Interview Nancy Minnis Damato

by

Joel Goulet

1) If you had to describe your new novel in one word, what would it be and why?

Belonging. That’s the one word that describes what our heroine, Taylor Broderick wants more than anything else. She’s never had a real home and when she discovers her mother lied to her about the dream they had shared for a lifetime, Taylor desperately wants to love and trust someone, to find a family where she can belong.

2) How long would you say it took to write Belonging?

Belonging is the second book of a trilogy. I researched for three years covering a time period from 1873 to 1918, then wrote The Pawn, book I. Then with a publication under my belt, did more research before completing the series. Belonging--the actually writing time for Book II--took exactly a year.

3) If you’re like me and a lot of other authors, you might find it hard to summarize your novel in a brief paragraph. Can you do that for us?

Taylor Broderick lives to find the father she had never known, until she discovers her mother lied to her. The destruction of the trust Taylor had invested in her mother sends the young woman on a head over heels search for love, security, and family. Her experiences teach her more about the tragedies and rewards of life than she wants to learn.

4) Can you tell us something about the main character that we might not know by reading the book?

In The Pawn, Book I, Taylor Broderick began life in the kitchen of an “ordinary house”--bed and breakfast--in St. Louis, living as an outsider to the fringes of the rich and famous. A shy, large girl, she adores her popular petite mother and labors constantly to fit that mold. When her mother is accused of a crime and they flee the only home Taylor has ever known, the journey reveals strengths and cements a love and trust between the two women that few of us ever experience. Belonging tests that heartfelt relationship as Taylor begins her own life.

5) Is there any special way that you create your characters?

The characters in Belonging came to me fully fleshed out, with all their baggage and good intentions and faults and very sure of their place in the story. They peopled my life, sleeping and awake, and nagged until their stories were told. It’s a difficult experience to try to dissuade a “character” or add or subtract a trait--in the end, they usually won. The third book is finished, and yet, the characters, although their voices and needs are not as persistent, still live on and often disrupt the book I’m working on now. Exactly--like real family.

6) Are you working on any future novels?

I’m working on two novels. Embraced By Strangers, based on the life of my father--an orphan growing up during the depression, and the other a romance--Social Assassins, based on an incident from my own life. Of course, as authors, we have to admit we write what we know, it’s just a case of changing the names.

7) Has becoming a published author changed anything in your life?

Absolutely, I’m not as shy, feel more confident, and am full of passion for my work. My social conversation is less dull, and I find friends are truly interested in the writing process. They’re more flexible when I explain I’m busy and take less umbrage when I arrive last as I tend to do.

8) If you knew about a struggling writer, what advice would you give him/her about writing?

Get Donald Mass’s book and workbook or The Marshall Plan with workbook or Swains, Techniques of the Selling Novel and really sit down and do the exercises, over and over and over until they become automatic. And read the books of author’s you like three times: one for story, two for analysis of what you’ve learned and three for unique style.

9) Do you write in more than one genre?

My novels are all mainstream and follow no formula. There are always subplots and layers of characters that make the reading rich with multiple viewpoints. After all, in real life, we seldom all agree on what actually took place in any incident. Romance, intrigue, deceit, betrayals, triumphs, all the drama of real life.

10) Who are your favorite authors?

Barbara Taylor Bradford, James Patterson, Judith Michaels, Fern Michaels, Janet Daily,

11) Besides writing, what else do you enjoy doing?

Love the movies, playing Mah Jong, watching my granddaughter play basketball, soccer, and dance, lunching with my daughter and visits from the other children.