Dorice: Living upstate in the Adirondack Mountains is probably much like living in the Highlands of Scotland. I live in the High Peaks and the scenery is spectacular. There is a lake at the end of my street. The weather can be dreadful in winter if you don’t like snow or winter sports. Then again, the natives say, “If you wait a minute, it’ll change!”  This area is so beautiful, it’s breathtaking.
 

Kristie:   If the genie suddenly jumped out of the bottle and granted you a wish to be able to live in any part of the world you desire, where would that place be and why?

Dorice: I would still look to the mountains. I would choose Scotland and Ireland as the two places I’d feel most at home. I grew up in an Irish-American city, so those customs, songs and attitudes are more familiar to me. To this day, I still find it easy to manufacture the lilt when I do readings.
 

Kristie:   I have read that you love animals. Tell me a bit about your animals and the influence they have on your life.

Dorice: I’ve been a dog lover since I was a wee tot—unfortunately my mother wasn’t. I was around thirteen and the one dog I owned at the time, a black lab pup, my mother gave away because my sister and I used to argue about who was going to feed it. With our redheaded tempers flying, I guess she couldn’t take the stress. I vowed at that time, I would have another dog as soon as I could.

I chose collies because of the kindness and protective nature with children. Now, my children are grown, and I have a wonderful American original—part Chow, the coloring of a German Shepard and the body and nature of a Golden Retriever. Most of my friends want him for their own.

I also have two cats, right from the local shelter. They had a run of them two summers ago and thinking to help out by taking one, I saw two curled up together—and took them both.

For twenty years, one of my main interests was horses, primarily Thoroughbreds. I used to show over fences at local shows, and at one point, I raised a couple of babies for the track. I had the world’s best trainer and it was one of the happiest and most complete times of my life.
 

Kristie:  Before you began your writing career, you were a teacher. What made you switch from teaching to writing?

Dorice: I taught for over seventeen years, retired early due to burnout and took the next step in my life. My husband and I moved to the mountains and we both began to write. I have always had some goals in mind, teaching, horses and now the writing of novels. I think having goals is what keeps a person young.
 

Kristie:  Have you ever regretted your decision to change your career from teacher to writer?

Dorice:  Never, not once. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. It was the best decision of my life. My mind is engaged constantly. My emotions can come to the forefront. I feel truly alive and am thankful I have had such opportunities. I have learned from everything in my far too many years…(G)
 

Kristie: Can you tell me how you came up with the story idea for THE GUNN OF KILLEARNAN?

Dorice: THE GUNN OF KILLEARNAN went through many metamorphoses. It almost started as a Scottish historical comedy, but the more I researched, the more I found that life was not so sweet and simple in those days. I continued to research and changed the entire structure of the story as I began to learn more about Scotland. The hero, Gerek, is probably how I might like a man to be. The feisty heroine is probably too much like myself to comment further.
 

Kristie:  It seems to me that writing historical romance would require a lot of research in order to get the facts straight. Do you spend a lot of time researching before you begin writing on a new book?

Dorice: I spent two years or more researching The Gunn. It was my first attempt at such a pastime. The more I learned, the more I needed to find out. I try to make my historical novels as accurate to the period as I can. Every incident in The Gunn and in UNLAWFUL could have happened during the time frames I wrote about. They are true to the periods and have little ‘fluff’ in them. I think I write rather hard-hitting adventures that both men and women enjoy.
 

Kristie: You now have another book out, UNLAWFUL. Tell me about it.

Dorice: UNLAWFUL is a medieval, set in 852 AD Ireland, during the time of renewed Norse raids. The heroine is a minor Irish Queen, heading a clan without a king. She believes herself cursed by a Dark Druid and feels she must find her mother to rid herself of that curse and to help save her clan. The hero is an Irishman, once kidnapped by the Norse, but made to support them in the raid on his own country.
 

Kristie:  Your first novel, The Gunn of Killearnan, is receiving rave reviews and is a wonderful success story. It is absolutely fantastic that your first book is such a hit but do you find this intimidating when you are writing your ‘future books’? Sort of like ‘I have to live up to the first book’s success syndrome’?

Dorice: Not really! Each book is so different and I start each one before the others come out, so I am embroiled in the new discoveries that come with every new chapter of my own fiction. I must admit, that the day I received a call from the NoNA (Notable New Authors of 2001) contest that The Gunn was a finalist, I couldn’t write on the present novel. I was too excited and couldn’t think of another thing to say, except to tell everyone I could think to tell.
 

Kristie:  Dorice, from one published author to another, I would like to see if you have ever come across some of the negative comments about your writing career that I have come across in mine. I have been told that I am ‘not a real writer’ because my novels are not published by one of the big traditional publishing houses. Have you ever been told this? If so, what answer do you give to this remark?

Dorice: I think I must have been a duck in a former life. That sort of nonsense sort of rolls off my back. I have found that sometimes those you consider friends are merely looking for a way to slap you down and make you unsure of yourself. I ignore them as much as I can, unless they go ‘beyond the pale,’ and involve others in their negativism. I am a real writer. I am writing every day. I think writing. I take pen in hand or type my fingers to the bone. I research. I write; therefore I am an author.
 

Kristie:  When I first began my writing career, I thought that the actual writing of the novels would be the hard part of the writing business. I have since discovered that the actual writing was the easiest part and that the marketing side of publishing was the really hard part. Marketing of my novels takes up a lot of my time and takes away from my writing. Is this true with you too? If so, how do you handle making time to write but do promotional work as well?

Dorice: I guess I’m kinda’ structured. I try to do everything but not at once. I could easily get caught up in the marketing of my novels, but know that would prevent me from writing. It does to some degree, but I try to set aside different hours each day for different kinds of things. I have hours when I allow myself to go on the internet, hours in which to take classes or correspond with the study groups I’m in and hours where I do nothing but write.

I’m currently with an online group that does at least 100 words for 100 days. If you miss a day of writing you have to go back to Day One. I’ve just done that for the seventh time. But the concept does tend to help me keep motivated, for I always try to get in those 100 words. Invariably, I write many more than that.
 

Kristie: Thank you so much, Dorice, for taking the time to talk with me. I wish you the best in your writing career. Is there anything that you would like to add?

Dorice: Not much. I think I’m a big blabbermouth anyway. I do want to thank you for your wonderful review of The Gunn and for this opportunity to speak out.

The Gunn of Killearnan is a historical romance set in the Highlands of Scotland during the 1600’s. It is the story of Gerek and Catriona.

Gerek Gunn, the Beast of Battle, is a mighty brute of a man who distrusted all women but had been pledged in marriage to Catriona since he was twelve. Catriona MacFarr, an Earl’s daughter, is a sweet young lass who feared all men especially the Beast of Battle to whom she had been pledged in marriage since her birth.

Dorice Nelson has expertly woven a tale of love, mistrust, and deceit in The Gunn of Killearnan. It is a story that is so fascinating you will not be able to put the book down till you turn the last page and even then you will be wishing for more.

Dorice Nelson is a force to be reckoned with. In my opinion, she is right up there with Catherine Coulter and other famous historical romance authors. I highly recommend this new author who has burst upon the historical romance world of fiction writing.
 
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Kristie Leigh Maguire is the author of Emails from the Edge (The Life of an Expatriate Wife) and Desert Triangle Co-author (with Mark Haeuser) of No Lady and Her Tramp Contributor to Calliope’s Mousepad: Women Writers Online.