Interview With Author Liz Fahey

 

1. What inspired you to write this book? My inspiration came from my father. He loved spinning interactive stories that kept us laughing, engaged, and on the edge of our seats. His favorite tales were about the NOLO—an 80-foot-tall, three-legged, furry giant who rescued lost kids. He brought these stories to life by encouraging us to shout, “NOLO!” or mimic the “THUMP… Thump, Thump!” of its steps. It was truly magical. My father penned the first draft of this book before he passed.  Because the NOLO is from his imagination, it was critical to me that this story start the series.  The next book, Flood in the Desert (August ‘25), is penned wholly by me. Transforming his draft into a published book was a labor of love. I dug into the NOLO history, finished the draft, took publishing steps, and worked side-by-side with an illustrator for ~5 months to create the creatures, 35+ illustrations, and cover.   

2. What exactly is it about — and who is it written for? Danger in the Hills is an adventure story about a group of young campers who are lost deep in the woods. As they struggle to find safety, the kids show bravery, lean on friendships, and use resourcefulness.  At their lowest, they remember a story from their Uncle Jerry about an 80-foot, 40-ton creature called the NOLO. In desperation, they call for help. Jake, the local NOLO, answers—but they’re unsure if he’s a friend or foe!  The NOLO series is perfect as a bedtime story and as a transitional read for kids ages 5-10, bridging the gap from picture books to chapter books. 

 3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? Oh man, I really hope children’s imaginations really fire after reading this.  I used to tell NOLO stories to my kids before bedtime, and it always resulted in them telling one back to me.  I think there is something magical about a creature that’s so clearly not possible, 80 feet? 3 legs? 40 tons? Crazy.  To help this along, I added in pictures of the NOLO species and it seems to be working as I already have kids begging for new books about their favorites!   

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? The book title stays true to my dad’s original title.   For the cover and the 35+ illustrations inside the book, I worked closely with an artist for ~5 months. First concepting the NOLO, exploring how they move, act, and live.  Then focusing to really enhance what kids were reading with the images.  I want kids to just go crazy with ideas and I hoped the pictures would help. For the cover specifically, it was important to convey how huge the NOLO truly are.   I wanted to make the colors pop off the page for “shelf appeal.”  Last, we devised NOLO specific iconography in the title, to show off the playfulness. 

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? Just write.  I have so many friends who want to write, but get stuck on the details before they even start, and then don’t actually create anything.  If you can get the first draft down, even if it’s really not good, then you have something to bounce off.  It’s always easier to react to something then start at zero.   

6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? It would be remiss not to mention AI. AI books are flooding the market, whether through adorable but similar cover art or numerous books that feel a bit too familiar. Soon, AI in the market will find its balance. This early “spam” will transition into an enhancement for the creativity of writers, ensuring better-quality self-published books (editors and formatters are expensive!). Imagine a massive fantasy epic like Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin created millions of story strands. I suspect a ChatGPT equivalent, filled with his stories and lore, could help tie those threads together for a satisfying ending.  

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? Two things.   The first is obviously my father.  Whether it be playing D&D with us as kids, telling NOLO stories, or ones about other creatures… He always kept our creativity firing.  The second is my non-book career, Product Management.  I knew I wanted to do justice to my dad’s legacy.  This means I needed to make mistakes and test my hypothesis.  Thus meet, Pepper the Elephant.  I call it my beta book as I learned all about the process of publishing, working with illustrators, Amazon KDP, copywriting, marketing, and so on.  And oh boy, did I make a huge amount of mistakes, so I am glad I did.   

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? Cheeky.  I love weaving layers into my writing that catch kids in a sort of, “Wait what..??” and maybe inspire a giggle or ten.  My dad tended to slightly break the fourth wall with his humor, i.e. phrases like, “That’s a lot of pressure, if you think about it.” from Danger in the Hills referring to Jake trying to navigate a city without smushing someone. 

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? Figuring out what a NOLO actually looks like! My dad described the NOLO very differently to us than he did in his draft. I think he was making them more mainstream. I ended up interviewing everyone who remembered the NOLO, then used their varying descriptions to create multiple NOLO concepts.  Then I took those concepts and conducted a survey with kids.  Their favorite was Jake, our Mountain NOLO!  In his origin story, my dad talked about the Fuzz infecting all living things. In the end, I decided it actually enhanced the world to have each NOLO species look different. So, the NOLO species you see at the end are each an ode to someone’s memory from my dad’s stories.  

10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? Why read the NOLO?  It’s the perfect transition book from pictures to reading.  The book is highly visual with just easy enough to read paragraphs.   The NOLO also really sparks kids' imaginations. As a parent of two, I know just how difficult it is to get kids off screen.  There is something about these massive, furry, oddly good smelling creatures that goes straight to your wonder and your heart.  Heck, even you might have difficulty not running around your house afterwards chanting, “THUMP…Thump, Thump!”    

About The Author: Liz Fahey is a celebrated creative known for her wit, imagination, and storytelling talent. Inspired by her father—fondly called Uncle Jerry—a master storyteller who captivated audiences, especially children, with his vivid, interactive tales. Liz brings the enchanting world of the NOLO he created to life through her illustrative translation of his stories and her own writing. For more information, please see: www.Liz-Fahey.com.

 

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Brian Feinblum now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).  This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, he has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.