The 40 But 10: Nico Bell

 

I've pulled together 40ish questions - some bookish, some silly - and have asked authors to limit themselves to answering only 10 of them. That way, it keeps the interviews fresh and connectable for all of us!

Today we are joined by Nico Bell. Nico is the author of Food Fright and Static Screams. She is also the Editor-in-Chief for Mad Axe Media, as well as co-editor for anthologies such as Mine: A Body Autonomy Anthology and Publishers Weekly BookLife Best of 2024 Food Fright: A Diet Riot Anthology. When she isn’t writing, she’s playing with her dog, Egg. You can find her here: website   |   tiktok   |   Insta

What’s something that’s true about you but no one believes? 

I have a BS in Biomedical Engineering. It’s kinda weird when people ask me if I went to school for writing and that’s my answer (I did go back to school and earned an MFA in Writing). They’re like “No you didn’t” LOL. It was one of those things where my parents influenced me to turn from a creative field to a scientific one. I totally understand the reasoning, and I was only seventeen when I started college, so I look back and realize I didn’t really have the agency to speak up for myself. Still, it’s a huge regret, probably one of the biggest I have.

What’s your kryptonite as a writer? 

Self-doubt. I don’t want to fail, so I don’t start writing. It’s a really weird dynamic, and even though I’ve been in this industry for close to fifteen years, I still must force myself to sit at my computer and get words on a page. I wish I could say it has gotten easier over the years, but it hasn’t. Tight deadlines help, but overall, it’s certainly my kryptonite.

If you met your characters in real life, what would you say to them? 

I’m so sorry.

If you could cast your characters in a movie, which actors would play them and why? 

Nothing would make me happier in the book world than for This Cruise Sucks to be made into a movie and for Paul F. Thompkins to play the squid. He’s an incredible comedian, and if anyone could pull off a killer Cephalopoda it’s 100% him. I’ll be waiting for Netflix’s call.

What genres won’t you read? 

I’ve stopped reading fantasy books. I don’t have anything against them, but I used to do book reviews for Publishers Weekly, and they gradually switched from horror books to exclusively giving me fantasy to read. For two years, I basically only read 500+ word fantasy, so now, I tend to pick other genres.

What’s the single best line you’ve ever read? 

“Torture is torture and humiliation is humiliation only when you choose to suffer.” It’s from Chuck Palahniuk’s book Choke, which is the first book I read from him and he quickly became my favorite author. The quotes is surrounded by a bit of a, um, unsavory moment, but the line has really stuck with me. Sometimes, I believe it to be true. There are choices in life to help some situations be bearably, and sometimes, the choice is out of our hands, but it’s a provocative sentence (in my opinion) that is worth exploring.

What’s on your literary bucket list? 

I’d like to travel to the Bram Stoker festival in Dublin so I can be with other vampires. . . Oh, I mean, so I can enjoy being around people who love the story of Dracula.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve given/received as a gift? 

My husband, son, and I do an “ugly” Christmas ornament exchange every year. The weirdest one I got was this creepy antique/vintage clown head attached to a busted-up conch shell with little legs hanging down from it. I’m one hundred percent sure its eyes followed me around for the whole season. A lot of the weirdest things I’ve given or received come from that exchange, and I’m pretty sure most of them are haunted.

What’s the one thing you wish you knew when you were younger? 

All bodies are beautiful. They’re all worthy of love and respect, and anyone who doesn’t see value in that is a fucking asshole. If someone doesn’t like your body, it’s their problem, not yours. The idea that only one body type is beautiful is rooted in racism, ableism, queerphobia, and transphobia, to say the least. It isn’t just about fat bodies getting bullied. The world doesn’t always respect people with disabilities, people from other cultures, limb differences, skin conditions . . . the list goes on and one, and some people will always see those bodies in a negative light. Don’t let that stop you from living your best existence. In fact, the thing that pisses those bullies off the most is when you are out enjoying yourself. I wish I knew that as a child when the first time a boy called me fat. I was in third grade. I wish I knew that every single day of my life. Maybe I wouldn’t have developed an eating disorder (or maybe I still would have). The wish I could tell my younger self is how much I’ll grow to love myself, to overcome the hate, and to flourish. I even co-edited a fat-positive horror anthology called Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology which earned the Publishers Weekly BookLife Best of 2024. Basically, I’d tell myself “fat” isn’t a bad word. It’s three little letters, and it’s going to be hard to learn to accept yourself as is, but don’t give up. It’s coming.

What scares you the most? 

The complete destruction of democracy, the end of the world as we know it because of climate change, when the truth is so clear and so many decide it’s a lie, and spiders.

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Out July 15th!

What has eight arms, two tentacles, and one gnarly appetite . . .? A Vampire Squid.

While enjoying a much-needed cruise vacation, Nora and her friend Tori spend their days downing endless umbrella cocktails and their nights rockin’ out to gnarly bands—mainly Vampire Weekend. The 24-hour buffet is constantly calling their names, but unfortunately, something answers the call—a giant squid with an appetite for cruise passengers.

But Nora and Tori have other problems. Their status as BFFs is hanging on by bikini thread, and this vacay should have given them time to repair it. But no. Of course, an annoying monstrous creature from the depths of the dark ocean just had to rise up to the surface, feast on terrified humans, and ruin their girl bonding time.

Thanks a lot, Captain Sucky.

But maybe, this is the very crisis that will bring the two friends together, or maybe, the women will learn that a blood-sucking cephalopod is too great a foe, even against the power of friendship.