Vikki VanSickle

Vikki VanSickle has worked as a bookseller, a menstrual health educator, a creative writing instructor and publishing professional with Penguin Random House Canada. Currently, she lives and writes in Toronto and hosts a book segment on CTV Your Morning.

VanSickle's new novel is The Mystic and the Missing Girl.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The title The Mystic and the Missing Girl establishes two important elements of the book—it’s a mystery, and there’s an element of the supernatural. The title was very tricky to nail down! There are so many elements in the book (cold case, nineties, tarot, mystery, humour, small town setting, ensemble cast, contemporary) that it became very overwhelming. Because I was very much inspired by Nancy Drew, we ultimately went for a retro sounding title that includes two of the key hooks of the book- a mystic, implying a touch of the supernatural, and a mystery, implying the genre.

What's in a name?

I love naming things—characters, towns, stores, you ‘name’ it (see what I did there?) Naming is a very intuitive process for me; a name has to ‘feel’ right. In the case of The Mystic and the Missing Girl, there are a number of names that are direct references to Nancy Drew. My main character’s first name is Drew, her partner-in-crime is Nick (as in Nancy’s paramour Ned Nickerson), her sole employee is George (the name of one of Nancy’s best friends), the diner in town is Gruen’s (named for Nancy’s beloved housekeeper Hannah Gruen), and so on. It isn’t necessary to catch the references to enjoy the story, but it adds a little something for people like me who grew up loving Nancy Drew.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

I think my teenage self would be thrilled. I always wanted to write in some capacity, whether it was books, plays, or movies. My main character Drew is edgier than I was in high school, so I think teenage me would be amused by this. She would also love how Drew embraces tarot and astrology- something I had an interest in but was a bit nervous to explore given my conservative town. It’s fun to live vicariously through characters who are more rebellious than you.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Beginnings are tricker for me. In most drafts I start in the middle or close to the inciting incident and then go back to write the beginning once I have a strong sense of where I’m going. So much needs to happen in those first few chapters—introduce the characters, create the set-up, paint a picture of the world, establish the tone—all while engaging the reader to keep going. Those are high stakes for the writer! I have learned over my career to not get too attached to the beginning as it will always change.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

There is a little bit of me in most of my protagonists. I don’t think any of them are dead ringers or even stand-ins for myself, but my attitudes, interests, and beliefs show up from time to time. With Drew Benson, it’s her sense of humour and her interest in (but trepidation of) all things mystical and esoteric that are similar to my own. She also reads tarot cards, which is something I do. Drew’s tarot philosophy essentially is my own tarot philosophy- that it is a great tool for processing, that the cards are a mirror, and all her explanations of the cards are how I would explain them in a reading.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I love TV, film, and theatre. When I pitched the book to my agent, most of my comps came from television—the small town feel of Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls, the gentle snark of Schitt’s Creek, and a protagonist that read like a grown-up Veronica Mars. One of my favourite things to write is dialogue. This comes from years of studying (and writing and performing) theatre. When I start my first draft some scenes are strictly dialogue, and then I go back and flesh out the rest of the chapter. I also love how strong TV writing creates arcs that are completed in a single episode while simultaneously exploring longer arcs across a whole season. I’ve been thinking a lot about this while planning my next book, which is a sequel to The Mystic and the Missing Girl. I’d love for it to turn into a proper series, but to be prepared, I need to start thinking like a TV writer.

Visit Vikki VanSickle's website.

Writers Read: Vikki VanSickle.

My Book, The Movie: The Mystic and the Missing Girl.

--Marshal Zeringue