Author Interview with Nicole Giles

D.N. Giles was born in Nevada, and moved with her parents to a number of cities in and around the Midwest, mostly staying in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and snatches of time in Texas. Her future aspirations include adding a tropical island to her growing list of locations. For now, she plans to travel to as many tropical locations as possible, scouting for her future home in paradise.

Nichole Giles’ early career plans included become a megastar actress or a rock star, but she decided instead to have a family and then become a writer, in that order. Writing is her passion, but she also loves to spend time with her family, travel, drive in the rain with the convertible top down, and play music at full volume so she can sing along. She is co-author of Mormon Mishaps and Mischief, an anthology of humorous anecdotes, which was released December 2009. Some of her other work has been published in Highlights for Children, The Friend, and Boys’ Quest.

Nicole’s newest book “The Sharp Edge of a Knife” falls into the newest genre: Reality Fiction.

Donna: Welcome Nichole. It was great to meet you at the ANWA Writers Conference on February 27th 2010. I understand your book “The Sharp Edge of a Knife is based on a true story. How did you find out about it?

Nicole: This is actually a family story. The main character is my grandpa. I remember hearing during my childhood that he’d been kidnapped in the past. Actually, he was kidnapped or held hostage three times total in his life, which makes the story all that much more interesting to me.

Donna: What made you want to write the story?

Nicole: After my grandpa died, I was reading his life history and this particular incident really stood out to me. I decided to write it as an article at first, but there was so much information, and so much research involved when it came to finding the facts that it turned into a book.

Donna: Did it require a lot of research?

Nicole: Yes, it did. I started out with a handful of newspaper articles and about two pages worth of journal accounts from my grandpa, and somewhere in the mix there was a court subpoena. From there I called the police departments involved, but because the case was so old—fifty years—they referred me to the national archives in Denver. From there, I was able to get someone to help me track down the case and all the evidence and court documents. Interestingly, the knife used in the kidnapping, as well of some of the other evidence, is still there, and will remain there forever. Or at least, that’s what I’m told.

Donna: That’s a lot of research. Did you have to do anything else?

Nicole: No, I didn’t have to, but I felt a need to so I actually did some more digging and tracked down one of the kidnappers. I wrote him a letter, asking him about the situation, and not really expecting a response. So, I was completely shocked when a week later this guy called me and talked to me on the phone for about an hour, telling me his side of things. He was very remorseful and teary. Very apologetic. It was probably the most profound conversation I’ve ever had.

Donna: Wow! That is amazing. How long did it take you to actually write this book?

Nicole: It was actually a fairly long process all things considered. From beginning to end, it took me almost three years to get from the inception of the idea to publication. And there was a lot that happened in between, including me working on two other major projects at the same time. All in all, though, I’m thrilled with how it turned out.

Donna: Where can we learn more about The Sharp Edge of a Knife?

Nicole: You can read the first chapter at my website. My author bio is also there, with a few interesting facts pertaining to the story.

Donna: And where can this book be purchased?

Nicole: Right now it’s definitely available on Amazon, and I’m told it will be in stores sometime in the next few weeks, if not already. My official book launch promotion is scheduled for March 27th from 1-3:oo pm at Eborn books in the Provo Towne Center mall in Provo Utah. It’s open to the public, and going to be lots of fun.

Donna: That’s exciting. Thanks for visiting with me today.

My first review

I got my first ever review! It came from Night Owl Romance Reviews and they gave it 4 stars.

http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.asp?ReviewId=2787

Here's what she said:

"Although I thought this would be a typical hate-turned-love story, I truly appreciate how Donna Hatch gave this old story an atypical spin. I enjoyed seeing Alicia's romance with her husband bloom and watching how Donna painted their emotions with a deft brush. The triangle between Cole, Nicholas, and Alica was not as well done, considering how honorably Cole had behaved in every other aspect. That did detract from the story for me although Donna did still manage to carry it beyond what I would have expected. The intrigue held me spellbound until the very end and it was an unexpected ending. I will definitely be looking for more stories from Donna Hatch in the future."

My editor said this is a great review, but I can't help but see it as getting a B instead of an A. Still, she said some positive things, anyway. That's good, right?

My first review

I got my first ever review! It came from Night Owl Romance Reviews and they gave it 4 stars.

http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.asp?ReviewId=2787

Here's what she said:

"Although I thought this would be a typical hate-turned-love story, I truly appreciate how Donna Hatch gave this old story an atypical spin. I enjoyed seeing Alicia's romance with her husband bloom and watching how Donna painted their emotions with a deft brush. The triangle between Cole, Nicholas, and Alica was not as well done, considering how honorably Cole had behaved in every other aspect. That did detract from the story for me although Donna did still manage to carry it beyond what I would have expected. The intrigue held me spellbound until the very end and it was an unexpected ending. I will definitely be looking for more stories from Donna Hatch in the future."

My editor said this is a great review, but I can't help but see it as getting a B instead of an A. Still, she said some positive things, anyway. That's good, right?

Scared Witless

Maybe every author goes through this. Maybe I'm not the only one freaking out here. But if other authors ever felt the way I do, they've survived it with better grace that I am.

Tomorrow my first novel, The Stranger She Married, will be released in ebook. I'm excited. I'm terrified. I can hardly breathe.

At long last, a dream I've secretly nurtured since 7th grade is coming to fruition. I can't wait to see my name on the cover of a book. I've finally done it. All those critiques by contest judges and critique partners, all the disappointments and frustrations are finally about to be worth it.

And yet, what if no one buys it? And worse, what if no one LIKES it?

I've read some awful books that didn't deserve to be in print. I've read a bunch of mediocre books that I forgot about a few days later. The thought of being placed in one of those categories makes me break out into a cold sweat. But when I read other books by some of my favorite authors, I KNOW I'm not that good and I wonder what made me think I could ever write? And do I really want to make myself that open and vulnerable by publishing what I write? Will people see too much into my soul? Will they think nothing is there?

Oh, what in the world was I thinking?

Bodice rippers - is anyone that clueless?

I was recently directed to the following site, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25191970/
which is basically a pitch for a new Danielle Steele novel. In the article, is a poll for people to say whether or not they read romance novels. Yet the question was so infuriating that I'm seeing red. The question was:

“Do you read 'bodice rippers?' and your choices are yes, no, sometimes.

Bodice rippers? Are you kidding me? Who calls them that anymore? Bodice rippers was a short-lived term that surfaced around the 1980's when a lot of historical romances first began to have fairly detailed love scenes.

Romances novels have evolved, and in my humble opinion, improved.

Today, romance novels encompass the entire spectrum. There is fantasy, sci fi, mystery, suspense, adventure, historical, and inspirational (to name a few), all within the umbrella category, or genre, of Romance. Furthermore, most romances are NOT bodice rippers. They range from sweet to erotic, and there are a number of levels in between. In addition, the inspirational genre, also called Christian fiction, is fast becoming the best selling genre of romance. This type of romance is sweet, meaning no sex. Certainly no bodice ripping.
Women who respond 'no' to this survey are probably saying that they don't read 'bodice rippers,' which is probably not an accurate answer to the real question which should be 'do you read romance novels?'

If they reply 'yes' I have no doubt that the author of this poorly researched and poorly worded survey question will proudly proclaim that women love ‘bodice rippers’ and condemn us as a group for being immoral, or something equally ridiculous. If they say 'sometimes' their reply goes into a third answer, which, really splits up the yes answers which will be used to 'prove' the author's theory that no one reads romance any more. All false conclusions make me grind my teeth.

Why do people keep bashing romances? They are the best selling genre on the market. Romance authors are intelligent, talented people, most of whom have degrees and who spend countless hours researching for each of their books. They work longer and harder than most other professionals, and their pay ranges from ‘no where enough to compensate me for my sweat and tears,’ to phenomenal.

No one writes romances because they have nothing to do. Or because they think they’ll get rich next month. They do it because sometime inside drives them do to it. And they do it to help other people escape the pressures of life; have an adventure and fall in love, without leaving their home.

Do you read romances?

The Call

Authors often talk about when they got "the call", meaning the phone call either from an agent or editor that says "I’d like to offer you a contract on your book." Like me, these authors had spent years writing, attending workshops and conferences, reading, re-writing, editing, submitting to contests and critique partners, and then starting the process all over again until finally they get the nerve to submit to agents and editors, only to be rejected until they had enough rejection letters to wallpaper a small room. Then when the call came, they would speak of how they’d squealed, or tried to sound professional when they only wanted to scream in joy. They would try to relay to their rapt listeners the sweet euphoria of learning that someone thinks their passion is a true, marketable skill.

I had tasted a bit of that exhilaration each time I won a writing contest, and I looked forward to the day I’d get my own call. I wondered if I’d scream and jump up and down, or try to behave with dignity, and I hoped my time would come soon.

Magical moments in life that others speak of never seem to happen that way for me. The marriage proposal made by the man who is now husband certainly wasn’t the kind that I’d always anticipated. It was completely unexpected and made in a very casual, off-handed way. In fact, it was so casual that I thought for certain that he was kidding.

He wasn’t.

Other major events in my life seemed to happen in much the same way. The call was just another of them. My call wasn’t a call, it was an e-mail. And I had just had minor surgery on that Monday, and had a more difficult recovery than I’d anticipated. By Friday night, I hadn’t even turned on my computer. My husband brought my laptop to my bed and asked if I wanted to check my e-mail, probably in an attempt to cheer me. Almost lost among the over 100 e-mail messages was one from two days prior from the editor of a press I’d submitted to. She said she’d like to offer me a contract on my manuscript. I stared, re-read it, and then told my husband that they wanted to offer me a contract. He blinked and asked what that meant, thinking that I’d merely won another contest or something. It took some doing to convince him that I had basically sold my first book. I’m sure if I had been more excited about it, he would have caught on sooner.

The times I’d won writing contests, I’d squealed and jumped up and down until I’d managed to frighten my teenagers. But instead, I lay there quietly, bleary-eyed, and told him in an uncharacteristically subdued voice that I was about to join the ranks of the published authors. After 20 years of marriage, I realize that even though the marriage proposal was something of a disappointment, the man who made it certainly was not. Neither has life with him been.

I am equally certain that my writing career will be satisfying despite its rather quiet entrance into my life.The title of my first published book is The Stranger She Married which is being published by the Wild Rose Press. I don’t have release date yet, but I’ve finished galleys, I have a book cover, and the book is in production.

The best things in life may not always have the grandest entrances. I hope writing as a career is one of them.