We recently connected with Nancy Bilyeau and have shared our conversation below.

Nancy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I had published three novels in a historical mysteries series set in the 16th century and was considering what to do next. While visiting my sister in Virginia, we toured Hillwood, the Marjorie Merriweather Post house in Washington, DC. It’s filled with beautiful objects that Post collected, among them Sevres Porcelain. The tour guide said that the competition to produce porcelain was so intense in 18th century Europe that it “was like the space race of its time.” I had been wanting to write a spy novel but didn’t feel comfortable enough with writing about modern spycraft and technology. I had the idea to write a spy story set in the porcelain world of 18th-century England and France and bring in the beauty and artistry of porcelain. That became my novel ‘The Blue,’ first published in 2018, and I followed it with ‘The Fugitive Colours’ and ‘The Versailles Formula.’ I now have a contract from the publisher for a fourth novel in that series.

Nancy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a historical novelist, first published in 2012 with ‘The Crown.’ Since then, I have published eight novels, either set in Europe in past centuries or in early 20th century New York. I love the city’s history, I lived there as a magazine editor for many years. I try to combine a rich atmosphere, a suspenseful plot, and a strong main character to create an immersive experience. My work has received good reviews from place like Oprah magazine and won awards, such as Best Historical Mystery from Romantic Times. My books are not for people who want a non-stop page turner with a lot of violence. I have twists and turns, and I try to weave mysteries, but it’s more character-driven with a well-defined setting.

(link to Oprah review: https://nancybilyeau.com/novels/the-crown/)

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

After I sold my first novel in an auction to Simon & Schuster and achieved a lot of overseas sales, I wanted to throw myself into fiction writing. But I was the primary breadwinner for my novel and this was a very risky decision financially. It put way too much pressure on my creativity, especially since when you write commercial fiction you are at the mercy of many forces you can’t control. I learned to disentangle creative fulfillment from financial responsibility. For the last 10 years, I have successfully written and published fiction while also earning money as an editor or digital content provider.

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

My literary agent could not sell my fourth novel, ‘The Blue,’ despite trying nearly every US publisher. The acquiring editors were not interested in historical fiction or did not like my sales track record. It looked like I would have to give up on that novel finding a publisher, and maybe give up writing fiction altogether. One day, my agent told me that an independent British publisher wanted to know if I had any books not under contract. I had never heard of them, but I said, “Let’s give them The Blue.” I have never been sorry I took a chance. There was almost no advance, and they had no contacts with American bookstores. But it was well edited, with a beautiful cover, and I was able to find a lot of readers. For several years, a producer optioned the book. And it led to several sequels.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nancybilyeau.com/
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• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyBilyeauAuthor/
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