Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Interview time with Nancy Weeks!

Today I have fellow author and Maryland Romance Writers member Nancy Weeks on my blog! The fourth book in her Shadow series, In the Shadow of Pride, came out a couple of days ago, and she's even doing a giveaway to celebrate!

Take it away, Nancy!

Sarah, I’m so thrilled to be here today. Thank you for inviting me. Please feel free to ask me anything.

We know each other from MRW, but tell everyone about yourself.

I always choke-up when I’m asked this question. Sometimes, I think who I am changes daily or I’m a book still being written.  I have been happily married for over thirty-two years and a mother for twenty-six years.  I decided before having kids that I wanted to be home with them. It went against the norm, but I felt that one hectic career in the family was enough. After moving back to Maryland from southern Germany, I decided to give up my career and became a stay-at-home mom. The moment both my kids were off to college, I began to write. Now I proudly call myself an author. 

What are your favorite and least favorite parts about being a writer?

There is a magic that happens while I'm working on a story that is very intriguing. I always write up an outline of the beginning, middle, the dark moment and the end of every story. But as I get deep into the writing, the story develops a voice of its own and leads me to a place I never imagined. Some people may think that it’s not magic at all, but my ability to get closer to the story--really develop an understanding of who my characters are as well as experience how they think and feel. But for me, that special moment when I just shake my head and think, "where in the heck did that come from," really is magic. I may always end back up where I’m supposed to be, but those rare moments of magic make writing the most exciting job.

The part I struggle with even after four books is the promotion writers need to do today to get their book noticed. With some many free and 99 cents books available all the time, it is so hard be notice through all that noise. Promoting a book is like raising children. Just because a promotional strategy worked for the first book, doesn't mean it will work for the second, fifth, tenth. There are no clear answers because the game is constantly changing.

Since you’ve been writing for a while, what’s one piece of advice you’d give to other writers?

Write! Revise! Write again. If you are serious about becoming a published author, accept that it’s not going to be an easy road.  Take your writing seriously and learn your craft. Keep an open mind and be willing to sometimes change the way you see your story.  My most important piece of advice: You will never be published if your manuscript never leaves your laptop. You have to query it out all over the place. When you receive a rejection, read it, learn from it, store it away in it’s own file, and get back to writing.

That’s awesome advice—sometimes a writer needs to hear someone tell them to just do it and send it out!  Now for a bit about how you like to write? Do you prefer silence or to have music on when you’re working? What kind?

Oh great question. Music is what brings out the emotion in my writing.  Each book in this series had its own unique playlist. For instance, In the Shadow of Greed, I listened to Jason Mraz, Mika, Norah Jones and Adele. Their voices brought out that heart-wrenching emotion I needed to write not only the love scenes, but those dark moments when my characters were at their worst. In the Shadow of Pride demanded the sounds of the cello. Whatever the story, I lose myself in the music. It clears my mind and allows the words to just flow.

How’d you get the idea for In the Shadow of Pride?

Without giving away too much about the story, the internal conflict between my hero, Mac McNeil and heroine, Lexie Trevena formed in my head as I was writing In the Shadow of Greed. I knew I wanted a small piece of Greed that I just touched on in chapter one to be the beginning of Pride. That small crumb was what was going to cause the most internal conflict between Mac and Lexie. However, I had no idea what the external conflict was going to be. When I began to outline Pride, I scoured news articles and real life cases in the FBI news blog for potential ideas. The words Unmanned Aerial Vehicle popped off the page. Drones! How fun would that be? I spent more hours than I care to admit researching drone technology, but what a blast I had crashing that internal conflict smack into the external conflict. Rest assured. It may take Mac and Lexie a few pages to get to their happy ending, but when they do, it's explosive. 

How’s book #5 in the Shadow Series coming along…inquiring minds want to know! 

I’m just beginning to write In the Shadow of Vengeance. This book is going to bring my entire McNeil family together in one place. This will be Noah’s story and he’s going to need all of his brothers to deal with what I have in store for him and the woman who he will fine his happy-ever-after with, Elizabeth Merlot.

Tell us what genre(s) you write in, why, and what your experiences are like writing it.  If you write in multiple genres, how is the experience different from one to another?

I write romantic suspense with sometimes a touch of the supernatural. I chose this genre because it is what I love reading. I love the romance first in the story, but the suspense adds a level of depth to a story I don’t find in other romances.

What was your favorite scene to write in In the Shadow of Pride?  Why?

Oh this is a hard question. There are several very intense scenes in Pride that force my hero and heroine to work together. Since I have to pick just one, I love the scene where Mac has to put all of his distrust of Lexie aside and rescue her from my villain’s hands. This is one of those changing points in the story where Mac and Lexie are thrown into such an intense situation, they can't help seeing a different side of each other. However, they are not quite ready to trust each other completely. As a writer, it's so much fun creating these 'baby' steps that bring them closer and closer together.

What scene gave you the most trouble In the Shadow of Pride? Why?

Oh, hands down the technical aspects of this book. I read numerous articles about drone technology, GPS spoofing and computer viruses. Thank God I have a great technical team who are willing to read through everything before I show it to anyone.

How freaking cool is that?

Find Nancy at:

Website: http://nancycweeks.com. FREE CHAPTER OF MY BOOKS CAN BE FOUND ON MY WEBSITEJ


Twitter: @NancyCWeeks



Where can we find your books? (Links, please!) 

Look for In the Shadow of Pride at: Crimson Romance ebooks | Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Google Play | BAM 

Buy links for the first three books in my In the Shadow series:

IN THE SHADOW OF EVIL:

BARNES AND NOBLE: http://bit.ly/17hjfco

IN THE SHADOW OF GREED

BARNES AND NOBLE: http://bit.ly/16GHb6I

IN THE SHADOW OF MALICE

BARNES AND NOBLE: http://bit.ly/1dId2db
CRIMSON ROMANCE: http://www.crimsonromance.com/ 

Okay, folks!  It's giveaway time!  


Nancy is giving away one free digital copy of any of her books!  How cool is that? You just have to answer this question:  Have you ever seeing someone you thought you disliked in a different light, and that new view brought you closer together?  Give your answer below in the comments, and Nancy will randomly chose a winner!  

xoxo Sarah


1 comment:

  1. Sarah, thank you so much for hosting me on your lovely blog. This has been so much fun. I just love release week.

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