Welcome to my new and improved website, the official resource of all things Terri Nolan. My connection to Los Angeles is five generations deep. In my collection of photographs is one where all five on the maternal side are lined up on a sofa: Great-great Grandma Della, Great Grandpa Glenn, Grandpa Robert, Mother Margie, and me. This photo is not only a testament to longevity, but to reinvention: No one who lives deep into their 90s or past 100 has stagnant lives. I set my novels in Los Angeles not only as homage to my ancestry, but also because Los Angeles is a place that people around the world think they know; seeing what is filtered through movies, literature, music, television, celebrity, fashion, or simply the passing by on a freeway.
I heard it said that the fictional face of a city is a reflection of the time in which it sits. That may be true. But for those who grew up here, live here, we know that behind the façade, the stereotypes, the slick and hyped, is a world that thrums with creativity, optimism, and always, another chance. That is why the gray and silver tones of the new site bear significance: they are indicative of a heat, the passionate wrapper that says anything can happen in Los Angeles—the city that bore reinvention.
Speaking of which… I’m pleased to formally announce my first blog. For years, I pushed back the idea of blogging. Why would I want to add yet another voice to the vastness of the Internet? So why do it now? I began to look at blogging not as a task assigned by a publisher or the responsibility of an author to “build a brand” – three words I abhor – but as an outlet for my thoughts. In short, I took the pressure off. I’ll be writing for my own amusement. I’m thinking essay, writerly reflections, randomness, online diary. Besides, if it gets to be too much, I can always stop.