F is for Fairy Tales

Today’s letter in the month long A-Z challenge is F. (No, we’re not going there! Get your mind out of the gutter, people. LOL!) Our guest today is Oberon Wonch, lover of Medieval romance, Renaissance Faires, fairy tales, gardening, and a soon-to-be-published romance author.

 

F is for Fairy tales, those magical stories we all heard growing up, the ones that feature youngest sons, princesses, cruel stepmothers, and talking animals. The stories where good triumphs over evil and an honest knight or virtuous princess earns a blissful happy ending. 

Scholars who like to debate this sort of thing actually don’t agree on what exactly distinguishes a fairy tale from other folk tales. Though most agree an actual fairy needn’t be involved, they dispute whether magic is an integral part of a fairy tale and whether some form of mythical being—goblins or giants, for example—must be included. Despite the arguments, several motifs are common: a handsome prince, a beautiful maiden, a fantastic location such as a castle or a beanstalk that climbs to the clouds.

Though stories resembling what we identify today as fairy tales go back thousands of years, the term fairy tale was first coined in the 17^th century by Countess d’Aulnoy. She compiled anthologies of French folk tales meant to be discussed by adults in Parisian salons. Gathering her stories from nursemaids and other laboring class women who told stories to children, she emphasized the magical elements in such tales and built up the motif of strong female characters who prevail over evil stepmothers and overbearing royal fathers. (Perhaps because those were the subjects that appealed most to her fellow salon-goers.)

One thing that seems to be a modern invention is the idea of a happily ever after. This might be attributed to the Brothers Grimm, who in the early 19^th century recorded on paper many German folk tales from oral tradition. Hoping to market their books as family-friendly but finding the stories too gruesome for children, they took the liberty of cleaning up the tales. Stabilized through printing, their versions have become the standard in cultures of English descent.

Did you know Hans Christian Andersen mostly wrote new stories rather than relayed traditional fairy tales? He employed some familiar motifs, but the characters and plots were all his. Eloisa James did a series of historical romances where each book was founded upon a fairy tale. When Beauty Tamed the Beast was my favorite.




Let's chat: What are your favorite fairy tales, the ones that resonate with you? Do you recognize the fairy tales in your nodern reading?

A two-time Romance Writers of America^® Golden Heart^® finalist in Historical Romance, Oberon Wonch writes passionate tales about heroes, both modern and medieval, winning the hearts of their lady loves. Visit her at http://www.oberonwonch.com/ or her gardening blog at http://www.gardeningwithoutfairies.com/.

The "F" book list:

The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley: historical fiction, paranormal, romance all in one. I love just about everything this author writes.

Judi Fennell: lighthearted romance. Her early works are paranormal romance, and now she's coming out with contemporary romantic comedies about a group of brothers working as housemaids!

Firefly: Graphic novels, multiple authors/artist. The comic-book continuation of the beloved television space opera series that, like most of Joss Whedon's stuff, died a tragic and far-too-early death. They live on in these. Start with this one. 



Images: The Frog Prince y Anne Anderson (1874-1930) (http://www.artsycraftsy.com/anderson_prints.html) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Red Riding Hood: By Charles Perrault, Harry Clarke (ill.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

D is for Dwarves - In praise of Fanfiction

Before we move on to our guest today, I'd like to take a moment to send my heartfelt prayers and thoughts out to a blogging friend, Natalie Aguirre, and her family. Natalie lost her husband, Rudy, this past weekend. There are no words of comfort I can give to take away the pain of such a loss. Know that if there were, I'd gladly offer them. May peace and love hold you close, Natalie. ~Sia~

 

Our guest today is Saralee Etter. Although she's a published romance author, her not-so-secret crush is on Thorin Oakenshield, a dwarf in the Hobbit books (actually, it's on Richard Armitage!) She's also a fanfiction author.

So there’s this new movie trilogy based on JRR Tolkien’s beloved children’s book, “The Hobbit.” So far, two of the three installments have been released, and they’ve been popular around the world.

Some of the biggest attractions of the Hobbit are the “hot dwarves.” These fellows aren’t the squat, hairy, cantankerous little miners of Snow White. They’re badass warriors with rough charm to spare.  There are three main objects of fan adoration: the majestic leader of the company, Thorin Oakenshield, played by British actor Richard Armitage, and his two nephews, Fili and Kili, played by Dean O’Gorman and Aidan Turner respectively.

One of the ways fans have shown their appreciation is by writing fanfiction – stories that take these characters and send them on new adventures, exploring who they are and what could have been.

If you’ve ever finished a story and wished it hadn’t ended, fanfiction is the answer to your wish. People who write fanfiction are your fellow yearners, those who wanted to know what happened next, or what might have been. They are writers with fire in their bellies and an unquenchable desire to share their story with the world, and they do it for no other reason than that they are in love with a story.

This means that fanfiction works, in my opinion, tend to have an enthusiasm and vitality that’s sometimes lacking in works created by professional writers. Fanfic writers may not always have the technical expertise but they’ve got excitement to spare.

Fanfiction has been around longer than you might think, according to this post from Tumblr, written by someone who identifies themselves as a professor of literature:

Most of the history of Western literature (and probably much of non-Western literature, but I can’t speak to that) is adapted or appropriated from something else. Homer wrote historyfic and Virgil wrote Homerfic and Dante wrote Virgilfic (where he makes himself a character and writes himself hanging out with Homer and Virgil and they’re like “OMG Dante you’re so cool.” He was the original Gary Stu). ….

Shakespeare doesn’t have a single original plot—although much of it would be more rightly termed RPF—and then John Fletcher and Mary Cowden Clarke and Gloria Naylor and Jane Smiley and Stephen Sondheim wrote Shakespeare fanfic. Guys like Pope and Dryden took old narratives and rewrote them to make fun of people they didn’t like, because the eighteenth century was basically high school. And Spenser! Don’t even get me started on Spenser.

(Note: RPF stands for “Real People Fiction,” which is just what it says on the tin. Tom Clancy added a bit of RPF to his novel Patriot Games when he had Jack Ryan give marital advice to the Prince of Wales.)

  

Now, two years after the first installment of the trilogy came out, The Hobbit has inspired more than 10,000 works of fanfiction on An Archive of Our Own (AO3) and 6,400 fanfiction works on Fanfiction.net (ff.net).

And impressive as the numbers of Hobbit-related stories is, there are other fandoms with more: The Harry Potter series has inspired 678,000 stories and the Twilight saga has spawned 216,000 fanfiction works on ff.net. The TV show Supernatural has given rise to 66,000 fanfics on AO3.

Those are some of the big fandoms, but there are fan-written stories that celebrate and explore a wide variety of works, from Arthurian legends to Phantom of the Opera, Sherlock Holmes to video games, anime and manga, Pride and Prejudice, A Song of Ice and Fire, Gone With The Wind, and many more. Browsing the fandoms on both sites can provide you with an idea of what is out there for your reading pleasure.

If you’re looking for new stories to read, why not explore the world of fanfiction? You might find some delightful new tales that feature your favorite characters!

Let's chat: Have you ever read fanfiction? Written it? What book or movie might inspire you to read or write fanfiction?

A Limited Engagement:

Miranda Luce expected to make her debut at Almack’s, but when her father’s death leaves her penniless, she becomes an actress. But when her brother-in-law is wrongly arrested, it’s up to Miranda to  help him. Lord Justin Devereux is desperate for a fiancée in order to take control of his inheritance. Hiring an actress as a faux fiancée seems like a good plan. But neither Miranda nor Justin expected their pretend engagement to lead to true love…

Saralee's fanfiction:
When Thorin Met Tauriel (M/F, general)

Dwalin and the Pearl (M/F, mature)

It Takes a Thief (M/M, explicit)

Saralee Etter loves to read and always knew writing was the only career for her. Her lighthearted, fun, Regency romances are the perfect way for her to combine her love of history, romance, and adventure! She also writes fanfiction.

The "D" Books and Authors List:

Dan Brown: Love him or hate him, he sells millions of action thrillers and never fails to engender a strong reaction. Put me in the "fan" camp.

David Sedaris: Non-fiction, some of the best humor I've ever read. Holidays On Ice is a favorite.

Dresden Files by Jim Butcher: A wizard for the grown ups. The audio versions are great!

Damon Runyon: The book Guys and Dolls is nothing like the movie, but the toe-tapping, syncopated rhythm of his writing will throw your speech patterns off for days!

Images courtesy of http://thorinoakenshield.net 

B is for Bestseller - Insecure Writers Support Group

The first Wednesday of the month is devoted to an article about the writing life for the Insecure Writers Support Group. In also keeping with the A-Z Challenge,  today’s letter is B, for Bestseller.

I recently became a bestselling author. No, I didn’t make any of the “lists.” When authors say “bestseller list,” they generally mean the New York Times and USA Today. Hitting those lists and being able to put that designation on your books is like grabbing the brass ring. It’s a great goal to reach for and it’s a mark of success that’s recognized in the writing world.

But as writers, we too often despair of making those lists, and beat ourselves up if we don’t. Goals are good, but we also need to stop and pat ourselves on the back occasionally for reaching other important milestones. For me, “bestselling” meant that in March I had my best selling month ever and reached a personal milestone of selling more books in one month than ever before. Some authors sell more than my number in 3 minutes. But where I might lament selling so “few”, I was quickly reminded by another author, also just starting out, like me, that she would KILL to sell that many.

Writers tend to be their own worst critics and we set high standards for ourselves. We need to remember to celebrate the journey as well. Celebrate all the small steps that lead to making those lists. Finishing a chapter. Finishing a book. Surviving a tough round of revisions. Publishing a book. Making sales, no matter how many. 

 

Let’s chat: If you’re a writer, is making a bestseller list one of your goals (or have you already made it?) Do you celebrate milestones, and if so, how (mine always includes cake!)? If you’re a reader, does “bestselling author” on the cover impact what you buy? Do you check the bestseller lists for new books?

Our theme this month is favorite books and authors. Today's "B" list:


L.B. Beckett: Guild of Spies: A fantastical Victorian-feeling adventure with steampunk elements in an almost real place, in an almost real time.
 

Byron: star of the Cassa novels by Alex J,Cavanaugh, sci fi military space opera action!

 

Steve Berry: Action thrillers with a good dose of history and exotic locations, for fans of Dan Brown

 

Lisa Brackmann: Thrillers with wonderfully gritty realism, complex characters, and exotic locations.

Trophy image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Monday Musings - The Accidental Blogger

Hi, Kat Sheridan here. First up, an update on Sia. For those who don’t know, Sia has been having a tough time lately, as she explains here.
 
I’ve heard briefly from Sia and her hubs. Surgery day last Thursday was long, but Sia is at home now, floating on a sea of painkillers, and typing one-handed, but she’s recovering! YAY! She dictated a comment for her hubs to type for her on last Monday's blog that reads:

surgery went well but a lot more damage than we first thought. Serious recuperation time and still a lot of pain--thank God for pain meds. But seeing all these comments made the pain in the heart the heart, much better.

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!

~Dan taking dictation from Sia~

I’ll be keeping the lights on and the coffee hot here at Over Coffee for the month of April until Sia is back with two good arms! Sia wanted to participate in the annual A-Z blog challenge. I’ll be keeping that commitment on her behalf. Because the blog only appears three times a week, we won’t hit all the letters, but I’ll do my best to bring you content I hope you’ll enjoy, by the alphabet. Our theme is “Favorite Books and Authors.” I’ll have friends stopping by on occasion throughout April, talking about everything from Dwarves to Zombies, and I’ll be filling in with articles that reflect my weird, eclectic taste in books.

 

 

And of course, I'll be counting on all of you to help me keep the conversation going!

 

Here's a secret: I never meant to be a blogger. I admire folks like Sia, and many of the commenters here, who blog regularly. It’s a huge commitment to keep coming up with fresh ideas and to have the patience and skill to produce enticing content day after day and to build an audience.

When I first started my own website, I had to decide if it would be a fairly static site that would include only news of my books, or if I would join the legions of bloggers on the interwebs. At the time I was working 60-80 hour weeks, learning my craft, and trying to fit in work on my fiction in the odd leftover moments. I chose not to add blogging to that list. I’m grateful to Sia, however, for inviting me to join her here as the occasional co-host and accidental blogger! And of course, I love being able to "lend a hand" (LOL!) to a friend like Sia!

 

Though it may look or sound a little different in April, you can always count on this here at Over Coffee: we'll be talking about books and writing, there will alway be a pot of fresh coffee on the counter, and something good to eat! So grab a muffin and kick back!

Let’s talk:  What makes a blog appealing to you? How did you find, and start following the blogs you follow? And if you're a blogger yourself, what made you start it and what keeps you going?

 

 

INTERVIEW WITH TERRY SPEAR

Terry, welcome back to Over Coffee. I always love having you visit. You share so many interesting things with the articles you written for me. You already know that I love your beautiful Bears. My McKye Bear has gotten lots of comments.

You write several series and did so while working full time. How did you manage your time to do that? 

I was working eighty hours a week. I had my 40-per week job, and then every minute in the morning before work I would catch up on promo and emails. Sometimes I had enough time to write a little. When I got home from work, I’d start writing. I had a word-goal every week. I think it was a 1,000 words a day. And then on weekends, I would write, get caught up on everything else, and write some more. At some point, I knew I couldn't continue to do that. One or the other had to go. It was just too much stress. 

You've recently quit your full time job to concentrate on writing. That’s quite a leap of faith, isn't it? 

It was a huge risk. It was really hard for me to get that full-time library job. And I loved my coworkers and many of the patrons. It was a really big step to take. Yet, I knew, just like with characters in a book, sometimes we just have to take the risk. There was no going back. I had to move forward. I had to take the chance. I had to believe in myself. And I had to work like the devil to prove I could do it. But like when a character’s life is turned upside down, I knew I had to get out of that stressful rat race and do one or the other. Or pay the consequences in health issues down the road. 

What’s happened that you weren't you expecting when left the day job and immersed yourself into your writing career? 

I am extremely goal-oriented. That means, I've been able to get at least 10,000 words a week done on my stories, sometimes as much as 5-10,000 a day. I can actually write a book in a month if I don’t have a lot of other (promotional) stuff going on. 

One of the things that I love about this is I've been able to go to readers’ conventions, something I couldn't do before this because I didn't have enough leave time. What leave I did have, would have to be divided up between my son and daughter and maybe attend RWA Nationals. 

I was able to go to 4 conferences last year, see my daughter a number of times, my son, and visit a number of zoos and other wildlife sites for research. This year I’m going to five conferences, and seeing a little of Chicago where one of the conferences is being held and to the International Wolf Center in Ely with a friend and fan. I also have a book signing while there.

In other words, I’m writing much more, and I’m getting to do lots of fun things, rather than just filling in another 40 hours at a day job. 

You are both traditionally published and publish independently. How do you blend both? 

I love doing both. I have a ton of stories I've already written way before I was published. It took me ten years to finally get a contract. Two of my Highland books were some of the first under contract. When she [acquiring editor] switched to inspirational, no violence, no sex, I started independently publishing the books. Sales from the next three highly successful Highland medieval series was what made it possible for me to quit my day job. 

Doing both means I’m always working on something. 

I have deadlines with traditional publishing and so I always work on the story that is coming up next. If I have time, like with one of the Highland series, a story that was nearly done, just needed some more research and changes, I was able to publish it in between two traditional books. Scenes come to me all the time, so I’m a fast writer. 

Your wolf series pulls a lot from the natural dynamics of a wolf pack. What kind of research did you do to make your wolf world realistic from a wolf’s standpoint? 

Wolves have distinctive personalities, just like dogs and cats do. Just like any animal does. I have a pet roadrunner. He has claimed my home for his territory. He peeks in the windows at me sometimes. He watches me while I take pictures of him outside. I can guarantee that another roadrunner wouldn't be just like him. 

When I do research on wolves, I watch their behavior—wolf reserves in Texas and Nebraska, videotapes of them. Wolves in captivity will do what they wouldn't do in the wild. Which also gives me fodder for my stories. Reading wolf biologists’ accounts also have helped me to create personalities for the wolves based on REAL wolf personalities. But when you hear about them, you think, these are like human personalities. 

Some are shy, retiring, alpha, omega. Some are playful. One was the greyhound of the wolf pack, and her alpha pack leader sister chased her off, but she was the fastest wolf in the pack and would often times chase down the prey they needed to feed the pack. Do you feel badly for her? I did. The sister tried to drum her out of the pack. Tried to force her to be an omega who couldn't share in the meals or take part in the camaraderie of the pack. And yet she was the best hunter of the pack! The sister was killed, and the alpha male took the greyhound of a wolf as his mate. HEA. And this was a true story. 

In a natural wolf pack differences and actions can cause members to be ostracized. 

My example of the greyhound wolf, that’s a good case in point. The sister didn't like her, probably because she was just as alpha, and the other wolves couldn't help but see her as a beneficial pack member. Even the male never tried to chase her away. Just the sister. She would go for days on her own, but she was a real pack animal. And being on their own is really dangerous. So they need a pack’s protection. Yet, she was persistent in wanting to belong to that pack, to that family. They were her family, no matter how much her sister tried to get rid of her. Even going to another wolf pack can spell a wolf’s death. So they can’t just always look for another wolf pack to join up with. 

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Which brings us to the heroine, Elizabeth, in your current release, Silence of the Wolf.  She also had some serious obstacles to overcome to find her happy ever after. Tell us a bit about her? 

Elizabeth was close to her mother and father. They were good for her. They showed her a love and compassion that everyone deserves to have. But when she lost them, she lost her protection. Yet, she couldn't leave the area either. She still had that draw to be near the wolf pack. She finally had to leave, or be killed outright, but when she had evidence of wrongdoing in her parents’ deaths, she had to return and set things right.  

What do you admire about her? 

Her persistence to do what was right, but when she feared it would cause another wolf’s pack involvement and might hurt them in the process, she was willing to sacrifice her need for setting things right, and protecting a wolf pack that had done nothing but treated her with kindness and respect. So putting aside her needs to protect someone else is what I truly admire about her. And for going on with her life and making the most of it, despite all that she’d been through. 

What’s coming next from Terry Spear? 

I’m currently working on A SEAL Wolf for Sale, set in Montana, so doing lots of research in the new area. After that will be A Silver Wolf Christmas. I’m also working on The Viking’s Highland Lass to release this year, and Phantom Fae, the next in the teen fae series.

Terry, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions. I’m looking forward to reading Silence of the Wolf. 

Thanks so much for having me here today, Sia! Always a pleasure!!!

• My question to readers is do you like to learn fun facts when you’re reading fiction, or does it matter? I always wonder when I’m reading a book if there’s any truth behind the fiction.

                                                                                                                                                      

Terry Spear

"Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy IS reality." 

Heart of the Wolf--Publishers Weekly "Best Books of the Year!" 

A SEAL in Wolf's Clothing--USA Today Bestseller

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MONDAYS MUSINGS—THAT'S LIFE BABY

"I've been up and down and over and out...That's life, I tell you I can't deny it, I thought of quittin' baby, but my heart just ain't gonna buy it..."

Good news—it's spring!

I haven’t been around much in March for a number of reasons. I lost my brother and have been grieving and dealing with family things that come with that. Most of April is going to be shot as well. I’m very thankful to my co-host, Kat Sheridan, for handling the blog in March and she will be handling it in April as well. No A-Z for me. I doubt I’ll be around much the first part of the month. But Kat will be here. Do stop in and give her support. 

March 28^th is an interview with USA and NYT bestselling author,Terry Spear, her research of wolves and jaguars and writing life.   

As some of you may know, the night after my brother, Jonny was admitted into ICU, I fell on the ice. My mind wasn't on my feet but miles away with my brother. I had a split second to react and tried to fall relaxed and do a tuck and roll. Didn't work—the roll, that is. I hit hard on my left shoulder and bounced and skid a few feet across the ice and gravel of our drive.  This isn't the first time I've been injured—I've led a very active outdoor life and it comes with the territory. I can honestly say I can’t remember the last time I felt the magnitude of pain that had me fighting a blackout. I knew not to move until the initial tsunami of pain eases enough to evaluate your body. That also means breathing, once you find your breath, and making your body relax. Easier said than done. 

First scan of my body: I couldn't feel my left arm but I could feel the volcano of pain in my shoulder, ye gads. Deep breath. Still didn't move, second scan, legs moved okay, right arm was fine, head was sore where I hit it, neck stiff but seemed fine. I carefully rolled on my right side and pushing left arm up to lie full length against my side. Hot July fireworks flashed, but it took the pressure off of the arm. Rested and relaxed a minute and then felt along the arm for any obvious problems. By now I could move the fingers, wrist, and forearm. The left shoulder, however, had a bulge and felt weird shaped. Yep, the bulge said I dislocated my shoulder. I massaged and then shoved it and the fact that my right elbow slipped on the ice adding the needed pressure was dumb luck. I felt it slide and saw a lovely rainbow of polka dots and fireworks dance across my vision.

It was dark, cold, and I was lying about 50 feet from the house, on ice. Even had I been inclined I didn't have the breath to yell. My husband had fallen asleep in his recliner (he wouldn't have heard me anyway) and my son wasn't home, which why I went outside to get my Dane. Fall had nothing to do with anything she did. My mind was elsewhere.

Getting up was a bear. When you’re in a situation like that you feel helpless and then you put it away and figure things out. Thirty minutes later I walked back into the house.

I went to the emergency room the next morning. Concussion (but I knew that already), but the x-rays showed no breaks. Lot of swelling, definitely blunt force trauma and bruising and they sent me home with a sling, orders don’t use the arm and make an appointment with your doctor for an MRI. And some serious pain pills. Yay! 

MRI showed a wrecked shoulder. Torn rotator cuff, tears in ligaments, cartilage damage, and fluid build up, floating debris, and a fracture. What does this mean?

Surgery. Absolutely no way around it. And rest. Lots of it.

My surgery is March 27^th. I’m totally out of commission the first couple of weeks of April. I have about 6 months of physical therapy to regain use of the arm, but I will regain at least 90% usage. Without surgery it will heal, eventually, but the shoulder would be unstable and I’d lose 50% usage or more of my arm. Not acceptable.

Ah well, in the words of one of my dad's favorite songs, "I pick myself up and get back in the race..." That's Life. 

THE ROAD TO WRITING

My guest is paranormal romance author Nancy Northcott. Her road to writing a book and publication was a winding road. 

Nancy is a sucker for fast action and wrenching emotion, she combines the romance and high stakes she loves in the adventures of her Light Mages. 

Some writers always knew that was what they’d be.  They never wanted to be anything else.  I’m not one of them.  I sort of edged into writing a little bit at a time.

My grandfather and I used to make up stories and illustrate them with stick people.  From there, I progressed to writing in crayon, starting in about second grade.  The stories were sort of fairy tale-ish or else primitive space opera.  They also weren't the kinds teachers encouraged kids to write.  They weren't “serious.”  So I drifted away from writing, but I never stopped reading.  I sampled pretty much every kind of fiction, finally gravitating toward romance, science fiction/fantasy, and mysteries.  Those genres influence pretty much everything I write.

From the time I was about seven, I also read comic books.  The monthly adventures of the characters let me get to know them better than the characters in the books I read, even the series.  At some point, I found myself thinking about what happened to the characters off-page.  That led writing fan fiction involving my favorite characters, the Legion of Super-Heroes.

I’d also written part of what I now realize was a fantasy romance set in a preindustrial society, but I hadn't finished it.  At the time, I didn't know how to plot anything long.  But my fan fiction kept getting longer and longer.  By the time I left active fandom, around 1996, I was writing sagas.  I’d also written about half of a traditional fantasy novel, but I’d gotten stuck in the middle and abandoned it.

My fan fiction was written for amateur press alliances (APAs) I belonged to.  APAs are groups of fans who send multiple copies, one for every member, to a central mailer at regular intervals.  The central mailer then collates the contributions into sets and mails them to the membership.  The positive feedback my APAs gave me for the fan fiction encouraged me to try again at creating my own worlds.  But I was still worried about that middle-of-the-book roadblock.

One day, my husband stopped beside the desk and picked up a page of fanfic.  To save copy costs, we printed long stories in Times 8-pt., two columns to a page (yes, ouch!).  That particular story was part of a lengthy Batman series I was doing.

He picked up a page.  “How long do you think this would be if you put it in standard manuscript format?”

“Hmm.  Four manuscript pages to one of these…a hundred and twenty pages or so.”

“Okay.  If you put all the parts of this whole story arc together in that format, how long would it run?”

Silence while I did mental math, not a history major’s strong suit.  Finally, I ventured, “Four hundred pages.  Maybe more.”

He nodded.  “So tell me again why you think you can’t write a whole book?”

I had nothing to say.  So I dug in, went to the library and read plot books (which I should’ve done in the first place), and finished that traditional fantasy.  And revised it.  And revised it again.  It never sold, but I learned a lot from writing it.  A few years ago, I pulled it out and looked at it. I still love the story, but I don’t write that way anymore.  Maybe someday I’ll pull it out again and clean it up.

Meanwhile, I’m writing mages (think wizard if that term isn't familiar to you) who owe a lot to the dashing super-heroes of my childhood.  And I’m having a blast.  I hope readers will, too.

• What about you?  Is there something you've always wanted to try but haven’t gotten to yet?

                                                                                                                             

More on Nancy's Book Page

SENTINEL

Release: Wednesday, March 26th

He’s on a Quest for Justice 

 When mage investigative reporter Rick Moore gets the chance to clear his father’s name, it’s a dream come true. But there’s a price. He must first uncover the truth about the mage world’s most wanted fugitive.

 Her Secrets are His Only Hope

Caroline Dare knows her beloved brother had a reason for killing a prominent mage. Heroes don’t go rogue on a whim. Burned by shady reporters, she pours her devastating worry for him into her fabric art career and avoids all questions. But when her art is panned as a fraud because she’s blind, she’s forced to seek help from Rick, a man she knows only as a sexy arts writer.

Helping beautiful, determined Caroline prove herself gets Rick inside her well tended walls. But as he wins her trust, he finds he’s losing his heart. Now he has a choice–give up his dream or betray the woman he loves.

BOOK ONE

She follows the rules

He breaks everyone of them

Now they are each other's only hope

Excerpt

  

AMAZON, B&N, iBOOKS, INDIEBOUND

                                                                                                                    

Nancy Northcott’s childhood ambition was to grow up and become Wonder Woman.  Around fourth grade, she realized it was too late to acquire Amazon genes, but she still loved comic books, science fiction, fantasy and YA romance.  A sucker for fast action and wrenching emotion, Nancy combines the romance and high stakes she loves in the adventures of her Light Mages.

Her debut novel, Renegade, received a starred review from Library Journal.  The reviewer called it “genre writing at its best.”  Nancy is a three-time RWA Golden Heart finalist and has won the Maggie, the Molly, the Emerald City Opener, and Put Your Heart in a Book. 

Married since 1987, Nancy and her husband have one son, a bossy dog, and a house full of books.