Getting to Know Nancy A. Hughes

The Write Way Café welcomes Nancy Hughes, whose enthusiasm for life and interest in murder produces intriguing mysteries.

Tell us a little about The Dying Hour. 
I first envisioned The Dying Hour as a relationship story between an old veteran and a mute little boy who had suffered an unknown trauma. By itself, there wasn’t enough meat. And how could my protagonist, Charlie Alderfer, solve the little boy’s grandmother’s murder from his VA hospice bed? I brought the serial medical murderer to Charlie.

If The Dying Hour was made into a movie, who would play your main characters, and why? 
A newcomer! Someone whom audience would not confuse with other identities. Movie Charlie would be six feet, have a shock of straight white hair, a still face and soft, kind eyes. Even stuck in hospice, he’d be particular about his grooming and determined to regain his self-sufficiency.

What or who has been instrumental in or to your writing journey? 
My high school English teachers and my Penn State professors. Professionals willing to answer my questions, friends, and the Mystery Writers of America, where I found kindred spirits and a wealth of information.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve been given? What’s your best writing advice for others? 
Best advice, “Keep going. It’s good.” For others? Write the book that you have to write. Don’t chase trends. And don’t wait until your mother is dead.

What “keepers” are in your home library? 
The “Howdunit” series, including “The Book of Poisons” and “Forensics.”

If you could be a character in any book you’ve read (or written), which character would you be and why? 
Nancy Drew. In all those mysteries, she never failed to back her roadster out of the driveway in one try.

Characters often find themselves in situations they aren't sure they can get themselves out of. When was the last time you found yourself in a situation that was hard to get out of and what did you do? 
My five-year-old boy was set to testify in court, having picked his grandmother’s murderer out of a lineup. In Pennsylvania, a child must be ten years old to testify. I had to find another ploy to include what he knew.

What book do you wish you could have written? 
Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment? 
The worst from a mentor program, wanting me to give away the whole story in the first 50 pages. A close second, in a published book, “There’s a typo on page 46.” The best compliment: From readers who say they have read all my books and can’t wait until the next is published. Family and friends will buy one book out of loyalty, but repeat stranger-buyers are awesome.

We’re adding books to our Café menu. Would your book be a drink, an appetizer, an entrée or a dessert? What would you call it? 
Definitely a dessert! I want readers to remain unsatisfied until they digest my last morsel. “Murder’s Delight.”

What is your favorite social media? Why?
Twitter is easy and fast. Facebook totally messed up my author page, losing 800 of my author friends, making it in operable. There’s no one to call.

Do you have any compulsions you must do for no particular reason? 
I would love to smash any electronic device that misbehaves longer than 30 seconds. I restrain the urge and scream at it instead.

Tell us about the book in your closet. 
My fourth Trust novel-in-progress. Shhhh! I haven’t approached my editor about it.

And now for the fun stuff! 

If you were a punctuation mark, what would you be? 
An ! mark. As a (usually) joyful extrovert, I’m high on life, which I’d describe in superlatives!

What is your biggest shopping downfall? 
Nurseries. Garden shops are magnetic. I’m devoted to our shade gardens, and will try whatever promises to grow in minimal light.

Are you a glass half empty or glass half full personality? 
Half full. And make it a nice, chilled white with the other half waiting in the ice bucket.

What is your favorite season and why? 
Spring, when nature comes alive. In PA’s zone 6, that starts with snowdrops in February when the snow melts, followed by Lenten Roses, daffodils and tulips, then flowering trees and shrubs we’ve nurtured for years. Benner Deer Fencing keeps out hungry, drooling deer.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done in the name of love?
Married the man of my dreams, an agricultural banker, when I’d dreamed of writing award-winning ad campaigns in Manhattan. There haven’t been cows and plows in NYC for two hundred years. He was worth it. Our wonderful kids agree.

Do you have any strange writing habits (like standing on your head or writing in the shower)? 
I get my best inspiration in the shower. I swear hot water spurs the blood flow to my brain.

Charlie Alderfer’s grandfather survived the Battle of the Bulge and his father, Omaha Beach. Wounded in Vietnam, Charlie was sent home where he married, raised two daughters, and lived a quiet, productive life. Now, twenty years later, a medical catastrophe nearly kills him. 

Not expected to live, the widower awakens in a VA hospice ward, only to face three final battles. An inoperable aneurysm lurks in his chest; a mute and despondent five-year-old visitor harbors a terrible secret and needs compassionate help; and a nocturnal intruder is murdering Charlie’s roommates, one by one.

When Charlie reports that they did not die of natural causes, no one believes him and label him as confused. But when the five-year-old boy finally tells Charlie his secret, the former soldier quickly realizes that the death of the boy’s grandmother and the death of his terminally ill roommates could be related.

Is there really a serial killer roaming the halls of the VA hospice, preying on defenseless old veterans? And if so, how can Charlie stop the killer? Using himself as bait, Charlie faces certain death. But if there’s one lesson he internalized being a soldier, it’s that “freedom isn’t free.”

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About Nancy:  Journalist turned murderer? How did that happen? Nancy Hughes followed her dream from PR, community, and media relations to writing mystery novels. Her debut book, The Dying Hour, was released in 2016. The Trust series followed: A Matter of Trust and Redeeming Trust, both in 2017, and Vanished: A Trust Mystery in 2018. Her publisher is Black Opal Books.

Living in rural Pennsylvania with her husband, she is inspired by her beloved garden; her “big green cathedral.” Working with perennials and flowers clears her mind, letting inspiration enter about good gals and bad guys and which poison mushroom or weapon to choose.

Nothing encourages her more, however, than visiting old friends and making new ones at the Mystery Writers of America’s New York chapter meetings in Manhattan. MWY, Sisters In Crime, and International Thriller Writers energize her with industry news and professional direction. She hopes her novels entertain, inspire, and provide escape for readers who love a mystery.

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