The Queen of African horror tells us about the genesis of her new novel, Futility, which hits shelves today via Titan. Plus, your chance to win a copy of the book is at the bottom of this page!
Name: Nuzo Onoh
Based in: UK
What genres/subgenres are you drawn to?
Humour, speculative, world fiction.
Is writing your full-time focus, or do you have a day job as well? What do you do?
I’m a full-time writer but have a flexi day job working in a small facility for children with special needs who are at risk of getting excluded from their mainstream schools. I do this a couple of days a week and find it both rewarding and creative. Nothing beats the creative imagination of my special pupils!
The Book: From Pen to Print
What was the genesis of this book? Where did you get the idea from?
The genesis of FUTILITY was my sister saying the word “futility” in a random sentence as we went for a drive after my birthday celebration. I immediately told her that was the title for my next book. I had no idea what the book was going to be about, but when I eventually started writing, the characters revealed themselves and their messed-up world to me, as they tend to do with all my works.
How many drafts did you go through before you felt it was ready to query? How long did that take you?
One draft! This book couldn’t wait to be written. It usually takes me approximately a year to write a book, but it took me just three months to write FUTILITY. That was how much fun I had writing it. My agent didn’t ask for even a single rework. She just submitted it to the publisher who immediately made an offer. I guess they all loved it as much as I did… still do 🙂
Did you work with beta and/or sensitivity readers? How did you find them? How did you incorporate their feedback?
I rarely use beta readers and didn’t use any for FUTILITY.
Once it was in the hands of your publisher, what was the process to get it ready for release?
My agent gave me the timeframe for the book release. Then I received the amazing book cover, followed by the first edited draft and later, the copy editor’s draft. The whole process was pretty seamless, thanks to the awesome support from the expert team at Titan Books.
And now your book is about to be unleashed on the world! How are you feeling?
Excited and relieved and grateful. One more book out there. Now to wait for the next book next year 🙂
What would you like us to know about this book?
FUTILITY is like marmite: you either love it or hate it. The two female protagonists are horrible individuals with few redeeming qualities. They’re driven by spite, rage and bitterness. In their relentless quest for vengeance, they sell their souls to a trickster spirit and commit heinous acts that will bring shudders to readers. But you’re not meant to like these women; you’re not meant to root for them; you’re not meant to judge them or rationalise their actions. You just need to go for the ride, enjoy the entertainment and who knows? You might find yourself rooting for them after all or wishing them the worst hell and torture. As I said, this book is marmite and anyone with a sensitive disposition to swearing should give it a wide berth. Despite the farce, FUTILITY, allowed me to shine a horror-rific light on the stringent and unrealistic beauty standards imposed on women by both society and the media.
Who’s the ideal reader for this one? What sort of things do they like to read about?
Adults only. People who love some dark humour, satire and craziness in their reads; people who don’t mind some colourful language, a bit of gore, corpses and blood; the supernatural and a healthy dose of vengeance.
Your writing process
Are you a plotter or pantser or somewhere in between? How do you do your first draft?
Definitely a pantser. I never plan my first chapter or any other chapter. I just sit before my laptop, write the title, chapter one and wait for the opening line to come to me. With that opening line, the story begins to unfold itself and I open myself up completely to the characters that start entering my head and covering the pages for as long as they’re sharing their story with me. When they stop, I stop. That’s why I have several unfinished manuscripts in my folders—they’re waiting for the characters to resume their tale. Sometimes, I’m lucky and they reveal a whole novel without breaks. Other times, I have to return to the unfinished manuscript when they re-enter my head. I was lucky with FUTILITY; the entire story was told at furious speed in one exhilarating stretch of writing.
How do you approach writing? Are you the type or writer who needs to treat it like a job? Is there a particular time of day you find best for you to write?
Like everything about my life, my writing is haphazard. I write when I hear the stories in my head and I don’t write when there’s nothing to hear. So, I could go for weeks and months without writing a single word. And then, boom! The characters return with a vengeance and I’m doing 24-hour marathon stretches of manic writing. It doesn’t matter whether it’s day or night; I just write until I’m totally drained before taking a break for the next stretch.
When I first started writing horror, I used to write at night because I was a single parent with a young child and could only write at night when my child was asleep. This, coupled with my congenital insomnia, made night-time writing perfect. But it was very frustrating because I was forced to ignore the clamouring voices inside my head until nighttime. Thankfully, with my children grown and away from the house, I’m now free to indulge my characters at whatever time or place they choose to visit me with their stories.
Geek out about stationery: do you use a notebook? A specific type of pen? Or are you computer all the way?
Computer, tablet and mobile phone; and the occasional diary. I always email myself whatever I hear or even WhatsApp or text myself certain phrases, scenes, images or an additional narrative to the story as soon as I hear them. That way, it’s all copy and paste later on. In my early days of writing, I was a notebook person all the way. I scribbled everywhere—inside the car while doing the school run, in the kitchen while cooking, in the office, the park, the pub… basically, everywhere and anytime. It was stressful having to type out everything later. Now, I wouldn’t do without my laptop and my mobile phone and tablet.
Where do you work? Do you have a comfy, creative space at home or are you someone who has to grab the moment wherever it comes?
I have a study but I don’t use it much for writing because it makes it seem like hard work and I struggle to concentrate when I sit before the writing desk, all starched up and stiff. So, I have a laptop practically everywhere, including the kitchen and the living room. That way, I get to write wherever I find myself. These days, it’s mostly in my living room.
What’s your writing soundtrack?
Oh boy! I’m one of those who must write with music and I usually let each story draw me to the music it wants. I’ll listen to that single song in loop until the story is done and then I never listen to it again for a long time. But FUTILITY was different. I found myself from chapter two listening to Tupac’s ‘Only God Can Judge Me’. Midway through the book, I was listening to Supertramp’s ‘Goodbye Stranger’. By the end, I was hooked on Whitney Houston’s classic, ‘Didn’t We Almost Have It All’. So, yeah, a real roller-coaster ride of a book in every way.
Do you have a writing ritual?
No ritual. I write when there’s something to write; anywhere, anytime, dressed in anything. I don’t eat or drink while writing because I just don’t remember whilst I’m engrossed in the story. My headphones are always attached to my head and my phone is on silent. No emails or social media checks, and definitely no answering of door knocks; just me and the story until we’re done. Then I return to normality and gorge myself on K-drama and J-drama, K-indie pop and J-city pop, all the while, stuffing my face on whatever… bliss!
Where can we follow you / find out more about your work?
- Substack: https://nuzo.substack.com/
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8150070.Nuzo_Onoh
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/nuzo.bsky.social
- Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/nuzoonoh
Futility is out on 14 October through Titan Books.
Win a copy of Futility!
Thanks to Titan, we have five copies of Futility by Nuzo Onoh to give away, along with some of the “swag” created to promote the release. To be in with a chance, head over to this form and answer the questions by midnight on Sunday 19 October. We’ll pick winners at random, and be in touch with winners in the week commencing 20 October.
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