Author Lisa de Nikolits’ latest novel draws inspiration from the Beach

By JULIA SAWICKI

Author Lisa De Nikolits’ new novel draws inspiration from the Beach as she tells the story of the secrets uncovered when you look deeper into a picturesque and serene community

That Time I Killed You proves the age old cliche: “Nothing is quite as it seems.”

De Nikolits has been writing for years, working as both an art director and an author, working in multiple media and forms of storytelling. Her interest in crime and noir fiction writing extends past the surface level, diving into why her characters do what they do, and what happens after. 

“The Tagline for the book is ordinary people doing very bad things,” she explained in a recent interview with Beach Metro Community News.

“It happens. But the thing is, we’ll see something and we know the crime, but then we don’t know the after or the why… Sometimes, there’s just not the reasons we expect. Everything will point to it being something, but then it actually isn’t. It’s something completely different.”

Her new book is a reflection of that idea. That Time I Killed you began as a short story in 2004 and only covered the crime. But de Nikolits couldn’t let the story die off there; she needed to see her character’s stories through, while asking the most important question.

“What happens after you get away with murder?”

Main character Janis Wheeler has grown comfortable in her perfect life, with her adoring supportive husband, children and a passion for baking. But what hides underneath is a secret that could destroy everything she’s built. With a knock on her door, she’s suddenly facing her past, and has to decide what she’s willing to do to protect everything she loves.

The book takes place in a community, Sandpiper Crescent, that is an alter ego for the Beach created by de Nikolits.

Remembering the summer when Wheeler Avenue was dug up, de Nikolits said she sat in her sunroom watching the construction, something she compared to “living on Mars with machinery.” The destruction inspired the book’s main plot points, and also gave her the last name of the protagonist. With references to the Glen Stewart ravine, Bellefair Avenue, and the Kew Beach lawn bowlers, De Nikolits’ tale is full of references to the neighbourhood she called home for many years before recently moving.

She said the writing process begins with a room covered in paper and some crayons, mapping out her plot, going back and forth between ideas and characters. But as any writer will admit, her stories often don’t work out the way she planned.

Characters will surprise her, she said, taking on larger roles than planned, while plot threads take on a new meaning while she writes, looking at the paper and asking herself what the “falling dominoes,” could mean. Then, when the planning is complete, her work comes in bursts.

“I call it binge writing,” de Nikolits said. 

During those periods, everything else takes a back seat. She has written as many as 80,000 words in just 12 days. 

“Fortunately, I don’t sleep a lot,” she laughed.

Ideas don’t stop arriving and de Nikolits said she records voice memos, scribbles on napkins, and refuses to speak after waking up from a particularly vivid dream. Even after 14 books, finishing the writing of one only leads her to another, she said.

“I always see myself this way: There’s a horse race and I’ve got my blinders on, and the gate opens, and I’m going. I’m just going to do my thing, and I’m going to keep writing my books,” said de Nikolits.

“There’s a time where everything does come to an end, but it hasn’t yet. And I’m really grateful for that.”

For more information on de Nikolits and her work, or to purchase That Time I Killed You, please visit https://lisawriter.com/