Nancy Christie's Blog

Here are the stats you should track and how to do it!

(A version of this post originally appeared on my Substack.)

Image from Canva

I am obsessed with tracking my book sales numbers.

And not just what I earned in royalties but all the numbers: what I sell at book signings versus sales that come from store orders or special promotions, how many of each book I sell, what sells more—ebook or paperback—for each title, and anything else that I need to know.

And to track these numbers, I turn to my tr...

You’ve been assigned a college paper. Or an article for a magazine or newspaper. Or a post, either for your own blog or for a client.

You stare at the blank screen, hoping that some brilliant idea will come to you. Or at least, the glimmer of an idea.

But even if the muse takes pity on you and whispers a hint in your ear, you still need to write it!

What to do, what to do…

You could spend the next several hours starting, deleting, restarting, ad nauseum.

Or you could follow the steps in the One-...

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of posts on social media from writers who are frustrated and afraid. Why? Because their writing careers are not going according to their plans.

If they’re freelance writers, they are finding assignments few and far between.If they are pitching a book project, it seems like their queries are going into the virtual equivalent of the dead letter office.If they are seeking book reviews or interview possibilities, neither request is meet...

Not in the mood for a full literary meal, i.e., a novel? Prefer to snack on a short story or two?

Then my publisher, Unsolicited Press, has a deal for you: the Nancy Christie Book Bundle!

Get all three collections—Peripheral Visions and Other Stories, Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories, and Mistletoe Magic—for just $40!

Order here: https://www.unsolicitedpress.com/shop...

(Short fiction collections make great gifts! Get the jump on your holiday shopping now!)

How I define writing success for myself

This is an edited excerpt from my June 2025 newsletter, The Writing Life. (Subscribe here.)

You can also listen to it on my Living the Writing Life podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

When I interview writers for my podcast, Living the Writing Life, the last questions I ask are always the same: How do you define writing success for yourself and what makes you feel successful as a writer?

Lately, with the release of my tenth book and third novel, MO...

I’m celebrating the launch of Moving Maggie: A Midlife Moxie Novel with a special sale on the eBook versions of the first two in the series: Reinventing Rita and Finding Fran!

All June, the ebooks are available for $2.99 from your favorite retailer!

Each book is a standalone, but all three explore the unique challenges and life changes of women 50 and older!

Sales links here:
REINVENTING RITA: https://www.nancychristie.com/midlife...

FINDING FRAN:
https://www.nancychristie.com/midlife...

The rough draft of my fourth novel in a series entitled Angels of El Roi, was written in 2015. And then the dark cloud of dementia floated into my parents’ life.

The thing with this type of storm, you don’t know how intense it will get, how much damage it will inflict, or how slow or fast-moving it will become.

And so my caregiving journey began. With my sister, Pam, by my side, we attended to every need, every crisis, every emotional event 24/7. There was no time, no energy or brain cells left ...

Finding the courage to write, and finding courage in what we write

This is an edited excerpt from my April 2025 newsletter, The Writing Life. (Subscribe here.)

You can also listen to it on my Living the Writing Life podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

I’ve been reading a lot of memoirs lately, and what has struck me is the courage it must have taken for these people to write the truth about what they experienced—sometimes at the hands of people whom they loved but who didn’t love them ba...

April showers bring May flowers—and the release of the paperback version of MOVING MAGGIE on May 30!


To get ready for that big event, I’m holding a “Book Shower” at the BookBaby Bookshop.

Order the eBook version of any of my three Midlife Moxie novels—MOVING MAGGIE, FINDING FRAN or REINVENTING RITA—at the BookBaby Bookshop and get $2 off the retail price when you use code APRILSHOWERS25.

The code is only good through April 30 so order today!

Click the titles below to go to the BookBaby Bookshop page to order.

MOVING MAGGIE




FINDING FRAN




REINVENTING RITA

I don’t usually choose to read books penned by celebrities, probably because I feel that there would be no point of commonality between my life and theirs.

My preference is for nonfiction books that either deal with writing in one fashion or another (after all, I am a writer!), or books on topics about my gender (female) or my age (late middle-age, and I’m being generous).

But after reading a few excerpts from Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old and following that up by reading some media i...