In November 2023, our sister site, Galatea, announced the first two stories to premiere on GalateaTV: Gideon and Beautiful Mistake. We sat down with the author of Gideon, Nicole Riddley, to talk about how her life has changed since she decided to start writing stories on Inkitt. We also asked her how she feels about her work being adapted for TV.
Nicole Riddley on Getting Picked for GalateaTV
We asked Nicole how she feels about the success of Gideon and what it means to her that her story is now reaching the screens of excited fans. She’s come a long way since starting her writing journey on Inkitt!
Kylie Koews: Welcome, welcome. Congratulations on the release of Gideon on Galatea TV. How are you feeling about everything?
Nicole Riddley: After all this time, it still feels surreal. I don’t know. It’s hard to believe that it’s on TV. Everything’s amazing!
Kylie Koews: So what was your reaction when you found out that it would be made into a TV series?
Nicole Riddley: Well, you sent me a message on WhatsApp, and I think I was just waking up. I was still in bed, and I looked at it like, seriously? No way! And I jumped out of bed, and I think I asked you, “Seriously?!” or something like that, I don’t remember.
But I was jumping up and down. I was like, “If Kylie is pulling a prank on me or something – if this is a joke – I’m going to kill her.” So I was jumping up and down, and I knocked on my daughter’s door and told her that Gideon was going to be on TV. And then I called my husband. I was jumping up and down, and they were making fun of me by calling me “Miss Hollywood.”
Turning Gideon into a Television Series
Our plan to turn Gideon into a TV series certainly wasn’t a joke! And we were so excited to have Nicole’s creative input into the creation of the series.
Kylie Koews: So we flew you down to LA. You got to be on set for part of the filming of Gideon. How did it feel to be there in person and to see your work come to life?
Nicole Riddley: Yeah, it’s surreal. I was still trying to wrap my head around it when I went there. And then I think when I arrived at the set, the thing that struck me the most was that there were so many people working to bring this idea, this book, this imagination to life. When I think about how I started it, I feel so humbled. Like, wow, so many people worked on bringing this to life. It’s amazing. I was giddy.
Kylie Koews: That’s so great. I love to hear that!
What Readers Are Saying About Gideon on GalateaTV
Kylie Koews: Have you received any feedback from your readers who have watched the show already? Have they given you any opinions about the show yet?
Nicole Riddley: I haven’t read that many comments yet, but I think the majority of my readers were very excited about it. Some said, “Oh, it’s not just like my imagination.” And I think it’s impossible to bring the imagination to life in the way every person imagines things. But mostly, I think people are excited about it.
Kylie Koews: You also have a really solid fan base that seems to be really loyal to you and always excited for every new thing that you come out with.
Nicole Riddley: They’re so awesome. I have the most awesome readers.
Will Galatea TV Influence Nicole’s Future Stories?
Kylie Koews: So do you think that now being able to see Gideon on screen, having that visual medium, will maybe impact your fandom or even you as an author and your future works?
Nicole Riddley: I don’t know about my fandom. But I think they did a great job on it, you know. As for my work, I think it’s kind of hard to explain. When I see it on the screen like that. Um, now when I write, I think I sort of imagine how it looks on screen.
Yeah. I think that’s also something new because I never imagined it on the screen. It’s always in my head, like in different versions.
Nicole Riddley on Her Writing Journey with Inkitt
At Inkitt, we encourage all writers to get started. We all feel that sense of writer’s block or imposter syndrome at times, but you never know who will connect with your story. Nicole found her passion through the community at Inkitt.
Kylie Koews: So clearly, you’ve come a very long way from first starting to write to now having your show. Can you share a little bit about your writing journey and how you got started as an author?
Nicole Riddley: Well, I know you knew this, but it started as a joke because I was convinced I couldn’t write at all. I hated doing assignments for school, university, whatever. I hated it with a passion, so I had to do it just to graduate. And then I joined literature classes and creative writing. I remember when I was writing a story, my lecturer wasn’t too impressed with it because they’re like weird stuff.
When I first read online stories, I wasn’t very impressed with the way everybody wrote the same thing over and over again. And the story, you read one story, it’s sort of like you read a whole bunch of other stories. I think they’re like kids starting to write, which is good.
But then I thought, oh, maybe I’ll start writing too and continue with the process like everybody else, repeating all these other stories, but I make it funny or something. I was sort of making fun of some content, I guess. Not nice at all. But then, when I started writing and I got feedback, people started reading, and then they were encouraging me to keep going.
I was having the greatest time just writing whatever came to my head, even the silliest thing, and people were laughing at what I wrote, and I thought it was great. I got some followers, I got readers, and I thought, wow, this is awesome. Where else can I get people to read my work like this, right? So, yeah, I started from there, and then book one became book two, and then book three, and just yeah, it’s amazing. Now, here we are.
Congratulations to Nicole Riddley – Inkitt’s Latest Success Story!
Kylie Koews: Now, here we are! Awesome! Well, this is amazing, and we’re so proud of you. So excited to see Gideon grow and all of the rest of your series grow along with it. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Nicole Riddley: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Ali. And everybody else at Inkitt and Galatea. You guys have been great. The experience has been awesome for me. I can’t thank you enough.
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