Interview of Author Nancy Gideon

Today RB4U is pleased to present an interview of talented author, Nancy Gideon!

BIO:

Nancy Gideon is the author of over 55 novels ranging from historical and contemporary suspense to dark paranormal, with a couple of horror screenplays thrown into the mix.  When not at the keyboard or working full time as a legal assistant, she can be found feeding her addictions for Netflix and all things fur, feather and fin. She also writes under pen names Dana Ransom and Rosalyn West.

   

Like you Nancy, I’m a huge fan of New Orleans. In reading Captured By Moonlight, you made me hungry for a Central Grocery muffaletta! What are some of your other favorite eateries in N’awlins?

When two of my critique partners and I went for a week long research trip and stayed in the Quarter, I was in charge of the schedule (as someone with OCD I delight in the task!!).  I made sure we tried a little of everything the city and its many cultures had to offer – K-Paul’s for Creole and Sezeracs, Le Bayoux on Bourbon Street for Cajun at its finest, Daisy Dukes to watch a couple shuck their way through a pail of crawfish (not something I tried!), Café du Monde, of course for the chicory and powdered sugar, the Hermes Grille for po’boys, and House of Blues for the best ever Easter Sunday buffet complete with Mimosas. And Central Groceries muffalettas! I probably shouldn’t mention Daiquiris for Jello shooters during the Michigan/Butler game.

Some authors have celebrity crushes that get them thinking about their hero. Do you have one, or more?

Clive Owen, Jeremy Renner, Liev Schriber,  Ray Stevenson, Joel Kinnaman, Shawn Ashmore . . . Sorry, I just got lost in a daydream.

You’ve written in the historical, paranormal, contemporary and romantic suspense genres.  Is there a genre you haven’t written in that you’d like to try?

I’ve got a couple of paranormal YA series that I’m dying to write, one in current day and one a historical. Young Adult is such a vibrant market and I’m totally crushing on Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter and Cassandra Clare. I wish I’d had those books when I was younger.

Who is the man on the cover of Masked By Moonlight and where can I meet him?  (just kidding:-0). Seriously, there are some fine looking males gracing the covers of your paranormal books. Do you get a say in the covers? Have any that you don’t like or would like to re-do?

That’s Jax Taylor and the photographer is the uber talented Craig White.  I was extremely lucky with my “By Moonlight” series. I was able to develop the cover concepts and Pocket’s fab art department brought them to life!  I was able to work closely with them and marketing through my editor, tweaking until they were mouthwatering.  When the e-exclusives went to stock art, I got to choose from a variety of options and make corrections. There isn’t a cover I’m not proud of. 

I’m very excited about a 2015 repackaging of my “Midnight” vampire romance series when the first three books of the series (looooong out of print) will be reissued by BelleBooks/ImaJinn Books.  All nine books will have a similar cover concept and I can’t WAIT! Every picture tells a story.

What’s your favorite thing about where you live, Portage, Michigan? Least favorite? Have you set any of your stories here?

The seasons.  Spring and Fall are my favorites, but wait five minutes and it’ll change. It’s also nice being able to show where you live by pointing to it on the back of your hand. Least favorite – driving in the winter and the humidity! 

I’ve set several books in my home state. We’ve got some wonderful settings – pine forests, lake shores, urban decay, small towns, and the rugged Upper Peninsula where I based part of my current Dana Ransom re-release Love’ s Own Reward.

You have three re-releases this year: Love’s Own Reward, from 1992, Totally Yours and Lifetime Investment, both originally released in 1993. How did these re-releases come about and what re-writes, if any, did they undergo?  

I was finally able to get the publishing rights back to the book I’d had published by Zebra/Kensington from the ’80 through ‘90s written both under my own name and as Dana Ransom. BelleBooks/BellBridgeBooks bought the four contemporaries I’d written for Zebra’s Lucky In Love line and are re-releasing them in May (the 27^th –on my birthday!), July, September and November. The final book, From This Day Forward is considered a new release because the Zebra line closed before it came out so no one’s read it.

It’s been great getting back into the stories. Fortunately, the only updating I’ve had to do is the technology (corded to cell phones, appointment books to apps, etc.) and to the rules regarding smoking!  I always try to go ‘classic’ with my music and movie references so they stay ‘timeless.’

Not only do you have a few dozen plus books to your credit, you’ve had a hand in working on the indie horror films, In the Woods and Savages, and got to play a character in one of them. How did that come about?

Just after I’d written the first few books in my “Midnight” vampire romance series, a bookseller friend called to say a fellow had stopped into his store and asked if he knew anyone who could write a novelization for an indie horror film he was making and my friend handed him my book.  A strange start to a wonderful collaboration with producer Lynn Drzick and actor D.J. Perry that led to the novelization of In the Woods, a chance to tweak some of the screenplay, and to have my IMDB actor debut as “bar extra”!  I got tons of cred from my oldest son’s friends, especially when we got to visit the set and talk to the effects guy.  We worked together  on several more screenplays, including Savages, which was sold to another indie production company. 

I discovered how much I LOVE to do screenplays, since I write my first novel drafts in a very similar way. The whole ‘movie’ experience was new and exciting for this closet horror fan.  And I’m proud to say D.J. has gone on to become very busy in film both in front of the camera and behind it with his own production company.

You love to travel. Where haven’t you been that you’d like to visit? Where would you like to return to?

I’ve got wandering feet (even though I’ve always lived within 25 miles of where I was born!).  My favorite places to return to are New Orleans and New York because of their unique energy. I’ve fallen in love with Arizona, too, since vacaying there two years ago.  After writing all those westerns, it was the first time I’d actually walked in the desert.  I’d love to go to the British Isles but that long flight over water . . .

When did you first realize you had a photographic memory? Any downside to having it?

In college when I’d read three chapters the night before the test and be able to recall them almost word for word. Unfortunately, those details tend to flush after use.  For someone with ADD/OCD,  it helps me keep on track with mental lists. I’m always the one in the group who navigates because I never forget someplace I’ve been even years later and I LOVE to plan. Give me something to organize and I’m a happy girl.

To someone just getting started with a writing career, what advice would you give?

Stay the course.  Don’t let bumps in the road (or craters!) detour you from where you want to go.  Sometimes you have to find another route or go around the block a few times but don’t give up.  My motto: It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll.

And now for some extra Fun Stuff:

  What is your favorite holiday and why?

I’m a Christmas-aholic!  I love everything about it: the snow, the music, the childhood memories, decorating the house (apartment), gift shopping, the smell of baking, getting out the holiday dishes, singing carols, the story behind it – everything! The only downside is finding a place to store the trimmings.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? 

I was the consummate storyteller and began jotting them down in notebooks as soon as I could wield a sentence.  After seeing my name under a fractured fairytale of Cinderella in my elementary school newspaper, I knew what I wanted to be – a writer.

Favorite happy memory.

Spending long weekends at a beach house with my critique group on Lake Michigan each summer relaxing, plotting, gabbing, grilling, bodysurfing (not intentionally – those were BIG waves!) and partaking of beverages – that’s where I go mentally when I need to remember life is good.

 What is the top thing on your bucket list?

Earning enough to retire on what I make writing so I can do the other things on it.

If you could have a super power, what would it be?

I’d be able to clone myself so I can stay home and work on my next book while the other me is answering phones at my 9-to-5.

Any upcoming releases?

Besides reissues of the four Dana Ransom contemporaries this year and the first three books in my vampire series in 2015, I’ll also be releasing the ninth book in my “By Moonlight” series in October, 2014.  Remembered by Moonlight returns Max Savoie and Charlotte Caissie as the main couple with steamy paranormal intrigue in New Orleans!

Latest Book:

Love’s Own Reward, Nancy Gideon w/a Dana Ransom for Belle Bridge Books (May 2014)

Her act of courage destroys everything . . .

Charlene “Charley” Carter risked her life to rescue a child from a burning car. Suddenly, the quiet research assistant becomes a media darling—and a half-million dollars richer, thanks to the boy’s grateful grandparents. But big money brings big moochers and bigger betrayals. Charley retreats, wounded and suspicious about the motives of even those dearest to her. 

He doesn’t trust that she’s for real . . .

Jess McMasters exposes frauds for a living, and if it means using his charms as well as his tough skills as a journalist, no problem. What’s Charlene Carter trying to gain by refusing to be interviewed by the press? Is she angling for more money—or is she hiding secrets that prove she’s nobody’s hero?

Jess goes undercover to get close to her, but the closer he gets, the less he understands. 

Except this: the cost for his deception could be his own heart.

Buy Link:   Amazon

Tell us where to find you: website(s), publisher’s page(s), blog(s), Facebook page(s), etc. List them all!

Website:  http://nancygideon.com

Blog: http://nancygideon.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/NancyGideonAuthor

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/NancyGideon

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/282919.Nancy_Gideon

Anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for inviting me to visit, and for such fun and imaginative questions!  Happy Reading!

Note: For more information about Nancy and her books, visit her Author Page at http://www.romancebooks4us.com.

Interview conducted by Polly McCrillis