Thizz, A Love Story
Genre- Contemporary YA with mature content
By- Nicole Loufas
Expected Publication Date- November 1st
In 2006, while the San Francisco Bay Area was immersed in the Hyphy Movement – Dani was fleeing the city for the small coastal town of Eureka. With a past she wants to forget and a future that may be out of reach – Dani finds Thizz and her world turns inside out.
Dani has a plan. Get into CAL Berkeley. All she has to do is survive six months in Eureka, California. Her plan seems to be working until Matt, the boy she’s secretly crushing on, sets her up with his best friend.
Nick Marino is the star of the basketball team, grandson to the wealthiest woman in the county, and the town drug dealer. Nick introduces Dani to Thizz on their first date and suddenly smiling becomes easy, conversations are comfortable. Now if she can just figure out if the tingles she’s feeling are caused by Nick or Thizz. After a few weeks of both – she doesn’t care.
With Nick by her side, thizz flowing through her veins, and Matt keeping all her secrets – Dani settles into her new life; forgetting about the tragedy that drove her there, and the plan she had to escape.
Matt fell in love with Dani the first time he saw her. He also knew whatever drove her from San Francisco to Eureka in her last semester of high school wasn’t something she wanted to share. When she finally started to open up, Matt hesitated just long enough for his best friend Nick to swoop in. Forced to sit and watch their relationship grow, Matt also learns of Dani’s obsession with Thizz. He secretly feeds her addiction in a desperate attempt to win her heart.
Pressured into joining Nick’s crew, Matt finds himself in the middle of Eureka’s own hyphy movement and the hit list of a local biker gang. When a school project uncovers a disturbing link between Dani’s parents and Nick’s uncle, Matt is torn between his loyalty to Nick and his feelings for Dani as he tries to convince Dani that her life is in real danger; while persuading Nick to turn on his uncle to save the girl they love.
Welcome Nicole Loufas to our blog today!
How music affects my writing -
Some writers find music distracting. I don’t. I’ve had someone tell me they need absolute quiet to write. The only way I can have quiet like that is at three in the morning. My house is filled with kids and dogs, and disney movies. Since I can’t put the world on mute - I shut it out with music.
Music is my main source of inspiration. I put it on before I write to get in the mood. It’s like writing foreplay. I’ve written whole parts of my books with one song playing on a loop. I’ve made a list of songs that fit my character’s mood or just a scene and listened to it while I wrote.
When I started writing Thizz, A Love Story, I was at work. It was a sunny San Francisco afternoon and I heard a song on the radio that inspired a scene. The next thing I knew I had 20,000 words. Ironically, that scene is not even in the book. A lot of scenes were cut from the initial version because I feel like the story kept evolving, music played a big part of that.
I started writing this book in 2008. Since I didn’t think anything would ever become of the story, I wasn’t diligent about writing every day. I would go months without opening the document. Then I’d hear a song on the radio or go to a concert, and suddenly I’d have another scene or just a feeling that would inspire me to write. If you’ve seen my playlist or soundtrack, you know I listen to all kinds of music, which means a lot of songs to sway me one way or another. I’d hear a love song and rush home to add a little more romance to a scene. Or I’d hear a rap song and want to somehow work in a fight. The next thing I knew I had enough words to fill two Harry Potter books. (Really, I looked up how many words were in Harry Potter books.)
In 2013 I went to the San Francisco Writers Conference and had five agents ask me to send them the first three chapters. I knew I was nowhere near that stage, but I had a great pitch and they bought it. So, I set out to make the book presentable. I queried the agent with the most interest. She sent me an email two days later with a big fat no. I knew it needed more work but I had no clue where to start, so I went to a music festival. As I sat on the lawn at Bottlerock Napa, the evening sun fading above me, a cocktail (or two) in my hand, and Alabama Shakes on the stage - I figured it out. I literally had one of those lightbulb moments and holy crap, I had to write it down. I ran to the info desk, begged them for a piece of paper, and wrote down the sequence of the book.
Two years later, I finally have something I want to share with the world. Thizz, A Love Story wouldn’t exist without music.
About the Author-
Nicole Loufas is a San Francisco native. She loves books, music, and bloody mary’s. She started writing her first screenplay in the sixth grade; the project was shelved due to creative differences with her EX-best friend. Nicole lives in Northern California with her family and her dog, Achilles. Thizz, A Love Story is her first novel. Find out more at: www.nicoleloufas.com .
Links-
Pinterest- https://www.pinterest.com/nic_lou/
Oh man! I was in a similar place when I went to the San Francisco Writer's Conference...so many agents, so much interest...so little result. Glad you finally got it to a good place! Now I'm curious what song came on the radio that started the ball rolling. So funny that you cut the first scene you ever wrote for it XD
ReplyDeleteHey there! The song was Teenagers by My Chemical Romance. I cut it because at the SFWC they said the first page/chapter should represent the book or set the tone...I didn't feel like it did that. So, I guess something good came out of that conference!
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