The characters in the stories all seem a little (in some case, a lot!) wounded or vulnerable. What draws you to write about these types of characters?

I’m not entirely sure. It’s not like I set out to write stories about odd, eccentric or unstable people. It’s just, for some reason, I am drawn to those types of people—perhaps it’s one of those “There, but for the grace of God” things.

My fiction—or at least, my short fiction—tends to be about people who are damaged in some way—by what they have done to themselves or by what was done to them, by what they have received, what they gave up, or what was taken from them. They are, for the most part, struggling to navigate through dangerous waters. Some survive and move forward toward land, some are just treading water, and some don’t even know that they have lost the battle and are, even now, drowning.

I feel sorry for those people, wish I could do something for them, and perhaps, in the writing of their stories, that is what I am doing. Because somewhere out there, there is a real person who is held in thrall by his or her obsessions, who is controlled by past or present circumstances, who wants to live a happy, normal, balanced life but finds that the tightrope of life vibrates too much and maintaining equilibrium is but a dream.

“Dream”—and there it is again. The idea of what we want and what we have. For some of us—perhaps for most of us—the former is the dream and the latter is the reality and never the twain shall meet.

Where did the idea of the cover art for TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER come from?

From the very beginning—even before I knew it would be a book!—I had an image in mind for the book cover. The cover is a literal interpretation of each character’s metaphorical journey on the road of life. Some of them zig-zag across the center line only to pull back to the right side at the last moment, while others cross once and never make it back in time. And then, there are the few who are merrily driving right down the center, every now and then drifting first to the left and then to the right, blissfully unaware that they are courting disaster. When I shared the concept with my publisher, it took only a few tweaks before we had the “ah hah!” moment and said “This is it!” and after a few revisions, we successfully “birthed” this book cover!

You made a reference to your “short fiction”—does that mean there is a novel or two kicking around in your writer’s closet? And are those characters damaged as well?

Yes—two that I have finished and several more in various stages of creation. And no, those characters are more normal (whatever that means!) although they too have their own battles. But those battles are, in a sense, more conventional—trying to figure what they want out of life, trying to carve a new identity and role when circumstances alter.

I don’t think I could sustain a story line like “Annabelle” for fifty or sixty-thousand words. It’s not a writing thing but a temperament thing—it would exhaust me psychologically to become so immersed for so long in that type of story. When I write, I live with my characters. It would be too draining to live with Annabelle or Sarah in “Skating on Thin Ice” for months or years on end.

What was your “writer dream”—your goal— when you began to write? Has it changed over the years?

I don’t think I had a dream. Certainly, I never pictured myself holding a book with my name on it. Writing is such a natural part of me that I never thought about it as an occupation or a goal, any more than I would think about breathing as a profession. It was just something I did.

Of course now, with two books—TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER and my non-fiction book, THE GIFTS OF CHANGE— in print and two short stories as e-books plus others that have been published in literary journals, I do have a dream or two. Great reviews in The Times. Accolades from well-known literary fiction writers. An award or two to stick somewhere on my bookshelf—next to about a dozen foreign translations of my collection!

Or maybe my accountant telling me that my royalties have pushed me into a different income bracket!

Where do you do most of your writing?

I’d love to say that I write on some special paper in some special notebook using some special pen but the reality is I am a keyboard writer. I hate to transcribe and sometimes can’t even read my own notes, so I write using the computer. But most of the times, the ideas for the story come when I am far from my electronic secretary. I’m out on a run or mowing the lawn or driving along somewhere and, for no reason whatsoever, the opening lines of dialogue fill my mind and it’s off to the races! Sometimes, if it will be awhile before I can get back o the computer, I have to stop myself from going too far lest I forget all the good parts!

Do you have a theme you return to time and again?

Probably change. I mean, that is the constant we all face, isn’t it? We are only fooling ourselves if we think we can control everything that happens to us. So, that being the case, what do we do? How do we handle change—happy change, sad change, confusing change? That’s the predicament my characters find themselves in.

What do you want your writer’s epitaph to be?

Just two words: “Fiction Writer”

Nancy Christie is a professional writer, whose credits include both fiction and non-fiction. In addition to her fiction collection, TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER, and two short story e-books, ANNABELLE and ALICE IN WONDERLAND (all published by Pixel Hall Press), her short stories can be found in literary publications such as EWR: Short Stories, Hypertext, Full of Crow, Fiction365, Red Fez, Wanderings, The Chaffin Journal and Xtreme.

Her inspirational book, THE GIFTS OF CHANGE, (Beyond Words/Atria) encourages readers to take a closer look at how they deal with the inevitability of change and ways in which they can use change to gain a new perspective, re-evaluate their goals and reconsider their options. Christie’s essays have also appeared in Woman’s Day, Stress-Free Living, Succeed, Experience Life, Tai Chi and Writer’s Digest. She is currently working on several other book projects, including a novel and a book for writers.

A member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and Short Fiction Writers Guild (SFWG), Christie teaches workshops at writing conferences and schools across the country and hosts the monthly Monday Night Writers group in Canfield, Ohio.

Visit her website at www.nancychristie.com or connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or at her writing blogs: Finding Fran, The Writer’s Place and One on One.

Website: www.nancychristie.com

Blogs:

Finding Fran http://www.nancychristie.com/findingfran

The Writer’s Place http://www.nancychristie.com/writersplace/

One on One http://www.nancychristie.com/oneonone/

Make a Change http://www.nancychristie.com/makeachange/

Social media links:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nancychristie.writer

Google+: http://gplus.to/nancychristie

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nancychristie/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NChristie_OH @NChristie_OH

So in my fantasy life, this is how my day would be…

I would enjoy a freshly brewed cup of coffee while watching the morning news and reading the current issue of The New York Times. Next, is yoga, followed by my morning two-mile run. Then I would spend a few hours in my office, first checking my in-box (which holdsonly the past 24-hours’ worth of emails) before working on my book projects.

Twelve noon? Ah, time for a delicious leisurely lunch followed by more exercise (biking, hiking or whatever my heart desires—I have plenty of time!) then back to my office to handle client projects. When the clock chimes five, I shut down for the day, pleased to have met all my deadlines.

Have I mentioned this is a fantasy?

In reality, I get up somewhere between 5 and 5:30 AM, chug down a cup of coffee while trying to catch up the news and read the three-day-old newspaper. (It was delivered on time—I just couldn’t get to it the same day it arrived!) If I’m lucky, I might squeeze in a few sun salutations before heading out to what I still refer to as a “run” even though 90 percent of it is done at a walking pace.

Then I head into my office, turn on the computer and am immediately confronted with an inbox that now registers more than 1,000 emails. I delete the obvious spam, red flag the “I have to answer these sometime in the next 48 hours” ones, and consign the rest to the “when I get around to them” folder, which is rapidly resembling the Bermuda Triangle. (They get in but are never seen again.)

Once that’s done (or at least as done as it can be since the emails just keep on a-comin’!), I am faced with the eternal and forever-unresolved question: what to do first?

Do I

work on client projects (which pay the bills)?
handle the edits and marketing projects for my short fiction collection Traveling Left of Center (all of which have to be done within a certain timeframe to meet the publication schedule)?
write some new fiction (which feeds my soul but doesn’t bring in anything approaching cash)?

(Did I mention that I have also assumed additional family responsibilities that, while I am more than happy to do so, still take up a certain amount of time? And that I am adding a room onto my home, which necessitates meeting with contractors, reviewing bids and choosing everything from fixtures to furnishings?)

For the most part, I try to cover all three, some days more successfully than others. But my point is that my schedule, like just about everyone else’s I know, is stretched to the breaking point. And for creative people, the additional challenge is that so much of what we do doesn’t translate to dollars-and-cents but still needs to be done.

If you’re an author, you spend a lot of time on marketing tasks that are required as part of the platform-building process. This takes time and in some cases money, for which you don’t receive any direct financial compensation.
If you write for magazines or companies, you spend a lot of time marketing as well: seeking new clients, connecting with editors, educating yourself about changes to the industries you specialize in as well as learning how to do a wider variety of writing projects. Again, no payment for your time but an absolute requirement if you want a steady income.

While I don’t claim to have a perfect solution to the time-crunch problem, I am willing to share some tips that work for me.

Prioritize. As tempting as it may be to make everything a priority, the fact is there are levels of importance. For me, client and magazine assignments are, for obvious cash-flow reasons, at the top of the list, followed by ongoing marketing calls to make sure the work keeps coming in.

This year, given the increased personal responsibilities I have, plus the fact that Traveling Left of Center is coming out in August, I had to rethink how to spend what time I have. My decision? Concentrate on book marketing activities but put on hold any work on my novels and book for writers.

As for my blogs—and whatever made me think I could do four blogs in the first place?—I have increased the number of interviews and guest posts so I can still provide quality content to my followers without having to write everything!

Organize. I am a diehard Outlook Calendar user. Everything is on Outlook: family appointments, client deadlines, my social media schedules to make sure I tweet/Facebook/Google+/LinkedIn my latest blog posts or any relevant announcements.

I also use the Calendar to track my “work writing” marketing To-Dos. It impresses the heck out of editors, clients and prospects when I call and say, “When we talked on December 12, you suggested I call back mid-February so here I am! What can I do for you?”

The latest addition to my Calendar is a recurring entry that lists blogs I’d like to comment on. Do I get to all of them? No. But at least I get to some of them, and since I also note down when I post a comment, I am more likely to “make the rounds,” so to speak.

Categorize. The temptation is to look at your schedule at a pie and then label the entire thing “work.” The trouble is you are facing a burnout of epic proportions if you do that. You need to balance things the best you can, and make sure that at least several times a week you do something that feeds your soul and takes care of your body. For me, that translates to the aforementioned walk (when I also do my creative brainstorming—I got the idea for this post on such a walk!) and short story writing.

You have to figure out what is that important to you and then make room for it. Even 30 minutes a few times a week is better than no minutes at all! The point is to make sure that you are living your life, not just workingthrough it.

Does it work perfectly? Of course not! Sometimes, despite your best efforts, events transpire that tear holes right through your schedule. But if you have a plan, you can always adjust it to fit the new normal that has developed.

I hope these suggestions help you deal with the never-ending, omnipresent challenge of time versus life! If you have some that work for you or ideas for how I can improve on mine, feel free to comment!