BookView Review

Welcome to BookView Interview, a conversation series where BookView talks to authors.

Recently, we talked to Nathan Nicolau about his writing and recently released book, Two, a unique coming-of-age story that defies conventional friendship norms (Read the review here).

What ultimately inspired you to become a writer?

As a kid, I was a big reader. I also remember writing goofy, unoriginal stories ripped from cartoons I watched in composition notebooks. In elementary school, one teacher asked the class what we wanted to be when we grew up. One said an astronaut. One said a firefighter. I said a writer. The teacher said I should be a pilot instead. What got me serious about writing was realizing that I didn’t want to make movies, though. I graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking in 2018 with dreams of directing my own movies. I tried to break into the film & TV industry but couldn’t. I ended up jobless for a year, and it sank me into a deep depression. With nowhere else to turn, I started writing as a positive outlet for my emotions. Until then, I swore up and down to people that I wasn’t good at any other creative outlets besides filmmaking. I didn’t realize I was selling myself short. I thought I wasn’t good at poetry. My first published poems proved me wrong. I thought I wasn’t good at prose fiction. My debut novel, TWO, proved me wrong. I once heard that we’re defined by what we’re not. I’m not a filmmaker or pilot, and because of that, I’m now a writer. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

What authors have had a strong influence on you or your writing?

I’m deeply influenced by Japanese authors like Mieko Kawakami, Haruki Murakami, and Osamu Dazai. I’m a poet at heart, so I must mention Frank O’Hara, Langston Hughes, E. E. Cummings, Mary Oliver, and Basho.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer?

I’ve met traditionally published writers and self-published ones like me, who all say the same thing: marketing. No matter what, writers have to market not only their books but themselves. It drains you mentally and financially. It would be great if I could write a book and instantly have everybody on Earth know about it, but that’s not how it works. Over time, I’ve realized a universal truth about writing: as passionate as you are to write it, someone out there will be as passionate to read it. As long as I keep trying to find those passionate people, the marketing hustle is worth it.

Tell us some more about your book.

TWO follows the unlikely friendship of Howl and Ella. Both are college-aged, aimless in life, and haunted by their pasts. They would have never met on any other day, but that changes after a surreal encounter at the park involving an Italian opera Ella could recite but could not understand. From then on, the two investigate the mystery of the unknown opera while traveling through their home city of Charlotte, NC. The book is told in Howl and Ella’s alternating perspectives and is a refreshing spin on the “boy-meets-girl” trope. For starters, the two never become romantically involved.

Tell us a little about how this story first came to be.

Back in 2017, while attending film school, I was sitting outside the library when a drama student started reciting lines from an Italian play she was in. I don’t speak Italian, but it was truly one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard. I told her that, and she thanked me. I walked away, not thinking anything of it.

That event popped into my head in 2020 when I was studying for my English master’s degree at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and needed to develop a Creative Writing thesis. I opted to write the first 80 pages of a novel and was paired up with Dr. Mark West to be my mentor. I had always wanted to tell a low-key, realistic story about platonic friendship and decided to use that one weird moment in my undergraduate years as the catalyst. The rest just came naturally.

Has this novel changed drastically as you created it?

Sure has, and I’ll never forget the development. The entire novel was originally going to be in Howl’s POV. After I sent the first 30 pages to Dr. West, he told me the voice was strong, but having this story told by one jaded male character was too limiting. He then suggested I write the novel from two perspectives. I tried it, and I ended up loving it. It just goes to show you that writers have to be open to all ideas.

What makes this book important right now?

We’re all starving for connection now more than ever, and TWO is a story that encapsulates that. We don’t always need another love story; we just need to find someone we can connect with at a deeper level to better ourselves and others.

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