The Nerd Daily recently had the pleasure of chatting to Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman, best friends and debut co-authors of the upcoming LGBTQ+ novel The Very Nice Box, a book filled to the brim with social commentary, sharp humour and tons of great vibes. We got to ask the two all our burning questions surrounding their release, their favourite books and so much more!
Hi Laura and Eve! Thank you two for chatting with us! Why don’t you tell our readers a bit about yourselves?
EG: We became friends almost 10 years ago because we moved into the same Brooklyn apartment building at the same time. I still think of us as neighbors, even though we don’t live in the same building! And we’re the co-authors of The Very Nice Box, a suspenseful rom-com about a queer engineer named Ava whose life takes a sharp and unexpected turn when she meets a tech-bro named Mat.
Lightning round: If you could only pick one book, one movie, and one album to consume for the rest of your lives, which ones would you choose?
EG: Brutal question! Album: Sheryl Crow by Sheryl Crow. Movie: Big Night starring Stanley Tucci in a mustard yellow polo. Book? This is torture. Maybe some Mary Oliver poetry.
LB: Oh, man. Right Now by Dirty Projectors. Could my answer to the movie question truly be Notting Hill? Maybe. Finally, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.
Since you are best friends, let’s have some fun! What were the moment(s) you guys knew you were meant to be best friends and what do you love most about the other?
EG: At the beginning of our friendship, when we were more neighbors than friends, I had an old wooden toboggan hanging around my apartment. It looked cool, but it took up valuable floor-space (my apartment was 400 square feet). Laura eyed it, brought it upstairs to her apartment, and returned a few days later with a custom-made wooden bracket for the toboggan to hang on the wall. I was like, who is this person, and how can I keep her in my life forever? Which brings me to the second part of your question: my favorite thing about Laura is that she is an incredible problem-solver. Whether it’s fixing a broken chair, helping me drum up excuses to get out of a social engagement, or plugging a plot hole, she always shows up with seemingly infinite solutions to any problem. This made the experience of writing a book together very gratifying; we were never stuck for long.
LB: :crying: That’s really sweet! I don’t have one specific memory, but I just remember how relaxed I felt hanging out with them. We would trade dinners back and forth in the building, and all of the things that would typically stress me out about hosting a dinner— like the awkwardness of negotiating how involved a guest wants to be in the cooking process, or whether they’d like the meal, or how comfortable they’d be in my space— it all kind of fell away. Eve would show up and fit perfectly into the moment. My favorite thing about Eve is how closely they observe people and relationships, and the way they can extract humor from any situation. But what I also want to talk about is that they’re a great cook! They can throw together a beautiful meal seemingly out of nothing in this way that is casually excellent. They are a true craftsperson. And all of this, including the fact that they fed me amazing meals along the way, made this book possible.
Now, onto The Very Nice Box! What can readers expect?
EG: Readers can expect to gasp. You might think you’re reading a rom-com, but it’s twistier than you’d expect. So I like to tell people to buckle up!
LB: The book is about what we gain and lose when we push beyond our comfort zones. And I think readers can expect to have a blast reading it.
What inspired you two to write this story?
EG: We bonded over the mundane horrors and mysteries of everyday life. These included, but weren’t limited to: terrible design choices, man-spreading, man-splaining, strange colleague behaviors, texts from our landlords, texts from Tinder dates, corporate memos, terribly-worded subway ads, and craigslist scams. These observations tended to fall under the category of “small crimes:” strange behaviors that fall slightly outside what is (or should be) deemed acceptable. Those observations created a fertile ground for the novel, and particularly for the character of Mat Putnam.
LB: And then we started thinking about Ava, who is regimented, restrained, and rule-abiding—and the perfect character to observe these kinds of infractions. Both with a sense of cynicism, but also curiosity. And the story grew around that tension.
Co-authoring sounds like a hell of a lot of fun but also challenging – how did you guys go about writing this book? What were the highlights and low points?
EG: There were many, many highs, and no lows that I can remember. The process was incredibly fun and joyous. We’d meet for dinner to plot three chapters at a time, and then we’d alternate writing each chapter. Receiving Laura’s chapter was always the best part of my day, and I’d drop whatever I was doing to read it. Invariably, we’d end up straying from our outline, and I always took that as a good sign; it meant the characters had run away with the story. So we’d regroup, tweak the plan, and charge forward again. We each edited every chapter so many times that at this point, I have no clue who first drafted any of the chapters.
LB: I feel the same way! And I truly can’t remember any low points. Maybe when we broke Google Docs. Apparently Google Docs has a comment limit, and after you reach that limit they lock you out of the document. So there was a moment, conveniently timed after completing our first draft, when we thought we’d lost the work.
And while we’re on the subject, any writing tips for aspiring writers who want to follow in your footsteps and pen a novel with their best friend?
EG: Writing a novel together takes more than being good friends and having writerly sensibilities. You really have to be able to collaborate well. Test out your collaboration chops with other low-stakes activities: pick out a movie together, or order a pizza together, or build an IKEA desk together. How fraught was the process on a 1-10 scale? That may give you some indication of how writing a novel together might go.
LB: Hah! Yes, this is good advice. I’d only add: trust your collaborator with the story, and be open to surprises.
Reviews have been flooding in and people are praising the sharp wit, discussion of toxic masculinity and the authentic portrayal of friendship, grief and trust. What do you want readers to take away from this story?
EG: I hope readers have a blast reading it and feel totally satisfied by the ending.
LB: To me, hearing that a reader couldn’t put it down is the most thrilling piece of feedback. I want readers to be hooked.
If The Very Nice Box were to be adapted, what three songs would need to be on the soundtrack and during which scenes would you want them to play?
EG and LB: That’s a tough question to answer without spoilers! We’d want Dance PM by Hiroshi Yoshimura for the beginning of the book–a bright, pleasing, repetitive, restrained, lyric-free song for Ava’s regimented days. Then Night by Bill Cunningham for when first glimpse her grief–it’s a puzzling, sad song. And finally I Won’t Hurt You when Mat and Ava get closer.
With The Very Nice Box releasing soon, what’s next for you two?
EG: We’re working on another novel together, set in a different (but adjacent) world. It’s great to be back at it again.
LB: After over a year of revision on The Very Nice Box, it’s exciting to be back in a fresh, generative space. I can’t wait to get to know our new characters better.
Last but not least, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
EG: Where do I begin?! In terms of newish books, I keep recommending Milk Fed by Melissa Broder. I love that novel. Also, pre-order Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke for something truly funny and touching. And if you’re in the mood for beautiful writing, read Bryan Washington’s Memorial.
LB: Go read Detransition, Baby right now!
