Derek Nikitas, novelist and University of Rhode Island (URI) assistant professor of creative writing, describes himself as someone who is cautious by nature and not prone to making extreme decisions. The same, however, does not hold true for the people Nikitas weaves into his novels, short stories and scripts. “I like putting people in extreme situations to test their mettle as characters,” Nikitas says. Rather than focus on a single character, crime scenario, or news phenomenon, the author of three novels methodically cultivates ideas. “I think of story elements like oil on the surface of soup – those little individual circles of oil on top of the soup, and you can connect them with a fork and they become one big thing,” he says. “That’s kind of what it is for me.”
Until the ideas can be connected, Nikitas says he keeps them in his thoughts rather than writing them down. He subscribes to Stephen King’s adage that nothing that you have to write down to remember is worth remembering. Nikitas’ ideas originate from two sources. First are ideas created from his experience, from growing up with a single mother in New Hampshire to adolescence in suburban New York to an academic career spanning the Eastern seaboard. Nikitas attained his bachelor’s degree in English at SUNY (State University of New York) Brockport, before venturing to the University of North Carolina, Wilmington for his master’s degree, and Georgia State University for his doctorate.
The environment is a reason Nikitas chose to be a professor at URI. “I wanted to be back in New England, my home region and an environment that inspires me as a writer,” says Nikitas. “I was also eager to mentor creative writers at the highest level in our field – those who are attaining a doctoral degree in English with a ‘creative dissertation,’ meaning their dissertation is a combined creative and scholarly project. URI is one of the few institutions offering such an option for the English Ph.D.” Nikitas’s early short stories and first two novels – Pyres and The Long Division – center on themes of class. The background of The Long Division mirrors his footsteps through New York State and Georgia.
Nikitas’s second source of ideas is from a fascination of examining the impact of social issues on individuals. Academic research influences his writing but does not dominate it. Instead, he develops rich characters who are connected to, and are in concert with, their backgrounds but unburdened by preconceptions. Nikitas challenges himself with regular self-reflection to ensure that the characters are authentic. Nikitas’s extensive development of characters, plot and language have garnered merit in literary circles. His infusion of poetic tradition and mastery of prose resulted in accolades. His novel The Long Division was a 2009 “Book of the Year” pick by the Washington Post, and Pyres received an Edgar Award nomination for Best First Novel. His work is characterized as ‘literary thrillers.’ He crafts his writing through the influence of genre standard-bearers such as Anne Rice and Stephen King; literary heroes like Joyce Carol Oates, Toni Morrison and Denis Johnson; as well as poets Philip Larkin, Gerard Hopkins, and John Berryman.
Nikitas’s most recent collaborator, James Patterson, is affectionately called the ‘Henry Ford of Books’ by Vanity Fair for his frequent rate of production. Patterson has built a literary empire; his novels are published as quickly as online bestseller lists can be refreshed. The collaboration began with Patterson’s ebook series “BookShots,” which are pulse-pounding thrillers under $5 and 150 pages or less. Nikitas has published two BookShots: Diary of a Succubus and You’ve Been Warned: Again. “I was interested in the challenge. I wanted to learn from him,” says Nikitas, of hearing from Patterson’s team and building his relationship with the literary giant.
“Working with Patterson has been a remarkably creative exercise for me.” With the goal to capture audiences who do not typically read, Nikitas had to examine his tone, characters, and plotline for BookShots. Nikitas’s process is driven by methodical planning. A framework is generated by two or three ideas, through which Nikitas creates, explores, and pushes characters and plot. He develops extensive outlines chronologically, which he revises until he is ready to write the novel. “The system creates momentum, efficiency, and a cure for writer’s block,” Nikitas says. “Outlines are a way of avoiding having to rewrite a novel numerous times. Once I have that outline solid, I try to write the book quickly.” Having this system in place allows Nikitas to accept challenges from a variety of directions. The Patterson collaborations focused Nikitas on tone and form. His third novel, Extra Life, was written with the self-imposed challenge of writing for a young adult audience and focusing on a single main character.
Meanwhile, Nikitas’s adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu for the anthology Cover Stories proved a lateral challenge. Nikitas reinvented the classic story through enriched language, complexity, and the influence of academic research he explored in Lovecraft’s home state of Rhode Island. Nikitas’s efficient system provides time to explore other mediums. The success of television series like Ozark and Better Call Saul have revealed an appetite for complex characters and intertwining narratives – two facets of storytelling that Nikitas has long utilized. While developing a fourth novel, he is simultaneously advancing a script adapted from The Long Division. “The stakes are inherently higher,” says the professor of the thriller genre. Nikitas’s characters would be wise to take after their author, whose determination and perspective continues to trend towards success.
Written by Alex Kahn. Originally published in URI’s Momentum: Research and Innovation Spring 2018 edition.