Nancy A. Hughes, a Key West native and Penn State graduate, writes character-driven crime-solving mysteries. She
followed her dream from journalistic business writing to a life of crime. When Nancy isn’t writing, she is devoted to shade gardening and to
volunteering at the Veteran’s Hospital and the Reading Hospital. She is an active member of MWA, ITW, Sisters in Crime, and
Penn Writers. Visit Nancy on her website at hughescribe.com, on facebook.com/hughescribe1
and twitter.com/hughescribe1. She lives in South-central Pennsylvania with her husband.
Question: What is the title and
genre of your novel? Why did you select
them?
Answer: The Innocent Hour is a cross between suspense and
amateur sleuth, which is my signature approach—ordinary individuals, thrust into
peril through no fault of their own, with no recourse but to solve the crime
themselves. The protagonist wades into danger with no knowledge or experience
in law enforcement, and is not a paid professional. The Innocent Hour’s cover
captures a ping! in time and offers
the reader a clue, as do all my book covers. This genre appeals to my
journalistic background and love of sweating the details. We’re told to write
about what we know, but I’d add “or what we are wiling to learn.”
Question: What
inspired this novel? How did it come about?
Answer: Over the years ago, I’ve read newspaper accounts
about people, accused of crimes they didn’t commit, with no recourse. Their
situation, however heart renting, isn’t unique, as the Innocence Project is now
exposing thousands of wrongful convictions. No innocent person should go to
jail for lack of money, support, or knowledge of his rights. And our Supreme
Court has ruled that it is all right for police to lie to a suspect. So what’s
an 18-year-old high school student supposed to do? Take a plea? Accept a life
of ruin and despair? Possible death at the hands of career inmates?
Question: Could you tell us a little bit about the heroine
and/or hero of your novel?
Answer: Protagonist
Vietnam veteran Charlie Alderfer, whom
readers met in my debut novel, The Dying Hour, finds one more battle to
fight—or rather, it finds him. Charlie hires Ben, an 18-year old high school
student as his handyman whom everybody loves. When mean-spirited accusers bring
false charges against Ben, Charlie learns that police terrorized him to confess
to something rather than risk
super-max prison. This infuriates Charlie, who wages battle to unravel their
motives and expose the truth. He confronts layers of incompetents and liars to
solve the case and exonerate Ben.
Charlie
is a strong moral man with clear guiding principles and a big empathetic heart.
And he’s typical of many returning veterans we hear little about who resume
civilian life, study and work, raise families, and lead quiet productive lives.
He’s a mild-mannered grandfather who lives by the motto displayed at the VA, “Freedom
Isn’t Free.”
Question: Can you tell us about some of your other
published novels or work?
Answer: My
publisher, Black Opal Books, released five mystery novels since 2016. The Dying
Hour was intended to be a “stand alone.” As a volunteer at our local VA
hospital, I understood why hospitals are vulnerable at night and was captivated
by the stories the old vets in hospice and skilled nursing told me. Charlie Alderfer
became my spokesperson. What started as a relationship story between Charlie
and a mute little boy grew legs when a serial medical murderer invaded the ward
and began killing Charlie’s roommates, one at a time.
My next
novel, A Matter of Trust followed. A young widowed banker uncovers fraud and
murder at her new job and is thrust into unraveling corporate, high level crime.
Her story continues in Redeeming Trust with a new love and a determined killer
swearing revenge for solving the bank crime. In Vanished, a sophisticated
kidnapping ring steals her baby and leaves clues that implicate her,
necessitating the parents to find him themselves while dodging the cops and the
killers. Kirkus says that although Vanished is part
of a series, it works just fine as a stand-alone.
The Innocent Hour came about
when Charlie Alderfer begged to solve one more crime. I could not shut up his
voice in my head! I never planned juggle two series at once, but write them one
at a time. At book fairs, readers ask, “which one do I read first?” I try to
explain one-and-five go together; two, three and four…They glaze over.
Question: What are you working on now?
Answer: I’m doubling
back to the Trust characters because my readers insist. I’m superbly
complimented when they ask, “What comes next in their lives? They seem so real
to me; like family or friends.” That’s humbling. And that keeps me writing. I’d
like to take a crack at humor—the hilarious consequences of multiple career
changes while juggling family, friends and community. From millennials who
change jobs frequently to advance their careers to re-entry women plunging into
new opportunities, there’s a bit of Erma Bombeck-type fun as women particularly
zigzag through opportunities.
Question: What made you start writing?
Answer: I was raised by avid readers, and have been
putting stories together in my head since I was a little girl. My dream was to
be a big-time advertising executive in a large city. But I married the man of
my dreams—an agricultural banker. Folks, there are no more cows and plows in Manhattan! I started my own little business
and I wrote reams of business literature, handled media relations, and PR for
small to mid-size businesses and corporations. When it was obvious I needed to
get a lot bigger or get a real job, I joined a bank, which supplied a paycheck
and the background for the Trust series in the era of merger mania where
employees were as expendable as toilet paper and the environment, toxic. In
time, I put a big red lipstick kiss on the envelope with our son’s last tuition
check, quit my job, and turned me to a life of crime—fiction, that is.
Question: What advice would you offer to those who are
currently writing novels?
Answer: There’s no right approach. Ignore authorities
poking directives at you. Some writers prefer set schedules—write x-many hours
or words a day—no excuses. I write in marathon sweeps, closed in my little home
office, not days in a row necessarily. Do whenever you know works for you. Have
confidence, persistence, endurance, and patience. Just never give up.
Figure
out if you’re a “pantser” or an outliner, using whatever organizational tool
suit your skill set. The split among well-known authors seems to be 50-50. I
start with a one-sentence summary, and yes, you need that for focus and the
prospective agent or editor who says, “What’s your book about?” For example
(not mine) “In the post-Civil War south, a woman’s obsession with the wrong man
blinds her to the love of the right one.” 1,000 pages later… My outlines start
with about 10 key points that I expand later to make an outline—a couple pages
max. Vanished came to me when I awoke in ten clear points, which I scurried to
capture and let incubate while other books were in the works. Gold to spend
later!
Question: Where and when will readers be able to obtain
your novel?
Answer: All my novels are available in print and e-format.
The first four can be found in the usual online bookstores or through your
independents who will order for you. Amazon pounced immediately on The Innocent
Hour in December. Others venues will follow. Googling Nancy A. Hughes should
bring up my titles. That “A” is important or you’ll find the cookbook lady, who
isn’t me. (Ask my family.) And please—support your local independent bookstores
for whatever literature feeds your habit. We need them!
Nancy is available for comments and/or questions!
