Stories don’t always begin with a lifelong dream of being a writer—sometimes they start with a reader who wants a book badly enough to create it themselves. In this interview, Nichelle Giraldes talks about finding her way to writing through that quiet, persistent pull of story; the power of small, precise details to carry enormous emotion; and why her work keeps circling back to the complicated ways women love, protect, and measure one another. We also discuss gothic horror, visual art as inspiration, cutting beloved scenes, and what it really means to keep showing up to the page long after the traditional markers of “success” have been reached.
Q: What’s a memory of a story or book that made you realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: I was a reader long before I ever thought about being a writer. I was a total library kid growing up! The kind of child who had to have their books taken away at bedtime so I’d actually go to sleep instead of reading under the covers. Even then, I never had any aspirations or even interest in writing those stories myself.
That changed in my twenties, when I started reading seriously again after college and felt that old childhood magic come rushing back. I remembered how deeply stories could move me. Around that same time, I got an idea for a story that wouldn’t leave me alone. I desperately wanted to read it, the only problem was that it didn’t exist yet. Eventually, I realized that if I wanted that book, I was going to have to write it myself. So I did.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice another writer has given you about storytelling?
A: One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received about storytelling is: the bigger the feeling, the smaller the details. When I’m writing about something emotionally huge—fear, grief, desire, love—I don’t want to explain the emotion directly. Naming it can actually distance the reader from it.
I thought about that advice constantly while writing The Forest of Missing Girls. Rather than telling the reader how unsettling or emotionally charged a moment was, I focused on small, concrete details from the way water drips off the tree branches, a strange silence, a smile that feels slightly off. Those details do the emotional work for you.
Q: Do you find inspiration in other art forms (music, film, visual art)? If so, how does it shape your work?
A: Absolutely! I find inspiration in all kinds of art! One of my first sparks of inspiration for The Forest of Missing Girls was is photograph, Campfire by Anna Marie Tendler, which captures a barren winter forest paired with a beautiful woman in a light, summery dress. The visual juxtaposition of the softness and beauty of this woman set against the stark hostility of these bare branches became the emotional and aesthetic foundation for the book.
I try to spend as much time as I can with other people’s creativity, whether that means a trip to an art museum, a night at the ballet, or just watching a really good movie at home. When I’m engaging with art in other forms, my inner world feels more vivid and curious. That always carries over into my writing. My work is better when I’m actively feeding it with other kinds of beauty and imagination.
Q: What themes do you find yourself returning to again and again in your work?
A: Women! I keep coming back to relationships between women, especially mothers and daughters, and how much those bonds are shaped by the world around us. In The Forest of Missing Girls, that shows up through the pressures women inherit about how to look and behave. But it also shows up in the bond between sisters. I’m deeply interested in how women love each other, and how that love can get complicated by comparison, expectation, and ambition. Those tensions are at the heart of everything I write.
Q: What’s a quirky or unexpected detail about your writing space?
A: I have a huge bulletin board behind my desk that’s very much not minimalist! It’s covered in notes from friends and family, vision boards for future projects, and little mementos from trips I’ve taken. There’s an Audre Lorde quote about excellence next to a friendship bracelet from a Taylor Swift concert, a fifteen-year-old birthday card from my best friend beside a mood board for a fantasy novel I may never actually write. It’s messy and sentimental and very, very me! Writing can be a lonely process, so I love having this wall of my outside life right in front of me to remind me there’s a whole world beyond my desk. It makes the writing space feel lived-in rather than precious!
Q: What’s the most rewarding feedback you’ve ever received from a reader?
A: The most rewarding feedback is always when a reader tells me they felt seen by my work. That they recognize some part of their own life or inner world reflected back to them in the world and characters I’ve created. Writing can be a lonely process, but being human can be lonely too. Fiction has the power to bridge that gap, to remind us that our fears, desires, and contradictions aren’t unique to us. Knowing that a story helped someone feel a little less alone is the kind of feedback that stays with me!
Q: Have you ever had to cut a scene or character you loved? How did you handle it?
A: Yes, absolutely, so many! I had to cut quite a bit from The Forest of Missing Girls, especially from the “Missing Girls” chapters. I loved exploring that perspective, but at a certain point I had to step back and ask what was truly necessary to tell the core story. Letting go of something you love is hard, but clarity always wins.
I’ve learned to make peace with the fact that so many words never make it into the final version readers hold in their hands. So much of writing is revision, but nothing is ever really wasted. Every draft, every cut sentence, and rewritten chapter teaches you something about the story and how best to tell it. Trusting that process has made me a better, more confident writer.
Q: How do you define success as an author? Has that definition evolved over time?
A: Publishing has a way of constantly moving the bar. When you’re starting out, success feels like getting an agent, then a book deal, then maybe making a list or winning an award. I’ve checked off a lot of the boxes I once thought would make me feel successful, and I’ve learned that the feeling doesn’t always arrive on schedule. There always seems to be another milestone ahead, another moment you tell yourself will finally make it feel real.
Writing, though, is different. Where publishing is work, writing is an art. I don’t think writing itself is something you succeed at. There is no definitive finish line. You just have to keep showing up to the page, staying curious, and working through the difficult parts. That’s where the joy is for me. And as far as I’m concerned, joy is a far more interesting, and far more important, goal than success.
Q: What is your favorite genre to read? Do you write in that genre? Has that always been your favorite genre, or has your taste evolved as you have grown as a writer?
A: I’ll read just about anything, but I probably reach for fantasy and romance the most. People in my real life are often surprised when they find out I write horror, but I love stories with a little magic and that make you feel something. My hope is that my horror does both of those things, just in a slightly darker way.
I’ve always been a reader first, and I still approach books from that place. That said, becoming a writer has definitely deepened my appreciation for really beautiful sentences and interesting writing choices, but at the heart of it, I’m still chasing the same thing I always have, really immersive and emotional stories.
Q: What other books would you recommend to our readers in addition to your own?
A: I’d recommend The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi, which is a lush, dark fairytale about obsession, female friendship, and the dangerous stories we tell the people we love. House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland is another favorite. It’s a haunting sister story filled with eerie transformations and some of the most beautiful, terrifying nature writing I’ve read. I’d also recommend Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth, a sprawling gothic novel about cursed girls, sapphic longing, and the way history and horror echo across generations.
All three live in that space where beauty and danger overlap, which is something I’m always drawn to as both a reader and a writer. I love deeply feminine horror that’s as lush as it is unsettling!
Q: What’s a surprising or unusual skill you have that might make its way into a story one day?
A: I took ballet classes all the way through college, which still surprises people! I’d love to write a ballet novel someday. The beauty, discipline, and history of ballet feels like perfect story material.
Q: What’s one thing you hope readers take away from your latest book?
A: I hope readers walk away from The Forest of Missing Girls feeling a little more tender toward themselves and toward the women in their lives. The book is interested in how beauty standards are taught and enforced, but also in the quieter ways women learn to protect one another within those pressures.
More than anything, I hope it invites readers to ask gentler questions about what we owe each other, and about the stories we inherit without realizing it. If the book lingers and makes readers think about the cost of trying to be perfect, I’ll feel like it’s done its job.
Q: What projects are you working on at the present?
A: I’m working on a couple other projects. One is a very summer-and-magic-coded romcom, and the other is a spooky little coastal gothic thriller. Both are still early in the process, but I’m having a lot of fun with them! We’ll see where they end up.
I’ve loved writing in the horror world (and imagine I will likely come back someday), but am also loving dabbling in some other genres right now!
Author Bio
Nichelle Giraldes is the author of The Forest of Missing Girls and No Child of Mine, a Colorado Book Award-winning horror novel. She writes gothic, feminist horror about the tangled expectations placed on women. When she’s not writing, she teaches math to middle and high school students and spends as much time as possible among the trees in Colorado.
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Book Summary
When Jack Utley loses his daughter just as his business is about to soar, it seems he’s traded financial gain for Callie’s life. After an encounter with a mysterious woman on the eve of Callie’s funeral, Jack wakes up to find that time has somehow rewound to the morning of Callie’s accident. Jack gets an opportunity that most grieving parents can only dream of – he saves his daughter’s life.
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