no tears in writer, no tears in the reader,” meaning if we don’t feel emotions (yes, I have actually cried while writing certain scenes) they won’t translate to our readers and make them feel what we want them to. That is why as an author, it is so important to get inside the heads of your characters and really feel what they are feeling. It shows when you do.

And honestly emotion is why I am here on this blog as well. Part of the reason why I write historical fiction is to educate. While my stories contain elements of fiction, because I write biographical historical fiction, they are also highly factual, where I can be. I want people to read my books and come away wanting to do their own research to find out more about the people and events in my books.

That same impulse, to teach and share, is why I agreed to be NAIWE’s Novel Writing Expert. I love to pass on what I have learned (often the hard way) to other writers. I’m hoping to be able to do that in more specific ways as I find my footing on this blog. So please bear with me, and if there is anything specific you’d like me to write about, let me know in the comments.

Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself…

“…I’m a [wo]man of wealth and taste.”

Okay, maybe not wealth yet, but I’m working on that. I do have excellent taste.

Hi! I’m Nicole Evelina, your new Novel Writing Expert. And if you know what song the title and first line are from, I want to get to know you better! (Hint: It’s the Rolling Stones “Sympathy for the Devil.”)

I was asked to take on this role after presenting at the NAIWE Conference last year. I’m not exactly sure what I’ve gotten myself into, but I’m looking forward to seeing what the next few years will bring!

I thought I’d use this first blog post to tell you a little about myself so you know why I’m here and who the person is behind the blog posts.

Who Am I?
So let’s get the official stuff out of the way first.

I’m a USA Today bestselling author of both fiction and non-fiction. I write biographical historical fiction, historical fantasy, women’s fiction/contemporary romance, and non-fiction, including history, literary criticism, biography and pop culture. I focus on women’s history and telling the stories unknown or little-known figures.

I started out as a self-published author, but am now a hybrid because I have books under traditional contract as well. My self published books include:

These books have won more than 40 awards, including four Book of the Year designations. Madame Presidentess was previously optioned for film.

My most recent books (not published yet) are all traditional contracts and all non-fiction. I don’t have exact publication dates yet, but here is what I know:

  • The League of Women Voters in St. Louis: 1960-2021 – A history of this organization. This was a work for hire job and we are still editing and they are trying to find a publisher. Lots up in the air, including the title.
  • American’s Forgotten Suffragists: Virginia and Francis Minor – the first ever biography of suffragists Virginia and Francis Minor, set to be published in March 2023 by Globe Pequot.
  • Sex and the City: A Cultural History – analysis of the show, its characters and legacy, set to be published by Rowman & Littlefield sometime this year.
  • Fierce Females of Television: A Cultural History – Covers 10 TV shows from the 1990s to today. Due to my editor Jan 2023 for publication by Rowman & Littlefield in 2023 or 2024.

I’m currently working on a few historical fiction books, including one set in WWII Poland and two set in the early 1900s U.S. One of the later involves a female inventor who is not given credit for her achievement (it is given to a man) and the other is the real-life story behind a famous musical. I would love to write all three this year, but given that I have a full-time job in marketing, that isn’t likely to happen.

Yes, you CAN have a novel writing career with a full time job. Lots of people do it! Maybe that will be my next blog post.

The Fun Stuff
What else? Let’s see.

  • I’m a Virgo, I love cats, books and history.
  • I’ve become a bit of a DIY-er during the pandemic, which I am very slowly chronicling on a blog called Everyday Luxury (I don’t have as much time to update that one as I’d like).
  • I read about 100 books a year (not including those I use for research or the few that are annual re-reads for me).
  • I attend at least one writing conference a year and am a frequent speaker at those and other events. (Anyone want a blog post on public speaking?)
  • I have 20 years of experience in marketing and a master’s in marketing/public relations.
  • I am in love with the city of Chicago. Hoping to move there in a few years.

Looking Forward on this Blog
Is there anything specific you’d like to know about on this blog? Questions that you have? If, so please drop your thoughts, suggestions and questions in the comments. If not, I’m just going to write about whatever book-related topic is on my mind in a given month.

I hope you will stick with me and see where this adventure takes us!

Latest Posts

Upcoming Events

March 28, 2022

Emotions, the Characters We Love to Hate, and Paying it Forward

February 22, 2022

Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself…

January 24, 2022

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