Nancy Banks: On the Reliability of Editing
In this interview, author Nancy Banks discusses turning the vampire story inside out with her debut novel, The Uninvited.
Nancy Banks has washed buses, worked as a graphic designer and art director, and co-owned a bookstore. She lived in France for several years and still regrets that she never finished her Epic Pastry Quest. She lives in Denver with her husband and their dog. Follow her on X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky.
In this interview, Nancy discusses turning the vampire story inside out with her debut novel, The Uninvited, the joy of incorporating her love of Paris into the novel, and more.
Name: Nancy Banks
Literary agent: Dan Lazar, Writers House
Book title: The Uninvited
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release date: December 16, 2025
Genre/category: YA/vampire
Elevator pitch: Dracula meets stabby teenage girls in Paris.
What prompted you to write this book?
I was reading vampire novels, and I realized that often the only role in them for women was victim. I wondered what an inside-out vampire story would look like, if the vampire’s victims refused to accept victim status and instead wrested control back from the vampire. I was also missing Paris, where I used to live. And this image lodged in my head: a girl, covered in vampire blood, crouching in a crypt under an abandoned Paris church. I wanted to know how she got there and what she did next.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
I wrote the first 44 pages in April 2010. The idea never changed, but one of my minor characters—a street artist named Noor—kept stepping forward, brandishing her spray can and demanding to be seen. When I let her take her proper place in the foreground of the story, everything clicked together.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
I didn’t realize how helpful social media would be for giving potential readers a fuller sense of the book. I put everything I loved about living in Paris into The Uninvited, and being able to show images of my favorite city on my feeds gives potential readers a glimpse into the book that they wouldn’t otherwise get.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
It was a little surprising how reliable editing is. Writing is unreliable. Yet when I edit, I’m always able to burnish the beautiful passages brighter and bring order and comprehensibility to any chaos. It’s magical.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
- Strong girls solve problems and support each other.
- Predators are a fact of life, but we can refuse them power.
- Victim is not the only role available to girls.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
I spent two years in drafting hell, and the Pomodoro Technique saved me. I would not have finished The Uninvited if I hadn’t been able to set my timer and know that after just 25 minutes of writing, I’d get five minutes of freedom from writing. That five minutes of freedom refreshed my perspective and made it possible to sit back down and write for another 25 minutes. And another, and another, until the book was done.
