Author Interviews: Nancy Famolari

The Basics
– Nancy Famolari
– Genre(s): Mainstream Romance, Cozy Mystery
– Publisher(s): Red Rose Publishing

To Other Authors
– What are the three MOST important pieces of advice you would give to a brand new author?

• The best tip I can think of for a new author is apply your seat to the chair and write. Courses are great, so are critique groups, but the sad fact is that you have to put in the hours developing your voice and learning to use all the things you’ve discovered in courses. Critique groups are a double edged sword. You can get valuable information, but you have to have enough self-confidence to decide what to accept and what to reject. It is, after all, your work. It has to please you.
• The second most important piece of advice is to network. I found my publisher and my wonderful editor by joining on-line groups. It pays off.
• The third piece of advice is to not become too attached to your work. Even if you think you write sterling prose, your editor may not agree. If you want to be published, you have to be professional and ready to make necessary changes.

– What’s your favorite way to advertise?

• My favorite way to advertise is on blog tours. I don’t know if this will prove to be the best way, but it’s the most fun for me. I also try to use groups, but I find them very time consuming. It’s a sad fact, but if you want to write you can’t be on line all the time.

– What hard-knock lesson did the publishing world teach you (can be your own experience or someone else’s that you learned from)?

• Luckily, I haven’t had any hard-knock lessons so far, from the publishing world, at least. I guess the worst experience I have heard from someone else is being dropped by a publisher. You get your hopes up, you’re happy because someone else seems to have confidence in you and bang you’re back to square one. I hope it doesn’t happen to me, but if it does, I’ll try to be realistic about it and look for another publisher.

For the Readers
– What are you reading, if anything, at the moment?

• At the moment, I’m reading Caroline Graham’s mysteries. I got hooked watching “Midsomer Murders.” Her plots are very well structured. Fun to try to guess the murderer.

– Do you prefer ebooks or print for your reading pleasure?

• I like both ebooks and print books. I haven’t read many ebooks because I just got started using them. I find reading on the computer actually easier than holding a heavy book. I also like the ability to scroll down as you’re reading. It lets you keep your eyes in the same place. The other think I like about some ebooks is the ability to make notes in the book. You don’t have to mess up the pages. It’s very convenient.

– Name three of your all-time-favorite, read-them-over-and-over books.

• I’m a Dorothy Sayers fan. I’ve read her books, all of them, three or more times. I love “Murder Must Advertise,” “Clouds of Witnesses,” and “Gaudy Night.” Of all of them “Gaudy Night” is my favorite because of the picture Sayers paints of a female mystery writer. I find something new every time I read it.

Idle Curiosity Compels Me to Ask
– What inspired you to be a writer?

• I’ve always wanted to be a writer. When I was very small, not in school yet, I would sit on the enclosed porch at my grandmothers and make up stories for my dolls. When I learned how to write I started to write them down. I loved making up imaginary worlds. This may have been because we lived in the country, and I didn’t have other children to play with, but it was such fun, I might have done it anyway.

– What do you do immediately after finishing a manuscript?

• When I finish a manuscript, I jump up and down, run to tell my husband and then put it away for several months. I find that I write to plot and have to fill in a lot of description before the book is ready for other people to read.

– Do you talk to your characters or your muse or both?

• I talk to my characters. The most wonderful part of writing is having your characters come alive and tell their stories. I’m best at dialog, probably because I do talk to my characters so much.

Promo Section

~ Most Recent Release ~

Summer’s Story ISBN: 978-1-60435-244-3 Blurb: Summer’s father, a famous racehorse trainer, is dead; his only asset, a fabulous trotter. Two men offer help to get the horse to the races. Summer refuses Ned, owner of Golden Oaks, blaming him for her father’s death. Davis, a famous racehorse driver, wins her heart, but deserts her after she suffers a serious accident on the track. Behind the scenes, Max, a wealthy owner, will do anything to get the horse for his stable. Can Summer get her trotter to the winner’s circle and most important will she find love? Available from: http://redrosepublishing.com

~ Coming Soon ~

Murder in Montbleu Blurb: When her husband, Peter’s, car roars down his mistress’ driveway narrowly missing her, Sara has had enough. Determined to face her rival, she enters the house only to find the woman sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood. Suddenly she’s the primary suspect, but what if Peter committed the murder? Chess Devon, Deputy Police Chief, thinks she’s innocent, but Chess has romantic problems of her own. The man she dumped in San Francisco is now Chief of Detectives in Scranton, and he wants her help. The publisher will be Red Rose Publishing. The book will be available sometime in 2009.

Learn More
Website: http://sites.google.com/site/nancyfamolari/
My Space: http://www.myspace.com/nancyfamolari/
Blogs: http://nancygfamolari.blogspot.com/ and http://nancyfamolari.wordpress.com/

Thanks so much, Nancy!

Join me next week for Barbara Meyers’ interview.