BIO
Laura Nessler is a writer based in Chicago, IL. She is also a social worker who works in community mental health. She moved to Chicago 9 years ago to write plays and now wants to write other things (but still watch plays). She can often be found reading articles on the internet and caring for other people's pets. Before moving to Chicago, Laura graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in English and Drama. She was raised in two college towns in southwest Virginia and central Texas.
INSPIRED BY
specificity, travel, Delusions, People's hometowns, Long form articles in the New Yorker (before I've hit the five article limit), Conversations that overlap and intertwine in ways that don't make sense to anybody outside of them, Conversations that sag or fail
EXPLORING
I'm working on a novel about sleep. Specifically, a woman with a condition where she must sleep more and more in order to function. I'm drawn to the idea of seeing how people find normalcy in extreme circumstances. I'm also interested in the sometimes fine line between what we consider an illness and what we don't.
Whether as a symptom of a chronic illness or not, sleep itself is super interesting to me. Is there a way to find meaning and fulfillment in the act of sleep itself? In what ways is sleep performative -- either as a beautiful or disgusting act?
The word "novel" intimidates me. I've never written any prose approaching the length of a novel. But, if I was meant to write one, I was meant to write it about naps.