Interview with Nancy Pennick: Waiting For Dusk Series

Attention YA fans: Nancy Pennick talks about the Waiting For Dusk Series.

Yes, Book #3 is finally out.

Stealing Time

 Drew from the past… 

Kate from the present… 

Two worlds collided. 

 As senior year comes to a close, a promise of new beginnings is on the horizon. Kate longs to head to Arizona and college until her former friend, Tyson, does the unimaginable forcing her to stay in Ohio. Her family has to pull together to keep their secrets safe. Anna wishes to return to the canyon in 1927 once more and Kate’s determined to make that a reality. Summer’s filled with wonderful memories and little warning of things to come. Kate’s world grows darker and she must be the one to conquer the demons and save the world that is most precious to her.

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A few words of wisdom from Nancy…

What inspired you to write your current novel?

Visiting National Parks became a recent passion. My husband and I had just returned from the Grand Canyon. A PBS series about National Parks was going to air and we decided to watch. My mind drifted to another place. I began thinking about the recent park visit, the history I just watched and how fun it might be to have a young girl move between the past and present. I had no intention of writing a novel. So it literally happened overnight.

Is your novel part of a series? Can you tell me a little about the world you’ve created?

 Yes, it is. The first book is Waiting for Dusk, followed by Call of the Canyon. Stealing Time was just recently released.

Katie lives in a small town in present day Ohio. Her dream world is something quite different. She travels back in time to the Grand Canyon in 1927. She works as a Harvey Girl at El Tovar Restaurant at the canyon. Because she’s been there on vacation, she has difficulty separating what’s real and what isn’t after she wakes up. She’s determined to figure things out after spotting her father at the canyon as a young man and realizing there’s more to it than just a dream.

 What do you think the reader will enjoy the most about your novel?

If they read all three novels, I think they will discover more and more about time travel and how it works in this particular series. They may like that a book helps a person travel through time, not a machine. The Grand Canyon in 1927 is the only place in the past where the book takes people. From there, they must travel to other places just like anyone else. Since the travelers from the present visit the same place year after year, history could change. It’s hard to be an observer and not a participant.

What was the hardest part of writing this novel?

 I find writing descriptions of scenery, clothing and people’s appearance are the hardest. Searching for the right words without going into endless details is difficult. What I see in my mind and then try to put on paper isn’t the easiest thing for me to do. Then I tell myself, the reader has just enough information to picture the scene as they want. It’s a balancing act.

What is your favorite quote?

I have more than one. I will share my top three.

A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

― Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who!

“Doctor Who: You want weapons? We’re in a library. Books are the best weapon in the world. This room’s the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself!

(from Tooth and Claw in Season 2)”
― Russell T. Davies

“If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.”

― Walt Disney Company

If you had a time machine, what time period would you travel to?

Love this question! No doubt about it, I would have to go to the Grand Canyon in 1927 and see how I did. I would eat at El Tovar and have a Harvey Girl wait on me. I’d try to peek in the back kitchen to see what’s going on. I’d run to Kolb Studio to see the real Emery and Ellsworth Kolb and hope I’d get a glimpse of Drew! I’d visit all the places and trails mentioned in the book and compare them to how they look today. Hopefully not too much of the Grand Canyon has changed.

 

Where it all began

Book 1

Read a book.

Fall asleep.

Meet a boy.

Is it real or just a dream?

Katie’s everyday life suddenly turns exciting when she travels back in time and meets the boy of her dreams. Thinking of nothing else, willing to leave the real world behind, she’s determined to find out if it’s all a dream or not. Returning again and again, Katie almost has her answers until one day her precious book goes missing.

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Excerpt:

Katie glanced over at the hotel, and leaning against the wall in the shadows was a boy about her age. She got up and walked toward him. She’d show him. Who was he to laugh at her? Look at all the eggs in this basket. She didn’t break one during her getaway.

The closer she got to him, the more clearly she saw him. He wasn’t a boy but almost a man. The cliché “tall, dark and handsome” fit him. His dark brown, wavy hair was long on the top, and shorter on the sides. A strand of hair fell into his eyes. His eyes sparkled and locked onto hers. Her legs felt like mush, and she stumbled. He reached out and caught her.

“Are you okay?” His voice was kind, concerned.

Katie tried to gain her composure. “Yes, yes. Are you one of the vacationers? Because if you are, I shouldn’t be talking to you. It’s against the rules.” Rules? What am I thinking? It’s my dream after all.

“No. No I’m not. I work here at the park doing an internship. My name is Andrew, by the way. Andrew Martin.”

“I’m Kathryn, but everyone calls me Katie.”

Andrew’s brows crossed. “Katie doesn’t seem to suit you. I think I shall call you Kate.”

Katie thought Andrew was a little full of himself, deciding a new name for her.

“Then I shall call you Drew.” She shot back.

“Drew, it is then!”

Kate found him charming. He had a strong laugh and a beautiful smile. It was hard not to stare at him—something she was good at, according to her mother. She felt she would never get tired of staring at him. She wanted to reach out and brush back the piece of hair that fell over his forehead.

Katie blinked and brought herself back to earth. “I need to get these eggs into the kitchen.”

“By all means, don’t let me hold you up. It was very nice to meet you, Kathryn, Kate.”

“And you, too, Andrew…Drew.” Katie started for the door.

“Kate. Are you staying at the boarding house by chance?”

“Yes. Yes, I am.” She blushed and went inside.

 

Book 2

Two Lives… 

Two Worlds… 

Heartbreak awaits. 

 Call of the Canyon, second of the Waiting for Dusk series, continues the dramatic story of Kate Roberts and Drew Kelly. New challenges face the couple when Drew joins Kate in the present. Nothing is easy. Tyson’s still their nemesis, causing trouble whenever he can. Carl, Kate’s friend and neighbor, moves back home to Ohio and creates unexpected problems at the canyon. A wedding, a tragic accident, and a family broken by scandal affect both the past and present. And in the end, Kate may pay the ultimate price.

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About the Author

After a great career in teaching, Nancy found a second calling as a writer. Ohio is her home but she loves to travel the U.S. Her debut young adult novel, Waiting for Dusk, was a surprise to her as much as it was to her family. Watching a PBS series on National Parks, her mind wandered to another place and that is where the characters of Katie and Andrew were born. Call of the Canyon and Stealing Time continue their story. The Swedish influences found in the books came from her mother whose parents emigrated from Sweden.

Born and raised in Northeast Ohio, Nancy currently resides in Mentor, Ohio with her husband and their college-age son.

Keep in Touch With Nancy

Facebook: https://facebook.com/nancypennickauthor

Blog: http://nancypennick.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/npennick

Melange author page: http://www.fireandiceya.com/authors/nancypennick/index.html