History with a mysterious Twist … Nancy
Jardine
Having taught 11-12 year olds for many years, Nancy
Jardine finally gave up the chalk in the autumn of 2011. During the last few
years she has written a historical novel, three contemporary novels- two of
which are what she calls her history/mysteries. She’s also written the first of
a time-travel series of novels for children aged 9-12 years, and a family saga
is her current work in progress.
Nancy lives in the picturesque castle country of
Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with her husband who now does all the cooking…the menu
far more exciting and tasty than it used to be! Ancestry research-if you hadn’t
already guessed-is one of her hobbies, as is participating in exciting events
with her family which drag her away from the keyboard. Working in her large
garden, she tends real flowers and now grows spectacular weeds which she’s
becoming very fond of! She cherishes the couple of days a week when she
child-minds her gorgeous granddaughter.
Current
Release Details:
Monogamy
Twist is my debut novel released by
The Wild Rose Press Aug 2011. It’s a light hearted contemporary romance.
Luke Salieri thought he'd seen everything. But when he
inherits a dilapidated English estate from a woman he's never heard of—and with
quirky conditions besides—it’s a mystery he wants resolved immediately. There
must be a woman out there who can meet his needs. But how far will he have to
go to persuade her? Lucrative employment for a whole year? The job of
researching the old house and its fantastic contents is enticing – but Rhia
Ashton can’t see herself living with gorgeous Luke Salieri and not wanting his
body as well. Can she live and sleep with him for a whole year and then walk
away? Rhia has her own ideas about what will make it worth her while.
Please
tell us your latest news!
I’m over the moon to announce two imminent romance releases.
On 3rd August, Take Me Now,
a contemporary romance with a little bit of mystery and danger, will be
released by The Wild Rose Press. And on the 31st August, my first full
length Historical Romance, The Beltane
Choice, will be released by Crooked{Cat}Publishing. Buy details for these
will be viewed soon on the publisher’s websites.
Can
you please give us a sneak peek at any of your upcoming books?
In Take Me Now Nairn Malcolm is based on a
fictitious Scottish island, but is whisked all over the world by the feisty-and
pert-Aela Cameron, from Vancouver, Canada, after he has a mysterious accident.
She loves transporting him around in his floatplane, catamaran and jet. What
she doesn’t bargain for is when she also gets targeted for some of the
dangerous action. Undaunted, she hangs
around to solve the mystery of Nairn’s saboteur.
The Beltane
Choice is a historical romance set in Britain, AD 71. Romans
invade what is now known as the border country between Scotland and England,
and battle with the Celtic Selgovae and Brigante tribes. Nara, a Selgovaen
princess, has a few dicey moments over choosing her Beltane lover. Lorcan of the
Brigantes finds his plans to seduce Nara thwarted by more than one problem.
Topaz Eyes, another ‘history mystery’, is a contemporary novel involving the
unraveling of a complex ancestral tree in order to find a cache of missing
jewels. Settings for this novel are mainly European cities-Heidelberg,
Amsterdam, Vienna- but also the US. Topaz
Eyes is with a publisher just now at full manuscript stage.
Dabbling with
Time is a novel for children 9-12 years. It begins with a contemporary
setting, children time-travel back to AD 210 when north-east Scotland was
overrun with marauding Romans. That’s out looking for a contract just now.
How
much research do you do for your books? Have you found any cool tidbits in your
research?
I’ve done a fair bit of research for all my novels. My
three contemporary novels have included places I’ve been to, but I still check
up the details in books and the internet-just to make sure my information isn’t
too outdated, since that can happen quite quickly. Historical research is essential.
Since history has always been my passion, I’ve a lot of research books at
home.
One of my current works in progress is a historical
saga, and is very loosely based on ancestral researches, including information
about my own ancestors. It has been quite spectacular what I’ve found out about
my relatives of yesteryear! Black sheep you might expect in any family…but someone
who flaunts the marriage/ bigamy laws…maybe not so common! The rest is secret
at the moment!!!
What
main genre do you write in?
I don’t have a main genre, to date. I’m not in any
niche, yet. My first published projects were non-fiction full length teaching
materials, and a full length history of my local school dating back to the
early 1600s. They both involved a lot of historical research.
Since 2008 I’ve written three contemporary romances.
Two of those have historical mysteries to solve; the third is a contemporary
mystery. All three have a bit of danger/intrigue.
My first historical romance is the first of a series
of three. And, likewise, my novel for children is also the first of at least
three. My family saga will be a stand alone!
How
does your family feel about having a writer in the family? Do they read your
books?
My husband is very supportive, but has only read my
children’s novel, so far. The first family member to read my debut romance, Monogamy Twist, was one of my sons-in-law, who was desperate to have the
mystery solved, and read it pretty quickly. He gave it a ‘great thumbs up’ and
wants first ‘dibs’ on my next release. My daughters are also brilliant, and
have read bits as my sort of very ‘early critique partners’.
What
is your writing process? Do you outline, fly by the seat of your pants or a
combination of both?
Pantser! But it’s hard to tie up loose ends at the
second, and subsequent, draft stages. Novel 1 for children was a pantser job.
Written when I taught full time, it was abandoned when non-fiction projects got
priority. Resurrected when I went part-time teaching, it needed a huge tidy up
before submission to publishers. I decided to avoid that effort, if I could, in
the future.
I plot now, though still use a basic plot structure. For
my history mysteries a family tree was constructed, to ensure the threads all
worked, and intertwined properly. Same story with my family saga WIP- a ‘family
tree driven’ plot has been constructed. My 3rd contemporary mystery needed
a mind-map of images. Not what characters were like, but more which treasures they
uncovered by the end of the novel. Big plotting was essential, there!
Regarding character development? Still a pantser, but
I now get an image of my hero and heroine before I begin to write. I pin the
print-outs on my cork board, so they are ‘in my face’ as I write. I use photo
images purchased from my favorite Royalty Free site- that way I can use them
later for blogs, book trailer YouTube videos, Pinterest Boards etc.
If
you could be one of your characters - Who would you be? And why?
I’d be Aran from my novel for children, Dabbling With Time. Although only 12 years
old, he has the most fantastic memory for details, and can use his knowledge
really well under stress and danger! He
is, of course, going to be a handsome accomplished hero in years to come, and
will have the ladies swooning!
If
you had to choose one person to have dinner with, who would it be? And why?
It would have to be two people since I couldn’t
possibly choose between them. I’m (sad tears dripping here) old enough to want
to invite a ‘younger’ Kevin Kline. He’s such a versatile actor and so funny. I’ve
loved him in many different movies, and I don’t think there would be a dull
moment with him. I’d especially love it if he burst into song (His version of
Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance was hysterical). For the same
reasons I’d also want Johnny Depp. I think he’d be much more of a challenge at
table conversation (who would want to be talking though?). Those eyes of his
would swamp me…as would Kevin’s…so there lies the dilemma!
What
would be the best way for readers contact you? Do you have a website? Email
address? MySpace site? Blog? Message Board? Group?
Website: http://nancyjardineauthor.weebly.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/nancy.jardine.56
Twitter:
@nansjar
Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/nanjar/
And now it's over to the blog readers. What's the most cool tidbit you've found during your researches? Best reply will be the winner of an e copy of Monogamy Twist.
Monogamy Twist
Luke Salieri thought he'd seen everything. But when he
inherits a dilapidated English estate from a woman he's never heard of—and with
quirky conditions besides—it’s a mystery he wants resolved immediately. There
must be a woman out there who can meet his needs. But how far will he have to
go to persuade her?
Lucrative employment for a whole year? The job of
researching the old house and its fantastic contents is enticing – but Rhia
Ashton can’t see herself living with gorgeous Luke Salieri and not wanting his
body as well. Can she live and sleep with him for a whole year and then walk
away? Rhia has her own ideas about what will make it worth her while.
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