LA Mystery writer Nancy Cole Silverman has enjoyed a successful Hollywood radio career working in both sides of the microphone -in reporting and management- before she decided to do what she’d always wanted to do most – write fiction – and created the Carol Childs mystery series.

Carol is a 40 year old LA cub reporter who has to prove herself to a wonder boy boss half her age, while also being primary custodial parent to a 16 year old son. Yes - there are challenges a plenty there for this would be Wonder Woman. . . many of them ones Nancy has met herself in real life . . .

Show Notes Summary

In this interview you'll discover:

Why she says God has a sense of humor 

The similarities between her and her hero Carol Childs

Why Carol has to prove herself more than a man would

The mystery in her own life that became  a plot line for one of her first books.

Why she's given up riding, although she still crazy about horses.

The Benjamin Franklin quote that became her mantra

Nancy can be found at www.nancycolesilverman.com

On Facebook at www.facebook.com/NancyColeSilverman/

And on Twitter @Nancycolesilverman

For more details, a full transcript follows:  Note - this is a "close as" rendering of our full conversation with links to key points.

But before we hear from Nancy, just a reminder that the show notes for this BingeReading episode are available at the website www.thejoysofbingereading.com

That’s where you’ll find links to Nancy’s websites and books, as well as a free E book, and information on how to subscribe to our podcast so you don’t miss future episodes.

And now here’s Nancy.

Jenny: Hello there Nancy, and Welcome to the show. It’s great to have you with us.

Nancy: Thank you so much for having me, its wonderful to be here.

Jenny: You’ve had a very successful radio career and you could be forgiven for thinking you really had nothing more to prove. . .  so I’m just wondering -

Was there a Once Upon A Time moment when you realised you wanted to write fiction more than anything else?

Nancy:  You know that’s a really good question – there were several - and one time, probably the beginning of it, was when I was working at a news station in Los Angeles and I realised that the stories I was doing, if you could put the headlines together you’d have a really good novel.

Of course the news director didn’t want to hear that, he banished me from the news room and said “Don’t say that again.” And then later, when I had retired from radio, I thought you know, I’ve had such an interesting career…. I’ve met so many interesting colourful people..   and I was too old to go back into newsrooms working for people half my age, so I thought “I’ll just make it up.”  So that’s what led to the Carol Childs mysteries.

Jenny: I love this 40-year -old cub reporter with a wonder boy boss who is half her age  - and I’m sure a lot of women could identify with that situation.

Nancy:  I think so, as women we are always are doing such a balancing act. You know I was doing a balancing act in particular, so I could pull it from my own life because I was a single mother with two kids and it was always a matter of deciding which jobs I could take, considering where my family was, that responsibility had to come first.

So for Carol it was natural thing for her when the station said there’s an opening in the news department for a cub reporter and she’d been doing well on the business side but she jumped at it and said “Oh I want to do that.”

The news director did not want a 40-year-old mother working for him and so she has to prove herself.  And that is a natural position many women find themselves in. When an opening does occur and they lean forward for it, the first thing they will find is someone doesn’t want them there and they have to prove themselves.

Jenny:  Totally I couldn’t agree more, that’s my experience in journalism - you’re right.