Who Is Mistral Dawn?

Mistral Dawn is a thirty-something gal who has lived on both coasts of the US but somehow never in the middle. She currently resides in the Southeast US with her kitty cats (please spay or neuter! :-)) where she works as a hospital drudge and attends graduate school. Taken By The Huntsman is her first effort at writing fiction and if it is well received she has ideas for several more novels and short-stories in this series. Please feel free to visit her on FaceBook or drop her a line at mistralkdawn@gmail.com

Friday, March 4, 2016

#Interview With Nancy Morse!



Hey Everyone!! :-)

Nancy Morse is here with us today.  Nancy, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how many books you've written? :-)

Nancy:  Hi Mistral, thanks so much for having me here. I love the look of your site. Purple is my favorite color.  So, a little about myself. I was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, NY. I married my childhood sweetheart, and this year we’ll celebrate 49 years together. 24 years ago we moved to FL. These days we share our lives with our Alaskan Malamute, Indio. I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a writer. At nine, I won a 25-word-or-less contest and hand-printed my own newspaper, but it wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I began to seriously think about writing more than contest entries. My first book, Silver Lady, a historical romance, was published in 1980. Yes, I’ve been in this business a very long time. Since then, I’ve written 23 books. I’ve been published with Pocket Books, Dell, Meteor, Silhouette and Abrams. I am now proudly independent and self-publish both new releases and revised editions of my back list.

Me:  Sounds like you enjoy writing. :-)  What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

Nancy:  My latest release is Beneath An Iron Sky. It was inspired by my love of Lakota history and culture and tells the story of Crow Eagle and Philadelphia (Del) Stratton, two youngsters who meet at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania where he has been brought to become Americanized. They meet again nine years later when Del’s fight for women’s suffrage takes her to Dakota Territory and where Crow Eagle is fighting to keep his people’s hope alive through the Ghost Dance.

Me:  Exciting! What are you working on now?

Nancy:  Currently, I’m several chapters into Restless Wind, the continuing story of Black Moon, an Oglala warrior, and Katie McCabe, daughter of an Indian trader, that began with Where The Wild Wind Blows and continued with Winter Wind. After that, I’m planning a five-part western novella series about the Kincaid boys, followed by Book 3 in my paranormal Soul Searchers series, and then another full-length Native American historical romance.

Me:  Busy, busy, busy!  What are you reading now?

Nancy:  I just finished reading American Carnage by Jerome A. Green about the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890. I’m not sure what I’ll read next. Much of what I read when I’m writing a book is for research, so it will probably be historical accounts of life on the Great Plains in the late 1860s which is when Restless Wind is set.

Me:  I think a lot of us can relate. :-)  For those who might consider reading your book, what would you tell them to expect?

Nancy:  Readers of my historical romances books can expect passionate and poignant love stories set against the backdrop of historical events. Readers of my contemporary romances can expect to find realistic characters experiencing the kinds of joys and disappointments life often brings and searching for the love we all hope to find in our lives.

Me:  They sound great! :-)  What is your favorite part of being an author?

Nancy:  My favorite part of being an author is being able to do the thing I love most – writing the kinds of stories I enjoy reading and losing myself in fictional worlds.

Me:  Yes, getting to hang with imaginary friends is so much fun! :-)  Do you have a day job as well?

Nancy:  I am retired, so I have the luxury of spending as much time as I want writing. But for many years I worked a day job as Executive Assistant to the chairman of a medical university and was also the Director of Nursing. Although it was demanding, I actually enjoyed my job. Those days I did my writing in the evenings and on weekends.

Me:  That's wonderful! Congratulations! :-)  What are the hardest and easiest parts about being a writer?

Nancy:  In no particular order, the hardest parts about being a writer are:
1) The R word—rejection. It comes with the territory. When I started out, my policy was that if I wrote a book and it wasn’t accepted, I’d write another one. And if that one wasn’t accepted, I’d write another one. And so on. Fortunately, for me, my very first manuscript was accepted. It wasn’t until my 9th published book that I ran into the R word. Manuscript 10: rejected. Manuscript 11: rejected. That’s when I decided to become commander of my own ship and turned to self-publishing, and I’ve never looked back.
2) Discipline. Since there are no little elves who come out at night and write my books for me, what it comes down to is putting my butt in the chair and doing it myself. It’s hard to resist the temptation to go outside and sit in the sun or play with the dog or turn on the TV. That’s when I have to remind myself that this is a job, and like any job, it means showing up and getting the work done. I can’t afford to wait for the muse to make an appearance, which is probably why I don’t believe in the muse.
3) Promotion. I hate it. I’ve never been a very boastful person. I don’t flaunt my success or accomplishments. It’s just not who I am. I’ll tweet my new releases and share them on my Facebook page, but I’m more comfortable tweeting and sharing other authors’ books. Mostly, I rely on word of mouth to sell my books, and fortunately for me, it seems to be working.
The easiest part about being a writer? You mean there’s an easy part?

Me:  I think I would have to agree with everything on that list.  What genre do you place your book in?

Nancy:  I would place my books in the romance genre. Historical, contemporary or paranormal, they’re about people falling in love, often under the most adverse circumstances.

Me:  My favorite! :-)  Is there anything else you'd like to tell your readers?

Nancy:  I’d like to tell readers that in my books they’ll find spicy love scenes, plenty of action, resourceful and courageous heroines, and heroes I hope they fall in love with. I will admit to falling in love with a couple of them myself. Also that I love hearing from readers. They’re welcome to contact me via the Contact Page on my website.  I also want my readers to know how much I appreciate their support. They are what makes this all worth while.

Me:  Amen!  We love our readers! :-)  Are there any links you'd like me to post?

Nancy:

Me:  Terrific!  Thank you so much for stopping by today, Nancy.  And thank you everyone else who joined us!  Don't forget to stop back tomorrow for the next installment of Mistral Dawn's Musings! :-)




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