Many of you are accustomed to seeing me involved in writing events and projects with Christine Nolfi.
Collaboration is just one of the many rich and satisfying aspects of a writer’s world. Christine has also now been signed by Lake Union Publishing so we have even more opportunities to interact.
Hi Christine! It’s great fun to have you stop by for a chat!
Patricia, many thanks for the opportunity to stop by your blog! For those readers who are unaware, Patricia and I have been friends for quite a long time. She’s one of the first authors I had the luck of meeting when I began publishing.
Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions and give us a glimpse into your writing world.
PS ~ Have you always been drawn to writing? Was there a particular time in your life when you knew you simply had a story to share with the world?
CN ~ Like many novelists, I can’t recall a time when I wasn’t writing stories! In childhood, I had the other kids on the street convinced fairies had hidden treasures we’d find if we searched hard enough, and in high school, the literary magazine gave my stories front page billing. For many years I worked in public relations. When my children were in elementary school, I finally put storytelling front and center—the Liberty Series was the result.
PS ~ Your stories are described as 
“heartwarming and inspirational”, and they certainly are! Do you draw from past experiences in your own life when you develop an idea?
CN ~ Absolutely. I’ve had the luck of an interesting life, meeting an abundance of unusual people over the years. Many of my plots begin with a memory or an idea drawn from those past experiences. For example, the underlying story of Birdie finding her roots in Treasure Me is drawn from my personal history: my French ancestors were among the first families to settle in Charleston, South Carolina in the 1680s.
PS ~ When you begin a story, do you have an outline or do you have a particular writing style?
CN ~ I can’t begin work until a general outline becomes clear, and I’m certain of the main characters’ deep motivations and desires. The plot evolves and often changes as the characters come to life on the page.
PS ~ Is there a particular novel of yours that is your favorite? Why that one?
CN ~ Although I’ve fallen in love with characters of each novel I’ve written, THE TREE OF EVERLASTING KNOWLEDGE holds a special place in my heart. The themes underpinning the story were drawn directly from my experiences as an adoptive mother. In fact, several of the scenes in the novel were inspired by actual events. Like the book’s heroine, I underwent a personal transformation while helping my children put the nightmare of an abusive early childhood behind them.
PS ~ You create strong, engaging characters in all of your stories. Are any of those personalities based on people you have actually met?
CN ~ I suspect my characters represent an amalgam of personalities I’ve met over the years. I never begin work with the notion of representing an actual person in one of my novels.
PS ~ Your new Wheaten Terrier pup, Lucy, looks like such fun and I’m sure she offers great diversion to your day. What else do you like to do when you aren’t writing?
CN ~ We adore Lucy! Barry and I moved to Charleston five years ago; in many ways, we’re still in tourist mode. We love strolling the beach, visiting the historical sites—Charleston is one of the oldest cities in the U.S., a distinctive the city shares with Boston. Lately I’ve begun researching my Postell ancestry—two weeks ago, I visited the oldest French Huguenot church, appropriately located on Church Street, and discovered the man hosting the tours was a distant cousin. The next thirty minutes were spent in astonishment as he described our ancestral connection to many of the founding families of Charleston.
PS ~ Congratulations on recently signing a contract with Amazon Publishing’s Lake Union, the women’s fiction imprint. Can you give us a sneak peek at what you will be writing for them and a publication date?
CN ~ Like the Liberty Series, the new series for Lake Union will feature a small town with a cast of quirky characters. I’ve had too much fun writing the debut to call this work! The first book will release in February 2017. The second book will release in July 2017. I hope readers enjoy these new books—I’d love to write ten or more installments for the new series!
Christine’s bio ~
Some writers are gifted with an unusual life and I’m certainly one of those.
I’ve lived in Ohio, Virginia, California, Utah and now South Carolina. In college I was featured on the front page of the Houston Post for a lark that erased all my debt. I met my four adopted children for the first time in the sweltering heat of the tropics. I helped build several companies and was lucky enough to earn a living doing what I love best–writing–in a PR firm I owned.
In 2004 I made the wisest and most irrational decision of my life–I began writing fiction full-time. All those years of hard work pay off daily in sweet notes and comments by readers. Please continue the mail, tweets and comments on FaceBook, GoodReads and other sites. I cherish your support and love chatting with readers.
Visit Christine at her website by clicking right here or on Facebook.
Discover more information about Christine’s books on her Amazon Author Page.
