New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone is bringing all the thrills and giving us a dose of reality with her latest release. I recently spoke with her about Boom Town, which will soon be available in paperback.
Tell me about your latest book.
Boom Town is a novel about the interconnected lives of a trio of erotic dancers in Atlanta, two of which have go missing a year or so apart, and a third who sets out to find them after realizing the missing pair share a connection with the same sketchy rich man… Oh, and we learn very early that someone is dead. It’s real fun!
Why did you decide to write it?
Growing up, my dad’s job involved permitting adult entertainers, so I met a lot of strippers at a very young age and have always been intrigued by both the profession itself and the women who do it. Additionally, I started concepting the novel around the time a woman named Gabby Petito went missing here in the US, and it was this big, huge thing with all sorts of news coverage and people getting involved, and there was this sense of heightened, collective concern that I knew would be absent if Gabby had been Black. Combining Black womanhood with professional stigma created really great…narrative compost, if you will, for a story that, at its core, is about shared humanity and the inherent value of human beings, regardless of race or occupation.
How did you come up with the book’s title?
It kinda just popped into my head, I think. The most widely known strip club in Atlanta is Magic City, so I think my brain just riffed on that. I also liked the double entendre that connects it with a community that experiences sudden, rapid economic and population growth because I feel like strip clubs have some of that energy.
What’s the nicest thing a reader has ever said to you?
In general, the best compliments I get involve readers who tell me that before my book(s), they didn’t like to read. That something I created “made them a reader.” That feels amazing.
When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
At 27, after reading the first two books in the Divergent series. There was a secondary character named Christina who wound up having a pretty major role, and she was my first experience of feeling like I could see myself in a book. Literally changed the trajectory of my life.
What author would you love to meet?
Living, Louis Sacher. Unliving, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). The former wrote my favorite children’s book ever: Holes. And I’ve heard the latter was a hot-ass mess and genuine party animal.
What books have you read lately and loved?
The Exes by Leodora Darlington (good LORD, what a book!) and The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders (just chef’s kiss!).
What books are at the top of your to-be-read pile?
Currently reading The Four Wives and Five Deaths of Richard Milford by Nafissa Thompson Spires, and need to knock out Kin by Tayari Jones.
What’s next for you?
A middle grade novel—LOL!—that’s called Dasia(Forever) and follows a 13-year-old Black girl as she undergoes her first round of chemotherapy, meeting a strange new friend in the process. And then we’ll be back with another adult thrillery thing set in the same fictional Atlanta as Boom Town that I recently turned in.
Do you have anything you would like to add?
Thank you for reading!
Use the Black Fiction Addiction affiliate link to purchase your copy of Boom Town by Nic Stone.
To learn more about Nic Stone, visit her website or connect with her on social media:
Website: www.nicstone.info
Instagram/Facebook: @nicstone
TikTok: @asknicstone