Interview with Author Nancy J. Parra

April 2010
Vol. 1, Is. 4

Nancy J. Parra writes romantic suspense and sweet western historical romances. Hailed as a rising star of romantic fiction, she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism but turned to writing fiction when she discovered it was more fun to interview the people in her head. We spoke to her about what it takes to turn a writer into an author after reading her story about what she titled P is for Perseverance.


CWG: In writing about "P is for Perseverance" on your website, you say that writing always came quite naturally for you. Was there ever a time that you wondered if your writing wasn't good enough for an audience?


Nancy: Here's the thing, I was always one of those people who got effortless A's in English. And I'm a bit of a performer so I love an audience. I'm one of those people who in a social situation loves to tell this story about something weird that happened to me. (Like the time I was patted on the bum by a homeless guy and now my daughter won't let me go downtown alone.) So in answer to your first question, no I never thought my writing wasn't good enough for an audience. I know that makes me a bit naive as I really did have a lot to learn about writing-but I always believed in my characters- in my stories. That belief got me through a lot-motivated me to learn whatever I had to learn to get those stories out to readers. 

CWG: Did you ever doubt your abilities? 

Nancy: Did I ever doubt my abilities?  Here's a story... one time after about five or six years of hard work and maybe ten full manuscripts and 300 or so rejections. I was in the shower feeling sorry for myself. I mean, come on what was wrong with me that I couldn't get published? Were all my teachers wrong to give me A's? Were my critique partners just pulling my leg when they said they loved my work? I don't know about you, but my characters tend to haunt me. They were in the shower with me telling me to keep writing. I told them that it was pretty clear I wasn't good enough to tell their stories and they should go find a better writer to haunt. 18 months later a NYT [New York Times] Bestselling author came out with a book eerily close to what I had written for those characters. I thought- What?! No! that's my story. Then I remembered what I had said to my characters. After that I never told another character to go find someone else. Instead, I knew I had to try harder. 

CWG: What, in your gut, gave you the oomph to go the very long mile and come up as not only a published author, but a successful and well received (well reviewed) author? In other words, is there a little voice you would like to encourage other writers to listen to (or possibly a gnawing pain in their cranium)? 

Nancy: One thing I think all writers have in common is their belief that they can do it- write a book. If you didn't have that belief you'd never even try.  Cling to that belief. Feed it- by that I mean when you read something to someone and they get it- they laugh, they sigh, they smile. Those things feed that belief. When you read something someone else wrote and think, I can do better than that. It feeds that belief. Use that belief to motivate you to work on craft and to weather the storm of no-thank you's. Think of tightrope walkers-what makes them think they can walk a tiny cable between two fourteen story buildings with no net? They believe they can (and they practice-a lot.) So I encourage you to cling to what made you start writing in the first place. If you feed your belief, it will never go away. 

CWG: Beta readers or critique groups? If you could have your pick between the two, which would you chose and why? Do you have experiences with both types of feedback?  

Nancy: I've had both critique groups and beta readers. I think when you're first starting out critique groups are best. I've been lucky enough to be a member of a couple of really good critique groups- and one very bad one. My advice- if you are in a group that feeds off negative comments and you start to feel small as a writer and a human being, RUN- do not walk, away from that group. I don't care what excuses you have to make, leave the situation. It's better to go it alone then to get sucked into a group that sucks away your belief, your self esteem and your joy. Yes, even if they are published-don't stay. The key is to find a critique group with balance. Balance of solid experience, constructive criticism, (If no one is willing to tell you what to fix, you're wasting your time.) and encouragement. A good critique should be like a sandwich- encouraging remark, solid criticism and encouraging remark. (Yes, even published authors can use solid criticism. The more you know in this biz the more there is to learn.) I use beta readers now because of where I am in the learning curve.


CWG: Are there words of advice for handling the feedback, both negative and positive, that you can share with other writers? 
 
Nancy: My advice is to be open and listen thoughtfully to what people say. Don't dismiss the good comments-learn from them. Don't dismiss the bad-learn from them. You are the only one who can listen to the comments and edit them to improve your work. What I mean by that is to hold each comment thoughtfully and decide how true it is and what if anything can you use to improve the work. Remember this is subjective work- a published author might tell you, you must do X to your story. So, you do-they are published, right? But then an agent will tell you-no, you must do Y. Huh, so you do. But when an editor sees it they say- if you had only done Z, I might have bought it. The only way to be happy in this subjective work is to be happy with your own decisions to edit your work- that happiness and confidence will come with experience. Give yourself the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them. 

CWG: How important is a writing association, such as the Romance Writers of America (RWA), to helping a writer achieve the goal of becoming publishing? In your experience and your walks through the world of publishing and writing, are there some that are more proactive in assisting an author towards that goal? If so, which ones are they? 

Nancy: In my experience, RWA is the most proactive in assisting writers in their goal toward publishing. Local chapters, critique groups, conferences, newsletters and contests are great at teaching basic rules in writing such as goal, motivation and conflict; plotting; dialogue; narrative; and copy-editing such as comma usage, dialog tags, misplaced modifiers, wondering body parts and run on sentences. They are also great at keeping their members updated on industry news and the changing face of agents and editors. I had never met a published author until I joined RWA. That said, there are also great local groups who meet for free-both on-line and at your local libraries and community colleges. So if you feel RWA is outside your financial reach, don't think you can't get help. Ask around you might be surprised at what is out there. 

CWG: You spoke in "P is for Perseverance" about the shady suggestions an agent was making on a manuscript and deciding not to hire him/her. As you probably know, many writers are just so excited to get an agent that they forget to widen their blinders, so to speak, and weigh the pros and cons before signing on with an agent. Is there any one thing that you could say to help instill in burgeoning writers to listen and look for warning signs before entering into a deal? 

Nancy: Oh, boy, my advice is to set aside your excitement, ask for some time and listen to your gut. When an agent wants to sign you, it feels as though the most popular boy/girl in school just asked you on a date. Only a crazy person would say no, right? Stop a moment. Ask questions. If the answers they give you aren't specific enough push harder. Agents are human beings and fallible. Do they get right back to you or do they make you wait? Do you agree with their ideas for your future? Do they treat you as a partner or a subordinate? How does that make you feel as a writer? Your agent relationship should be a partnership with mutual respect and trust. If you don't feel that, then kindly decline. It is true what they say, having no agent is better than having a bad agent. (No matter how good it feels to say so and so is my agent. If they don't sell your work or if they want to take you someplace you don't want to go. What good are they?) Above all, have fun and keep going. You never know where you'll end up.
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Many thanks to Nancy Parra for the interview and the useful information - not to mention the perseverance inspiring article! Visit Nancy at her website, http://www.nancyjparra.com. To learn more about Nancy, her books, even order a book or three via our site, visit our resources page. 
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April Newsletter Home - Author Interview: Nancy Parra - Article: Conferences
Guest Author: Donna Hole - Resources: Character Worksheets - Article: Setting/Time
Regular Feature: Get It /Write/ Right - Regular Feature: Writing Prompts - Calendar of Events
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