The article below appeared in the Charleston Gazette, October 14, 2004

Lewisburg native to speak at West Virginia Book Festival

By Jamie Henline

Lewisburg native Nancy Herkness has the perfect title picked out for her first romance novel set in West Virginia.

“I tentatively named it Almost Heaven. It's just perfect for a romance novel in West Virginia,” she said during a telephone interview from her New Jersey home.

However, Herkness' tale of a high-powered Manhattan lawyer finding love with a furniture-maker in Greenbrier County could be named something else in the complex world of publishing, she said.

Her second novel, Shower of Stars, was originally titled Falling Stars, but the publisher renamed it to avoid sounding too much like another book the company put out.

“Writing is an art, but publishing is a business,” she said.

Herkness will explore that business at 11 a.m. Saturday at the West Virginia Book Festival when she gives a workshop called “From Blank Screen to Barnes and Noble” at the Charleston Civic Center.

During the workshop, Herkness will discuss the process of writing and publishing a book, including her own personal anecdotes.

Taking inspiration from love stores like Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice, Herkness said she always dreamed of finding a place in the $1.63 billion romance publishing industry.

“I like the fact that it's always an optimistic genre," she said. “You're creating lasting relationships.”

That optimism also doesn't hurt on the business side of writing, she said, adding that she was rejected by nine agents and three publishers before she got a break. The New York publishing company Berkley Sensation put out her first book, A Bridge to Love, in 2003, after Herkness spent a year trying to get published. That title also was changed from Building Bridges because the publisher wanted something more romantic.

Shower of Stars was published this July and Herkness said she is working on a romantic suspense at the request of an editor. Before she was published, however, it was a different ballgame.

“Generally, your first book can't be sold unless it's complete,” she said.

The process is not as simple as mailing a manuscript to a would-be publisher or agent. Writers need to learn how to prepare a query letter, book synopsis and proposal, she said, before they can think about having their work in print.

“A the workshop, I'm going to talk about everything from joining writers' organizations, which I think is hugely helpful, to whether you should use an agent, how to find an agent, all that stuff,” she said.

Herkness subscribes to the old adage, “write what you know.” For instance, both of her published books are set in New Jersey and Manhattan.

“I live in New Jersey, and I spend a lot of time in Manhattan. I know both of those locations very well, and it's easy for me to write about them authentically,” she said. “If I need a location with a particular atmosphere, then I can find it.”

That's why Herkness is itching to finish her Almost Heaven manuscript.

“I know West Virginia very well and love it, and it's a wonderful setting for something rural and Southern.” 

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