I like to say I am the poster child for late bloomers, at least when it comes to my writing career. My first short story was published in 1994 when I was 40, my first book, THE GIFTS OF CHANGE, was published 10 years later (2004) when I was 50, and my first short fiction collection, TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER AND OTHER STORIES, was published 10 years after that (2014) at age 60. Now at 70, I just released my eighth book and second novel, and have more in various stages of completion.
I’ve also had more than a few “wake-up” calls from life, reminding me that no one is guaranteed a specific number of days, and if I have goals I want to achieve, I had better get moving!
The idea of not delaying indirectly led to my first book which is about making the most of the changes that come into your life, and my two writing books—RUT-BUSTING BOOK FOR WRITERS and RUT-BUSTING BOOK FOR AUTHORS—about the ruts that writers fall into for one reason or another.
And my Midlife Moxie Novel Series takes a different approach to change, because too often women at fifty and older feel that their life is now on a downward slide and it’s too late to start something new. So my novels are about countering those beliefs, but in a lighthearted way.
As for my author life, I love doing in-person events because it gives me the chance to talk to people, women specifically, about their lives, their goals, and their dreams. It’s also a nice break from my writing time, which is just me and my computer alone in my office. (Follow me on social media and sign up via the popup on my website for my newsletter, Nancy’s Book News, to know where I’ll be.)
I also teach workshops and do presentations—some geared to writers and others on motivational topics. (There is nothing I like better than to give people advice! In that respect, I’m a lot like Martha Saxs in FINDING FRAN!) This summer, I’m taking the show on the road, so to speak—heading to North Carolina to do some book events with my author friend, Dawn Reno Langley. After the enforced isolation due to the pandemic, it will be nice to get out on the road and do some traveling.
Ideally, my life should be a balance between writing, events and relaxation. Unfortunately, I’ve only achieved the first two—I’m still waiting for the relaxation part! The closest I get is when I spend time in my garden, which, although it is work, is of a different kind that gives me a great deal of satisfaction. However, living in Ohio, the garden is only available to me maybe six months out of the year so for the rest of the time, I can only think about it, dream about it, and plan for it!
What else can I share? How about this: growing up, I was a tomboy and my favorite toy was my bike. I used to pretend it was a horse. In some ways, I am still a tomboy and still love riding a bike. (And I’ve also developed a taste for riding Harleys, but only as a passenger.)
I dream—a lot. And have nightmares. And talk and walk in my sleep if I’m really tired. The good thing is, I remember most of my dreams and nightmares and have used them as inspiration for stories. (When you’re a writer, nothing is ever wasted…)
And I am easily frightened by scary movies or books, so I have to do my due diligence when choosing something to watch or read. (That basically rules out every Stephen King novel or movie, to start with!) Yet I can write scenes that, if someone else wrote them, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
I tend to think of my characters as real people, and if something bad or hurtful happens to them, I feel really terrible about it.
I consider myself incredibly lucky that I get to do what I most love doing — write — and to be able to do that for a living.
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Title Finding Fran
Author Nancy Christie
Genre Women’s fiction/Contemporary
Book Blurb
A cheating lover and a failing career—Fran is facing a midlife mess!
Once a best-selling romance novelist, 55-year-old Fran Carter is now dealing with a slow but steady drop in book sales and a major case of writer’s block, complicated by the knowledge that her lover, a professional photographer, has been on the wrong side of the camera (so to speak) with his models. (So much for her author brand, built on the premise that women in their fifties and beyond can still find love and happiness.) Her solution is to spend a week in isolation at a northern California bed-and-breakfast while she grapples with the issues confronting her. But can Fran turn her midlife mess into a midlife success?
Excerpt
“Now who’s calling?” I asked aloud, as I eyed the telephone with distaste. I was unwilling to hear from yet another telemarketer how XYZ insurance would save me big money or from another political supporter explaining why Candidate A was better than Candidate B for California’s economy.
Not now. Not when my publisher was waiting for a synopsis, the first three chapters, or at the very least, a working title for my next book— none of which I had.
Sighing, I picked up the receiver and offered an unenthusiastic, “Hello?”
“Is this Fran Carter?”
“Yes. Who’s calling, please?”
I held the phone with my chin and started riffling through the stack of envelopes on my desk.
“My name is Ben. Ben McCallister. You don’t know me, but we need to talk. It’s about John Robbins—your John Robbins,” followed by a pause that stopped my hands from moving, “and my wife.”
Variations of that kind of sentence often surface in romance novels when the woman (wife or lover, it really doesn’t matter) first learns of her partner’s infidelity. I should know, having published a few of them myself. And when that happens, her world reels and nothing is ever the same again.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
Author Biography
Nancy Christie is the award-winning author of two novels, Reinventing Rita and Finding Fran (both from BookBaby)—the first two books in her Midlife Moxie Novel Series; three short story collections: Mistletoe Magic and Other Holiday Tales, Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories and Peripheral Visions and Other Stories (all from Unsolicited Press); two books for writers: Rut-Busting Book for Authors and Rut-Busting Book for Writers (both from BookBaby) and the inspirational book, The Gifts of Change (Atria/Beyond Words).
Forthcoming books include Moving Maggie, the third in her Midlife Moxie Novel Series, and The Language of Love (Unsolicited Press), her fourth short story collection. Both are scheduled for release in 2025.
Her short stories and essays have appeared in numerous print and online publications, with several earning contest placement.
The host of the Living the Writing Life podcast and the founder of the annual “Midlife Moxie” Day and “Celebrate Short Fiction” Day, Nancy teaches writing workshops at conferences, libraries, and schools. She is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), the Florida Writers Association (FWA) and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA).
Social Media Links
X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/NChristie_OH
Midlife Moxie Novel Series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCol5aX1blkk_GHWsHj5C0Tg
Title Reinventing Rita
Author Nancy Christie
Genre Women’s fiction/Contemporary
Book Blurb
Is fifty too old to start over and reinvent yourself? That’s what Rita Reynolds has to decide after a series of unwelcome occurrences arrive in time for her fiftieth birthday, not the least of which is realizing that since her divorce, she’s been coasting on the highway of life. Now, it’s time to hit the gas and start moving ahead, even if the bumps in the road are slowing her down! But is it too late for a midlife makeover? With the help of her friends, including her employer Donna and her ex-husband's second wife Karen, she's about to find out.
Excerpt
My plans BP&Z (Before Paul and Zack) had been to take my culinary degree and get a full-time job doing something connected with food—work at a restaurant or for a catering firm. I’d save up my money until I had enough to go to Paris, where I would take classes at Le Cordon Bleu like my idol Julia Child.
Then, when I had had enough of the City of Lights (or, more likely, when my funds ran out), I would come back home to open my own little bakery. And it wouldn’t be just a bakery either, but would also have space where I could have a private baking school, offering classes on the finer points of making the perfect breads and desserts. I even had the décor all figured out: blue-and-white checked curtains, black bistro tables and chairs, and white boxes and bags with pink bows imprinted on them.
That was my goal, my plan, my dream. But then I met Paul, and I went from dreaming of the day I would give birth to my entrepreneurial venture to dreaming of the day I’d give birth to a baby. And once Zack was born, Paul and I agreed that I should be a full-time, stay-at-home mother—a decision that ultimately left me ill-prepared to be a divorced and now “retired” mommy who needed to earn an income since my child support checks had now come to an end.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/reinventing-rita-a-midlife-moxie-novel-volume-1-nancy-christie/19747977
Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Reinventing-Rita/Nancy-Christie/9781667883472?id=8824368257731
Title The Gifts of Change
Author Nancy Christie
Genre Self Help / Inspirational
Publisher Atria Books/Beyond Words
Book Blurb
The Gifts of Change (Atria/Beyond Words) encourages readers to take a closer look at how they deal with the inevitability of change and ways in which they can use change to gain a new perspective, re-evaluate their goals and reconsider their options. It’s about making the most out of the changes that occur — even the ones that are difficult to handle. This condition of change is really the definition of being alive: without change there can be no growth. The key is not to spend energy avoiding change but to embrace it willingly, using each experience to develop new strengths and abilities to prepare for the next series of transformations. It’s not about blind acceptance but rather about actively searching for the positive aspects in all our life experiences.
Excerpt
[From “Exploring Our Possibilities”]
We must explore our inner world the way we would explore a foreign country. We need to throw away all our preconceived ideas, limiting beliefs, and restricting roles. We have spent a lifetime with ourselves, but do we know who we really are? To what extent has our identity been shaped by others or our perception restricted by events or circumstances?
Sometimes we refuse to look at ourselves because we are afraid of what we might see. Sometimes we resist searching within for fear that what we might find may upset the life we have so carefully created. When we find out who we are and all that we are capable of becoming, we may also find that we are outgrowing the confines of our current existence. But it is only through self-exploration that we can find out who we really are and what more we can do with our lives. If knowledge is power, then self-knowledge is the greatest power of all, for it affords us the ability to create a new reality that encompasses all that we are and all that we can be.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
Simon & Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Gifts-Of-Change/Nancy-Christie/9781582701196