Having worked both sides of the desk when it comes to print and broadcast media, Nancy Cole Silverman says she has to credit her twenty plus years in radio for helping her to develop an ear for story telling. “Radio has clearly been my muse from the time I first stepped into a newsroom as a young intern and pounded out a news story on an old Smith Corona typewriter, with an anxious news editor breathing down my neck,” Silverman says.
As a graduate of Arizona State University (1972) with a degree in Mass Communications, Silverman said she learned broadcast news depended not only upon getting it right, but getting it right in record time and in a format that people could understand instantaneously.
“I was fascinated by radio, everything from news reporting to the late night radio plays that depended upon great delivery and even better writing to paint a picture in the listeners’ mind. In those days, I literally ate it up, jumping the desk, form the talent side to the business side just so that I might one day break the glass ceiling and manage a station. You have to know that in those days, there were no women managing radio stations, and I couldn’t imagine a better career.”
Then came the broadcast mergers. “Merge and purge, I like to say.” Radio stations everywhere, from the once small independently held properties to the then larger broadcasting groups gobbled each other up, and seasoned executives like me were suddenly looking for what’s next.”
Silverman said it was then that she returned to her print journalism roots, founding The Equestrian News, in 2001, a southern California specialty publication targeting the nation’s second largest equine market. “That’s when I really began to write, toggling my time between news for the newspaper and fictional stories I’d been playing around with for years.’
Today Silverman is working fulltime as an author and living in Los Angeles with her husband, Bruce Silverman. Silverman’s first novel, The Centaur’s Promise, was published 2010 by Eloquent Books, and she is currently seeking an agent for a second novel, while working on a third, in additional to a series of short stories for an anthology entitled, Whispered in the Western Wind, Western Stories with a Feminine Twist.
Was there anything in particular that inspired you to write The Salvationist? If so, tell us about it.
For years I knew there were letters from my Great-great Grandmother about her trips to Bisbee as a young Salvationist in the late 1800s. Those letters remained in a box, untouched until 2010, when I had an accident and felt I needed to start something new. I suppose I was looking for some form of courage and went upstairs and opened the box, and I was amazed. I mean, here was my Great-great Grandmother, a tiny little woman, probably no more than 20 some years old, headed out into the middle of the desert in a startup mining town with a group of Salvationists. The letters were amazing, full of strength and courage and unbelievable attitude. It was as though she reached right through those letters and told me I could do anything I wanted to do.
The Salvation Army’s beginnings in the United States began around 1879. Although your story is fictitious, could it be considered an analogy of an event in that movement?
Actually, yes. I was very careful to research as much of the movement as I could. I found it particularly interesting to learn that women were paid equally for their work and an unmarried woman could and did find work with the Army.
What is your preferred genre of writing?
I enjoy writing fiction, and I try to do a lot of research as well for everything I write even though my stories are largely fictional. I think it’s important for the reader to feel they are learning something and I always look for ways to include facts that bring the story alive when I write. I think if I can make reader believe the story might be true, then I’ve done my job.
What is the most challenging part of the writing process for you?
The most challenging part of writing is also the most rewarding and that is learning to trust the process. Sometimes I can sit down and know the direction the story is going and other times I may only have a vague idea. I’m always surprised when the story takes a twist and I have that, ‘ah-ha! Moment.’ It’s wonderful.
What does audio production bring to your story?
As a former radio person I love radio. The sound of a voice sharing a story is an ancient art and one that binds us together while at the same time opening the minds of listeners one on one. It’s both intimate and universal.
Are you planning to write any novels in the future?
Yes. In 2010 The Centaur’s Promise, was published and since then I’ve finished a second novel and I’m currently working on a third.
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on a novel entitled, The Freemen Are Coming!
You have stated that you worked in Radio. What was the most exciting task you performed?
I retired from radio as a general manager of a sports talk radio station. I consider this to be my greatest feat as I am NOT a sports babe!
PUBLISHED WORKS
The Centaur’s Promise, Eloquent Press, 2010
The Sunshine Sisters Move Home – Publisher: Rainstorm Press, No Rest for the Wicked Anthology - Release date: May 2012
Red Handed, Publisher: WordPlaySound.com - Release date: January 2012
Ode to Kokopelli, Publisher: Talesofold.org - Release date: TBA
AUDIO BOOKS
Release Date: 5-13-2012, Mind Wings Audio
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