Interview with author Jane Nice

Jane Nice is another author who will be speaking at the Writer’s Conference in April. I hope you enjoy learning more about her and don’t forget to check out the conference details at the end!

Jane, I’d like to highlight your book, Married to Millie, what is the significance of the title?

I came up with the title Married to Millie even before I knew I was going to write the book. Herb Monroe, already in his 80s, was being honored at a reception at the Paulding County Senior Center after winning the Ohio Caregiver of the Year Award for how well he cared for his wife Millie during her end-of-life struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. I was covering the reception for the local newspaper, so I was “looking for an angle” for my article and observing Herb. I watched him greet widow after widow, each with her hair done and her pocketbook on her arm, in the receiving line. It occurred to me that he would be a sought-after eligible bachelor. Nah, I thought, Herb is not interested in being in a romantic relationship because in his mind he is still married to Millie. Then when I was writing his biography, I realized I needed a subtitle with his name in it. I came up with “The _____ Life of Herb Monroe,” and tried out several words in the blank, settling on the word “Humble,” which fit Herb and his situation perfectly.

Tell me a bit about this book.

When I asked Herb if I could interview him to write a book, I pitched it as a way he could help caregivers deal with the difficulties of having a loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease. Then after I started interviewing him, I realized that the scope of his life was so interesting and his story needed to be told in its entirety. Herb had experienced many tragedies in his life, but his love of people, faith in God, humility, and sense of humor helped him to not just cope, but thrive. He chose to live his life in such a way that serves as an example to us all. I interviewed him every Friday for 10 years and also involved his family. I tape-recorded the interviews, transcribed and indexed them. Then I commenced telling the story of his life from his birth in 1913 to his death on 11/11/11 at the age of 98.

Tell me about your writing process.

My writing process involves setting goals and then resetting them when I don’t meet them, all while being equally easy and hard on myself. When I worked on Married to Millie, I set out to write a chapter a day, working Monday through Friday from late morning until late afternoon. The chapters were short, three to five pages, so this was a realistic goal, but sometimes a single chapter would take me two or even three days to get it where I wanted it to be. And sometimes life got in the way and I could not work on the manuscript at all. But every Monday, I started over with my chapter “to do” list for the week, not letting myself feel discouraged that I completed two rather than five chapters the week before. Instead, I focused on my over-all progress, always moving forward and showing up to write the next chapter.

Do you ever experience writer’s block?

I have never experienced writer’s block. However, I have had times when life or other projects have gotten in the way of working on longer manuscripts. When I got far into writing Married to Millie, I got extremely cranky if I had to be away from it for any period of time, like for a family vacation, because I felt as if I had to re-load the information in my brain to get back to where I needed to be in order to write the next chapter.

Do you remember the first piece of writing that you did that made you feel like you might want to pursue writing someday? About how old were you?

The first piece of writing I did that made me think that I could be a writer was a satire about the many uses of baking soda. It was the 1970s and I was around 10 years old, and I wrote a funny piece based on advertising at that time that took you from using baking soda in your cat litter box to brushing your teeth with it. My mom hung the story on the refrigerator, and many people read it before she took it out to the burn barrel with the rest of the trash. She could have lined the cat litter box with it but we didn’t have a cat. Haha.

What writing projects are you currently working on?

I am currently researching an 1894 Paulding County double murder case involving a young brother and sister. A man was convicted of the crime and hanged in the Ohio State Penitentiary five months after it happened, but I don’t think he did it. If he did, I do not believe that he acted alone. 

What is something interesting about you that most people don’t know?

Something people don’t know about me is that I went to DePauw University for my first year of college. That is the same school where author Barbara Kingsolver went, but she had graduated before I got there, so I never met her. I wish! Another thing that most people don’t know about me is that I own a metal detector, and I love to dig through old dumps and creeks looking for interesting bottles, coins,  and antique metal items.

What are some books on your TBR pile?

It is early in the year, so I am ready to tackle a big juicy book. Right now I am deciding between Stephen King’s The Stand, Centennial by James Michener, The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett and Kristin Lavransdatter, a book that my daughter has been recommending to me for years. 

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

The advice I give to aspiring authors is to write regularly and then share your work with someone. A Writers’ Group is an excellent place to start. Then you can get out of your own head a little bit and see your writing with fresh eyes, hopefully feeling encouraged and inspired to write some more.