Kicking off 2024 we are starting the year right with a phenomenal local author, Nic Brewer, writing of the brilliantly twisted Suture. Here she is being interviewed by Words Worth’s own, equally brilliant Charlie. ~ Alex
Photo by Becca Lemire Photography, 2019. Nic doesn’t look like this.
Nic Brewer is a queer, autistic writer and editor from Toronto. She writes fiction, mostly; her first novel, Suture, was published by Book*hug in Fall 2021. She is the co-founder of Frond, an online literary journal for prose by LGBTQI2SA writers, and formerly co-managed the micropress words(on)pages. She doesn’t look like her author photo, doesn’t have an MFA, and really wants to hear about what you love most in the world. She lives in Kitchener with her wife and their dog.
Suture by Nic Brewer is a gory depiction of what it means to love an artist. This novel is not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach, because it's filled to the brim with gorgeous prose juxtaposed by gruesome body horror. I loved this book from start to finish because a little part of me felt seen in each of the main characters.
Nic also curates the Sad Girls Book Club (Non-girls welcome, sadness optional) We reached out to Nic by email to get her thoughts on her process, the catharsis of writing graphic scenes, and drinking in her life.
Words Worth: Because we're a bookstore, I'd love to know what you're currently reading and how you're enjoying it (or not!) so far.
Nic Brewer: I have two books currently on the go: I'm reading Jade City by Fonda Lee, and The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. When I was much younger, middle-school age, I absolutely loved fantasy, and then I went through an elitist phase of my life and denounced all genre literature at all, and then a few years ago started dipping my toes into speculative, sci-fi, and fantasy books again. I am not a reader who reads for story, though; I read for the writing. So obviously, then, I am quite literally obsessed with N.K. Jemisin. My wife and I have "car books," which I read aloud to her while she drives, something we started on our honeymoon road trip. We finished Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy last year, and I couldn't wait to read more - so now we're in book two of the Inheritance trilogy. I simply cannot recommend N.K. Jemisin highly enough. Jade City has been intriguing, and I'm making my way through it fairly quickly, but it's not a standout for me personally (although I see why people like it!) -- I think I just personally crave a little bit more from the storytelling.
Suture copyright Nic Brewer
WW: Suture is a book about art, pain, mental illness and support systems, all of which are heavy and personal topics to delve into for a debut novel. What was your main source of inspiration when coming up with the concept? How did you feel while writing the graphic scenes?
NB: My own broken brain was my main source of inspiration for Suture! The concept itself was borne of a university assignment, where for a third-year course on satire we had the option of writing a satire for our final assignment. I wrote a story about art school and called it "On Judging Art," satirizing the absurdity of suggesting criticism of something as deeply personal as art could ever be harmless or objective. (I cringe a little now, at that sentiment, but we have all been 20 once, we have all been young). Over the course of the decade it took for me to write what would become Suture, though, my own little life--passing through some small horrors--fueled the story. The graphic scenes were cathartic to write, because although I spent the better part of my twenties in almost constant distress from depression, anxiety, and emotional abuse, for the most part I seemed fine: it was a relief to write something as obviously and horrifically painful as the innermost workings of my mental illness.
WW: All authors have unique writing processes. Could you tell us a bit about yours? Do you prefer writing based off of an outline or not? Suture is a very character-driven novel- how did you go about discovering your characters' personalities and behaviors?
NB: My writing process is slower than honey, honestly. It took me ten years to write a 40,000 word novel, and I suspect it will take me ten more to write another. I absolutely need an outline (probably the autism), but I also will rewrite the outline dozens of times over the course of a manuscript's life. I spend a lot of time thinking about what I'm writing, and I'll jot down notes or phrases or feelings and then eventually, after weeks or months or maybe even a year, I'll sit down and I'll really, truly write: I'll draft an outline, I'll draft a pitch, a summary, and I'll write it. And then it needs to sit again for awhile, and I need to think more, and then I'll need to go back, and I will have grown and so I will tend and prune the story so it has grown with me, and apparently after a long time it may be ready for some generous publisher to take a chance on us.
Suture's characters are all inspired by personalities from my life - most of those are mine, some belonged to an ex, and others were passers-by. You know, it's funny, Suture is unquestionably fiction and theoretically that means I made it all up, but sometimes it feels more like I just put it together. People watching has always been one of my very favourite things, and I have filled pages and pages with tiny observations about behaviours, conversations, personalities. Maybe this, too, is the autism: always studying, always trying to figure out what it means to be here in this world.
WW: I'm curious about your personal reading habits, and I'm always on the prowl for a good recommendation. What books are sitting on your bedside table? Do you have a favorite read from this past year? What new release are you most looking forward to in 2024? Do you tend to read lots of body horror for inspiration in your own writing, or is there another genre you gravitate more towards?
NB: I wish I had better reading habits! 2023 was a pretty great reading year for me, and I averaged about two books a month, but goodness gracious I wish I read more. My top four picks from my 2023 reads were Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi, Burr by Brooke Lockyer, Outlawed by Anna North, and Beloved by Toni Morrison: to me, these were books whose stories and storytelling were inextricable from each other, rich and sharp and tender and vivid, travelling through the hardest parts of being human. (Oh, wait, as I'm writing I also just remembered Margaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body, by Megan Milks, and I have to include it, too.)
There are SO many amazing books coming out this year, but a few that immediately come to mind that I'm excited about are: Code Noir by Canisia Lubrin (Canisia is, I think, literally a genius, and it remains one of my life's greatest accomplishments that she provided a blurb for Suture), These Songs I Know by Heart by Erin Brubacher (she has a tiny poetry collection that I adore and I am beyond curious about what kind of novel may come from the brain of someone who writes beautiful tiny poetry), and Disobedience by Daniel Sarah Karasick (their debut book of poems really struck a chord with me, and I just love queer and trans speculative fiction). Writing those out now, I realize these are all novels by poets, and it's true, I really love novels by poets.
In terms of what I read--currently I gravitate towards books that make trauma into something physical, I think. Could be ghosts, could be body horror, could even just be honesty -- when I'm discovering something new, I absolutely gravitate towards horror and speculative fiction by queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and racialized folks, but a good pitch or a pretty cover can win me over too.
WW: I'd love to hear anything you'd like to say about up and coming projects of yours. Do you have any plans for another novel? If so, has your writing process changed after having published your first book? Can you tell us a bit about the premise and/or genre of whatever you're working on?
NB: You know, Charlie, I would also love to know more about my up and coming projects. Har, har. I do have plans for another novel - wrote a grant application for it and everything - but I have been trying to listen to my soft little body and take some time to rest. My twenties were brutal, and then all of a sudden at 28 I met the love of my life and we bought a house and got married and started planning for a family! And my life is amazing! And so I'm just drinking in this lovely little life of mine for now, resting, playing with my brand new baby niece and her even more brand new baby brother, et cetera. Soon, though, I hope to carve writing time back into my days, though, because I have a weird little story about ghosts and trauma and the weather to write.
We would love to extend a huge thank you to Nic for agreeing to answer our questions! You can find her at notnicolebrewer.com/ or on Instagram.