Author Nancy S. Thompson - The Mistaken, Psychological Thriller with a dash of Romance

Meet Nancy S. Thompson, Writer of Psychological Thrillers! 

We join Nancy in the Golden Gate Park located in San Francisco. She is promoting her latest release and shares why she loves to to write.

After you've read her interview and commented for a chance to win her book, head over to her blog - it's a great blog; loaded with very interesting posts! 

Reader’s Haven: Hi Nancy, thanks for chatting with us this week. Tell us a bit about yourself  that our readers might not know.

Nancy:  I’ve been an interior designer with my own business for about 15 years now, but when the economy took a turn and business dried up, I turned first to cooking and baking, then to writing to satisfy my need to be creative.

Reader’s Haven: What made you want to become a writer?

Nancy:  It was never a conscious decision to become a writer.  I was simply motivated to write this particular book after listening to a new song.  Then the muse within me wouldn’t leave me alone, whispering in my ear everyday for three months until it was complete.  After that, the desire to seek publication took over.

Reader’s Haven: Please share a bit about your new release, The Mistaken, without giving away any spoilers.

Nancy: It’s about a man who’s spent his entire life following every rule, who grows frustrated when he’s unable to disentangle his younger brother from the grip of San Francisco’s Russian Mafia.  Yet when his pregnant wife is killed as a result of a reckless woman’s greed, he uses his brother’s connection to the Russians to both exact revenge and free his brother from their clutches. But in his grief and rage, he mistakes the wrong woman for his intended victim and must find a way to protect her from the very enemy he’s unleashed even as they use his brother as leverage to force him to complete their deal.    

Reader’s Haven: Do you write under a pen name?

Nancy: No, I never even thought of using a pseudonym.  Instead, I use my legal married name.

Reader’s Haven: What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Nancy: I love a flawed protagonist, one who’s been beaten down but refuses to give up, who sometimes makes awful choices, yet strives to set things right and maybe find redemption in the end.

Reader’s Haven: Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Nancy: Well, that depends on the phase of writing I’m in.  Right now, I’m outlining my second book, a sequel.  I prefer to brainstorm and scribble out handwritten notes in the evening, so during the day, I’m working on maintaining my platform and performing my job as an editor for Sapphire Star Publishing.  But when I’m in full writing mode, you can find me at my desk and computer for eighteen hours a day, seven days a week.    

Reader’s Haven: Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Nancy: I’ve only fully written the one for now, but I’ve outlined another and have copious notes for a third, and I can tell you, they all deal with vengeance and forgiveness in one form or another, and usually deep but difficult family relationships. 

Reader’s Haven: How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?

Nancy: The Mistaken took me three months to complete, from the handwritten outline to the first draft.  After that, I spent well over eighteen months working with critique partners, then revising and polishing, but though the story became fuller, the plot never changed. 

Reader’s Haven: Do you have to be alone to write?

Nancy: No, I don’t have to be alone, but I prefer it.  I don’t want anyone reading over my shoulder and wondering why I’m so dark and twisted.  Besides, when my husband is in my office, he’s usually listening to music or watching music videos on YouTube, which can be very distracting.

Reader’s Haven: How do you go about naming characters?

Nancy: I actually have a master list of character names.  It’s important that the first and last names work together lyrically and have some strong ethnic element or identification.  But even then, the names don’t always stick.  The male protagonist in The Mistaken was named Skylar until about two months before I signed my book deal, when a well-known agent told me she hated it and thought it was a girls’ name and recommended I change it.  So Skylar became Tyler, and though I still prefer Skylar, Tyler has grown on me. 

Reader’s Haven: Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?

Nancy: No, I never ever use pictures.  Even now, when people ask who I would cast as my characters, I have a hard time picturing anyone, because they are unique in my mind. 

Reader’s Haven: How do you pick locations for your stories?

Nancy: My stories are always based in the locations in which I’ve lived.  The Mistaken takes place primarily in San Francisco, my previous home town, though there are quite a few scenes in the town I live now, Sammamish, Washington, on Seattle’s Eastside.  But the sequel, titled Leverage, takes place almost entirely in Seattle. 

Reader’s Haven: What are you working on now and what should readers be looking forward to from you in the future?

Nancy: Like I said, I’m working on a sequel to The Mistaken.  It is also a revenge story, but this time, but the tables are reversed. 

Reader’s Haven: Where can readers find out more about you and your books? 

Nancy: See my links below:

Find Nancy here:

Blog  /  Amazon  /  Goodreads /  Sapphire Star Publishing  /  Twitter  /  Facebook

Find The Mistaken here:
Goodreads / AmazonKindle  / Barnes & Noble  / Nook  / Amazon paperback  / Kobo  / iBooks  / Sapphire Star Publishing

Find The Mistaken book trailer here:

On YouTube  /  On my blog

****CONTEST****

Give away - an ebook copy of The Mistaken to one lucky commenter! Drawing held Sunday, Dec 16. Good luck!

Synopsis for The Mistaken:  

All Tyler Karras wants is to enjoy life with his expectant bride.  What he gets instead is a graveside seat at her funeral.  With the woman who killed her uncharged and still free, all Ty wants now is revenge.

His brother, Nick, has dangerous connections and suggests a sadistic plan: grab the woman responsible and hand her over to his associates—sex-traffickers in San Francisco’s Russian Mafia.  They offer Ty more than he dreamed possible.  In exchange for the woman, they’ll finally let his brother leave the business for good—with his debt wiped clean and his heart still beating.

There’s just one problem: Ty kidnaps the wrong woman.

Now he must protect Hannah Maguire from the very enemy he's unleashed, but the Russians are holding Nick as leverage to force Ty to complete their deal.  Caught in a no-win situation, Ty must find a way to save himself, his brother, and the woman, but with the Russian Mafia, even two out of three makes for very long odds .