Long and Short Reviews welcomes Nancy Herkness who is visiting with us to celebrate today’s release of her newest book Second Time Around. Enter the Rafflecopter at the end of the post for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card plus a digital copy of the book.
Thanks for stopping by Long and Short Reviews, Nancy. How old were you when you started writing? What was the first thing you remember writing?
I don’t remember not writing. I loved to read, and writing seemed like a natural extension of that passion. My first memory of laboring over a piece of writing comes from when I was eight years old. I decided to enter a book report in a contest at my local library in Lewisburg, West Virginia. This wasn’t just for school; it was going out into a wider world, so I edited it with care. It won! As the prize, I received a nonfiction volume about prehistoric beasts. (I have no idea why that topic was chosen for me.) That was when I knew I was a writer. I have carried that precious prize with me ever since because I believe it started me on the path that led me to this interview.
What’s the most difficult part of being a writer? What’s the most rewarding?
The most difficult part of being a writer is…writing. It’s hard, sweaty work that sometimes verges on torture, especially after multiple books. We writers are always raising the bar on ourselves, so we make it harder every time we start a new story. Argh!
My reward is hearing from readers that my story resonated with them or took them away from life for a little while or made them cry or made them smile. I love to know that one of my books is on a reader’s “keeper” shelf or that she had read it a dozen times. My readers close the circle for me as a writer. I am so grateful to them for telling me how my books made them feel.
To get your writing to ‘flow’, do you have any habits or rituals?
When I start a new scene, I like to take my goofy golden retriever for a walk. The forward motion of my body seems to make my creative brain move forward too. I come home with fresh, new ideas for the scene and I’m ready to get them onto the computer.
If you had to choose one career highlight what would it be? What are some of your goals for the future?
Weirdly enough, I’d choose my second Rita nomination as a career highlight. The first nomination—as exciting and unbelievable as it was—felt almost like a fluke, a one-time aberration. When I was nominated a second time, I thought maybe I might be a decent writer after all.
My goals? Well, I’d like to actually win a Rita. I’d like to be #1 in all Kindle books on Amazon, just for an hour. I’d like to be a Wall Street Journal bestseller. The truth is that those things are all out of my control. So my goal continues to be the same as it always was: Write the best darned books I possibly can.
You have focused your career on writing contemporary romance. Are there any other genres you might consider writing? Or are there genres that you know without a doubt aren’t right for you?
In fact, I’ve written one romantic suspense novel, Music of the Night, with a police detective heroine and a hero who’s a conductor of classical music. I love the book, but it didn’t grab a publisher, so I self-published it.
I’ve always wanted to write a paranormal series about humans with psychic powers. I’m fascinated by the idea that we don’t use anywhere near all of our brains’ capacity. Constructing the parameters within which such humans would function seems like great fun to me.
Although I absolutely adore reading them, I will never write a historical romance. I’m just too lazy to do the necessary research. There, I’ve confessed it!
When you aren’t writing are you a reader? Do you have any favorite authors? Do you have a book you would like to recommend?
Every self-respecting writer must be a reader, too. Reading is a joy and a pleasure to me. I have so many favorite authors from all types of literature that the list would be far too long for this blog post. However, I will say that I bow down in awe to my personal goddesses of romance, Georgette Heyer, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, J. D. Robb (Nora Roberts), and Mary Jo Putney. Of course, I know I’m forgetting someone really important. I’m currently reading Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson, and loving the writer’s brilliant use of voice and the touches of magic.
Thank you so much for inviting me to join your terrific blog!
Kyra Dixon, a blue-collar girl from the boondocks, is dedicated to her job at a community center that matches underprivileged kids with rescue dogs. When she runs into Will Chase—Connecticut blue blood, billionaire CEO, and her old college crush—she’s surprised that he asks a favor from her: to be his date for his uptight family’s dreaded annual garden party. If his parents don’t approve, all the better.
Kyra’s not about to say no. It’ll give her a chance to be oh-so-close to her unrequited love. What begins as a little fling turns so mad hot, so fast, that Kyra finds herself falling all over again for a fantasy that won’t come true. How can it? She doesn’t belong in Will’s world. She doesn’t want to. But Will does want to belong in hers.
All he has to do now is prove it. Will is prepared to give up whatever is necessary to get what his heart most desires.
About the Author: 
Nancy Herkness is the award-winning author of the Wager of Hearts, Whisper Horse, and Second Glances series, as well as several other contemporary romance novels. With degrees in English literature and creative writing from Princeton University, she has earned the New England Readers’ Choice award, the Book Buyers Best Top Pick honor, and the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, and she is a two-time nominee for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award.
Nancy is a native of West Virginia but now lives in suburban New Jersey with a goofy golden retriever.
Buy the book at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
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I enjoyed the interview.