An Interview with Nikki Auberkett

Nikki Auberkett is a cultural anthropologist, developmental editor, award-nominated author, and lifelong lover of the fae folk. With nearly 15 years of research and exploration into global folklore and mythology, biblical archaeology, and all things weird and unusual, she weaves her research and social science expertise into her personal love for fantasy fiction.

Her most recent debut, Ithandryll, is the culmination of over 23 years of writing and revisions—don’t do the math, but she started writing it when she was only eleven years old! Originally intended to be one stand-alone book, it is now the first of a planned 6-8 book series, Song of the Sidhe. The estimated discrepancy is based on her main characters’ terrible habit of never following the map.

When she’s not finding ways to vent about human rights via mythological retellings or triple-checking her notes on ancient seafaring voyagers, Nikki can be found reading and writing underground (literally) in her new bookstore, BumbleBooks, located in the Amana Colonies.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I started reading at a very early age (3 years old) and I’m going to attribute my love for global folklore to the large collection of books my grandparents had, as well as LeVar Burton on Reading Rainbow. I was OBSESSED with the show. So when I was a few years older and Harriet the Spy bragged about growing up to become a writer, something clicked. I realized I could create my own stories, too. Like Harriet, I started journaling (I was a HUGE Dear America fan!) and practiced different styles with every entry. Sometimes I’d write like one of the girls from the 16th century; sometimes I wrote like a news bulletin. It was fun! And then I started hanging out with other girls who also loved writing, whether screenplays or full-blown novels, and it just kept growing from there.

I will say that the point where I decided this was “my thing” was when I overheard my seventh-grade composition teacher use the word “phenomenal” when he described my work. I loved writing, and I loved completing his assignments, I just never qualified them. And I was used to hearing teachers say I was a “good student” and “a joy to have in class”, but no one had ever described what I did as “phenomenal” until now. It made me really want to do even better, be even better. Even as I pursued a completely different career (with equal fervor) in anthropology, I never stopped working on my craft.

What inspired you to start writing this book?

I actually started writing Ithandryll way back when I first started writing! I loved Peter Pan and wanted to create something just as magical, just as captivating, and just as timeless…so I basically started with fan fiction. I’ll admit that—and remind people that I was maybe 11 or 12 years old! But then I kept rewriting it as inspiration came and it grew into something completely different, with complexities and darkness overlapping the bright happiness.

I left it alone for over a decade as an adult and while the names and characters stayed with me, I kind of forgot all about the rest of it. Then in 2021, one of my lifelong friends sent me what was probably the best birthday give I’ve ever received to this day: a box full of all my journals and diaries I thought I lost. Among them was a handwritten manuscript notebook of Whitewater, my fantasy epic. I read it and felt that spark light back up inside my heart as well as my mind, and I immediately sat down at my laptop to just…WRITE.

What made it work this time and really made it Ithandryll was all the life experience I gained as an adult. It sounds kind of “duh,” I know, but my entry into adulthood was not the smooth transition we were all promised in the 1990s. Nor was it peaceful. I still had a lot of pain and grief I was processing and it really informed the path of the main character as well as her relationships.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

I honestly have no idea where the title came from! I think I dreamed about a sword one time and its name sounded like “ith-ann-drill” so I wrote it down as a guess. Loved how it looked and went with it! Song of the Sidhe, the series name, comes from two parts:

1) epic stories were often called “ballads” or “songs” up until recent centuries, and given the ancient roots of Irish mythology, it just felt right.

2) “Sidhe,” pronounced “shee,” is the old Celtic umbrella term for the fae folk. While book one primarily focuses on the Tuatha De Danann (a higher order of fae), there are mentions of other creatures such as the puca, merrow, and pixies. The series as a whole will involve multitudes of fae creatures and the impact the actions of only a few people can have on their world as a whole, hence “Song of the Sidhe,” or “the epic saga of the fae creatures.”

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

There’s one particular scene in this book that I wrote while listening to the song from the end of Pompeii (“I Won’t Leave You” from the movie soundtrack). It’s so ethereal and moving, and listening to it without remembering the movie scene conjured images of stars and galaxies moving across the sky.

“Hummingbird” by Benjamin Richard (available on Apple Music!) was actually written by the same friend who found my journals, and who designed the original cover! I told him if this book ever became a movie, “Hummingbird” would be the perfect song for the trailer.

Describe your dream book cover.

I would LOVE to have a hardcover jacket with the astrolabe suspended amid a vibrant galaxy—and gold foiled! Once the series is completed, it would be amazing for the spines to create an image when they’re stacked together on the bookshelf.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I’m a cultural anthropologist! I’ve also been a cosmetologist, trained to become a tax prepper, worked in various museums, and have even been inside the “secret underground lair” of a very prominent museum where they hide all the good stuff visitors never see.

What books did you read (for research or comfort) throughout your writing process?

I read so much, it’s hard to nail down only a few titles! But I will say I fell in love with The Bargainer series by Laura Thalassa during a darker point in my life, and they reminded me of my own stories and made me want to go back to writing them.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

My perfect reader is the one who is patient with me! It takes a while for sequels to come out, and I’m already amassing a large following of very impatient fans!

One thing I hope readers take away from Ithandryll is the recognition that nothing is black-and-white. That’s kind of an overarching theme with Roxi’s journey through the series: people can say they are good and actually be bad, while those who are assumed to be bad might actually be good. And this applies to situations, too! What may have been a deeply traumatizing moment still holds the power to transform you into something stronger and more capable than before. What may feel like a weakness may actually become a strength.

And never, ever make a deal with the fae.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.