What inspires you to write?  

I tend to gravitate toward true stories or tales with a core of truth. The stickier the better for me. If it’s something that challenges my own moral codes or questions of ethics, I tend to be intrigued. I just want to know more, and that usually leads me to a good story.  

When did you first consider yourself a writer? 

My grandmother would laugh and be proud of me at the same time. I can’t spell to save my life. To be called a writer is something neither one of us truly saw for myself. It gradually came when I started telling stories and working on film and television. Sometimes you get stuck on one project, and in order to get yourself out of a corner, it helps to approach it all from a new angle. When a script wasn’t sold, a producer told me to turn it into a book. I listened, for once in my life, and here we are with the title “writer” added to my confusing set of skills.  

What are some day jobs you have held?  

In Los Angeles, I’ve done every side job one can imagine. I was once hired to be a mermaid, for example. Yes…with a fishtail. I was hired by a woman for her husband’s 50th birthday bash to swim around in the pool three times and take pictures with the guests. The only problem was the fishtail. It was crocheted out of very heavy fabric that soaked all the water like a sponge. When I got out of the pool, I had to hop back to the guest house like a wet rat in front of the puzzled crowd of party guests. Quite a special moment.  

How do you think you’ve evolved creatively? 

I don’t hold on so tightly. I’ve gotten much better at letting things go and being able to understand the ebbs and flows of this journey. I won’t try to be perfect. I just want to tell stories with good, layered characters who have something to say and show. I’ve improved the way I structure my pieces and my work. Even when I’m “not inspired” I know how to get myself into work mode and how to get my brain to function in the way that I need it to.  

What have you written so far? 

I mainly write feature screenplays, but I now add novels to my arsenal. For me, it’s a much deeper understanding of the world and the creatures in it and it’s teaching me a great deal.  

What advice would you give to aspiring authors? 

Honestly, this may sound so simple, but it comes down to “just do it”. A lot of my friends or people I teach in a seminar tell me they have to be in the right mood to write. I think that’s both a myth and an excuse. A time of day I completely understand, but to me, creativity is about structure. You have to sit down anyway,  regardless of whether or not you’re feeling it, and get your brain to do the work.  Research, process the beat sheet, and check out comparable books or films,  documentaries, or interviews. The internet is vast. Put your phone in airplane mode for a set amount of time and ideally get off social media. That’s my main advice. If you can do that every day, a month down the road, you’re bound to have something.  Even if it’s only a new way of thinking about writing.  

Can you share with readers a little bit about your latest book?  

Death of a Nightingale is a steamy goth, young-adult novel about a melancholic vampire calling a suicide hotline asking for advice on how to die, because who would know better? Instead of getting detailed instructions to her rather absurd request, she connects with the phone operator and they spark something deep within each other.  It’s a Romeo & Juliet story but with two Juliettes and a lot more teeth.  

It also plays with our old ideas of the genre specificities of what a vampire is, and what their rules are, and goes back a lot further than Bram Stoker into Greek history and medical discoveries and where the idea of “the undead” comes from.  

What made you decide to sit down and actually start writing this book? 

I had a wonderful, vivaciously funny friend in high school. He was the smartest and brightest light I knew. We had a lot of adventures together as we came of age and grew into ourselves and because that time is so significant, he became like a brother to me.  He died by suicide at the age of 23 and left me with both anger and a lot of unanswered questions. I’ve thought a lot about how we talk about depression and suicidal thoughts and how we as a people shy away from truly hearing about the different depths of it.  

In order to chat about both, the darkness and my friend’s absurdly morbid sarcasm, I  wanted to write an escapist story that can embrace all of those different shades. It’s much easier to digest those ideas and embrace death in a fictional story. There is a lot of my friend in the book. Quotes, small stories, and jokes we came up with together a lifetime ago.  

Tell us more about your main character. What inspired you to develop this character? 

Ness is the operator at a suicide helpline. She decided to help the chronicle depressed after her own father died by suicide. It affected her deeply. She fled into structure and rules and making a very strict plan for her life and how it’s supposed to be. When a vampire calls her one night, it is so surreal and absurd it puts her on the spot. There are no rules for that moment. It takes her out of her own world, her self-inflicted prison, and starts her on a journey of wild, sexy, and dangerous self-discovery.  

Who is your favorite character in your book and why? 

I love my vampire, Grace. She’s saucy. She has such a confident swagger about herself and says things I would never dare to say out loud myself. I envy her for that freedom of norms and social standards. As a teen, I would have wanted to be her because I would have thought her to be the coolest.  

What is your next project?  

I’m currently adapting a book and about to direct my first feature. It’s a fun little slow-burn thriller, called Odium and our team is truly fantastic. I’m very excited about it. It’s been a long time coming. After that, I will continue with the second part of the Wings trilogy, the sequel to Death of a Nightingale. It’s the second vampire book and continues the adventure. It’s titled Hawk of the Night. 

What new authors have grasped your interest and why?

I continue to get inspired by so many different, brilliant voices. I love Cormack McCarthy and his dark, modern American Westerns. He paints villains like no other. But I also always love Dave Eggers and the range he can write. He brings journalistic integrity to all of his stories and I will work hard to do something similar. There is a core of truth to everything he does and it’s gorgeous. Sometimes I just need good world-building and re-read any Sarah J. Maas book. Whenever I do, I get asked by female strangers in a hush-hush voice, which one I’m reading and it’s become my favorite underground cult. It’s fantastic.  

What do you like to read in your free time? 

I just finished a few thrillers I adored and a love story I think is really important in our culture. The thrillers were In a dark, dark wood by Ruth Ware and Stillhouse  Lake by Rachel Caine. Both were such a joy to dive into. The third book will stay with me for a while. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is something really special. I devoured it.  

Tell us something unique about you. 

I have a little Dachshund puppy, named Dobby after the house elf from Harry Potter. She sauntered in and started stealing socks, so she named herself.  

Want to learn more about Annika Pampel?

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