Nico Silver | Author
Nico is a queer nonbinary writer of urban fantasy, dark fantasy, epic fantasy, and the romantic versions of all three. They like stories with at least a little bit of magic lurking on the edges and tend to write about finding oneself and one’s purpose in life, learning to find joy in everyday things, and sweet-but-spicy love stories where two people face down the horrors life throws at them together.
1. What inspired you to start writing/creating art, and how has that inspiration evolved over time?
I’ve been drawing and writing pretty much forever. My mom is very creative, so she always encouraged me to make art, and I found I wasn’t too bad at it. Very young, I discovered I was fascinated with the natural world, but also by mythology and fantasy, so I drew a lot of dragons and unicorns. And then as a young teen I found a copy of an Elfquest comic in the corner store (back when you could buy comics in the corner store!) and it captured my imagination like nothing else. I drew so many elves! I started making comics of my own elf characters and then branched out into creating my own worlds and settings. By the time I graduated from high school, I knew I wanted to be a writer and illustrator.
Unfortunately, I’ve also always been very curious, and therefore easily distracted. So, even though I kept puttering away at drawing and writing, I ended up getting my BA in archaeology and then going on to an MA in folklore. After that, I finally got serious about art and went on to study writing and visual art. I still kept drawing and writing about elves and dragons, though!
2. Can you share the story behind your latest work? What was your creative process like?
My latest release (Waking Pan) is an urban fantasy romance with touches of folk horror. It’s very much based on my long-time fascination (obsession?) with the Greek God Pan, combined with my social anxiety, and my coming out as nonbinary. I loaded up all those things onto my main character (who probably dealt with them better than I did), so even though Alder isn’t a self-insert and none of the events actually happened, the book ended up being vaguely autobiographical. It’s definitely my most personal novel.
My next book, which I’m editing as I write this, will be the third in my epic romantic fantasy series Three Realms, Nine Monarchs (A Caress of Water). Although it’s not the only thing that brought about the books, they really do represent a part of my own exploration of queer identity and the desire to see a queer-normative world (though some cultures in Three Realms are definitely more queer-normative than others).
3. What themes or messages do you aim to convey through your work, and why are they important to you?
I never start a book with a theme in mind; I find it’s too easy to bash the reader over the head with it when you approach a story theme-first. For me, the journey of the characters is the most important thing, and I let them tell me how it happens. That said, there are certain themes that creep in over and over, that I see when I get to the end. Finding magic in the everyday is one of them. Friendship and caring for those who need us is another. And Three Realms, quite without my realizing until after the fact, ended up with themes of environmentalism and (especially) anticolonialism.
4. What advice would you give to aspiring authors/artists who are just starting their journey?
Write for yourself first and don’t think about what other people are going to want to read or what will sell best. You’re going to be spending a lot of time with your work, so you need to love it. But go easy on yourself. You don’t have to produce and it doesn’t have to be perfect (in fact, it won’t be perfect).
Two of the best pieces of advice I got as a young writer were: write what haunts you, and get in the habit of finishing things. The first will make sure you have stories you want to get out and the second will get you used to producing finished drafts.
Another thing I was told, which I’m sure not everyone will agree with, is if you can do anything else, do that instead. Don’t aim to become a writer unless you have to write. I would edit that a little, and change “have to” to “have to or love to,” because this business can be heartbreaking and the bad parts are easier to take if you’re compelled to write anyway.
That said, I will never discourage anyone from the attempt. If you want to give writing a novel a try, do it and I’ll support you as best I can.
5. What role has self-publishing or independent production played in your career, and what have you learned from the process?
I spent a lot of years reading about traditional publishing, from back before self-publishing was an accessible thing, and then I spent years submitting short stories (and once in a while, novel proposals). I got a few stories out there (under a different pen name), but it’s a brutal and exhausting way to go about publishing if what you really want is to share your stories.
I waited until 2011 to try self-publishing, and did just about everything wrong. My books got decent reviews, but I had terrible covers and I had no idea how to market. I published six novels and a bunch of short stories under two pen names before I stopped. (Why I stopped has to do with a trauma that left me unable to write or even read fiction—trauma is f-ing weird!)
I happened across my old manuscripts a couple of years ago, and thought they were actually pretty good, so in 2023 I republished them with better covers, and started writing again (I’m very happy to say I was able to read fiction again a few years ago, too). I still have no idea how to market, but I’m learning!
6. How do you connect with your audience, and what has been your favorite moment of reader or viewer feedback?
So it turns out that social anxiety works in online spaces, too! Which means I’m not great about connecting. Still, I have been working on getting more active on social media and writing a monthly newsletter and otherwise being visible and approachable. I’ve also done a couple of very small in-person events and managed to come out of my shell enough to really enjoy them (though I was exhausted after!)
Recently, a reader of A Vision of Air (the first book in Three Realms), who is also a writer I follow, sent me a DM about how much they were enjoying the book. It seems like a small thing, but it made my whole week. So, readers, if you’re hesitant about contacting a writer about a book you love, please don’t be! We thrive on knowing someone out there is connecting with our stories. And, you never know, you could be the reason someone finishes that series they were struggling with writing.
7. How do you handle challenges like writer's block or creative burnout, and what motivates you to keep going?
I used to say, “there is no such thing as writer’s block,” and in a general sense, I still think it’s true. If you’re waiting for inspiration, the best thing to do is write something, even if it’s only a few words of crap. Inspiration tends to come when you’re already working.
That said, I got hit with the complete inability to write (or read) anything fictional, as I mentioned above, so I know it definitely can be real. When I couldn’t write then, there was nothing I could do except wait and try every once in a while. Fortunately, it ended and now I’m unstoppable again.
As for motivation, there’s nothing better than a cast of characters in your head demanding you tell their stories. The only way to shut them up is to write their book or draw their comic or make that saucy drawing of them kissing their sweetheart.
8. What’s next for you? Can you share any upcoming projects or future creative goals you’re excited about?
I already mentioned my next book—A Caress of Water—which I’m editing now. I’m currently also working on my series bible for that (and wishing I’d done it as I went along). Three Realms is wide, and if you buy it on Campfire, you’ll get access to a lot of the background and worldbuilding documents, maps, and the like, once I’ve got them done and formatted (I’m looking into ways to get that content to folk who read on other platforms, too).
After that, I plan to start on book four of Three Realms, which may or may not be the last in the series (though I have ideas for several spin-offs with different characters or at different time periods). Next year, I’d really like to finish up my Fictive Kin urban fantasy series (the first book is Daughter of Foxes) and the spin-off Wolves of Autumn duology (book one is Chosen of Gods).
I’ve also got two short stories to write to submit to upcoming anthologies. So yeah, I’ll be busy!
9. Who are some of your biggest creative influences, and how have they shaped your work or style?
There are so many! I’ve been a reader all my life and I’ve probably forgotten about more books than I could bring to mind. Charles de Lint, Terri Windling, and Holly Black have been huge influences on my urban fantasy (though it’s probably more evident in my work under my other pen name—which I’m not currently writing under). As for epic fantasy, I sometimes joke that Three Realms is for people who wish the Lord of the Rings was smutty (and queer!). I used to re-read LotR almost yearly, and I’m actually doing it now, in a more leisurely fashion between other books (along with doing a deep dive into worldbuilding).
As far as art goes, I’m very much in love with the Golden Age of Illustration, Art Nouveau, and the Arts & Crafts movement.
10. How has your personal life or experiences influenced your writing/art, and are there any particular moments that stand out?
I already hinted at my exploration of queer identity, but what it really amounted to was reading queer books alongside non-queer books and finding something that made me go, “waaaaaait.” I had already written two bi characters in Fictive Kin (though the romance is MF), so it wasn’t a stretch to find myself writing a MM book (Heart of Outcasts, a spin-off of Fictive Kin), and then including more and more queer characters in Three Realms.
Also, I think the fact that I moved frequently as a child (military brat) and young adult (four different universities across Canada) contributed to the way I try to include a strong sense of place in all my books. And it ended up coming out in two very different ways: characters who love where they live and have no desire to be anywhere else, and the complete opposite: characters who end up travelling across the landscape to very different places.
