Nicholas Tanek
Hometown and/or Current City: Edison / New Brunswick, NJ (Middlesex County)
Keywords: Writing, Jersey, Punk, Indie, Drugs, Rave, Romance, Love, BDSM, Fetish, Heroin, Addiction, Recover, Cancer, Music, WFMU, Hip-Hop, Rap, Ghetto, Edison, Metuchen, Book
Nicholas Tanek is an American ghostwriter from New Brunswick, New Jersey. He graduated from Rutgers University with a bachelor's degree in English. Nicholas Tanek grew up as a New Jersey punk rock skater kid who lost himself in the early 90's New York City rave scene. After years of drug addiction, he got his life together when he was reunited with Lynn, the love of his life, before she died at the age of 37. Instead of choosing negativity, he chose creativity. Losing Lynn inspired him to write his first book, The Coolest Way To Kill Yourself. There is quite a bit of kinky sex, drugs, and music in the life of Nicholas Tanek and he has some unique stories to tell.
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Featured Work
Chipped Black Nail Polish
A Tribute to A Different Kind of Jersey Girl.
In New Jersey during the summer of 1989, an awkward thirteen-year-old who was obsessed with weird music fell head-over-heels in love with the coolest post-punk rock girl he had ever met.
Nicholas was insecure. He was a daydreamer, wishing for romance when he was told, over and over, that he could not have it. He was a toy, pulled and pushed, wanted and used, dragged along yet held at a distance. Nicholas fell in with the out crowd, and loved every minute of it. He fell in love and got left behind, but not before she changed him forever.
This is an irrational, emotional love story for the teenager inside all of us.
The music is loud, and you're about to be pushed into the pit.
What some people are saying...
"I should have put you in therapy." - my mother.
"I can't believe you're publishing this. You do not have my permission to use my real name." - name redacted.
"I insist that you use my real name." - Kevin.
"Finally, a title that doesn't scare people off. Not like the first book, The Coolest Way to Kill Yourself." - Kim Gray, publicist
The Coolest Way to Kill Yourself
Okay, so no one actually kills themselves in this book.
The Coolest Way to Kill Yourself pulls you into the early 90’s New York City rave scene, in all its chaotic, psychedelic glory. The narrator grabs you by your wrist and drags you behind two teenage lovers from New Jersey as they tumble through a whirlwind of reckless hedonism that eventually spirals into a dark, devastating world of drug addiction and heartbreak.
As a teenager, Lynn cried, “No one is ever going to write something for me.”
Nearly two decades later, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Nicholas did just that. The gesture came too late for our unlikely heroine, but his heart was in the right place. A broken heart… but a true love.
Reunited after years apart, Lynn and Nicholas embraced their love and sexuality, and embraced each other, despite troubled pasts, despite illness, despite all of their imperfections and mistakes. They shared the kind of honest and shameless connection that few have had the honor of knowing, and most would never understand.
“We’re not hurting anyone. We’re just living life without caring what anyone thinks about us, without caring about the consequences.”
“It’s the coolest way to kill ourselves,” Lynn said.
So turn the page, and pull the trigger.
What some people are saying…
“I used to think that I was a fairly liberal and open-minded person. But this world is truly a world outside my comprehension and comfort zone.” – my sister-in-law
"You will never publish this book.” – my ex-wife
“Are you crazy? I can’t believe you are publishing this.” – most of my friends
“I love the fact that you are publishing this.” – most of my cool friends
“You have disgraced me.” – my mother
“Why is your mother so angry about your book? Make sure you shovel the snow from the driveway.” – my father