Author Interview: Nancy Christie

Two author interviews in less than three weeks! How exciting is this?

I hope you all enjoy my interview with this week's What Am I Reading Wednesday author, Nancy Christie! 

Photo Provided By: Nancy Christie

The Writing Desk: Hi Nancy! Thank you for agreeing to this blog interview with me. Your latest book, “Rut-Busting Book for Writers” was just released in September, correct?

Nancy Christie: That is correct! My “youngest” is just about a month and a half old! (And she’s so cute!) 

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TWD: While the title is pretty self-explanatory, if you could describe the purpose of “Rut-Busting Book for Writers” in one sentence what would it be?

NC: “Rut-Busting Book for Writers” offers insights, information and tips for those who are pursuing the writing life, whether as a profession or for personal satisfaction, yet find themselves struggling to get out of creative or professional ruts.

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TWD: Besides non-fiction/help for writers, what other genres do you enjoy writing?

NC: I am a die-hard fiction writer—primarily short stories, although I have a couple novels that are works-in-progress—or not progress, depending on how I feel about the story at any point in time! Seriously, I love writing fiction. As a child, I was big on “let’s pretend” and that’s really what fiction writing is—just on paper.

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TWD: I see you also have a series of “Rut-Busting Workshops”. Were these workshops the inspiration for the book, or was the book part of the plan? 

NC: Definitely the inspiration for the book. Every time I did the workshops and gave out my hand-outs, someone would ask if there was a book available, too. So this spring I decided to go ahead and write one!

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TWD: I love that you’ve included contributions from other writers as well in the book! Was it difficult working with multiple collaborators on a project of this size? 

NC: Because of how it was done, it was pretty easy. I already knew what I wanted to cover in the chapters, so first I went back to all the author interviews I had done on my blogs to see what nuggets of wisdom I could mine for those topics. Then I reached out to those sources as well as others and asked for more insights and voila! A book is born!

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TWD: In your experience as a writer, has most of your work been traditionally published, self-published, or a combination of both? Which avenue do you prefer? 

NC: I have had two books traditionally published: “The Gifts of Change,” first through Beyond Words and now through Atria, and “Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories” through Pixel Hall Press. “Rut-Busting Book for Writers” is my first self-published book. I like the control of self-publishing but the initial cost can be a tad painful! But I may do it again.

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TWD: These next questions are ones I like to ask in each Writing Desk Blog interview, it’s so interesting to see the range of responses I get!

 Where do you typically work from? (Home, office, coffee shop, etc.) Is there anywhere you find you're more productive than other places?

NC: I work in my 440-foot home office—the biggest space I have had so far. When I travel I can work anywhere. I just block out the distractions. (I had two children—I am good at blocking out extraneous noise!) But I prefer to be alone.

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TWD: If you are able to tell us, what’s next for you after this book? Will we be seeing another advice book for writers, or do you have something else in the works? 

NC: I have a couple projects. I am finishing a holiday story in time for “Celebrate Short Fiction” Day, am pitching another short story collection, have just started yet another novel (I am a glutton for punishment), next year will start edits on another novel, and would like to release a holiday collection in time for 2018 season, assuming I can write enough stories to fill a book!

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TWD: Best piece(s) of writing advice?

NC: Write every day if possible, focus on writing the best you can, and don’t let rejections discourage you. (Three for the price of one!)

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TWD: Something interesting about you that people may be surprised to know?

 

NC: Hmmm, I don’t know that it’s about me, necessarily, but I rarely know how a story will end up until I get into it, and sometimes, not until it ends. Alternatively, I never planned on being published and certainly never planned to write a book! All I ever wanted to do was write. But then, once I saw my name in print (the first time for an essay I wrote about my son’s soccer team) I was hooked!

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A big thank you again to Nancy for taking the time to talk with me! You can find her bio and links to her website and social media accounts in this week's What Am I Reading Wednesday post. 

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!