Nancy Jensen - Author

What Mabel Saw: Why Stories Matter

nancyjensenwrites — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:04:45 +0000

Every so often, I bump up against an experience, or a news story, or a detail out of history, or maybe a song, an image, or a snatch of conversation that reminds me of why literature matters, why it’s so important to write stories–the ones that seem small for being about ordinary people, but that speak the full, and ever universal, range of human truth.

Here are some recently published images that recall what my character Mabel in The Sisters might have seen emerging in her darkroom in an earlier time–a time of another protracted war:

http://www.upworthy.com/mesmerizing-photographs-of-soldiers-faces-before-and-after-a-war?c=ufb1

Ready to Receive (the story)

nancyjensenwrites — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:58:18 +0000

As of today, my school year is over, and at long last my house is in reasonably livable order. Most important, though, is my home office, now cleared of excess furniture, unpacked boxes, and unsorted files–in short, ready for what I hope is good thinking and better writing!

Finally, Finally, Finally

nancyjensenwrites — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:18:47 +0000

Finally, finally, finally–after just shy of two years in my new job, new city, new house, I have managed to make my living space livable. “Livable” for me means “practically functional” so that I can quickly find what I need, use it, and put it away again. I can’t count how many times in the last several weeks I have filled the back of my car and hauled things to various local charities. No longer am I stumbling over still-packed boxes and wasting time hunting through hastily over-stuffed closets or badly arranged cabinets!

Now, I have only to get through about 10 more days of full-time teaching, and my lovely long writing summer will open out before me.

Finally, finally, finally–I have a clear house, a clear head, and a clear schedule ready to converge into, I hope, clear writing!

Clearing House and Head

nancyjensenwrites — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:12:12 +0000

Long overdue spring seems finally to have arrived in Central Kentucky and the forsythia are celebrating by being intensely bright and full. It makes me feel a bit like a walking, talking cliche to say so, but I’m suddenly feeling motivated, in practice–rather than just in theoretical longing–to clear up the spaces in my house and, at the same time, my head. My working semester will be finished in just short of a month, and I’m determined to meet the gift of my writing summer with my personal nest in order, cleared of the clutter that has lingered since I moved–house, job, whole life–in 2011.

A Plug for My Indiana Home

nancyjensenwrites — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:50:29 +0000

I’m enormously grateful to the members of the Indiana German Heritage Society who welcomed me into their midst at their annual meeting at The Dome in Ferdinand, Indiana. For those of you who are thinking about spring and summer excursions, you might consider a driving tour of beautiful Southern Indiana (oh, no, this Hoosier girl is not biased!), including stops at The Dome and at the nearby St. Meinrad, pictured here, which has the most intricate and beautiful stained glass windows I’ve ever seen.

The Pleasures of Research

nancyjensenwrites — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 14:14:09 +0000

Sometimes, research means reading for hours on end–and I’ve been doing a lot of that in the past several weeks. (Not that I mind!) But sometimes research can take a person to lovely places. Very soon, I’ll be heading to Ferdinand, Indiana to this beautiful Benedictine monastery to enjoy talks and presentations that will help steep me in the German culture of southern Indiana.

Nancy Skypes Again

nancyjensenwrites — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 13:13:46 +0000

It’s been a few months since I’ve Skyped with a reading group to discuss The Sisters, so I’m looking forward to this Monday, when I’ll chat with a group at the Town of Ballston Community Library in Burnt Hills, New York.

I’m a little nervous, since lately my head has been entirely in the new book I’m working on, but even if I’m a wobbly at first, coming out of my new world fog, I know I’ll enjoy talking again about Bertie and Mabel, Alma and Rainey, Lynn and Grace.

Spring Fever–Writer’s Style

nancyjensenwrites — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:28:41 +0000

Here in Kentucky, we’re used to the annual spring teases that come in February–and sometimes as early as January. This winter, the teases have been many, and, as usual, I’ve been able to acknowledge with both my mind and heart that each burst of warm weather–dandelions and daffodils included–really is just a tease. There’s always one period of warmth and sunshine, though, that has the effect of a virus, imbeds itself, and sets off true Spring Fever. That happened to me about ten days ago, and now, in spite of the intervening week of snow, sleet, and temperatures in the teens, I am definitely suffering Spring Fever–Writer’s Style. For me, this means a passionate longing to get busy with yard work–not because I love yard work (I don’t), but because when I do things like digging in the dirt or cutting grass (especially cutting grass!) my subconscious works out seemingly insurmountable writing problems.

I wish I could say the same for housework, but, alas, no.

Swimming for Shore

nancyjensenwrites — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 15:34:59 +0000

If there is one certainty about teaching in a university, it’s that in the first month or so of every semester, you have to give in to the reality that you’ll be helplessly swept along in the churning river of tasks that comes with each new class, each new group of students who–in spite of divergent personalities–you as the teacher have to try to gather together as a functioning team.

Now that I think of it, this is very much the way it is for me to start new fiction, with various and not clearly unified voices clamoring in my head, trying to get attention for their stories. In recent months, I’ve been grabbing nuggets of free time for research for my second novel, and so that’s been filling my head, too, with a din the characters must struggle to be heard over, but once in awhile–this morning, for instance–I heard and saw one thread of one more character’s story with absolute clarity.

Now that my spring classes have turned into teams, I find myself within swimming distance of the shore, and I’m looking forward to more time in the next few months to walk along, listening to my characters. Maybe by summer’s end, I’ll be able to share a hint with you of what the next novel is about!

First Event of the New Year

nancyjensenwrites — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 14:22:01 +0000

My public schedule as a writer kicks off early in 2013 (the private schedule never stops) with a reading at the winter residency for the MFA in Writing Program of the Bluegrass Writers Studio, where I teach. The residency events are all held at the Lexington Downtown Hilton, 369 West Vine Street, Lexington, KY, and all the evening readings are free and open to the public.

I’ll be reading on Thursday, January 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Triple Crown Room, along with poets Julie Hensley and Christina Lovin. Because all the courses I’ll be teaching this spring for the MFA program are in creative nonfiction, I’ll be reading from my first book, Window: Stories and Essays, which was published by Fleur de Lis Press in 2009.