Ask the Author: Nancy G. West
Answered Questions (13)
Nancy G. West
HI Martin, I saw parents about to divorce try to decide whether they should split up when the children were small, or wait until they were high schoolers or college age. That’s when Decker Savage, an 18-year-old baseball player, popped into my mind. In RISKY PURSUIT, Decker is still grieving the loss of his baby brother and dreading his parents’ impending divorce, when he stumbles upon a crime. He receives anonymous threats and is hunted and attacked for what he knows. How far will he go to stop the attacks if it means risking his future and his family?
Nancy G. West
My paternal grandmother, deceased, looks exactly like a woman who lived in San Antonio. Both were born about 1837 and could be twins. I'm hoping my cousin, a great Ancestry.com researcher, can see if they were related. If it becomes my book, it's copyrighted, C 2022 Nancy G. West.
Nancy G. West
Have you read River City Dead? This is the latest where Aggie and Sam plan a peaceful rendezvous on the San Antonio River Walk and have to deal with unexpected mayhem. Funny how crime complicates a relationship.
I finished another story about Aggie but can't tell you much about it yet. Please stay tuned. And thanks for asking!
I finished another story about Aggie but can't tell you much about it yet. Please stay tuned. And thanks for asking!
Nancy G. West
Probably to Hawaii. It's an enclosed setting and so beautiful it offers a stark contrast to the thought that anyone would want to commit a crime.
Nancy G. West
I'm currently reading THE BISHOP'S WIFE. It's told through the eyes of the woman married to the current Morman Bishop and has a lot of information about theIr religious practices. It takes about a hundred pages for the mystery to really begin, but now, it's picking up steam and fully engaging me. I also plan to read David Baldacci's SPLIT SECOND and Nelson DeMille's THE CHARM SCHOOL. I'll be working on my next mystery starring Aggie Mundeen and Detective Sam. After facing the murder of a friend on the beautiful San Antonio River Walk in RIVER CITY DEAD, they have reached a new level in their relationship. Who knows what will happen with those two? Whenever Aggie is involved, anything is possible.
Nancy G. West
Aggie Mundeen and San Antonio Detective Sam Vanderhoven, of course.
Okay. I'm prejudiced.
Okay. I'm prejudiced.
Nancy G. West
Hi John,
Nancy G. West is my real name. I can think of a few reasons authors use a pseudonym: they write salacious or very personal material and prefer that nobody knows who they really are. I don't intend to write anything I wouldn't want to see on the front page of a newspaper, so there's no reason for me to use a pseudonym.
Sometimes, if sales of an author's first books or series haven't been stellar, they'll write a new book or series under another name. Publishers sometimes ask an author to do that.
Finally, some authors may have always hated their names and want to be published under a name they think is beautiful.
I'd be interested to hear other people's ideas about why authors use pseudonyms, wouldn't you?
Nancy G. West is my real name. I can think of a few reasons authors use a pseudonym: they write salacious or very personal material and prefer that nobody knows who they really are. I don't intend to write anything I wouldn't want to see on the front page of a newspaper, so there's no reason for me to use a pseudonym.
Sometimes, if sales of an author's first books or series haven't been stellar, they'll write a new book or series under another name. Publishers sometimes ask an author to do that.
Finally, some authors may have always hated their names and want to be published under a name they think is beautiful.
I'd be interested to hear other people's ideas about why authors use pseudonyms, wouldn't you?
Nancy G. West
Aggie Mundeen, pushing forty, fears nothing but falling into middle-age decrepitude. She writes the column, "Stay Young with Aggie," and is VERY interested in aging. She's heard that scientists, studying the location and purpose of human genes, think that genes affect the aging process. Which ones? How? Can they be changed?
Aggie returns to college to find out in the 3rd Aggie Mundeen mystery,
SMART, BUT DEAD, scheduled for release March 2015.
It's 2017, so I want to answer this question again. Aggie and Detective Sam reached a milestone in their relationship and are working on conflicts that divide them. They decide to rendezvous in a beautiful place for a few days, escape from crime and reset their relationship. Where should they go? A cruise? Lake Tahoe? Hawaii? Why not a hotel on the San Antonio River Walk? People love the River Walk. Thousands come here to visit. Plus, it's my home, and I've been to all the places and experienced all the events in the book. Well, maybe except for murder.
Murder descends on the Casa Prima Hotel. Disturbing revelations surface about the Fabulous Femmes, Aggie’s new friends holding a convention. Evil emerges at parties in La Villita. Calamity plagues Aggie’s debut dance performance at the Arneson River Theater, the celebration skewed by carousing, crazies, and corpses. Even in idyllic River City, crime complicates relationships.
RIVER CITY DEAD http://tinyurl.com/RiverCityDead
Aggie returns to college to find out in the 3rd Aggie Mundeen mystery,
SMART, BUT DEAD, scheduled for release March 2015.
It's 2017, so I want to answer this question again. Aggie and Detective Sam reached a milestone in their relationship and are working on conflicts that divide them. They decide to rendezvous in a beautiful place for a few days, escape from crime and reset their relationship. Where should they go? A cruise? Lake Tahoe? Hawaii? Why not a hotel on the San Antonio River Walk? People love the River Walk. Thousands come here to visit. Plus, it's my home, and I've been to all the places and experienced all the events in the book. Well, maybe except for murder.
Murder descends on the Casa Prima Hotel. Disturbing revelations surface about the Fabulous Femmes, Aggie’s new friends holding a convention. Evil emerges at parties in La Villita. Calamity plagues Aggie’s debut dance performance at the Arneson River Theater, the celebration skewed by carousing, crazies, and corpses. Even in idyllic River City, crime complicates relationships.
RIVER CITY DEAD http://tinyurl.com/RiverCityDead
Nancy G. West
I decide what I want to write about, make a list of characters who I think will do what I want, put bottom in chair and start writing the first awful draft.
A year later, this plan still works. SMART, BUT DEAD is up for pre-order!
http://tinyurl.com/p5tt53h
It's now May 2017. SMART, BUT DEAD received great review and RIVER CITY DEAD is now out! This one was so much fun for me: I live in San Antonio, love the River Walk, and have been to all the places Aggie and Sam go when they're trying to solve a crime. Even in River City, crime complicates relationships.
A year later, this plan still works. SMART, BUT DEAD is up for pre-order!
http://tinyurl.com/p5tt53h
It's now May 2017. SMART, BUT DEAD received great review and RIVER CITY DEAD is now out! This one was so much fun for me: I live in San Antonio, love the River Walk, and have been to all the places Aggie and Sam go when they're trying to solve a crime. Even in River City, crime complicates relationships.
Nancy G. West
Hi Sally, Thanks for asking.
I'm updating this answer: RIVER CITY DEAD is out! Sam and Aggie decide to rendezvous at a hotel on the San Antonio River Walk - an escape from crime and a reset for their tumultuous relationship. But things never go as planned, especially with Aggie around.
Go with them to San Antonio's River Walk as they try to make sense of murder committed in this idyllic place. Even in River City, crime complicates relationships.
SMART, BUT DEAD ---Aggie Mundeen Mystery #3, is now up for pre-order! And I just received a great blurb from a fantastic author:
"Smart. Aggie Mundeen is smart. But. She's also a little clumsy, irrepressible, and irresistible. Dead. She might well end up dead if she continues nosing around the university where her questions are not wanted.
Smart, But Dead is the perfect combination of brains and heart. A tight mystery, an irrepressible heroine, and superb writing.” – James W. Ziskin, author of the Ellie Stone mysteries and Anthony Award-Finalist of No Stone Unturned
I'm updating this answer: RIVER CITY DEAD is out! Sam and Aggie decide to rendezvous at a hotel on the San Antonio River Walk - an escape from crime and a reset for their tumultuous relationship. But things never go as planned, especially with Aggie around.
Go with them to San Antonio's River Walk as they try to make sense of murder committed in this idyllic place. Even in River City, crime complicates relationships.
SMART, BUT DEAD ---Aggie Mundeen Mystery #3, is now up for pre-order! And I just received a great blurb from a fantastic author:
"Smart. Aggie Mundeen is smart. But. She's also a little clumsy, irrepressible, and irresistible. Dead. She might well end up dead if she continues nosing around the university where her questions are not wanted.
Smart, But Dead is the perfect combination of brains and heart. A tight mystery, an irrepressible heroine, and superb writing.” – James W. Ziskin, author of the Ellie Stone mysteries and Anthony Award-Finalist of No Stone Unturned
Nancy G. West
Read every book you can get your hands on about the craft of writing. I list some of the best on my website: www.nancygwest.com. Oops. I still haven't gotten the books up on my website. It's definitely on my to-do list.
May 2017: Books for Writers is on my website!!!!
This always holds true:
never....never....never give up.
May 2017: Books for Writers is on my website!!!!
This always holds true:
never....never....never give up.
Nancy G. West
Getting to use your imagination...making stuff up..having fun...seeing what readers say.
Sally and Cecilia, I'm glad you liked my answer.
By the way, Aggie Mundeen Mystery #3, SMART, BUT DEAD, is now available for pre-order! http://tinyurl.com/p5tt53h: Release date is November 17.
"SMART. Aggie Mundeen is smart.
BUT she’s also a little clumsy, irrepressible, and irresistible.
DEAD. She might well end up dead if she continues nosing around the university where her questions are not wanted. Smart, But Dead is the perfect combination of brains and heart. A tight mystery, an irrepressible heroine, and superb writing.” – James W. Ziskin, author of the Ellie Stone mysteries and Anthony Award-Finalist of No Stone Unturned
Sally and Cecilia, I'm glad you liked my answer.
By the way, Aggie Mundeen Mystery #3, SMART, BUT DEAD, is now available for pre-order! http://tinyurl.com/p5tt53h: Release date is November 17.
"SMART. Aggie Mundeen is smart.
BUT she’s also a little clumsy, irrepressible, and irresistible.
DEAD. She might well end up dead if she continues nosing around the university where her questions are not wanted. Smart, But Dead is the perfect combination of brains and heart. A tight mystery, an irrepressible heroine, and superb writing.” – James W. Ziskin, author of the Ellie Stone mysteries and Anthony Award-Finalist of No Stone Unturned
Nancy G. West
If I'm stuck for specifics about a character or scene I want to write, I start making lists. For a scene: What's its purpose? Who should be in it? Which character will best illustrate what I want to show?
For a character: I list background, psychological motivation, looks, traits...
you get the idea...until they appear full-grown in my imagination.
Actually, for me writer's block comes about at often as eater's block.
For a character: I list background, psychological motivation, looks, traits...
you get the idea...until they appear full-grown in my imagination.
Actually, for me writer's block comes about at often as eater's block.
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