IWIC: Tell us about yourself.
Nancy: I am a native Nashvillian, a delicate southern flower sipping mint juleps on the front patio—oh, wait! That was my great grandmother. I am a native Nashvillian, far from delicate, the matriarch of an incredible family, the wife of a nationally-recognized composer and conductor of classical music, a recognized expert in transportation financing, an avid reader, an avid swimmer, and an author.
IWIC: What prompted you to become a writer? Nancy: According to my mother, when I was only a toddler when I heard a new word, I would crawl into my playpen (imagine a child crawling “into” a playpen!) and practice it until I could say it just right. She encouraged me to write letters to the editor. My teachers encouraged me to write short stories. I read everything I could get my hands on. My husband encouraged me to write a novel. I did.
IWIC: What do readers like about your writing? Nancy: My readers compliment the characters, the setting, imagery, and say the story compelled them to keep reading long into the night.
IWIC: Is there a message weaved into your writing? Nancy: Yes. I generally write a grand argument story where both sides of an issue are explored with one (the one I favor) winning in the end. It is sometimes difficult to find an opposing side, not because the subject is controversial, but because the subject seems cut and dried. How can one defend human trafficking, for instance?
IWIC: What is it that you want to inspire in others or change in the world through your writing? Nancy: For my paranormal novels: often what appears at first to be a threat is in reality a plea for help. Understanding others, even enemy-others is sometimes the solution to what at first appears to be a full frontal assault. For my suspense novels: Man’s inhumanity to man using the word “man” in the universal sense.
IWIC: Tell us about your most recent book and why you wrote it? Nancy: “BLESSED CURSE” is the story of Jorie Wainright’s battle to save herself, her unborn child and her life with the child’s father, Logan Mathis, from powerful other-worldly forces. This novel came after a visit to historic Rugby, Tennessee, a tiny mountain village established in the late 1800’s to provide a productive environment for the second sons of English nobility. The town is enchanting and has its own cast of ghosts, most of whom appear with regularity and perform their forever rituals. The story came to me almost whole (which, as most authors know, means I was only forced to revise it a hundred times rather than three hundred) after the visit. Jorie came first with a name I’d never heard before. She later said it was short for Marjorie and added that her middle name was Morningstar. Morningstar never made it into the final version because it did not fit the novel’s tone, but I got a good laugh from it, nonetheless. Logan arrived as Rodney, a name I eschewed in favor of something much more geared toward hunkdom. One by one, the characters arrived and took their perfect places.
