Meet Nancy Gideon

She's baaackkk! Nancy Gideon, friend, mentor, all-around great gal. No, she didn't pay me to say all that. Long-time readers of this blog have met Nancy before. Maybe you think you know her. Bwahahaha. 

Nancy does this thing on her blog where she asks visiting authors to answer 20 questions about themselves. For her visit here, I thought turning the tables on her was fair play, especially since I'll be answering her questions next Tuesday on her blog.

So without further ado, here's Nancy Gideon's 20 Questions: Getting to Know Your Favorite (or soon to be Favorite!) Writer

Getting to know you:

1.     Spa day or gym workout?

I enjoy a gym workout . . . it’s getting me there that’s the hard part. Once I’m home, a tremendous gravitational pull sets in.  But no one has to twist my arm to get me to the spa. I had my first pedicure and massage this past year and I’m a convert!  Sigh . . .

2.     Night owl or early bird?

Definitely early bird.  I’m one of those obnoxious people who is wide awake the minute my eyes open . . . and totally functioning as soon as I inhale my first Keurig cup.  I’ve never had to set an alarm clock in my life.  I get up at 5:00 a.m. to knock out pages before I have to go in to my day job. I love the freshness of mind and the quiet.  I only write after work if my deadline demands it.

3.     Broadway or museum?

I LOVE Broadway!  Ever since my sister snuck me in to see Hair (without telling my mom about the nudity!), I’ve been hooked . . . to the point of taking in three shows during one trip to NYC.  I’ve seen some awesome performances: Liev Schreiber (who is much hotter from the third row center!) in Talk Radio, Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy in Inherit the Wind, Angela Lansbury in her Tony winning role in Blythe Spirits in New York, Stacy Keach’s bare butt (not the highlight of King Lear) in D.C., but my favorite will always be the touring production of Les Miserables here in my hometown.  Museums . . . I’m not overly fond of inanimate objects.

4.     Five words you use to describe yourself.

ADD with OCD rising – OooooShiny!

5.     If I had a free afternoon, I’d ______

Nap! That’s the thing I miss most from my pre-work outside the home days – writing until 1:00 p.m. then snoozing with a warm pet until the kids came home at 2:30.

6.     Favorite books from childhood

The Black Stallion series and myths and legends collections. I went from that to my mom’s Agatha Christie’s.  I was always reading something – usually age inappropriate like Heinlein, Asimov or Allister Maclean.

7.     What music are you listening to?  While you write?

I can’t listen to music while I write, but I always equate a particular type of music to each book I’m working on. The kind of music my characters enjoy tells me a lot about them.  And then there’s the mood music for the setting or time period. My playlist could include anything from Native American flute and cool jazz to Mozart or my son’s collection of German heavy metal.  I like it all. With this latest series I’ve amassed a large selection of local artists’ CDs during trips to New Orleans.

8.     Your first kiss . . .

Ahhh, yes.  Elementary school with a yummy older neighbor. Good enough to memorialize in Prince of Shadows. Except it was a garage and not a garden shed.

The Written word:

9.     Favorite type of hero

Oh, bad boys, definitely.  I always like the ones I can redeem that have some hard miles on them.  Given a choice between a “Thug” (i.e. Clive Owen, Jeremy Renner, Jason Statham) and a “Pretty Boy” (i.e. Jude Law, Colin Firth, Orlando Bloom), I’d take the Thug.

10.  What type of fiction heroine would you be, Jane Eyre or Lara Croft?

If I had the knees for it, Lara Croft.  I’m a believer in making things happen, not just dreaming about them or letting someone else make them come true for you.

11.  Favorite genre to read? Is it what you write?

Suspense.  I love a good thriller or chiller by Dean Koontz, Sandra Brown or Lisa Gardner,  and always include an element of suspense in all my books.

12.  What would you love to write that you haven’t?

Young adult or New Adult.  I’ve got a couple of great series ideas I’ve been toying with. I wish I’d had those kinds of options when I was a teen. And I’m thinking second gen from my current series . . .

13.  What are you reading right now?

Funny you should ask.  It’s a sci-fi space romance called The Pilot by someone you’re intimately familiar with . . . Diane Burton.  Your geek love of Star Trek and Firefly oozes from it . . . in a good way.

(Thank you kindly for the plug.)

A Writer’s Life:

14.  Which is easier, the synopsis or the book?

The synopsis is easier . . . as long as the book isn’t written.  I enjoy telling a story and have never had trouble spin one.  But the book is definitely more fun!

15.  Are you a lights, camera, action or behind the scenes writer?

I would love to be a behind the scenes writer who never surfaces except to take checks to the bank.  The hermit in me would thrive on it!  But somehow that never works out. I seem to always be volunteering for something, taking on some project, offering to helm a promotional effort, speak at some event, do a chat or interview, write guest blogs, give something a quick read for continuity, learn to manage my own website (and Joomla isn’t easy!) all while on a deadline.  Okay, I’ll admit it. I excel during that last minute rush -  otherwise I’m a hopeless procrastinator.

16.  Live to write or write to live? Day job?

I write because I can’t NOT write.  I live to write, but I have to work to live. I’ve worked a full time 9-to-5 for the past 12 years for an attorney and as much as I enjoy our clients, I wish writing included health insurance . . .

17.  How many submissions did you send out before publication?

This was back in the ‘80s, in the heyday of romance.  I was woefully ignorant of the process when I sent out my first attempt – a rightfully forgotten saga that took place partly in China that somehow got a request for a full manuscript.  After that rejection, I wrote three more complete historicals before picking the best to try again.  I got a request for the full then had to feverishly type it up on a manual Smith Corolla from my longhand copy.  In two weeks, I got THE CALL from Carin Cohen at Zebra Kensington and had a long sales history with them after that.

18.  First person you call when you get a sale

Persons, plural.  My fabulous critique group.  When I get THE CALL at work, I’ll close my office door then frantically dial until I reach someone . . . then let the squealing begin. We’ve seen each other through all the ups and downs . . . and this is the biggest high imaginable.

19.  What’s on your desk?

Here at work?  Scanner, two phones, laser printer and 4-in-1, Dictaphone headset, CPU, backup drive, bottled water and pop empties, coffee cup, mail for scanning, files to open, Post-it notes, fuzzy seasonal animal, pictures of grandson, sundry office supplies all in a regimented row, legal pads with all phone notes for the past four years and CDs.  At home, 4-in-1, phone with dead battery, IPad, headset, scattered notes to self on last WIP, folder with latest PR materials, envelopes with tax deductions for 2012, collection of favorite DVDs, floppy disks of old books that I just got the rights back to, hand lotion, picture of critique group, typewriter dust collectors, Tarot cards, pictures of latest hero, coaster for coffee cup, laptop, endless To-do list, and cat hair.

20.  When can we get your next book and what’s it all about?

Prince of Shadows, Book 8 in my By Moonlight series will be out 5-27-13 (my birthday!) as another Pocket Star e-exclusive.  It features my favorite hero to date - darkly dangerous, rowdy, tattooed, rock and roll prince Cale Terriot. The setting moves from New Orleans to Lake Tahoe and the break was nice. I started jotting down scenes from the book on my lunch hour and suddenly had 150 pages – in the middle.  After filling in the start and ending, I had to painfully cut over 100 pages to meet word count -  and will be putting some of them up as extra content on my website. Here’s a sneak peek:

PRINCE OF SHADOWS

A gentle lady held hostage in a deadly play for power, Kendra Terriot’s only means of survival for herself and her family is to play to a careful courtship game. The one she chooses from the dangerous Terriot heirs will inherit the coveted crown, but the one she longs to have rescue her belongs to another.

Favored son of their cruel clan leader, the only calm in Cale Terriot’s necessarily violent life is his childhood love for his delicate distant cousin whom he’s pledged to make his queen. With Kendra at his side, he knows he can become the kind of ruler his family needs, but first he must learn how to become the kind of man she desires.

In a treacherous race for control, where weakness means death, can Cale prove he’s not the beast his beauty fears and still protect her, especially once her chosen love returns to free her? The only way to win her respect could mean surrendering his throne. The only way to win her heart could mean letting her go.

Nancy can be found at: 

website:  http://nancygideon.com 

blog:  http://nancygideon.blogspot.com

FB: http://www.facebook.com/NancyGideonAuthor 

Twitter: @NancyGideon

Again since turnabout is fair play I have to tell you what I'm reading--Nancy's latest book Betrayed by Shadows, which is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. What a terrific book--kick ass heroine and sensitive hero. Don't get me wrong about Giles, though. He's tough and hard with a conscience. Love that in an alpha male.

Nancy, thanks for stopping by today and letting us get to know you better.