In The Spotlight: Elizabeth Virginia Poirier
Elizabeth Virginia Poirier: Author of Nikki Come Home on Self-Destructive Characters, the Challenge of Setting the Pace, and Idolization of Celebrities
When Nikki Come Home came into my possession, I started with no idea what I was getting into. The synopsis was the tip of the iceberg inside those pages I found a rabbit hole. What I mean is the layers of this story were unlike anything I’d ever read. The dive into Nikki as a character and her life was done in a way that left the reader in me captivated and the writer in me in complete awe.
It made me very happy to be able to peek behind the curtain and speak to the writer of this powerhouse story. Check out my interview with Elizabeth Virginia Poirier below where she discusses writing self-destructive characters, the challenges of setting the pace, how we idolize celebrities, and how she self-published her novel, Nikki Come Home.
The character of Nikki Dickinson is complex. Her penchant for self-destructive behavior, her rebellious attitude towards all things Clone Colony, and her very human needs coupled with all the things hidden under the slowly cracking surface. All of these elements combine to make up who she is. When putting together this character what was the most challenging part?
I guess the most challenging part was creating a character with messy struggles and in-your-face flaws who’s still worth investing in. Nikki is full-on with lots of edges, for me that’s part of her charm. When designing the novel’s supporting characters my thought was to find opportunities to soften some of these edges. The character Erik, is a great example of someone in Nikki’s world who rounds her out a bit. He’s someone unique in her life who, I hope, makes it easier for us to root for her.
We see how the abuse of drugs and alcohol ravaged Nikki’s life but we also see how it affected others. Did you want to give a glimpse into how addiction can not only destroy the life of the abuser but also leave a trail of destruction in the lives of those around them?
I’m not sure if I intentionally set out to highlight that aspect of addiction, however, from my own personal experiences connected to those with addiction issues, this was where my mind naturally went. For me, at this particular time in my life, this was the only way the story could go down. Nikki is stuck in a cyclical pattern of substance abuse that, unfortunately, is also connected to her mental health disorder. Going against her doctors recovery recommendations, Nikki loops back into self-medicating to contend with her mental illness. The consequences of this, intentional or not, reverberates out to those closest to her. Her delusions become their reality. The result is chaotic and heartbreaking and scary.
Music is a central theme for this book. You use it to drive elements of the story and in a way give a glimpse into what’s going on. Do you see music as a writing tool that can be intertwined with the character themselves to create an even more in-depth reader experience?
If I can find a way to inject music into whatever I’m writing I will! Music influences me everyday. My obsession with it, though not unique, leaks into everything I do. When an author tosses in a music reference, my level of investment in their work bumps up a bit, even when they reference artists I’m not hugely interested in. Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running cites the Red Hot Chili Peppers as a band favorite of his. As cringy as it was for me to read that (“Scar Tissue” is the sold track outlier of the Chili Pepper recording catalogue) it was still a welcome shout-out that enhanced my reading experience.
The Clone Colony as Nikki not so affectionately refers to them as are these ultra perfect plastics who mold themselves to the trendiest of trends. Does the Clone Colony reflect a certain societal mindset?
I’m a Gen Xer. If what’s been drilled into my head over the past few decades is true, we’re the slacker generation. I grew up reading Douglas Coupland books and watching Richard Linklater films. The yin to my Gen X “slacker” yang was the “young upwardly-mobile professional.” Basically, Nikki’s Clone Colony is my generation’s yuppie. In the novel, the Clone Colony relates to the twenty and thirty-something city dwellers of this decade currently living, shopping, eating and drinking in pricey metropolitan neighborhoods. They’re a Le Labo perfume spritzed mixture of the financially elite, art stars and the odd service industry worker happily dragged along for the ride. The Clones signify a replay of the yuppie years. They’re a comment on the nature of wealth and how the dynamics often replay themselves, like a caustic blast from the past minus the popped collars.
Speaking of perfect, Baby Talk or BT the super pop star that everyone in the CC and beyond seems to adore. She claims to be self-made, “running” her own company as a successful independent artist. We quickly see this is not true. Yet BT is the image that so many look up to. To the point of idolization. Is this what BT represents that celebrity idol that the masses tend to flock to because they represent this so-called dream life?
For sure! Smoke and mirrors play a huge part in celebrity idolatry. It’s trite of me to say, but like with everyone we elevate in our minds, the myth is often better than the real thing. In my twenties, I was given a peek into the realm of celebrity while working for an indie folk singer. My time there was brief, but it really shaped how I view that world. Pushing a point of view that connects with people even if it’s not completely true, is one way of sustaining an artists fame-lore. For Nikki, this fuzzing of the lines between truth and BS insults her. She’s competitive with Baby Talk. There’s an “it should have been me” quality to her beef with Baby T. Nikki doesn’t just want a piece of Baby Talk’s “so-called dream life”, she wants to blow it up entirely.
Nikki’s disappearance garnered an outpouring of love and concern..while she was missing. The moment she turned up and was admitted to a mental hospital the tables turned. Upon her release, Nikki is often either treated harshly or as an oddity. Is this a representation of how mental illness is stigmatized?
When drawing from my own experiences with loved ones battling alcohol and drug abuse stemming from untreated mental health issues, there seemed to be a stepping back on the part of family and friends. Compassion turned to burnout. Or maybe it was fear. Or anger even, that their lives are being interrupted. Generally, people just want to move on from challenging times. That’s glaringly obvious as I write this in the eleventh month of 2020. In the book, Nikki comes to the conclusion that “nobody wants to deal with difficult people.” I think that’s true. I’d go one step further and say that nobody wants to deal with difficult people creating difficult situations. Interruptions in an individual's expected experience of the world; shopping, eating, drinking (very Cloney activities) might not include embracing those members of society navigating mental health challenges. Personal “inconvenience” was certainly a theme I wanted to explore in Nikki Come Home.
When reading Nikki Come Home at first Nikki appears to be recovering all though it is fragile but as the story goes on we see her slowly unravel falling deeper into the grip of The Voice. This edges into a darker much more turbulent Nikki. The way the plot unfolds you do it in a way that it effortlessly transitions into the more intense parts. For you as a writer was this a challenge? To do it in a way that wasn’t “movie cancer” style.
When I was sketching out the timeline of the story, the pace in which Nikki unravels was foremost in my mind. We’re basically living in Nikki’s head for a little over a month. The things she sheds over this span of time (her sobriety, her promise to stay off of social media, her pill regime) had to be spaced out in a way that made her unraveling feel plausible. Key tools necessary to maintain her sanity become roadblocks for Nikki when she’s faced with certain life challenges. The cause and effect back and forth was essential. We’re moving with Nikki. The tempo is quick. Her mind runs a mile a minute. We’re on the ride. There’s barely enough time for a “movie cancer” moment to even wiggle its way in we’re so busy keeping up with Nikki. That was my hope anyway.
If there is one piece of advice you could give anyone when writing about a subject such as mental illness what would it be? Whether it is a “do” or a “don’t”
I would say be tender and do your research.
Your book is indie published, for those who might not be familiar it means you published it yourself. From edits to publishing and everything in between you had a hand in it. What would you say was the deciding factor that made you want to go indie?
The deciding factor was how difficult it is to break into the publishing world. Living in NYC for as long as I have, 16 years, meant that my circle of friends connected to the creative world was fairly established. This project, no matter how arduous, came together because of my access to so many kind and creative people who were willing to pull this thing together in a way only we knew how to. Our creative stamp is all over this thing. I’m extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished. (shout-out to Brent Elliott White, Johnathan Swafford of Aqualamb Records, Jeremy Balderson Photography, and the one and only Peggy Hageman)
Elizabeth Virginia Poirier is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo. She lives in Long Island City, Queens.
About the Interviewer
Nena Orcutt is an aspiring author, who thinks too much, Listens to a lot of music. Needs coffee to function. Who thinks Bukowski was a wise man and Hemingway was a genius. And feels romance isn’t dead. She is working on her debut novel “The Crow and The Butterfly” Making her home in Music City she’s ready to conquer the writing world and leave her mark.
