Archived- Promotional Q&A's: Q&A with Nicki Elson - CLOSED

[Jennifer]

A finance major! :-o

I love the idea of three guys named Dave (David, Big D, and Dave) who woo college student Jen. How did you come up with that concept, Nicki?

[Nicki]

Jennifer wrote: "A finance major! :-o

I love the idea of three guys named Dave (David, Big D, and Dave) who woo college student Jen. How did you come up with that concept, Nicki?"

Hi other Jen! Thanks so much for coming by. :) The idea for the story had been playing in my head for a while, but it wasn't until just before I sat down to actually type it out that I had the idea for all the guys to have the same name...and now I'm trying to remember exactly where that came from...oh yeah! I originally had a prologue with Jen as an adult & married with her own NA daughter and she was reflecting back on her college days. That's when I thought it would be good to give all the guys the same name so that it wouldn't be entirely clear which one she ended up with.

I ditched the prologue early on, but I still liked the idea of all of 'em having the same name - it was just sort of silly, and since there were about a thousand Daves on campus back in the 80s, totally realistic. But I myself never dated a Dave, which is what made the name safe to use. ;)

[Nicki]

Hey, just want to let everyone know that I've decided to give out party favors! Anyone who asks a question or leaves a comment will get a pdf of the unpublished Three Daves Appendix (3 days from the guy's POV). You can either leave your e-mail in your comment or send it to me at elson.nicki@gmail.com.

Also, on Monday I'll randomly choose one question-asker to win an eCollection of both my novels plus my short single.

Just a small way to show you how much I appreciate you. :)

[[deleted user]]

Oooh, an author with a Chicago past and a character attending Central Illinois University? I'm a Chicagoan myself [although I attended SIU instead ;) ] -- and i always love catching glimpses of something I recognize from real life or my (entire) life spent in Chicago and the suburbs.
I'm just curious if there is any connection to yourself/your Chicago or Illinois experiences in the characters you created in Three Daves... given the setting. :)
nswick@gmail.com

[Nicki]

Hello other Nikki (with two k's). Yay for a fellow Chicagoan (well, western Chicago 'burbs for me). The fictional CIU campus is heavily based on Eastern Illinois University where I went to undergrad - and I went on a few road trips to Southern...had a great time on ALL of them. ;) So that's the biggest tie in with my Illinois experiences. Except for Jen's godmother, none of the characters are wholly based on anyone I knew in real life. They're each sort of a mish-mash of different people from my college experience. One of my former roommates was going crazy trying to figure out who was who while she was reading - despite the fact that I repeatedly told her it was pure fiction. Oh wait, one more real life "character" - the crappy car that David drives is a replica of the crappy car my friend Ed drove.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll send you off the pdf on Monday, okay?

[[deleted user]]

Well, it sounds like an interesting book! I'll definitely pick it up. :)

[Jennifer]

Nicki, I didn't know about the prologue! That sounds like the plot of Definitely, Maybe--have you seen that movie?

[Nicki]

Nikki wrote: "Well, it sounds like an interesting book! I'll definitely pick it up. :)"

Yay! And good to know because the pdf I'm going to send you gives away major spoilers - so you'll definitely want to save it for after you read the book.

[Nicki]

Jennifer wrote: "Nicki, I didn't know about the prologue! That sounds like the plot of Definitely, Maybe--have you seen that movie?"

No, I haven't - is that the one w/ the dad telling the son about how he met his mom and you don't know which one he ends up with until the very end? If so, someone mentioned a while ago while reading Three Daves that it reminded them of that movie. Weird how creative minds think alike sometimes, isn't it?

[Jennifer]

Very. I don't know if you're a Ryan Reynolds fan but I thought it was a cute movie. Your book was better though!

[Michelle]

Hi Nicki
Three Daves sounds like a great story.
I'm wondering about the pink shoes... they are so cute, in a cheeky kinda way! I'm thinking that maybe your main character wears these shoes...
Do they feature anywhere in the story? I hope they do!
E-mail : mish@writer-in-transit.co.za

[Nicki]

Michelle wrote: "Hi Nicki
Three Daves sounds like a great story.
I'm wondering about the pink shoes... they are so cute, in a cheeky kinda way! I'm thinking that maybe your main character wears these shoes...
Do ..."

Hi Michelle! Nice to see you in this neighborhood of the eVerse. ;) Heck yes, Jen wears those shoes - come on, we ALL did, hehe - but, er, I don't think they ever get a specific mention in the book. This is actually the second cover for the book - the first one was dark & had the guys' shoes on front. I liked that cover, but it didn't do much to convey the fun & flirty nature of the story, so we changed to a pair of shoes that did, and I'm thrilled that you find them "cute, in a cheeky kinda way" - that totally describes this story.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll be sending out the 3D Appendices on Monday. :)

[Nicki]

Jennifer wrote: "Very. I don't know if you're a Ryan Reynolds fan but I thought it was a cute movie. Your book was better though!"

Aww, aren't you the sweetest. :) I wouldn't call myself a Ryan Reynolds fan, but I sure don't mind looking at him. I'll get that movie on my list - has been too long since I've seen a good chick flick. Thanks for the tip!

(If you haven't noticed the notes to the others, I'll eMail you the bonus pdf on Monday.)