Interview with Nick Vandermolen

Here is a little background on Nick before we get started with the interview:

My name is Nick Vandermolen, president of Nan Bu Nan publishing. I have been writing and self-publishing on a small scale for 5 years. This year I have decided to broaden the scale of the company and take it to a more professional level. We have a new website launching in a few weeks and have partnered with a film and music video group called Hott Garbage, to enhance the quality of our marketing.

My publishing company is: www.nanbunan.com

My tumblr is: Vandermolen.tumblr.com

Any other places we can find you: 

Google search “Vandermolen” and you might find some scary results. 

Also add Nan Bu Nan on Facebook.

Oh! And twitter’s cool too. Add @nanbunanbooks, and if you want something more bizarre add @Vandermolen.

1. Tell us a little about yourself, the author behind the series.

I moved to Chicago 2 years ago hoping I’d become a big time author…or at least get paid for it. I figured, heck, I’m pretty sweet. I’ll be roll’n in the dough in no time. I mean jeez, I had a degree in Creative Writing. Well, as it turns our, that degree don’t mean crap. And I have bad grammar. Nobody wanted to read my stuff; I’m too inaccessible THEY always say. My last book had over 300 footnotes. WTF!

Look, I don’t wanna be the guy that compromised so I can fit into somebody else’s mold. Aren’t we as authors and artists supposed to go against the grain of the world to eventfully shift the very nature of culture itself? A cultural brain change! So I said, “Hey, I’m the man, why not start my own publishing company.” I teamed up with Rick Boven and sure enough 2 years in the city and my publishing company Nan Bu Nan is a reality. What we got planned for you (royal you), oh! It’s just a little too secret. But keep your eyes on www.nanbunan.com for all the latest action, live feeds, and newest books. 

2. What is your series about? “I Hate Chicago” isn’t really a series at all. But, after 2 years, I’m sure I could make it one. The book is a collection of 5 distinct parts representing my first 3 months in the city. It exams the modern metropolis and debunks the fabled perks of city living. It starts back, when I first moved to Chicago with only 2 bags. My first apartment, I slept on the floor, using a towel for blanket and a sweatshirt for a pillow. Dude, that sucked.

It’s about a boy who thinks he a man. Thinks he’s all equipped for what the big ‘ol city has to throw at him. At college he was the big swinging dick, but in reality, in the city, he’s no better and no different then the ignored homeless man or the piece of trash blowing in the wind. And it’s about crawling and screaming, and crying and dieing…just to survive.

3. What inspired the series? Well, dang. I didn’t have a job. I had no money. And everyone else was at work. Not a lot to do in the library while you procrastinate from filling out job applications. I wanted to be an author might as well act like one. You know L. Ron Hubbard said in a moment of non-scientologist clarity something like, “a hungry author is a good author.” I’ll tell you what, I was frigg’n hungry, for a while I just ate from a stash of 70 PBJ’s I had stashed in the fridge, which was next to my toilet. I also was under the belief that only people in their early 20’s can do new and creative work. So I was real driven. But I’ve since learned that a common misnomer, especially after hearing Robert Pattinson (Hott[?] vampire dude from Twilight) talk about the same plight in “Remember Me.”  

4. What does your series mean to you? I like it because I wrote it and I’m the main character. Er…to be less egocentric it acts as a sort of mirror. In my bad days I can turn to the pages of “I Hate Chicago” and think, “At least I have a bed now,” or “I have a kitchen now, and food in the fridge.” I can look back and say, “I beat that game.” And it’s only been 2 years, heck, I own a publishing company. Where will I be in 2 more years? What about 10 years? Well, in 10 years I’ll probably be in another city…the White House? Perhaps.

5. Random Questions, pick one or as many as you like and tell why.

Crayons or Color Pencils – Color Pencils; Crayons don’t have the precision I require when I’m drawing pictures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Anchovies or Pepperoni – Anchovies; I’m a big fan of weird fish related appetizers. Here’s a picture of a hott meal I made the day after Christmas. I took a spoon and shoveled off hunks from a cheese ball, put it on a cracker, then topped it with a whole anchovy. There are 5 in the picture, but I made 8.

 
Pink or Blue – Dah, Blue; Blue is the most commonly liked color, I read that in National Geographic like 8 years ago. But I liked blue way before that.

 
Cherries or Blueberries - A few weeks ago I would have said Blueberries, for the anti-oxidants – important for ridding the body of free-radicals. But on this day, I say, Cherries; I’ve been trying to make a new alcoholic drink to name after myself, something for the bar at our Nan Bu Nan office. So I created this drink with orange juice, blue stuff, and a few other secret ingredients. But when I’m done blasting the brew I throw a cherry on top. I’m hoping it will get me babes…in marriage. So I would say cherries our better.

Flip Flops or Sneakers – Flip Flops suck. What if you want to climb a tree? Wrong!

(A note from Nick) Thank you for interviewing me. We independent types have to stick together, one goes to the top, we all be bling’n all the way to the bank. It was totally fun. And I just want to add, there is a short film about my first 3 months in Chicago in post-production now. It’s called, “I Hate Chicago: In the Gutter with Nick Vandermolen.” Look for “In the Gutter,” on our site’s media page at, http://www.nanbunan.com/media.

Thanks Nick for joining me here today on Ashley's Bookshelf, I had fun and enjoyed all your witty answers. Feel free to come back anytime :)