Please welcome to Spotlight the exceptional Contemporary Romance novelist Nancy Glynn

Hi Nancy and thank you for being here in the Spotlight.

Thank you for having me! I’m very glad to be here. Q. Was there any particular reason you chose to write romance novels?

I’ve always been drawn to love stories, even in horror books. I love creating

flawed characters who don’t feel loveable but find that amazing love as well as accepting themselves through the eyes of that person. I’ve been reading romance since I started reading Sweet Valley High sweet romances and then moving on to adult romance. When I was 15, I wrote my first love scene as a short story about a teen couple who consummate their love in an open country field. I was destined to write romance, ha!

Q. Your romance novels are nothing like the Mills & Boon of old; do you think today's romance readers have grown out of that sugar sweet type of romance?

I think there’s an audience for such romance still in a category called Clean and Wholesome or Inspirational, so those readers are still out there. There are so many heat level romances to reach a wide audience, but my book, And Never Let Her Go, has been called sweet in some of my reviews. I think it’s in the eye of the reader.

Q. Women, generally speaking, seem to be becoming stronger and more independent than ever before. Do you think this is the future of the 21 Century woman?

Yes. I try to write only about independent women with careers. There’s nothing wrong with women who only want to be a wife and mother, but you won’t find that in my stories. Yes, they become wives and mothers, but it’s not who they are. They had a career before they did.

Q. The women in your novels are primarily strong, capable women do you find yourself, either personally or as a novelist, offended when you see women still portrayed as virtual 'Stepford Wives'?

I wouldn’t be offended. I think we all need to do what makes us happy. My women in my stories all become wives and mothers in the end, whether it be by adopting or having their own. I think because I’m a mother of 3 and have always wanted children, but there’s nothing wrong with only wanting a career while married. I’m so not a wifey-type woman. We joke in our house that my husband is more the wife than I am. He does all the grocery shopping, most of the cooking, and I have a cleaning service come by. I’ll cook if I have to, but only then, lol. It works in our family for over 21 years. You need to do what works for you.

Q. Would you say there is a lot of yourself in your female characters?

I’d like to think there is. They have my sarcastic sense of humour and are homebodies. They’re pretty quiet until you rile them up, and then they’ll speak their mind. They have soft hearts and strong wills like me. Q. Many of your characters seem to be almost equal parts of strength and vulnerability is that an intentional creation on your part or do you feel it most closely resembles real life?

I’d say that’s an intentional creation. You will always find these traits in all my women. They all hide scars, whether they are visible or hidden. It’ll make them who they are and come to accept their flaw as a strength. Q. Your novels tend to be set in a rural setting even though you were born in the big city of Chicago; is there any particular reason to choose a rural setting over a city based setting?

I think because I grew up in Chicago and moved with my husband and kids to the country part of Illinois, just like my characters do (Destiny, IL). I love the rural setting and would love to live even farther south. I am surrounded by cornstalks but love the little farmhouses out in the boonies. My next book coming out in February, And Never Lose His Heart, is about a writer seeking hands-on farming experience and gets an offer. She’s also writing about a widow farmer trying to save her husband’s farm after he dies. Huge rural setting in that one. Q. As an Indie author, would you say there are aspects of that type of publishing that you particularly like or conversely particularly do not like?

I do love the independent side of things. I’m learning more since publishing in May of 2015. I had no idea what I was doing then. I just hired a PA (personal assistant) who happens to be my biggest fan and will promote my work while I worry about writing/publishing. I love the control of it all and getting a bigger share of the royalty. The only thing I don’t like is the bad rap we can get from people who don’t understand the industry. Let’s be real. There are good and bad writers in both traditional and self-publishing. It can be challenging to get your work in the public’s eye and need funding and help. Write what you enjoy and find that audience. Q. A slightly off-beat question here but I read that you have both dogs and a bunny rabbit; how on earth do you pull that off? [My cat and dog hate each other]

Ha! Our bunny is actually in a cage in our daughter’s room where she’s nice and safe from the dogs. When it’s nice out, we have an outdoor cage for her. We love our zoo! Q. And finally, what advice would you give to anyone thinking about getting into writing?

Don’t give up. Believe in yourself as cliché as that sounds. Don’t listen to the negative voices in your head. I finally started to seriously write in 2014 when the whisper turned into a scream. I had the writing bug all my life and finally believed in myself. There’s so much advice out there. Use what works for you. We’re all different, so don’t compare yourself to others. You are unique with your own voice. That’s what the world needs.