Interview with Zilla Novikov
Today, I’m talking with Zilla Novikov, author of fiction and a fantastic cookbook! Read on to learn more!
DV: Tell me a little about yourself and your writing.
ZN: I’m Zilla Novikov (she/her), a depressed millennial who is very tired of late-stage capitalism. Turns out, that’s an endless font of story ideas. People tell me I’m funny, or at least, that my writing is funny. My goal is for the reader to laugh through the tears.
DV: You’ve published a metafictional novel about the querying process. Tell me a little bit about the process of taking that idea through to completion.
ZN: For my sins, I queried a science fiction novel to agents. To explain for those of you fortunate enough not to know what ‘querying’ is, it’s when you summarize the work of your heart in a four-line-blurb, describe your life experiences in three lines, and then send it to an agent who will either ghost you or respond with a form rejection. Agents are human beings that are just as ground down by our capitalist hellscape as I am, so I sent nice, polite emails to them, and I didn’t send even one of the bitingly funny emails that my friends and I composed in group chats. Instead, I wrote Query, a satirical novella about a fictional version of myself, and let her send those emails.
DV: In addition to Query, you’ve also co-written The Sad Bastard Cookbook. What was the most surprising aspect about the process of writing a cookbook?
ZN: Rachel A. Rosen and I co-wrote The Sad Bastard Cookbook: Food You Can Make So You Don’t Die, as a community project. The two of us have plenty of vegetarian/vegan recipes to help a person survive through poverty, physical disability, or mental illness, but when we wrote the cookbook, we asked for suggestions. And we were overwhelmed by the response. Turns out that a lot of people are facing the same struggles as we do. A huge shout-out to two professional editors (Victoria Rose of Flickering Words and Lindsay Hobbs of Topaz Literary) who saw the project and donated their time to help us make it a reality. I thought we were writing a fun, silly survival guide—I’ve been surprised and honestly blown away by how much it moved people.
DV: What is the coolest thing about being an author?
ZN: It’s a toss-up—the fame, the money, or the ladies. All those cool author parties I’m invited to, that paparazzi taking my picture as I walk in the door…
Nah, the coolest thing is meeting other authors. Most of us are reclusive misanthropes—we choose a solitary hobby for a reason—so finding my community is the most amazing feeling.
DV: What are you working on next?
ZN: I’ve got a short story coming out in the anthology Guaranteed Bestseller (That No One Will Read). It’s another satirical take on the creative industry written by authors who fought in the publishing trenches. I’m also working on a cyberpunk novel about space travel and the gig economy. Someday I’ll write a book that’s unequivocally cheerful, but until that day comes, my readers seem satisfied with darkly funny and relatable.
DV: Where can folks find you online?
ZN: Night Beats: https://nightbeatseu.ca/
The Night Beats newsletter: https://nightbeatseu.ca/newsletter/
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/zillanovikov/
Thanks for stopping by, Zilla!
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