Or at least the 1970s.  During my early convention-going years, I did do the costume thing a few times, mostly as an excuse to dress up.   I didn’t have nearly the talent for it that today’s crop of cosplayers does but I did enjoy myself.  So here, in honour of FanExpo and for whatever dubious entertainment […]

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    I know that Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules for writing include “Don’t go into great detail describing places and things” but I love writing those. Part of the pleasure of travelling is watching out the window of the train, finding ways to describe what I see, or discovering the perfect graffiti on a dumpster […]

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Like all writers, I love interesting words. English is rich with expressive, specific, harmonious and sometimes odd words and we tend to use a fraction of them in our daily lives. There’s a Canadian project to not only reclaim these fascinating words but to raise awareness and money for a disease that robs us of […]

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The cover of Cold Hillside is done and it’s gorgeous.  It wasn’t at all what I was expecting but it works on many levels with the story.  Thanks to Vince Haig and the team at ChiZine.            

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  Not only can you ask me anything (or almost), if you RSVP now you have the chance to win the e-book collection. RSVP now!  (My old copywriting instincts are coming back…)

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The big news – the entire first draft of Cold Hillside has now been finished and sent to my editor at ChiZine Publications.   Now I’m just waiting for the rewrites to begin.  It’s been a long (18 years long) road to get to this place and it feels a bit strange to think that I’ve […]

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    NOTE FROM NANCY: Because you may have noticed I’m not exactly … prolific … I have inveigled the talented and funny Toveen into writing a guest post for me.   Enjoy! Night Vale is a quaint little town in a quaint not-so-little desert. It can be found, yes, though not without some difficulty; merely […]

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One of those Facebook things is making the rounds and since it’s on the topic of influences, it seemed an eminently suitable thing to repost.  It’s not just that I’m lazy/busy.  No indeed. 1. Fairy Tales 2. The Incredible Journey 3. Andre Norton 4. Peter O’Donnell 5. Tanith Lee 6. C.J. Cherryh 7. Shirley Jackson […]

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All writers have them.  They’re the words you default to when you’re working on your first draft and you don’t want to slow down to find le mot juste.  They’re the ones you love the sound of or which have particular aesthetic and emotional associations in your subconscious.  They’re the ones you just think are cool […]

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Ok, I admit it.  I went to the Indigo and Amazon sites to see if the books are available for pre-order.  Indeed they are.  For some reason Blood and Chrysanthemums doesn’t appear in the main search, but it is there. So head on over and order yours today.

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