Martti Nelson is the author of comedy novels Lyssa Strata and Attack of the Rom-Com, which is due out later in 2021, as well as some love letters to Totino’s in honor of their fine Party Pizzas. She’s been featured on such luminous sites as Weekly Humorist, The Belladonna, Robot Butt, Daily Drunk Magazine, and Slackjaw. In addition to writing brilliant stuff that is often referred to as “stop mentioning menstruation so much,” Martti enjoys yard work with power tools that make her feel important. Martti creates funny books because she believes that humor can inspire joy, bring people together, and save the world, even in times of darkness. This bio has gotten a tad deep, so she will end on another joke.
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Title: LYSSA STRATA: A COMEDY FOR THE FRUSTRATED
Author: Martti Nelson
Publisher: Humorist Books
Pages: 205
Genre: Women’s Fiction / Commercial Fiction / Humorous Fiction
BOOK BLURB:
She’s mad as hell, and she’s not gonna give it up anymore.
Librarian Lyssa Strata has long begged the Town Council of Athena, Massachusetts, to repeal its disgusting old misogynist and racist laws. But the Council, an all-male entity for 400 years, has blown her off as a redheaded spinster—who, according to a 1673 law, should legally be run out of town at the end of a musket upon a poor fiscal year. So Lyssa seeks to invade the male bastion as the first woman ever on the Council. The men in charge treat her candidacy as a hilarious joke, which does not impress the female townsfolk.
The women are damn tired of being second-class citizens. For example, it’s illegal for them to use a toaster, as the manipulation of buttons is thought to impede brainwaves and cause menstruation. They decide to wield the only power left to them: Lyssa leads them on a sex strike as a revolt against inequality. The fellas are enthusiastic supporters! LOL no, they protest and issue death threats. Yet, when the national news shows up to cover the contentious election, everyone finally starts to listen to the ladies.
In retaliation against the motley crew of sex-strikers, the Council enacts the antique laws they assured Lyssa were merely charming historical trivia. She is accused of witchcraft and thrown in the stocks! Now this bookish dork, once content to hide in the stacks and distribute quiet feminism via checkout, is burning down her torture device and sending the evils of the past to the dustbin. When you want something done, do it yourself.
Or don’t do it—they’re on a sex strike, after all.
PRAISE
“If you’ve ever wondered what it would have been like if Terry Pratchett wrote The Handmaid’s Tale, this is the book for you.” —Jenny Trout, USA Today and Internationally Bestselling Author
“Funny and rage-inducing is a tough balance but Martti Nelson has written a book that is equal parts laugh riot and just plain riot. I want be Lyssa Strata’s best friend!” —Jen Mann, New York Times Bestselling Author of People I Want to Punch in the Throat
“There’s a lot to be frustrated about: the pink tax, politics, old white guys. Nelson deftly satirizes local politics and the patriarchy in Lyssa Strata. The ladies of Athena, Massachusetts may cherish a secret, but I don’t—read this book.” —Brooke Knisley, Your Local Redheaded Succubus. Oh, and Also Writer.
“Nelson’s deliciously laugh-out-loud spin on an ancient Greek tale shreds modern-day sexism with OG feminism.” —Marta Acosta, award-winning author of the Casa Dracula series
“Fans of Parks and Recreation, rejoice—there’s a new Leslie Knope to be found in Martti Nelson’s Lyssa Strata. Packed with callbacks to the Greek myth on which it’s based, this book will make for a satisfying read for any woman who’s mad at hell at the patriarchy and isn’t going to take it anymore, but also wants a laugh a minute along the way.” —Lana Schwartz, author of Build Your Own Romantic Comedy: Pick Your Plot, Meet Your Man, and Direct Your Happily Ever After
“A wickedly clever, sly take on the Greek classic that will have you rolling in the aisles of your own home as hard as the ancient Greeks rolled in the …aisles? Of their…. Ancient theaters??? Whatever, I didn’t read the original Aristophanes and neither did you. Save yourself the trouble and read this hilarious reimagination of it instead.” —Emily Flake, Saint Nell’s Proprietrix & Cartoonist, New Yorker
“Martti Nelson has created a character in Lyssa the librarian who anyone could love, admire and relate to—one who has had enough of the BS and does something about it. This novel will make you feel alive, or at least awake.”
—Jessica Delfino, author of Amazon #1 bestseller Dumb Jokes For Smart Folks
ORDER YOUR COPY
Amazon → https://amzn.to/3hSVLpu
Humorist Books → https://bit.ly/3vl08xH
Welcome to My
Bookish Pleasures! Can you tell us how you got started writing fiction?
Well, I started writing
comments on a very popular website. People thought they were funny. The editors
thought I was funny. And it occurred to me…am I a writer? Like, a writer-writer?
I’d always loved it in school, but never considered committing to it. But, high
on internet praise, I wrote a story. Then, a novella. Finally, a novel, and
yay, now I’m here! In the wilds of mid-list-dom.
Describe your writing
process. Do you plot or write by the seat of your pants? When and where do you
write?
I’m always a pantser
(seat-of-my-pants). I have a general idea of where I’m going, but sometimes my
pesky heroines get wild ideas and run amok. Who am I to stop them? I write
whenever my life will allow it, and I keep going until my butt screams from
being sat on too long.
Can you tell us about
your most recent release?
My debut novel is Lyssa
Strata, a modern retelling of the classic comedy Lysistrata by
Aristophanes. The last decade has proven that, far from being relegated to the past,
misogyny is loud and proud among us, and I got to wondering…what would happen
if women just…quit? That led further to thinking about my man Aristophanes and
his “solution” to the battle of the sexes—a sex strike! What would that look
like in modern times? How would the internet fuel that sort of thing? Would the
world react positively? (Ha!) Negatively? (Oh, you know it.) Yet, the place
where people come back together, to learn from one another when they’re at odds—that’s
where the book sits. It’s not an “I hate men” rant. It’s an “I want everyone to
be treated with dignity and respect” story. And maybe a “sex striking is really
hard, especially around cute boys. Heh heh—hard” book. Hey, it’s a comedy about
sex, you know there are anatomical puns in there. You’ve been warned.
Here's the blurb for Lyssa
Strata:
She's mad as hell, and she's not gonna
give it up anymore.
Librarian Lyssa Strata has long begged the
Town Council of Athena, Massachusetts, to repeal its disgusting old misogynist
and racist laws. But the Council, an all-male entity for 400 years, has blown her
off as a redheaded spinster—who, according to a 1673 law, should legally be run
out of town at the end of a musket upon a poor fiscal year. So Lyssa seeks to
invade the male bastion as the first woman ever on the Council. The men in
charge treat her candidacy as a hilarious joke, which does not impress the
female townsfolk.
The women are damn tired of being
second-class citizens. For example, it’s illegal for them to use a toaster, as
the manipulation of buttons is thought to impede brainwaves and cause menstruation.
They decide to wield the only power left to them: Lyssa leads them on a sex
strike as a revolt against inequality. The fellas are enthusiastic supporters!
LOL no, they protest and issue death threats. Yet, when the national news shows
up to cover the contentious election, everyone finally starts to listen to the
ladies.
In retaliation against the motley crew of
sex-strikers, the Council enacts the antique laws they assured Lyssa were
merely charming historical trivia. She is accused of witchcraft and thrown in
the stocks! Now this bookish dork, once content to hide in the stacks and
distribute quiet feminism via checkout, is burning down her torture device and
sending the evils of the past to the dustbin. When you want something done, do
it yourself.
Or don’t do it—they’re on a sex strike,
after all.
Of all your characters,
which one is your favorite? Why?
Temperance Dare,
80-year-old daredevil—emphasis on devil—queen of the BINGO set, proud Trans
woman, secretly mushy married lady, and badass extraordinaire. She’s my
favorite, and was so friggin’ fun to write! At the very beginning, I knew I
wanted a Trans woman character front and center, to make it very clear that
when I say “women are on a sex strike,” I mean all women. As I was
writing, she seemed to want to jump into a ton of scenes, stirring up trouble,
giving the middle finger to the law, and spiking the punch with liquors that
don’t necessarily go together. She’s basically who I want to grow old to be.
What was the most
challenging aspect of writing your book?
The subject of this book
is controversial for a lot of folks. I felt a great responsibility to present
my ideas with care, balance from different sides, and while considering other
opinions than my own. How do we really change someone’s mind, especially when
it’s backed by centuries of worldwide misogyny? How do you change it not only
in men, but in women as well? Internalized misogyny is a helluva drug.
I don’t know if I achieved
world peace, but I sure did try in the funniest way possible. In the end,
however, there’s no doubt that Lyssa Strata is a women’s empowerment
novel—with quite a few dirty jokes thrown in. Come for the titillating talk,
stay for the love for all humankind!
What projects are you
currently working on?
My next book is called Attack of the
Rom-Com, and it will be released by Humorist Books in early 2022. It’s a about
the least frou-frou-ey, rom-com-ey lady in the world being kidnapped in, your
guessed it, a rom-com. Here’s the blurb:
Proud misanthrope
Sophie Sweet is trapped in a magical rom-com of the teenage hi-jinks variety.
And the pretty princess kind. Wait—Jane Austen old tymey shit, too? None of these
calamities would have happened if Sophie hadn’t mocked Tiffani the Psychic, but
how else to convince a heroine made of barbed wire that true love really is for
everyone?
What advice would you
offer to new or aspiring fiction authors?
Write for yourself, first
and always.
Publishing is hard.
Head-banging, gut-twisting, hair-tearing hard. You’ll hear so many more “no”s
than “yes”es. The only way to truly last and thrive is to write what you love,
even if it takes a while for others to catch your wavelength. I’m considered a
bit of a weirdo—A woman writing comedies for other women?! Quelle horreur!—but
I found my publisher and my readers, as I knew I would. If you stay true to
what’s in your heart, you will, too. Now get that ass in the chair and write!
Oh, and Cheeze-Its are a power food.
