I'm tickled pink - or in Nancy's book theme's case, trotting around like a horse with excitement - to be hosting Nancy Famolari this month. I've known Nancy for a few years now and so proud to see the amazing strides she's achieved as a writer. Here's a quick scoop to get to know Nancy:
Nancy Famolari lives with her husband, five horses, two dogs and five white cats on a farm in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania. Before moving to Pennsylvania, she and her husband had a small Standardbred breeding farm in central New Jersey. They have four married sons and six grandchildren. Her stories and poems have appeared in Long Story Short, Flash Shot, Fiction Flyer, Lyrica, Alienskin Magazine Clockwise Cat, and Matters of the Heart from the Museitup Press. Her novel, Summer's Story is available from Red Rose Publishing. Her second novel, Murder in Montbleu, will be available in 2009.
I had the privilege of interviewing Nancy.
Nancy, Summer’s Story was based on a strong female character who knew what she wanted and steps needed to get control and meet her goals. As a writer, what qualities in Summer came directly from your own personality and life experience?
Summer and I have a lot in common. I admire strong people; people who get things done and don't wait to be rescued. Maybe it's genetic. My great grandmothers crossed the prairies in covered wagons to set up housekeeping in sod houses on the plains of Kansas. That's pretty much doing it yourself. The family ranch still raises cattle and wheat in Kansas.
I grew up on a small farm. We weren't exactly poor, but farms are inherently expensive, and there wasn't much money for frills. If I wanted a new dress for a party, I made it myself. Maybe it was this early training (My mother would be happy to think so.) that made me self reliant. I've always felt I had to do things myself if I wanted them to happen; no one was going to do them for me. Like Summer, I sometimes carry this tendency to extremes, get into trouble, and have to have help getting out. (My husband says this happens a lot!)
Summer’s Story has suspense, intrigue, and that all loving romantic aspect to it. When you first began penning the romance, did you have an inkling as to the direction which men will touch Summer’s life?
Both Ned and Davis have characteristics that attract Summer. From the very beginning, I knew Ned was the man for her. He was strong and supportive without being overbearing. They could have a partnership. Davis, like her father, is overbearing and talented, and, like her father, he has major flaws. His resemblance to her father makes him attractive to Summer. She can repeat comfortable, old patterns. She's torn throughout the novel, feeling responsible for her father and later for Davis. I used her men to show how she grows and in the end becomes her own person able to share love with a strong man.
Why would you have her a a horse breeder? A passion of yours?
Like Summer, I've spent a lot of my life around horses: riding, training, driving, breeding, and just enjoying them. Horses are remarkable animals, willing to please, gentle and friendly. I often find them more rewarding to work with than people. This is why I made Summer a horse trainer. I think working with animals, particularly horses, can bring out the best in people and show their strength.
I also know rather a lot about harness racing, having done it for fourteen years. The people, the horses, the excitement of the race, all seemed to provide a great background for a romance novel.
I know for a fact you have written a mystery. From the two genres – romance and mystery – which would you say comes the easiest to write and why? Which one do you prefer to write?
Although Summer's Story is a romance, I have to admit that I prefer mystery novels. I think they give more scope for a detailed plot, sub plots, and interesting and unusual characters. I love planting clues, seeing if I can keep the suspense high, and keep the reader from figuring out who the villain is.
What I most like to write is romantic suspense, adding a romantic subplot to a mystery novel. For me, the romance interspersed with more nefarious doings lowers the tension off for a few pages, or at least creates a different kind of tension. I think it heightens the suspense to take a break from the main plot for a chapter, and it gives me a chance to do character development.
While setting up your characters, do you base their physical attributes on family members? I do because I find it’s easier to flesh out a character when I have a live ‘victim’ to emulate.
Actually, I find my characters mostly in people I've met. I think my family is pleased that they don't find their way into my novels. That may change. I find it easier to make a composite character out of people I don't know well, probably because I can imagine what they're thinking and feeling. My kids and husband are too real to me. They keep coming out as themselves. Since I write murder mysteries, this does not necessarily lead to family harmony when one of them turns up as the corpse.
What is the reaction of your family knowing you are a romance writer? Do they tease you? Do they ask you for romance tips? GRIN
My family knows me too well to ask for romance tips. In fact, only my daughters-in-law have read the books. They already had their men, so weren't interested in tips from me. The boys' attitude has always been: what mom doesn't know won't hurt her. I suspect they know a great deal more about romance than I do. Maybe I should try to get pointers from them.
How upset were you when Summer’s Story came to the final THE END stage?
I was very happy to write THE END on Summer's Story. I'd always wanted to write a novel. I wasn't sure I could sustain a story line through several hundred pages. I did it in Summer's Story, so I was elated when it came together. It also helped that I had several other projects going including a YA novel. The YA novel also takes place in the horse business, and the heroine is really a young Summer. I didn't have to say good-bye to my character, just one phase of her life.
Is there any particular scene in the book that:
1- Most memorable for you while writing?
2- Most difficult for you to finalize?
My most memorable scene in Summer's Story is the accident on the track where Summer is badly injured. It's also the turning point of the book. The hardest part of harness racing for me was worrying about whether my horse and the driver would be hurt on the track. I saw some pretty bad pile-ups, and they made me think about how dangerous the whole thing was. This scene was etched in my mind from well before I wrote the entire book. In fact, I wrote the scene first as part of an on-line writing course. The instructor liked it and encouraged me to fill it out. I literally wrote the book around that scene.
From these two areas, which is the hardest for you: writing the book or promoting the book? Explain.
Promoting is much harder than writing. Writing is easy. I love to write. I even love to revise. Finding the right word to make the scene come alive is better than doing crossword puzzles.
I find promoting difficult. You toss our excerpts, write about the book and characters on you blog, and join in chats to tell people who you are, but it's hard to see the result. I'm a product oriented person which makes it particularly difficult. There's so much promotion on the internet, it's hard to see whether you are making a difference. I have the same complaints that other writers do. Seeing the same excerpts over and over again, just leads to a higher rate of activating the delete button.
Personally, I like the Amazon model. It's almost as good as being in a book store. You can find groups of books that interest you, browse inside them, and read what other people think. I do reviews for a big publisher for Amazon and my blog. People read what I write, and I hope I can help them make a selection. That sort of promotion makes sense to me.
Nancy, I'm sure many writers will connect with your answers to some of the questions. I always use one of my family members as character sketches for my books. I feel it makes it easier to keep them consistent...unless my girls are in a PMS mood and then there goes that character sketch. LOL!
Thank you for taking the time and answering my questions. To everyone else, please come back on September third to read an excerpt from Nancy Famolari's book Summer's Story.
'Where Dreams Are Made." I checked out her website and read the following blurb:
