MM: Nancy give us the backstory on your career?
I began writing
when my kids were little (since they’re nearly 19 and 21, you get an idea how long ago
that was), jotting down as many words as possible during naps and distracted
playtime. I took writing classes, attended conferences, and joined a hardy band of fellow writers who were my greatest supporters and are still my friends. I began writing romance
novels, winning RWA’s Daphne award for a historical
romantic
suspense that
landed me my first agent, but unfortunately
not a contract. It would take
several more
years, manuscripts and a new, utterly marvelous agent to finally get ‘The Call’.
When my publisher closed their fiction line, however, I was left adrift. My
agent knew about my
historical romantic suspense and suggested I try writing a mystery. Which I did and
which became ‘No Comfort for the Lost.’
MM: What type of schedule do you have?
When I’m
working full tilt on a book, my day usually starts around 8 in the morning,
when
I catch up on my
e-mail and social media. I start writing sometime around 10,
working until
about 4 (or later, if I’m nearing deadline), and will spend a
few more hours
catching up on
mail and posts and doing a little promo after that. I work 6 days a week,
including
holidays, but even when I’m on deadline, I take Sundays off. I
simply have to
recharge at some
point.
MM: Tell us about your latest work?
I’ve
just handed in the edits on the 2nd book in my ‘A Mystery of Old
San Francisco’
series, which is
titled ‘No Pity for the Dead.’ My books take place in the 1860s after
the
Civil War, and
feature an English nurse, Celia Davies, and a handsome (of course!)
Police
Detective, Nick Greaves, along with a host of colorful characters. Here’s
a mini-
MM: If you could sit down to dinner with five people. Who would
they be? What would you ask them?
Given the time
period for my books, I’d like to meet some of the famous
folks from 1860s San Francisco.
People like Mark Twain and Bret Harte; Emperor Norton, who wasn’t
really an
emperor, but did become an extremely popular tourist attraction; Levi Strauss; or the
intriguing Jesse Benton Fremont, whose house overlooking the Golden Gate in the early 1860s
became a salon for the San Francisco intellectual elite.
MM: What is your favorite place to vacation, dessert, song, movie
and book to re-read?
Vacation: I have
to choose? Any place with interesting history, lovely buildings and good
food! England is
a favorite (no, honestly, there is good food there) as is New York City.
Dessert: Hm. It’s
a toss-up between my mother’s blueberry pie and key lime pie, I
think.
Song: Tough one.
As a vocalist, there are songs I love to sing (Bach/Gounod’s
‘Ave
Maria’
or Darlene Zschech’s ‘Shout to the Lord’
or Wilson Picket’s ‘Mustang Sally’!).
As a
listener, it
depends on my mood. I love Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Never
Going Back Again’, ‘Wild
Horses’
by the Stones, and ‘Tonight, Tonight’
by Smashing Pumpkins, to just name a few.
Movie: I watch ‘A
Christmas Story’ every year, but I adore old classics,
especially
Hitchcock’s
‘Rear Window’. Appeals to the mystery author in me,
I suppose!
Book: I can’t
recall the last time I reread a book. But I’m a huge fan of
Elizabeth Peters’
Amelia Peabody
series (so sad she’s gone) and Lindsey Davis’
work.
MM: What would you like to say to your readers?
I hope that you
find my tales of the folks who populated San Francisco in the 1860s, a
city filled with
immigrants from all over the world, interesting and that you come to love
Celia and Nick
and their family and friends, with all their quirks.
MM: What would your characters tell us about you?
That I keep
putting them into perilous situations they’d rather not have
to deal with!
MM: Tell us about where you live? Be our tour guide>
I live in a
fairly normal central Ohio suburb, but am happy that we’re very close to
countryside and
have lots of parks to take advantage of (as well as lots of great
restaurants with
good food and some very lovely buildings)
MM: In closing leave us with a character quote?
‘Danger
finds her like a bloodhound tracks a scent.’
— Nicholas Greaves thinking about
Celia Davies
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteI am going to love your books. Can't wait to read them.