About Lisa de Nikolits Author, The Rage Room

Lisa de Nikolits is the internationally award-winning author of ten novels (all Inanna Publications).

No Fury Like That was published in Italian in 2019 by Edizione Le Assassine as Una furia dell’altro mondo. Her short fiction and poetry have also been published in various anthologies and journals internationally.

She is a member of the Mesdames of Mayhem, the Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, The Australian Crime Writers, The Short Fiction Mystery Association, and the International Thriller Writers.

Originally from South Africa, Lisa de Nikolits came to Canada in 2000. She lives and writes in Toronto.

What are you passionate about these days?

I’m passionate about writing as always! The goal is to always improve and keep working harder and refine the craft. I’m passionate about kindness. I love social media but I feel it often brings out the worst in people and that’s very evident in The Rage Room. In the book, there is no social media because people abused it and bullied one another and it turned into an awful experience. I do fear for my little niece and nephew being online. In my social media posts, I strive to be cheerful, supportive and upbeat and I love it when people enjoy the posts. Which is not to say we shouldn’t have darker topics online, we should. It’s a very good forum for sharing troubles and difficulties and for being supportive too and I do love that about the web.

This past summer I also became passionate about riding my bike because it makes me feel like a happy kid! I am passionate about caring for people if they’re struggling. I am also passionate about supporting my fellow writers. Sharing the book love doesn’t mean diminishing the interest that others might have in one’s own book so share the love, I say. Writing and publishing a book is a truly harrowing experience from start to finish (and there really isn’t ever a finish) so the more support the better. I’m also utterly passionate about reading.

What do you do to unwind and relax?

I play the classical guitar, I knit, walk, do yoga, ride my bicycle, eat scones and custard danishes and watch television. My guilty pleasure is watching Netflix until 2 a.m. on a Saturday morning! My tastes vary on what I love to watch. Unsolved Mysteries, The Umbrella Academy, Homecoming are just a few. But what I really love to do to unwind is hit a dollar store and load up on non-essential fun items like organizers and cleaning products! For me, a really happy day is coming out of a dollar store with a new Swiffer duster, some pretty shoe boxes, and something shiny like a hair clip with bling!

Nothing makes me happier than a straightened-up, fresh smelling home with everything neatly in place and nary a dust mote! It’s an ongoing battle, me versus the dirt and my new BFF is Mr. Clean Freak spray. Honestly, it’s hard to describe the joy MCF brings me!

Describe yourself in 5 words or less!

Mercurial, kind, gentle, thoughtful and caring! I actually asked my husband and that’s what he said! I’d say passionate, hot-tempered, determined, emotional and loyal.

Do you have a favorite movie?

That changes! Most recently I loved The Gentleman by Guy Richie. Going back a while, I loved Knives Out, The Grand Budapest Hotel, JoJo Rabbit, Moonrise Kingdom and most movies by Quentin Tarantino.

I’ve seen Pulp Fiction repeatedly. I’ve also seen Dirty Dancing eight times although that was many years ago. I should try it again and see how it measures up to my twenty-something self!

I generally love action-packed movies with irreverent characters, unexpected plot twists and a wry and satirical script. I like a dark movie but not too bleak and I cannot stand a slow movie! I love a beautifully filmed movie but that can’t save a poor plot.

Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?

Most of them but I must say I think The Rage Room would be an amazing movie! As an art director, I can imagine the sets – a plastic Legoland, pristine and serene, run by robots, with a lot of protagonist POV scenes as Sharps’ life flashes before him.

I’m so in love with the 2055 world I created and it would make for a visual feast! Cities and countries named after saints, massive retail trucks prowling the streets like ice cream vans, all flashing bling and couture! Not a plant or tree in sight but just outside the city walls, a jungle thrives, pushing back at humanity’s attempt to diminish it’s natural power. I love the characters so much – Sting Ray Bob, steel-enhanced Noelle and Jaxen, Marine-warrior. Then there’s the female army and the Blowflies living in highrise condos. I’m seeing Blade Runner meets Ready Player One. It would be amazing!

About The Rage Room

The Rage Room by Lisa de Nikolits
Genre: Speculative Fiction

Synopsis

What if you had a chance to fix the worst mistake of your life…but only made things worse? The Rage Room dives into dystopia with an extraordinary tale about choices and second chances. Sharps Barkley jumps back in time and finds that changing the future isn’t as easy as he thought.

Set in 2055, our plastic world is run by robots, fueled by consumerism, twisted religion and virtual data. Satellites control the weather, food is grown in laboratories. Arts and culture are distant memories. Beneath the sunny skies and behind the garbage-free suburban McMansions live deeply disturbed, materialistic families. Prescribed visits to rage rooms lance desperate anger, boredom and discontent but the band-aid fix hides disturbing governmental motives.

An intense and provocative exploration of societal coded messages, The Rage Room is an action-packed story of unraveling and alternate realities, of disturbing and searching re-runs. Can the army of feminist hackers restore Mother Nature?

Can love triumph over fear? And, ultimately, can the children be saved?

Dark, fun, weird, imaginative, The Rage Room is a dystopic ride perfect for the anxieties and conditions of the present day. The paranoia of Sharps Barkley seeps into you, propelling this thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end. – David Albertyn, author of Undercard.

Leave it to the wild imagination of Lisa de Nikolits to bring us the dystopian future of The Rage Room, an extraordinarily inventive speculative fiction thriller with a decidedly feminist bent. Fast-paced, funny, bold, and completely engrossing, The Rage Room is an allegory, a cautionary tale, and a rollicking good read that will stay with you long after the last page has been turned. – Amy Jones, author of We’re All in This Together and Every Little Piece of Me.

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