Nancy Knight (photo courtesy of Nancy Knight)

The career of award-winning writer and artist Nancy Knight proves those who teach can do. The author of twelve books and two produced plays, Knight helped found the Georgia Romance Writers chapter of Romance Writers of America (RWA). She served on RWA's National Board and as past President of Atlanta Writers Club, as well as former director of Southeastern Writers Association. She teaches writing and painting (and tells the occasional ghost story) at ART Station, a community arts center near Atlanta, and runs the Writer's Track programming for Dragon*Con.

If that weren't enough, Knight and five other Southern writers founded Belle Books 1999. This small press's offerings, including the short story collection Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes and the collaborative Mossy Creek novels, garnered such praise that Berkley contracted to reprint the books in mass market format following their trade paperback release by Belle Books.

Crescent Blues: How did one of the founding members of the Georgia Romance Writers become one of the leading lights of Dragon*Con, one of the nation's top science fiction/fantasy media conventions?

Nancy Knight: Well, I don't know about the term leading lights, but I do love Dragon*Con and devote a good amount of time to the annual convention. As director of the Writer's Track, my job is to plan a program that is of interest to all writers.

A variety of topics and panelists are necessary to achieve that goal. I program thirty panels during the week-end on a wide range of topics, including the basics of writing, marketing, etc., for published authors, screenwriting, game writing and a number of other areas of interest.

I love what Dragon*Con represents and want to insure that the people who actually write, produce or direct the genres/media included are accessible to beginners, established writers and those wishing to make a slight career change within the writing arena.

Nancy Knight: I think I've been writing since I was born. Actually, I have been writing since before I could write. I was always the kid in the neighborhood who "wrote" or planned our "let's play like" games. Whether it was war, cowboys and Indians, or house, I dictated the direction the playing took.

Crescent Blues: What role did your family background play in your development as a writer?

Nancy Knight: I come from a family of storytellers. As far as I know, I'm the first to write them down, but we all tell stories. I can remember sitting on my grandmother's front porch and listening to her and her siblings (she had 13 brothers and sisters) tell ghost stories. And, my father was a wonderful story teller. I loved to listen to him talking about the people he met, strange circumstances or childhood tales. He had a wonderful sense of humor.

Crescent Blues: How did it influence your interests and choice of subject matter?

In fact, there is an old plantation (farm) near my mother's home that was built in 1763. I was doing some research for one of my early books and went to "take the tour." When we got upstairs in the main house, the docent threw back a bearskin rug (yes, a real bear skin) on the floor and pointed to a bloody stain.

"This is where Captain Steadman was shot by the renegade Tory, Bloody Bill Cunningham," she said.

Ah, that piqued my interest. My mother's maiden name is Steadman. I told the docent about that and she was astonished. A descendent of Bloody Bill Cunningham had toured the house the week before.

When I left, I went to see my grandfather. I asked him about Walnut Grove Plantation and he told me he'd lived there. My family has always lived in that area and now I know that I'm related to young Captain Steadman, who was in the house being nursed back to health after being wounded in battle. He was engaged to one of the daughters of the house.

Kate Barry, one of the other sisters, is said to have tied her child to a bedpost and ridden 17 miles on a mule during an ice storm to reach General Daniel Morgan. Legend has it that she served as a go-between who passed along information to the Rebel army under Morgan's command.

The Battle of Cowpens was the next day. You may recall the battle near the end of The Patriot wherein the Mel Gibson character (he was a composite of several generals) fought carrying his son's flag. That was basically the Battle of Cowpens.

Crescent Blues: As a writer from Georgia, what is it like to write under the shadow of Gone with the Wind? Do you embrace the literary stereotype, reject it or consider it irrelevant?

Nancy Knight: Oh, gracious, if I reject or consider Gone With the Wind stereotypical or irrelevant, I'd be run out of town! Actually, I find that book very inspiring and I love it. I think, perhaps, it can be considered the roots of historical romance.

Crescent Blues: What was the genesis of Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes and Belle Books?

Nancy Knight: BelleBooks came about, actually was discussed and debated, at Dragon*Con a few years back.

The women who comprise the partners in BelleBooks have been friends for many years. We're always telling each other stories. Somebody, forgive me I can't recall who, said we should write these stories. We all feel there is a lack of stories of this nature and we began to talk about what we could do to fill it.

Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes is the book that got us started. We decided we'd see if we could actually publish a book before we started buying from other people. It worked! We've published a number of books since and are very proud of what we do.

Crescent Blues: Where does the line between fact and fiction fall in the short stories you wrote for Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes?

Nancy Knight: Well, that line is a very narrow one indeed. Both of my stories in Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes are well-grounded in fact. Thank goodness we all have interesting childhoods to write about.

Crescent Blues: Could you tell our readers a little bit about Belle Books' Mossy Creek series and your role in its development?

Nancy Knight: Mossy Creek was developed on a trip to Greensboro, North Carolina, for the Southeastern Booksellers Association annual convention/trade show. We were going there to sell Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes to the independent booksellers who attend.

We decided we needed another book, a series that we could count on as a sort of franchise. We developed the town and its main characters while driving to and from the show. Sweet Tea was such a success at the show (Even though it hadn't even been printed yet, we had printed a booklet/handout of six of the stories included in the final product. We gave those away as a teaser. And of course, we served up lots of sweet tea and southern charm to everybody at the show) that we were compelled to go forward with our ideas.

Crescent Blues: Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes and the Mossy Creek series are unusual in that are published simultaneously by Belle Books and Berkley's Signature Line. How does that work?

Nancy Knight: We're not exactly simultaneously publishing those books. We publish them in trade paperback, and then Berkley's Signature Line publishes them a year later in mass market paperback. We retain the rights to continue printing our trade paperbacks. So far, we've reprinted some of the books, and Berkley has also been back to press.

Crescent Blues: What prompted Belle Books and Berkley to enter into this arrangement?

Nancy Knight: The desire to get the books, which we consider to be unique, into the hands of more people. I can't tell you how many letters we've gotten from fans who want to move into Mossy Creek.

Crescent Blues: How does it feel to share a line with Kurt Vonnegut?

Nancy Knight: Exciting! When I was reading Vonnegut in high school and college, I never thought I'd be published in the same line. What an honor. And what a testament to what we're doing.

Crescent Blues: For the last few years, you've confined your writing to Belle Books and plays. What is the secret to juggling such disparate media?

Nancy Knight: Hmm. I love both. Belle Books allows me to write shorter works, which I enjoy. And, of course, I adore my characters. I can't wait to discover what they're doing next.

As for the plays, I've always loved theatre. I love the feeling of being in the midst of a story while it happens. And, there's nothing like the instant gratification of seeing people in an audience laughing or crying with you as the story unfolds.

Crescent Blues: How have the plays affected the direction of your Mossy Creek stories and vice versa?

Nancy Knight: Mossy Creek, the play? Actually, I'm still trying to figure out how to "tame" the rich material contained in the Mossy Creek books into a two hour production. It has great possibilities.

Crescent Blues: How did the fantasy elements in your plays contribute to your latest project?

Nancy Knight: I've always loved fantasy as a genre. I think my mind just runs in that direction. The plays were an offshoot of my love for fantasy. Each of the five plays I've had produced has had fantasy elements, some more than others.

Crescent Blues: Can you tell our readers a little bit about your next project?

Nancy Knight: No, sorry. Can't tell anything about projects in the works. I try to keep things quiet until I have something concrete.

Crescent Blues: While you're doing all this, you're managing the Dragon*Con Writer's Track, teaching art classes and running art camp. When did you first realize you had the "teacher's gene?"

Nancy Knight: I don't really know. I've pretty much always done it, in some form or another. I just know I love teaching a beginning artist the satisfaction of completing a painting they love. The same is true for writers. There's this wonderful "light" that comes into their eyes when they realize what they've done.

Crescent Blues: How did you get involved in the Dragon*Con Writer's Track?

Nancy Knight: I have attended Dragon*Con for years as a guest. I am a member of Dark River Writers and that group provided a director for Writer's Track every year. Usually, the job rotated. Nobody else really wanted to do it and I love it, so I've been director of Writer's Track for about six years.

Crescent Blues: What are your goals for the Writer's Track?

Nancy Knight: My goals are to present the best possible program for writers. I want it to be something everybody from the novice to the multi-published author can attend and find useful.

Crescent Blues: How does the Writer's Track relate to the Dragon*Con Writers' Workshop?

Nancy Knight: It actually doesn't, not on a real level. I really have nothing to do with the workshop.

Crescent Blues: How do you balance the literature and art in your life?

Nancy Knight: Balance? Who said anything about balance? I just do what I love.

Crescent Blues: What advice would you give to aspiring artists and writers?

Nancy Knight: Write. Read. Write. Attending conferences and conventions can be worth the time and money, too. You need to get out there and see what's being bought. I don't mean jump on the current "trend du jour" but to see what editors and readers love.

Published writers will tell you to write the book/story/play of your heart and you'll get published. Maybe that's true; maybe it isn't. And, if you do that, does it mean you only have one book?

I think you need to look at the needs of the marketplace and the type of project you love and marry the two. After all, if you write the book of your heart and there's no market for it, are you just writing for yourself? A writer's job is to communicate. That means publishing. Believe me, you can make it work -- if you work smart.

Click here to learn more about Nancy Knight.

Jean Marie Ward