As promised, we are spending a little more time with Nancy and learning some tidbits along the way. Over the years, Nancy has been influenced by numerous authors, books, and mentors. Her favorite author is Jim Butcher for his language and mind catching universe plots.
Growing up Nancy’s attention was grabbed by the Bible, Victoria Holt, and every romance novel she picked up to read. When she began her writing career it was authors such as Jim Butcher and Rachel Caine that guided her early journey, but she considers Eloisa James one of her mentors. Long before she was ever published, Nancy sat next to her at a New Jersey Romance Writers’ conference and Eloisa took time to talk to Nancy about a book Nancy was working on. At Nancy’s very first book signing, Eloisa stopped buy and purchased a copy of that book!
Here is the second part of our interview with Nancy. Enjoy!!
MTAR: Do you see writing as a career?
Nancy: I do.
MTAR: Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?
Nancy: At the time I wrote Fabric of Faith, there were few publishers doing inspirational and I sent it to any I could find. All of them rejected me, until I tried an epublisher.
MTAR: Have you written a book you love that you have not been able to get published?
Nancy: Sword & Illusion was the book of my heart!
MTAR: What were the challenges (research, literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing it to life?
Nancy: I would say logistical because the story and the world became so complex that I had trouble keeping the word countdown to something manageable.
MTAR: What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author?
Nancy: I had a big editor tell me my world building was thin.
MTAR: What has been the best compliment?
Nancy: My first rejection letter started with “Your writing is great.” Also, when my inspirational came out, a friend told me that reading it was the reason she went back to church. That was nice.
MTAR: Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?
Nancy: Write the Book of Your Heart. Write every day and polish, polish, polish until it’s the best book you can write. If you do that, you will find a home for it.
MTAR: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
Nancy: When my first two books came out in 2004, I was living in Pennsylvania and was part of a group of moms who all met and chatted a lot online. They arranged my first (and only) book launch party at a local Panera restaurant. Now that I’m in Louisiana, several of them are still supportive of my career.
MTAR: How do you market your work?
Nancy: I’m very active on Facebook and I am also on Twitter, although I am not as active there. I have a blog and an author page on Facebook, too. I’m on Goodreads, also.
MTAR: What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?
Nancy: I tried going to a sci-fi fantasy con, which had some success. The social networking sites seem to be good for exposure.
MTAR: Who designed the covers?
Nancy: Elaina Lee
MTAR: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Nancy: Rachel Van Dyken. She has been very encouraging since we were accepted by Astraea.
MTAR: Which book do you recommend for a reader that is new to your writing?
Nancy: Since Sword & Illusion is the only one we have out now, that would be the best one to start with. My first book, Fabric of Faith, is still available, however. That would be a good one if you enjoy contemporary inspirational romance.
MTAR: What are your current projects?
Nancy: Polishing/Rewriting For the Love of Ivy, plotting Sword & Incantation, plotting/finishing another contemporary called Married for the Money.
MTAR: Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
Nancy: – Steve and I are working on a sequel to Sword & Illusion, Sword & Incantation. I’m also working on polishing a contemporary romance, tentatively titled, For the Love of Ivy, and a new fantasy novel (possibly series), called Pigsty Princess.
MTAR: What book are you reading now?
Nancy: The Sharing Knife, the Beguilement by Lois McMasters Bujold.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading Nancy’s story as much as we have enjoyed writing it for you guys. Before we go, Nancy wanted us to share a huge thank you to all of her fans and allowed us a couple of more questions that we thought you might enjoy.
Nancy is a devout Catholic who chooses dogs over cats because her son is allergic to the latter. Although she and her husband have not had the opportunity to travel much for research on her books; they have discussed a trip to New Orleans to research some angles for an upcoming book that might involve a haunted hotel.
Hhhmmm looks like we will be seeing much more of this talented author! Don’t forget to check out Friday’s blog when we will sneak in an excerpt of Nancy’s book!