10 Questions for J. Nevada

Gimena recognized two things. One: her neighbors meant no real harm, that they were merely bored, and an element of drama, no matter how false, was too juicy to deny; and two: she would turn into an ugly, bitter, unrecognizable version of herself if she stayed amongst them.

—from J. Nevada’s “What Waters Return,” Vol 66 Issue 2 (Fall 2025)

Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
I’ve been writing stories since I was little, so technically the first full piece I wrote was about a dog and a cat and a bird who were all best friends. Riveting stuff.

Another of my early pieces was from fourth or fifth grade. It took place on a remote island prison, with a serial murderer and a cannibal as prison mates who become close friends. The pair kills their masochistic jailers and sets all their fellow prisoners free. The prisoners then, one by one, jump off the island cliffs to their deaths. You know . . . are prison walls built by those around us, or are they in our minds? Can you ever truly escape yourself?? Again, riveting stuff.

What writer(s) or works have influenced the way you write now?
Writers whom I am most inspired by include Gabriel García Márquez, José Saramago, Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia Butler, and Haruki Murakami. I’m so grateful to live in a world where these people wrote and published such gorgeous, unique books.

What other professions have you worked in?
Oh boy. I’ve been a restaurant server, a bartender, a sommelier, a barista, a communications director, an event coordinator, a cake decorator. . . Cake decorating was something I fell into during the 2008 recession and was, next to creative writing, the most pleasurable work I’ve ever done.

Among all those roles, I’ve worked off and on as a freelance writer. I currently work as a copywriter in addition to being a stay-at-home parent.

What did you want to be when you were young?
A writer. I also wanted to be a paleontologist and a waitress. So far, I’ve done about one and a quarter of those three dream jobs.

What inspired you to write this piece?
My husband and I traveled to Spain a couple of years ago, and I fell in absolute love with Basque country. The landscape, the food, the language – all of it holds deep fascination for me. Spain as a whole is a very varied country, with disparate histories and physical environments and culinary influences, but there is something about Basque culture that, for me, is uniquely delicious.

Is there a city or place, real or imagined, that influences your writing?
“What Waters Return” is, as evidenced by my previous answer, heavily influenced by Basque country in general and Bilbao in particular. Another place that I feel deeply connected to is Argentina. I’ve lived in Buenos Aires twice and have a few stories set in that country.

Typically, my stories don’t take place in our exact reality, but rather in skewed-mirror worlds. Especially so, when it comes to writing about places that I love but where I am still very much a visitor . . . those stories are sort of sideway reflections of specific places.

Do you have any rituals or traditions that you do in order to write?
I don’t have any special rituals or traditions I do in order to write. I do need quiet (not always possible in a house with young kids), and I have to do it before dinner time, as my brain simply cannot function in any creative capacity after a day’s worth of domestic duties.

I would say my one major practice is to write my initial drafts by hand. I really enjoy the physical act of handwriting. Writing this way, more slowly and with special shape, forces my mind to think differently than it does while typing. I then do revisions (so many revisions!) on my laptop.

Who typically gets the first read of your work?
My best friend, Lauren. She is one of my biggest champions and has read everything from my first full-length screenplay to multiple drafts of the same struggling short story – of dubious quality, all. She’s a real trooper.

If you could work in another art form what would it be?
I would train as a visual artist, most likely in pencils and painting – analog here, again – in the graphic novel genre. I’ve gotten into graphic novels over the past few years, and I admire all the artistry and subtle storytelling that goes into each frame.

Or I’d be a cake decorator. I really look forward to birthdays and special occasions when I can break out my cake decorating kit.

What are you reading right now?
I always love talking about current reads! I just finished Paradise by Toni Morrison and was blown away by the strength and beauty of her prose, as well as her capacity to lay out an absolutely compelling narrative told from multiple perspectives.

I picked up Other Worlds by André Alexis on a whim, and I’m in the middle of that short story collection right now. It’s fantastic. Empathy, humor, unexpected plot turns, lyrical prose, and a shudder of the strange – his work is striking all the right chords.

I’m also reading Six Years in Biscay by John Francis Bacon, which is a firsthand account of the 1835 and 1836 sieges of Bilbao. It’s dry but interesting in its own right and vital to my novel project.

J. NEVADA is a freelance writer from Atlanta, Georgia, where she lives with her husband and two
daughters and sweet pit bull mix. She has a short story forthcoming in The Georgia Review.