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About the Author:
Nikki Andrews earns a living as a picture framer, but in her real life she is an author, songwriter, and crafter. She has been writing since junior high school, has recorded an album of original songs with a church choir, and has completed the National Novel Writing Month Challenge seven consecutive years. Two of her short stories have appeared in The Occasional Moose. Her story "In a Shadowed Wood" received an Honorable Mention in the 2006 Writers Digest Writing Contest, and "Big Empty" was an Honorable Mention in the 2007 Contest. Her two published novels, Chicken Bones and A Windswept Star, blend time travel, auto racing, and songwriting with romance and social commentary in what one reviewer called "a wild mix of genres that works." She is currently working on a mystery novel set in the art world and on the third and last adventure in the racing and time-travel series. She is a member of Talespinners, a women's writing group, and the New Hampshire Writers' Project.
July 19, 2008--The new anthology, Carved in Granite: Storytellers in New Hampshire, is now on sale! My short story "Probe" is included in this volume. As publisher James Maynard puts it: ''Probe'' the mind of a disembodied life form as it winds its way through the bodies and souls of people and animals. One of the most unique stories we’ve read in a long time, this story by Nikki Andrews will lead you not just into the minds, but the souls of life forms all around you. To order your copy, go to http://carvedingranite.sciartmedia.com. And be sure to check the Events
page for appearances by my fellow authors and me!
June 2008--The date is set for Carved in Granite: Storytellers in New Hampshire, the new anthology that includes my short story "Probe." July 19 is the roll-out date. There will be media events and other goodies, so watch for more information as it becomes available. To see what the cover looks like, click here.
May 2008--An eventful month. After nine happy years my employment as a picture framer has come to an end. It was terrifically busy for the last six weeks, as customers hastened in to have their work framed before the gallery closed. I'm not sure what I'll do next, although I'd like to investigate free-lance editing from home.
Also in May, my short story "Probe" was accepted for an anthology of stories by NH writers. The book is due out in July/August. I'll let you know as soon as I have the details.Framed is making the rounds of publishers. One publisher has expressed interest. I can only wait to see what happens next! Meantime, I've started working on The Edge of Possibility, the final book in the Chicken Bones series. It feels good to get back to that universe.March 2008--A long, snowy winter seems like the perfect time to get a lot of writing done. Framed is now making the rounds of my fellow writers at Talespinners for critiquing, after which I will do a second rewrite, hopefully not too difficult. The first rewrite led me to some surprising moments near the end and necessitated changes in the early chapters for consistency. I don't dare compare myself to the great J.R.R. Tolkien, at whose feet I worship, but I sympathize with his statement that he "must rewrite the book backwards."
It's spring (well, almost) and that means a new round of personal appearances. Please check out Events page for details, and contact me at nikki@nikkiandrewsbooks for discussions with your group, club or class. February 2008--A new experience for me: the so-called "good" rejection! I had submitted a memoir called "The Beacons" to a local magazine for their winter/spring issue. It wasn't accepted, but on the back of the form letter someone had written, "This was close. Please try us again next year." Finally, a rejection worth framing!
January 2008--My dad is in a nursing home because of his vascular dementia, and it's a learning experience for him and for us his family. Many things he would never talk about before are now on his mind, and I'm learning a great deal about his early life as well as his inner life. In a recent phone call he told me about a job he held for about a year after he came home from submarine service in WWII. He drove a truck for an egg company, picking up eggs from farmers and selling them at auction. The tale led me to a short story, "The Egg Man," part fact and part fiction. I don't know yet if I'll share it with him; the fiction part made me cry, and it may yet come to pass.
November 2007--Oh, happy dancing! My short story "Big Empty," which focuses on two young boys and a flood, earned an Honorable Mention from Writers Digest. That's two years in a row I've been honored; I'm told that's fairly rare. I don't write for recognition, but it's really nice when it comes along.
September 2007--Still hard at work on Framed. Talespinners, my writing group, has been critiquing my rewrites as I go, and their input is invaluable. It's going more slowly than I'd hoped, but is turning out well. I've never written a mystery before, so I'm enjoying the journey and learning a lot. In fact, it's turning out so well that I may forego self-publishing on this one and try to interest an agent in it. Wish me luck!
July, 2007--It's been a hectic spring and summer. Framed is coming along nicely in rewrites, and the characters are growing in ways I never planned. That's part of the joy of writing fiction; like children, the people in my books develop their own personalities. Sometimes they even talk back to me.
In June I had the extraordinary luxury of a writer's retreat at the Adirondack camp of a friend and fellow author, Marty Stratton. Imagine, a whole day and evening with nothing to do but write! I was able to go right through Framed in one sitting, which revealed a bunch of flaws and weaknesses that I'm now correcting. I'd hoped to have the book ready for the Sept. 29th event in Bradford, but that is looking doubtful now. In June and July family matters required me to make the long trek from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania several times, and I was not able to focus on my fiction. Things have settled down, and I'm back at the keyboard. With luck and hard work, Framed will debut at Book 'Em in October.Also this summer, my husband Dave (who is better than Harry) and I traveled to Mont Tremblant, just north of Montreal, to experience the Champ Car World Series race. And what an experience it was! From the townspeople who encouraged my earnest but rusty French to the beautiful mountains, from the wonderful food to a comfortable hotel, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. And the racing! What a thrill to watch the cars close up as they negotiated the winding track at what looked like impossible speeds. Despite rain showers--and partly because of them--the competition was intense, with rookie Robert Doornbos claiming the win at the end. For me, one of the most memorable moments was meeting the drivers during the autograph session. Not to mention the fact that three of the racers asked for copies of Chicken Bones, which I was glad to provide. Hope they enjoyed the book!January, 2007--Things have been quiet lately, although I've been busy. In November I completed the first draft of The Edge of Possibility, the final book in the Chicken Bones series. It won't be ready to publish for some time, but you can look forward to further racing and time travel excitement, set in a time four hundred years "up the line." You'll meet Vonderly Mills of the Dennova Colony, tri-vis personality, and Jorgen Majestani of Europa, star of the Interplanetary Racing League. Along with them you'll get to know a very unusual pair of Timers! Of course there will be at least one new song as well.
Also in November, I was tickled pink to receive an Honorable Mention from Writers Digest for my short story, "In a Shadowed Wood." It follows a young woman lost in New Hampshire's White Mountains as she struggles to rescue herself--with some unexpected help.
Even as I'm writing new novels, I'm working on older things. Framed is a murder mystery set in an art gallery. (As they say, write what you know.) A long-lost painting resurfaces and offers clues to an old tragedy. The staff at Brush & Bevel are drawn to the case, but danger lurks right in their own building. Mysteries are a new challenge for me, one I'm enjoying very much. I hope you will, too.
Also in November, I was tickled pink to receive an Honorable Mention from Writers Digest for my short story, "In a Shadowed Wood." It follows a young woman lost in New Hampshire's White Mountains as she struggles to rescue herself--with some unexpected help.Even as I'm writing new novels, I'm working on older things. Framed is a murder mystery set in an art gallery. (As they say, write what you know.) A long-lost painting resurfaces and offers clues to an old tragedy. The staff at Brush & Bevel are drawn to the case, but danger lurks right in their own building. Mysteries are a new challenge for me, one I'm enjoying very much. I hope you will, too. 
...where time is fluid and a song can change the future. Where a racing driver, a hiker, and a rock star conspire with a time-traveling alien to influence the course of the galaxy, and mysterious starry gems exert their own unexpected influence. This is a place where timeships turn renegade and stars are bent out of shape. Welcome, and enjoy the journey!
