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3Q’s – Nick Kolakowski – if you start him up, he’ll never stop!

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Hugely fun one today! Nick Kolakowski is an author whom I had previously read, but only recently connected with. He’s prolific and ensuring his loyal fans have dark fiction frequently available to read and his stories constantly push the reader in several ways at once.

I’m super excited to have Nick join today for a new 3Q’s!

Welcome Nick!

Nick Shot

Steve: What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?

NK: When I was a lot younger, I attempted to emulate Stephen King and write 3,000 words a day. I learned fairly quickly that one of the reasons King can hit that mark is a.) he’s superhumanly prolific, and b.) writing horror is his full-time job. I don’t hold myself to a daily word count because some days are better than others, energy-wise, and sometimes the story isn’t quite ready for a multi-thousand-word rush—although when I get closer to the end of a book, I tend to write faster.

I absolutely write every day, though, and usually at the same time in the evening. That consistency in terms of time slots makes up for not having a word count, I think. When you build that kind of habit, at least some words generally tend to come once you take a seat.

Steve: You’re riding an elevator and BAM! It gets stuck. What two authors (one living and one dead) would you happen to find yourself stuck with?

NK: I’d choose Patricia Highsmith as my dead author. She was a misanthrope and possibly a psychopath but she also had a bitter sense of humor, and I think it’d be highly entertaining to be trapped in a small space with her so long as her cigarettes held out and she didn’t try to murder me with a pen.

I’d choose Chuck Palahniuk as my living author. I’ve seen him read three times at this point, and he’s amazing in person—funny, erudite, touching. We’d be trapped in a small space but it wouldn’t be boring, and I bet he’d get along really well with Patricia. They’d come up with some great ideas for dooming the human race.

Steve: Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!

NK: The latest novella is MADAM TOMAHAWK. It’s the next book in the long-running “Grifter’s Song” series of novellas, each of which follow two grifters (Sam and Rachel) as they variously attempt to rip people off and/or not get killed by the people they’ve ripped off. I’m particularly proud of MADAM TOMAHAWK because it takes place in DC, where I grew up, and it allowed me to write about the sections of the city that don’t often get much love in thriller fiction—there’s a whole urban life taking place well beyond the White House and the Capitol.

This was also one of my first times writing something based off IP I didn’t create, and it was fun to work from a series bible, as well as riff on previous books in the series. The previous episodes were written by great folks like Shawn Cosby, Hilar Davidson, and Paul Garth, so there was a lot to live up to.

Steve: Bonus Question! If you were transported back in time, which Pop Band/Hit Band would you hope to find yourself a member of?

NK: The Stones. Can you imagine what it must have been like to tour with them through the 60s and 70s? You’d probably end up dangling from a chandelier with a knife in your teeth and a pistol in each hand. It would’ve been amazing… if you lived through it. And if you lived through it, nothing could kill you. Just look at Keith.

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