HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
by Nancy Gideon
A month dedicated to Michigan authors!!
Where was this when I started writing?
Back before computers and social networking, I thought I was the only word-obsessed writer in the state. I had no support network to encourage me, no critique group to lean on, no organization to watch my back. There was just me and the local library and a big dog-earred, out-of-date copy of The Writer’s Market. Looking back, it’s amazing that anyone so naively ignorant of the business ever sold a single book, let alone over fifty.
I’m a Michigander (I refuse to call myself a Michiganian, although that’s now the official title). Southwest Michigan has been my home my entire life. It offers everything you could want: four glorious seasons, weather that changes every fifteen minutes, sandy beaches, fiery sunsets, urban sprawl and mystic forests. For me, it’s always been a land of enchantment and inspiration (even though I could do without winter driving and the summer humidity!). I love being able to give directions by using the back of my hand as the map. Being typically Midwestern, I enjoy having everything within reach . . . but with a little elbow room.
When I started writing, I was told to write what you know. I didn’t want to write about my home town. I wanted the dream: the West, the tropics, the Continent, the coast (either one would do). But when I participated in the Great Lakes historical series for Berkley Book (eons ago), I started digging into our past and found it rich in lore and fascinating nuggets. In fact, while researching our Upper Peninsula, I found so much information, I stretched it into three books, one historical and two contemporary.
Do I still like to dream of the West, the Caribbean, foreign countries and the rocky coast? You bet. But I also can find a literary paradise in my own back yard, setting my romantic suspense Warrior series in upper Michigan and using the inner city husk of Detroit as a backdrop for a potential YA paranormal series. There’s another suspense series on the backburner set in locations scattered across the state as an excuse to visit my favorite spots . . . citing research (like I need an excuse to visit wineries!). Home can be where the heart is when it comes to romance.
Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time in my fictionally adopted state of Louisiana, both in my imagination and with hands-on research in New Orleans where my BY MOONLIGHT dark paranormal series for Pocket Books is set. With the first three of six books out on the shelves, I’ve been living and breathing the swamps and cemeteries and cross cultures for over three years until I’ve started to think with an accent. (We Midwesterners don’t have an accent! We’re the bland voice of the news!). I’ve so enjoyed uncovering the regional quirks and have rediscovered the Southerner inherited from my mom (who made us eat okra like it was a real vegetable and taught me how to make pralines when I was little). I love to travel and visit places all around the country, but New Orleans is a place I could see myself settling (especially when I’m scraping ice off my windshield!).
Learn more about me and about my BY MOONLIGHT series by visiting my website: http://nancygideon.com .
Is there someplace special that calls to you? Someplace you could hang your hat or simply dream of living? Or are you happy where your roots are planted? Let me hear from you.
One lucky commenter picked at random will win a signed copy of CAPTURED BY MOONLIGHT.
About the Author:
by Nancy Gideon
A month dedicated to Michigan authors!!
Where was this when I started writing?
Back before computers and social networking, I thought I was the only word-obsessed writer in the state. I had no support network to encourage me, no critique group to lean on, no organization to watch my back. There was just me and the local library and a big dog-earred, out-of-date copy of The Writer’s Market. Looking back, it’s amazing that anyone so naively ignorant of the business ever sold a single book, let alone over fifty.
I’m a Michigander (I refuse to call myself a Michiganian, although that’s now the official title). Southwest Michigan has been my home my entire life. It offers everything you could want: four glorious seasons, weather that changes every fifteen minutes, sandy beaches, fiery sunsets, urban sprawl and mystic forests. For me, it’s always been a land of enchantment and inspiration (even though I could do without winter driving and the summer humidity!). I love being able to give directions by using the back of my hand as the map. Being typically Midwestern, I enjoy having everything within reach . . . but with a little elbow room.
When I started writing, I was told to write what you know. I didn’t want to write about my home town. I wanted the dream: the West, the tropics, the Continent, the coast (either one would do). But when I participated in the Great Lakes historical series for Berkley Book (eons ago), I started digging into our past and found it rich in lore and fascinating nuggets. In fact, while researching our Upper Peninsula, I found so much information, I stretched it into three books, one historical and two contemporary.
Do I still like to dream of the West, the Caribbean, foreign countries and the rocky coast? You bet. But I also can find a literary paradise in my own back yard, setting my romantic suspense Warrior series in upper Michigan and using the inner city husk of Detroit as a backdrop for a potential YA paranormal series. There’s another suspense series on the backburner set in locations scattered across the state as an excuse to visit my favorite spots . . . citing research (like I need an excuse to visit wineries!). Home can be where the heart is when it comes to romance.
Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time in my fictionally adopted state of Louisiana, both in my imagination and with hands-on research in New Orleans where my BY MOONLIGHT dark paranormal series for Pocket Books is set. With the first three of six books out on the shelves, I’ve been living and breathing the swamps and cemeteries and cross cultures for over three years until I’ve started to think with an accent. (We Midwesterners don’t have an accent! We’re the bland voice of the news!). I’ve so enjoyed uncovering the regional quirks and have rediscovered the Southerner inherited from my mom (who made us eat okra like it was a real vegetable and taught me how to make pralines when I was little). I love to travel and visit places all around the country, but New Orleans is a place I could see myself settling (especially when I’m scraping ice off my windshield!).
Learn more about me and about my BY MOONLIGHT series by visiting my website: http://nancygideon.com .
Is there someplace special that calls to you? Someplace you could hang your hat or simply dream of living? Or are you happy where your roots are planted? Let me hear from you.
One lucky commenter picked at random will win a signed copy of CAPTURED BY MOONLIGHT.
About the Author:
Southwest Michigander, Nancy Gideon is the author of over fifty romance novels under her own name and as Dana Ransom and Rosalyn West, ranging from historical and contemporary suspense to pararnomals. She’s also had two original horror screen plays optioned for film. When she’s not at the keyboard or feeding her NetFlix addiction, she works full time as a legal assistant.
About Captured by Moonlight:
Their Love Is Just Beginning
A mysterious death begins a dangerous chain of events. As the unexpected discovery of a family thought lost to him threatens the existence of Max Savoie's paranormal world, his awakening senses strain the bond he shares with Detective Charlotte Caissie.
His Time is Almost Up
Driven by instincts he can't control, Max fights the need to claim his human mate. How can he protect her when she's not safe with him? She's strong enough to keep his secrets, but can she survive the test of his love?
Will They Ever Really Be Together?
Separating business from pleasure just got more difficult. To have Max, Cee Cee must face her greatest fears by accepting who and what he is . . . someone deadly, unnatural and outside the law she serves. Loving Max Savoie isn't easy, but holding onto him could prove fatal.
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