18Q Nancy Mitchell

Nancy Mitchell

1. Did you choose the writing profession or did it choose you?

I suppose you would have to say writing chose me. I’ve been writing stories since I was very young. Mostly bad stories to begin with, but that didn’t stop me from writing. When I was a junior in high school, I read Ayn Rand’s “Fountainhead”. I immediately sat down and wrote “Atlas Shrugged”. Of course, I didn’t have the experience to do it justice, and when I actually read “Atlas Shrugged”, I tucked my own poor attempt away in a drawer where it has languished ever since. At the time, I didn’t understand the concepts of character development, plot twists, or creating tension. I only knew “Fountainhead” hadn’t carried the concept through to completion. So I did. Over the years I have stepped back from writing from time to time, having had no success in achieving publication, but I found myself unable to resist the temptation to put my thoughts on paper. “Surviving Your Student Loans” was born from need. I worked in the student loans collection industry, making telephone calls to delinquent borrowers ten hours a day. The job was incredibly painful, mostly because I discovered people had problems not because they didn’t want to pay their bills but because they didn’t know their options. So I spent hours explaining the system, and every day someone begged for a book on the subject. There wasn’t one, so I quit my day job and wrote it. I can’t say it’s scintillating or fascinating or even very interesting, but it is a necessary book.

2. What is your background?

I graduated from California State University with a B.S. in Business Administration, Finance major, International business minor. Top honors all the way. Then I found out no one wanted to hire a B.S. with no experience, and my personal style was a bit too flashy for the banking industry (which is the main employment base for Finance majors). So I sold things. I sold toys and bandages and books and clothes. Tried insurance for a bit and hated it, spent several years in real estate. Finally I discovered site acquisition for the telecom industry and I flourished. Turned out I was one of the best in the business. But the industry collapsed when stocks tanked in 2000 (they were financing the build-out through stock sales) so my husband and I came home to Las Vegas. I took a survival job helping people stay out of default on their student loans. Quit as soon as I could and went back to writing full time. Writing is more fun and more rewarding, as long as you don’t depend upon it to buy groceries.

3. When did you ‘know’ you were a writer?

I must have been about twelve or thirteen when I understood that writing was important to me. I’ll admit, I fought the urge for many years. Most writers don’t exactly support themselves. I try doing other things, but I always come back to writing. About twenty years ago, my husband started printing and coil-binding my efforts to take with us each year on a family camping trip to Yosemite. I was mortified, but the hundred or so people who join our group every year began coming to our campsite demanding to see my latest, so I gave up being embarrassed and let him do it.

4. How would you describe your style of writing?

This is a difficult question. I tend to be very descriptive. I like to set a scene, and then let the action or dialog take over. I prefer prose that verges on but is not quite poetry, so many of my descriptions get a bit florid. Of course, given my ‘druthers’ I’d spend hours in my characters’ heads, but that makes for boring reading, so I try to avoid it. For “Surviving Your Student Loans” I had to work hard to stay out of ‘lecture’ tone. It’s not a subject that lends itself well to description or humor. It’s also hard work to keep my descriptions vivid but not gory. Since most of my books include at least one murder, it’s easy to get lost in the blood and guts. You can’t do that with cozies. Your reader has no desire to be grossed out. I also tend to try to educate people, often to my own detriment. I needed to know the processes for throwing pots for my novel “Butterfly Eyes”. But the rest of the world doesn’t really care. Which is why I’m now working on making major cuts.

5. What is your writing process?

I let a concept ‘steep’ for weeks or months or even years. I start with the kernel of an idea, and it preys on my mind while I’m reading or writing something else or watching television or driving. It starts to grow, sort of like yeast growing in the bread dough. When there’s enough of it to comprise a small story, I start writing. I put down everything I think of, letting the story go wherever it wants to go. Obviously I have to do major cutting at some point, but not in the initial stages. The characters take over and write the story for me. If they don’t, the story isn’t ready to be written yet, so I close the file and go back to something else. Of course, before I ever start putting things into text, either via the computer or in one of my notebooks, I’ve written most of the scenes at least a dozen times. I don’t play music in the car except on long trips. I’m busy writing and the music pulls me out of the story. Frequently I’ll be lying in bed with the TV on and a book in my hands and I’m staring at nothing. It’s because I’m writing. Or I’ll be furiously playing Minesweeper. I’m writing. When I have the scenes the way I want them, I put them into text.

6. What was your path to publication?

I went the POD route for “Surviving Your Student Loans”. I tried the traditional route, and had some very good responses, but the bottom line from the publishers always came back, “This is a great idea and a well-written book. (I had to throw that one in. Ego.) Unfortunately, we don’t know how to sell it.” I framed the rejection letters, and wondered how I was going to be able to sell it if the professionals didn’t know how. Slowly. That’s how.

7. What is your favorite self-marketing idea?

My favorite idea has been to send complimentary copies of “Surviving Your Student Loans” so various student loan lenders and suggest they conduct a test to determine if educating their borrowers will lower their delinquency rates. I believe it will, because I discovered that educating ‘my’ borrowers had that effect. But it requires a long-term study and so far has not produced results. My husband’s favorite idea is to schedule me into office meetings as a speaker. I spend an hour educating financial advisors and loan officers about student loans – concentrating on the things they need to know. This has actually been fairly successful. And giving a complimentary copy to the purchasing agent at the library has been equally successful. After they take a look at it, they order for every branch. Apparently I’m not the only person in the world who understands it’s an important book. Don’s latest brainstorm is to have me do a video explaining student loans for financial advisors, and one for loan officers, and then allow other people to present the video at office meetings. That way my body (and therefore my time) isn’t taken up, but the word gets out. Personally, I don’t see me being any great draw in a video, but if he finds a backer I’ll do whatever it takes. I have to say, I’ve been surprised at how successful the presentations were.

8. What are the biggest surprises you’ve encountered as a writer?

That would be the difficulty of getting reviewed. With an essential and very timely book, you’d think news media would jump at the chance to let people know about the book. They haven’t. And of course, reviews are supposed to be critical to getting into libraries. Fortunately, the librarians we’ve contacted light up when we mention the title, and since we send a free copy for their review (no risk to them), they’ve been very welcoming.

9. How do you inspire yourself? What are your sources of creativity?

I find myself locationally inspired. When I worked in the telecom business, I spent a few months here and a few months there, which enabled me to visit a lot of dead President’s homes and national parks. I rarely want to set my novel in the park, and never in the dead President’s house, but the architecture of a house will speak to me, or the headstone in the cemetery that just says “Baby”, or the barrenness of a desert or the lushness of a river. I travel as much as possible, and always find myself gathering bits and pieces of trivia to incorporate into my books. “Trace of Gold” was born from a visit to the copper mines outside of Salt Lake City. Sometimes objects provide the inspiration. One Christmas, my sister-in-law gave me a rabbit skin pouch containing small smooth stones painted with “Native American runes”. Okay, this was someone’s marketing idea to sell rocks, but when I dumped the stones into my lap, an entire novel was born. I will never lose the image of the old woman, casting the runes, reading them, snorting in disgust, gathering them up and casting again, and again, and every time the reading was the same … And then, of course, she knew disaster was making it’s way toward the people and she had a duty to warn the elders.

10. What is your proudest writer moment?

That would be the first time a stranger read one of my books and reacted with, “Oh God. Oh my God. This is good. This is really good.” Obviously it impressed me, I remember the exact words. And those words have kept me writing despite the rejections.

11. What’s the best advice you were given about writing?

Be specific. When you’re describing a gold SUV, give it a make and model. When you’re describing a little old lady, make her come alive, with arthritic knuckles and eyes faded and dulled by time. Make her hair thin, with pink patches of skin showing through an unsuccessful combover. If the house is white or blue or yellow, make it so, and make sure when your reader sees the description of a saltbox house, they know what a saltbox house looks like. A tree isn’t just a tree. It’s a Douglas Fir or an oak or a maple glowing with construction paper colors in the late afternoon light of an early autumn. If I can’t see what you see, I won’t invest in your story. Be specific. Of course, with publishers looking for sound-bite writing, that may not be good advice today, but I personally can’t gag my way through novels with no scene development, no character development and a plot straight out of the “Perils of Pauline”. Oh, and the other thing is know your characters. Not just what they look like, that’s the easy part. You have to know them as well as – maybe better than you know your best friend. If Karen Anderson decides to give pottery classes to the women in her community, I have to know why she did it. Or why she refused to do it. Not the economic reasons, but the real reasons, the emotional ones that she never wants to talk about because she doesn’t share that sort of thing. Your characters should be able to surprise you from time to time, just the way your friends do, by doing something you didn’t think they’d want to do. And you have to understand why they would do such a thing. Then, when you try to explain why this person did something so outlandish, you won’t have to make straightforward explanations. The explanations will grow out of the character.

12. What is your most embarrassing writer moment?

Since most of my work is unpublished as yet, I haven’t had a lot of those. I do recall one of the women at Yosemite approaching me and saying, “I really enjoyed your book, but there was something I didn’t understand. What’s a ‘bdon’ wall?” At first I thought it was a joke, so I responded, “Okay, I’ll bite, what’s a ‘bdon’ wall?” Turns out when I did a global name change, making my character’s name Don instead of Rick, the computer picked out every instance of the letters ‘rick’ and substituted ‘don’. Once she showed it to me (duh!) I was able to tell her a ‘bdon’ wall is a ‘b-rick’ wall after the computer gets done with it. Nowadays I don’t do global changes, and I spell-check again. And again. Of course, when I received a rejection of my cozy series from Richard Curtis Agency, and they said they didn’t do category romance, I nearly blew a gasket. That was embarrassing. How could I have gone so wrong in my synopsis that they thought I wrote romance? I kill people. I can’t write romance. I don’t even really understand romantic heroines. They aren’t people I’ve ever been close to.

13. What business challenges have you faced as a writer?

The same one everybody else faces. Writers don’t make much money, and self-promotion is expensive. The IRS thinks it’s just a hobby if you don’t make money, so you have to be careful about your deductions. The local tax people want you to pay personal property tax on all the stuff you have in your office. And then they want you to tell them when you bought those books. Jiminy Christmas! As if I kept records of all the books I ever bought. Record-keeping is a challenge, but lackamoney is the biggest challenge.

14. What is your writer life philosophy?

Wow, I’m supposed to have a philosophy? Writing should entertain; both the writer and the reader. If it doesn’t do that, it misses the mark. But beyond entertaining, you have to teach. If you aren’t giving the reader something they didn’t already know, they have no reason to read what you wrote, and you have no reason to waste paper. There’s a research project currently underway at Colorado State University delving into the ‘story channel’ and the reasons females tend to leave the math and science fields about the time they enter high school. One of the theories being tested is that women learn through stories, while men learn through incremental facts. This is a gross simplification, and the gender lines are not firm, but if you interview females as to when and why they stopped enjoying and thriving in math class, the common theme seems to be that they switched to male teachers who taught only facts without presenting context. I know it was true for me, as well. Math was a breeze, right up until I took Calculus. I still don’t know how I passed Calculus. I don’t even know what Calculus is! So I try to teach through my stories. “Taking It Off” – A man’s interest in watching strange women strip is not deviant sexual behavior. A woman who takes her clothes off is not a prostitute. Strip clubs are fascinating places, and I had a wonderful time doing my research. You can read about it “Writers Bloc”, soon to be brought out courtesy of Henderson Writers Group. “Butterfly Eyes” – Recovery from abuse involves more than just removing yourself from the abusive situation. It also involves coming to terms with the world and not ‘expecting’ abuse in every situation. Homeless people aren’t necessarily homeless because they’re alcoholics or addicts. And being homeless has distinct disadvantages we don’t normally think about, like where’s the toilet paper? My husband has been a tremendous help to me in my research efforts regarding homeless people. He keeps bringing them home for me to take care of for a while. I always send them off with a couple of rolls of toilet paper, some bottled water, and an assortment of miniature soaps and shampoos. Thank God for motel soaps. “The Old Woman” – Change will come whether you want it to or not.

15. When you’re not writing what do you do for fun?

What do you mean, when I’m not writing? I’m always writing. If not at my computer, then in my notebook. If I’m not actually putting the words down on paper, I’m composing them. If it looks like I’m listening, it’s because I’m collecting scenes for a book or composing dialog or writing a description. If I’m sitting at the computer playing some stupid game, my mind is busy plotting. Nothing goes into text until I’ve written it at least a dozen times in my head. I used to square dance, but with my mother not doing well, I spend a lot of time going back and forth to California. I read, of course. I travel as much as possible. I’m a photographer. I enjoyed learning to throw pots, but haven’t been able to keep up with it, partly time constraints and partly money. When I’m not writing, I’m planning what I want to write. Oh, and I enjoy throwing money away at the casinos. I consider it my civic duty to contribute to the local economy whenever possible. You can meet some interesting people there.

16. Who do you like to read?

Classic science fiction. Arthur Clarke and Frank Herbert and Isaac Asimov of course, but I have a collection literally ranging from Asimov to Zelazny. Mysteries. Hillerman and Kellerman (both of the Kellermans) and North. Nevada Barr, who is light enough not to hurt your brain, and J. A. Jance. Lisa Gardner who wins writing contests for her ‘mainstream novel with strong romantic elements’, although the elements are almost microscopic. Ellen Byerum writes a series of cozies set in D.C. that are delightful and light enough to float. I read a little romance, but not nearly as much as I used to. Like I said, I don’t understand the heroines. Jenny Cruisie is good, and of course everyone in the world reads Nora. A little Stephen King goes a long way for me, but I do recall him scaring the pants off me with “Boogie Man”. I used to know the boogie man personally, and Stephen got it right. I guess you can say I read just about everything. I don’t like the latest fad for two-page chapters and no character development. That stuff bores me. They say if you haven’t grabbed your reader in the first twenty pages, you never will. I’m a little more forgiving and will give you thirty or forty pages, but if I can’t get into the book and like the characters within the first few chapters, I’ll set it aside and read something else. I’ve had a new Ludlum sitting on the bedside table since February. Eventually I’ll find someone to give it to since I can’t force myself to read it.

17. What’s your advice for new writers?

Run like hell. If you escape, you weren’t meant to be a writer. Marry someone who will support your habit, because the likelihood of you supporting your own habit is relatively small. Take some writing classes; it’s quicker and easier than reading every book ever written on creative writing. High school English class doesn’t count. Read. Listen. You never know when you’ll overhear something you can use in a book. Pay attention. People’s mannerisms tell you about them. The young man who came to my house recently to clean my air vents had a heavy middle-eastern accent. When he climbed out of his truck and approached my home, he carefully tugged his Star of David medallion to the outside of his t-shirt (presumably so I would know he was one of ‘us’ and not one of ‘them’). I couldn’t have cared less what his ethnic background was, but apparently it mattered to him and I can only assume his action was defensive in nature. He’ll end up in one of my books. On a recent trip to Mexico, I was riding the shuttle from the pool back to the rooms when the driver suddenly stopped, jumped off the shuttle and darted into the breezeway of an adjacent building. He stopped there to speak with a greatly pregnant woman for a few seconds, patted her belly possessively, kissed her, and returned to the shuttle. I’ll use that scene in volume five of my stripper series. It was a perfect moment.

18. What are you currently working on?

Cutting “Butterfly Eyes”. Volume Three of my stripper series. Co-writing a mentoring book with my sister-in-law. Actually, so far all I’ve done is edit like a mad-woman, but in a couple of weeks we’ll organize what’s left and I’ll start doing rewrites and filling out areas where I know more than she does. Rewriting “The Old Woman”. I haven’t touched it in a couple of years because every time I picked it up it sucked me in again. You have to gain some distance from your work before you can do major rewrites and cuts. At least, I do. I’m working on the memoirs of a teacher on the Havasupai reservation during the late forties and early fifties. The woman actually kept diaries! “Death by Oleander”, although it’s slow going. I don’t think I let the dough rise far enough. One of these days I’ll get back to “Trace of Gold”. It has potential, but I can’t seem to get it right yet. Maybe I haven’t been away from it long enough. Waiting until after July, when the new regs are published on student loans so I can do the next edition of that. Trying to create the advertising flyer for the student loan book to go in the mailing to the libraries. Creating advertising is a struggle for me. I either want to say too much or too little. I’m doing a series of articles in response to the CBS Sixty Minutes segment on Sallie Mae. What CBS didn’t outright lie about, they misrepresented or glossed over, and the idea that they managed to create sympathy for those three ‘poor students’ just drives me nuts. I’d tell you why, but then you wouldn’t need to read my articles. I always have several projects going at once because sometimes the writing just doesn’t flow. When this one isn’t working, I pull that one out of the old filing cabinet and set to work on it.

Nancy’s 18Q