Steve: It is my great pleasure today to interview mystery writer Nancy A. Hughes. Her debut novel was The Dying Hour. Her other novels are found in her “Trust Trilogy” that includes A Matter of Trust, Redeeming Trust, and Vanished . Without further ado, Nancy, why don’t you tell us a bit more about yourself.

Nancy: After graduating from Penn State in journalism and advertising, I was a business writer for small to mid-sized companies and nonprofits. Then I turned to writing mysteries and crime stories. I’m a novelist who murders people. Tastefully. On paper. My mystery/suspense stories feature protagonists who, through no fault of their own, are ensnared in crimes that they must solve to save themselves and their loved ones.

Nancy on Reading and Writing:

Steve: Why, how, and when did you start writing?

Nancy: By fifteen, I knew I wanted to be a writer, and was fascinated by television advertising. I spent one dreadful semester as an English major, then transferred into Health & Human Development, which let me assemble an inter-college program—journalism, advertising, PR, broadcasting, business writing—this program became PSU’s College of Communications.

Steve: Did you publish the first book you wrote?

Nancy: The Dying Hour was my debut novel, but my “first book” became part of my “Trust Trilogy.” I refused to relegate A Matter of Trust, my 400+ page saga, to practice or just for fun. While The Dying Hour was being edited by my publisher, I rewrote, refined, expanded, and corrected the behemoth into A Matter of Trust and Redeeming Trust. Vanished completed the trilogy.

Steve: What is your biggest problem with the writing process? How do you tackle it?

Nancy: As a journalist turned novelist, I had to police myself not to get the who-what-when-where-why out up front, but just let readers meet the characters little by little as in real life. With a media background, I lived with deadlines. Missing them meant losing the job, the client, and my reputation, and my business. Deadlines still makes me uneasy; I rarely procrastinate.

Steve: Do you feel writing is something you need to do or want to do?

Nancy: Both! I cannot leave it alone. I have a vivid imagination and wake up with plots in my head, wanting to tear into them immediately.

Steve: Have your personal experiences or situations influenced you creatively? If so, how?

Nancy: I prepared to work in advertising, a big-city career. My husband’s agricultural banking career meant rural living, however. I created a PR business specializing in media relations, learning from a variety of people and occupations. This exposure gave me the background for plots, characters, scenes, and how things work.

Steve: How much of your creative ability do you think is innate and how much is learned?

Nancy: It’s 50-50. Being a born verbal extrovert is a plus, enabling me to approach fascinating people and absorb their ideas. My mother, a brilliant scholar and teacher, encouraged my creativity and chose a community with excellent schools. She thought I could do anything, which made me work hard, lest she find out I was average!

Steve: What is the last book you read? What are you reading now?

Nancy: I read Will Schwalbe’s Books for Living and his The End of your Life Book Club, both with amazing commentary on wonderful classics. I’m reading Christine Trent’s A Virtuous Death: A Lady of Ashes Mystery. Her protagonist is a female undertaker in an occupation unheard of for a Victorian-era woman.

Steve: Who are your favorite authors?  Whose writing inspires you the most and why?

Nancy: Daphne DuMaurier who wrote Rebecca. She’s credited with the subgenre, romantic suspense. Linda Castillio, Jeffrey Deaver, John Grisham, Margaret Mitchell, all write/wrote flawlessly. I want my readers to be so absorbed by my stories and forget their worries.

Steve: What’s the last book to make you laugh?  Cry?

Nancy: To cry: Diary of a Young Girl (Ann Frank)

Steve: Should writers read in their genre?  Should they be avid readers?

Nancy: Reading widely is a great shortcut to becoming a better writer. I’ve loved to read mysteries since my first Nancy Drew, The Hidden Staircase, but I read outside my genre when I’m writing. In my PR business, I ghost-wrote for executives, partners, and owners, thus tapping my talent to mimic. I do not want to be tempted nor to inadvertently copy, another writer’s voice, which unfortunately for me, would be easy. I will not be tempted!

Steve: How do you find (discover) your plots?

Nancy: From snippets of real life—human drama, what’s newsworthy, overheard conversations. A concept or idea incubates and begs to be answered: What if? Suppose?

Steve: Are your characters based on real people?

Nancy: Some are. For my good guys I’ve borrowed admirable traits, especially those who survived extreme adversity. My bad guys—well—I’ve exaggerated evil from people I see doing bad things to good people. They wouldn’t recognize themselves, which is part of the fun. And mannerisms! People have adorable and exasperating quirks begging to be incorporated.

Steve: How do you name your characters?

Nancy: That is, by far, the hardest for me. Some I’ve named for favorite people. Family surnames and most popular names from a character’s birth year. Old phone directories and large school’s graduation programs. The results are mediocre at best.

Steve: Which comes first for you, plot or characters?

Nancy: Always, the plot. Then the characters arrive to drive it. As scenes unfold in my imagination, there they are, sometimes reminiscent of someone I knew and sometimes a stranger. They bring their unique personalities, patterns of speech, beauty and warts.

Steve: Any comments about writing dialog?

Nancy: Dialog, to me, is more important than narrative, since I prefer to tell stories in real time. I cringe when I observe head-hopping, though. As I edit, I ask myself, “whose scene is this?” Throughout the novel, my goal is 75% of what the protagonist hears, sees, smells, etc. And this, I feel, is best done with dialog while not permitting the character to be thinking, thinking, thinking.

Steve: How do you handle POV?

Nancy: I write in the third person, which comes naturally for me. Sue Grafton was a master of the first person and an excellent primer for anyone who wishes to study a good example. I haven’t tried it. The narrative, I’m told, is out of style and editors/ publishers don’t want it.

Steve: Do you do fact-finding for (AKA research) your books?  If so, how? What sources do you use?

Nancy: Fact finding/checking delights me as an experienced journalist. Even in fiction, one can’t just make it all up! The right poison, street name, professional credentials, anachronism-avoidance—I sweat the details. My best sources are people from all walks of life, who are flattered to answer questions for a “real writer.” I rarely do research on the internet unless I need something specific that I can’t ask Siri.

Steve: What reference works do you use most?

Nancy: My favorites: The “Howdunit Series,” including Book of Poisons: A Guide For Writers by Serita Stevens and Anne Bannon, Police Procedural by Russell Bintliff, and Forensics: A Guide For Writers by D. P. Lyle, M.D.   Also by Dr. Lyle, Forensics and Fiction. My favorite reference/bible: The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (and how to avoid them) by Jack M. Bickham.

Nancy on the Writing Business:

Steve: Do you use a formatter?  Editor?  Agent?

Nancy: No to all.

Steve: Do you self-publish or traditionally publish?

Nancy: Black Opal Books is my publisher. Having had my own business, I absolutely do not want to self-publish. Those who do are publishers, with all the business challenges that entails.

Steve: What are your most effective marketing techniques?  Where would you like to improve?  Do you go it alone or seek professional help (outside what your publisher provides, if appropriate).

Nancy: My website—I pay a webmaster. My banker husband handles the financial and accounting aspects, and I use social media and a newsletter. What works best for me, though, is many detailed lists of people I’ve known forever who are personally interested in my work. I’m passionate about libraries and do presentations when asked. And book clubs! And learning from writers I meet through crime-writers’ organizations. But I am gosh-awful-terrible with technology—that’s the dead spot in my brain. When my Mac balks, I’m on the phone, in tears, with Apple support.    

Steve: Do you release trade paperbacks or ebooks or both?

Nancy: My books are available in trade paperback and ebook format, details of which are on my website.

Steve: Do you want to include a snippet of prose from one of your books? What does it illustrate that you find important for readers to know?

Nancy: “Freedom Isn’t Free.” Protagonist Charlie Alderfer in The Dying Hour personifies the service, sacrifice, and patriotism veterans continue to make on our behalf.

Personal questions for Nancy:

Steve: What is your favorite place to eat out?  Favorite food?  Drink?

Nancy: A chilled white wine while I cook is a great reward for a long day of writing.

Steve: What are your favorite other places, either here or abroad? What places would you like to visit?

Nancy: I adored living in the Pacific Northwest. And visiting France, Italy, England, Scotland, and Wales.  I’d love to visit the Spanish Basque Country where my father’s grandparents operated canneries.

Steve: What other interests and activities do you have besides writing?

Nancy: Gardening! We live under a hundred-foot canopy, perfect for shade gardening. Deer fencing protects my azaleas, hostas, ferns, and perennials from 30+ hungry critters. Songbirds love our feeders and habitat. Gardening frees my mind to wander creatively while enjoying the beauty of nature.

Steve: What was the last movie you went to see?  If your book(s) were to be made into a movie, who would you want to play your main characters?

Nancy: The Green Book, which was wonderful. People love/hate characters in books, then are disappointed when the screen versions don’t match. I never compare my characters to actors. That’s a cheap shortcut. I describe lightly. 

Steve: If you could trade places with someone for a week, famous or not, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?

Nancy: An Olympic figure skater.

Steve: What is your favorite (song) and why?  Piece of music?  Theater work? Movie?  Piece of art?

Nancy: I was raised on classical music and played a violin. Every evening I joined my father while he read his engineering journals and the newspaper and I, my busy-work or hobbies. Mozart concertos were our favorites. Art? Impressionists, especially Monet. Both art forms creep into my characters’ tastes.

Steve: Thank you, Nancy, for your candid answers today. I always find these interviews enlightening and interesting because it allows readers and me to get to know the authors behind the books. Readers, I hope you enjoyed this visit with this fascinating mystery author. Please check out her mysteries and visit her website.

***

Comments are always welcome.

Last man alive? What about last woman alive? Penny Castro, LA County Sheriff’s Deputy and forensic diver, finds she isn’t alone after the apocalypse, though—there are a few others who survived the contagion and now want to kill her. And the remnants of a US government could be the greatest danger for her and the family she’s adopted. The post-apocalyptic thriller The Last Humans has just been released by Black Opal Books in both ebook and print versions and is available at the publisher’s website, online retailers like Amazon and Smashwords and the latter’s affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc), and bookstores (if they don’t have it, ask for it!).

“Moore’s books keep getting better with each new effort. The Last Humans follows this trend by combining a familiar theme with a unique story and producing a great book.
The Last Humans does not dwell on the details of the cause of an apocalyptic event, but instead builds some wonderfully deep characters. A strong female lead deals with the aftermath of a biological catastrophe.
I really enjoyed this story and found it difficult to put down. Admittedly, the heroine was extremely lucky, but that did not distract from the tale.
I highly recommend this book for those who enjoy post-apocalyptic and /or action novels.”—Debra Miller, in her Amazon review.

Around the world and to the stars! In libris librtas!

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