What genre(s) do you write in and why?
I write historical, contemporary and paranormal romance. Although I write in several historical genres, the one dearest to my heart is Native American. I’ve been immersed in Native American history and culture for years and am particularly proud of my collection of 19th century artifacts. I love running my hands over the beadwork and the worn hide and sinew. They speak to me of a bygone era when the proud buffalo-hunting tribes roamed wild and free on the Great Plains. BENEATH AN IRON SKY is my latest homage to the Lakota people.
What is your next project and when will it be released?
RESTLESS WIND, Book 3 in my Native American Wild Wind Series, will hopefully be released in the spring of 2016. This series, that began with WHERE THE WILD WIND BLOWS and followed up with WINTER WIND, tells the story of Katie McCabe, a trader’s daughter, and Black Moon, an Oglala warrior, as they fight for their love and the land of their birth.
What is your typical day like:
For me, there’s no such thing as a routine. I try to get to the computer by 7:00 AM, before the dog starts whining for his morning walk, to check my sales figures, email, Facebook, and do a little tweeting. After walking the demanding beast, I’ll grab a quick breakfast and settle down for a few hours of writing, Three days a week I hit the gym for an hour, then usually kick back at 2:00 each day to watch General Hospital (I’m a sucker for the residents of Port Charles). The rest of the time I do my writing in between running errands, and going out to lunch with my husband. We’re both retired, so we eat out a lot. Unless the writing is going like gangbusters, and then nothing else gets done…except for the dog, who waits for no one. I’m usually working on 2 books at once. This way, if I run into a block on one, I can switch to the other.
How has your experience with self-publishing been?
It’s been a game-changer for me. I was traditionally published for years with Silhouette, Pocket Books, Dell and Meteor. Then I sort of hit a brick wall. My proposals were selling, so I decided to go it alone. It was the best decision I ever made. I’m not a control freak by nature, but I must admit I like being the one who decides everything about my books – covers, venues, prices, and most of all, content. Ironically, my best selling self-published book is the one I was told by editors would never sell. And after years of contractual deadlines, there’s something liberating about not having any. Now when I write, it’s because I want to, not because I have to.
Tell us about your hero.
Crow Eagle is a Lakota man who was raised at a time when the Sioux wars were over and the people were being moved onto reservations. His experiences as a youth at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania brought into sharp focus the reality of his people’s eroding way of life. His strength comes from his pride in his culture. His weakness is Del, the white woman who forces him to question his actions and examine his motives.
What inspired your latest book?
As a member of my community History Club, I was asked to give a presentation on women’s rights and the 19th Amendment. I took everything I learned about the women’s suffrage movement, and everything I know and love about the Lakota people, and wove a tale of two people fighting for their rights.
Tell us about your book
In 1880 eleven-year-old Philadelphia (Del) Stratton meets fifteen-year-old Crow Eagle, a rebellious Lakota boy, at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania where her father is an instructor. Wrenched from his people on the reservation and brought to Carlisle to become Americanized, the reluctant but deep bond the belligerent boy forms with the idealistic young girl is severed when he returns to his people. Nine years later they are reunited when Del’s fight for suffrage takes her to Dakota Territory on the verge of statehood. There, Crow Eagle, now a strong warrior, is waging battle to keep his people’s hope alive through the Ghost Dance. And the friendship that began years earlier blossoms into a forbidden love that will not be denied.
What do you have planned for the future?
After RESTLESS WIND, I’m planning a 5-part western novella series about the Kincaid boys. I’m hoping to get the series released by late 2016. Of course, that will mean spending every waking moment writing, with little time left for eating and sleeping. After that, I’ll tackle Book 3 in my paranormal Soul Searchers Series. And then Book 4 in the Wild Wind Series. That should take me well into 2017. I’m already tired just thinking about it all.
BENEATH AN IRON SKY buy links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B019BGILAE
Smashwords: https://smashwords.com/books/view/600211
Apple: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/beneath-an-iron-sky/id1068291283?mt=11
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beneathanironskynancymorse/1123141168?ean=2940152522440
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=9781310758188
In print: https://www.createspace.com/5933011
Author links:
Website: http://www.nancymorse.com
Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/NancyMorseAuthor
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/nancymorse
Twitter: @NancyMorse
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/ntmorse
Nancy Morse is an award-winning author of 23 contemporary, historical, and paranormal romance novels, as well as non-fiction books. She’s a New York transplant living in Florida. Married for 48 years to her childhood sweetheart, she jokes that they met sometime between the discovery of fire and the invention of the wheel. They share their home with a big, beautiful, bossy Alaskan Malamute who thinks they were put on this earth to serve him…and he’d be right. She enjoys dining out, art and antique shows, watching old movies on TV, reading, and writing, especially romance, because love is always an adventure.
Cindy, thank you for having me here and enabling me to feature my latest release.
Cindy, thank you so much for having me here and enabling me to feature my latest release.