Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Katherine Nichols. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Katherine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

I come from a long line of story tellers on both sides of the family. My father and uncles regaled me with tall tales of their colorful childhood escapades. My maternal grandmother captivated me with real-life accounts of the hardships of growing up as an orphan and the corruption she observed in a small town. Well before I was able to read, I invented imaginary friends who interacted with one another. I began writing mysteries in elementary school and short stories throughout high school and college. Because I majored in English and history, I knew how difficult it was for authors to make a living, especially female authors in the 1970s. So, I worked as a copywriter for radio and television until deciding to teach high school English. I loved helping young people develop their writing but had little time to work on my own.
Retirement was a wake-up call for me. I joined critique groups and realized how much I loved writing. More important, I began to believe being a published author was more than a possibility. It was an attainable dream.
There was no logic in my belief, just faith in myself and persistence in the face of rejection.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My love of writing began at an early age. Storytelling came naturally to me, and I frequently got into trouble for my embellishments. When I learned to read, a light came on. I realized people not only told stories. They immortalized them through books. I read everything from little blue biographies to heartbreaking stories about heroic animals to the secret stash of torn-bodice novels from my mom’s closet.
After college graduation, I found ways to incorporate my love of writing into the jobs I took, writing commercials and radio specials. Once I started a family, I needed work with more dependable hours, so I pursued my second passion, teaching.
I’m proud of the influence I had on young people and how I encouraged them to have confidence in their writing abilities. I hope I instilled a love of writing of reading in most of them.
I’m also proud of myself for refusing to allow anyone to discourage me. I remember how astonished the world was when a woman wrote her first novel at the age of 70. At the time, I was also surprised. Now, I don’t see anything special about it.
I want to encourage others not to let age or anything else to keep them from going for it.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Our educational system doesn’t always value the creative thinker. Arts, music, creative writing are often neglected. Too many people believe they don’t have a creative bone in their bodies. As a teacher, I fought this self-limiting concept and helped students expand their view of creativity. This was extremely rewarding but not as exciting as embracing my own creative talents. I love developing characters, starting with their ghosts and working backward to flesh them out. Letting them go on the page to overcome obstacles and grow stronger from their mistakes is a joy I can’t imagine getting from anything else.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One of the most difficult aspects of the journey to publication is finding an agent. When I found mine, I began planning what I would wear on Good Morning America as their author find of the year. It never crossed my mind that my bright, shiny rep wouldn’t be able to sell my book. It took almost two years to register our relationship wasn’t working. Although our break-up was amicable, it devastated me–at first. But I didn’t waste time feeling sorry for myself, I started the masochistic route to querying agents and editors. Then I discovered an article in Writer’s Digest listing the top five independent publishers in the country. One of them fit my genre, so I took the long shot and submitted my manuscript through their online portal.
Their response cautioned me I might not hear from them for six weeks to three months. They contacted me the next week and offered me a contract.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kathy-nichols.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathystagnernichols/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathy.s.nichols
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-nichols-795a6544/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kathynichols

Image Credits
Madonna Mezzanotte