Welcome!
I am glad you are here. This is a website dedicated to my work as a writer. I am using this as a platform to showcase my portfolio, let you know about upcoming works, and just share a few thoughts I have rattling around in my mind. I hope you enjoy exploring and do reach out to let me know what you think!
Writings
Recents
Diversity in Young Adult Lit-to-Film
Article by Nicole Klett ; Click above to check it out!
March 2021
10 Foodie Books Featuring Strong Women
Article by Nicole Klett ; Click above to check it out!
March 2021
It’s All Fun And Games Until Dystopia Becomes Reality-Horror And The Dystopian Now
Article by Nicole Klett ; Click above to check it out!
March 2021
Top 10 Middle Grade Lit-to-Film Adaptations
Article by Nicole Klett ; Click above to check it out!
February 2021
Sample piece
Reading the Seasons in a Pandemic
I’ve always been a sucker for picking a book to read during the holiday season based on a cozy, wintry scene on the front cover. This cover scene usually includes a Christmas tree, a mug of hot chocolate, or a couple wearing scarves. The point is the scene exudes the feels of the season and calls to me.
Here’s the thing. I think we can all agree that life in a pandemic is rather seasonless. Everyday can feel the same when you are not leaving the house. One day blends into the next and one season can as well. Many of the cues we rely on to move on to a new interval of time come from the activities we are doing like dressing up for Halloween, eating out at romantic restaurants for Valentine’s Day, or caroling for Christmas. You don’t go caroling? Well, I don’t either but the point is we could have if we wanted to in pre-pandemic life.
So, I wondered as this strange era stretched on (and on) if I would still gravitate towards seasonal books or if that was pointless. Was reading with the seasons actually accentuating the melancholy that is an undercurrent of our new non-normal every day? Would it shine a light on all the things we can’t do right now? Should I read books randomly instead? Throw a dart at a dartboard that has genres listed on it? What about books about catastrophe and epidemics? Would those be off limits given the sci-fi thriller that is our life?
Before I could even contemplate how and what I would read, I found myself automatically falling into the habits of choosing books the way I had always chosen them. The choices were still based on the season. In the summer of 2020, I read Dirt by Bill Buford because it took me on a trip to Lyon, France while describing learning to cook French food. Deliceux! In the fall, I began my witch hunt for books that would satisfy my annual yearning for things magical and spooky. I settled on The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert. Fairy tales really are written for adults, yikes!
Then the holiday season arrived. I am sort of weirdly picky about reading this time of year despite my introduction. My holiday book shouldn’t be overly religious (I know, I know) or overly romantic or overly sappy. What does that really leave? I just want a good story with a lot of details that it is indeed a time of festivity in the winter. This year it was Comfort and Joy by India Knight because it was about a blended family at Christmas in London. Enough said.
And I guess that is really the point, isn’t it? Reading seasonally is a way to relate to the book we are reading. If the season or events are similar to what we are experiencing, then the story can be at more immersive while also soothing. And in our case, the stories can be a reminder of what life was like and can be like again in the not-too distant future. Beacons of hope and light to guide us.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that we should always stick to books about things we know. (That is an entirely different discussion and we absolutely need to extend ourselves into other points of view and settings different from our own.) I’m mostly talking about seasonal as in the time of year: like me sitting on my couch under a blanket on a gray, chilly New Year’s Day reading a romance that takes place in a ski chalet.
At this point you might ask, “Aren’t you just being manipulated by the publishing industry to read what is intentionally released at certain times of the year?” To which, dear reader, I would say, “Absolutely!” There is no doubt that publishing houses can manipulate what we read just by timing when certain kinds of genres are released. The books released for consumption in the spring are much different from the fall choices. This just emphasizes my point.
While we certainly should not all be reading the exact same books, reading books in similar archetypes at the same time is a way to connect to the larger world. The pack animal in all of us finds it comforting to have group experiences. Especially now, in a pandemic. Reading the seasons together is a way to connect while we cannot participate in the activities in person that usually make the season what it is.
There you have it. I love reading seasonally and I will continue to do it. This way of reading connects me to plot and characters and to my fellow human. And reading this way reminds us, as the famous song says, To everything (turn turn turn) there is a season. I had never thought of why I picked books in this way before but now that I know I will never forget.
P.S. I did read Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam recently. Was it well written? Yes. Should I have read it in a pandemic? No. Until further notice, all the world-as-we-know-it-is-ending dystopian stories will be scheduled for any autumn in our post-pandemic life.
What about you? Were you a seasonal reader before the pandemic? During it? What are your favorite seasonal reads?
nicole klett writing 