From lab coats to love stories: How a life-altering diagnosis pushed me into a different kind of storytelling
I’ve always loved stories. When I was a child, I loved Enid Blyton’s and Grimm’s fairy tales. When I was a teen, I was obsessed with Georgette Heyer, Trixie Belden and old Hollywood movies from Errol Flynn to Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Bette Davis. In my twenties it was music, the greater the poetry in the song the more I loved it—Australian and New Zealand artists like Paul Kelly, Vika and Linda Bull, Crowded House, Hunters and Collectors, Hoodoo Gurus and Nick Cave. In my thirties I discovered the rich storytelling of narrative-driven video games Like the Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age and Assassin’s Creed. Throughout all of this, I read widely.
But I had been concentrating on a career as a scientist and working in agricultural entomology since I left university. Scientists are often associated with meticulous research and sterile laboratory environments. However, the small flame of creativity inside me remained.
The turning point from hobby writer to more serious writer came at a time of when I faced one of the biggest challenges in my life—I had fallen ill and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. With that lifelong diagnosis and an unknown prognosis, came a shift in my world view. I yearned for more creativity. The desire for a more imaginative life fanned the flame within me and drove me to explore a long overshadowed side of myself.
After deciding to take a leap of faith in a creative path, I tested the waters with genre and wrote my first manuscript (a science fiction novel) during National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo), where the aim is to write 50,000 words in a month. I had never written that much fiction before and it was a steep learning curve, because at the same time my partner and I were trying to start a family. It was just by chance that as I fell pregnant I also created my first novel! Over the next few years, I attended writing workshops and attempted to hone my skills in storytelling. I did Nanowrimo again, but this time I diversified and wrote a crime novel. Then I tried writing a historical romance—set in twentieth-century Australia. I put them all aside because I realised, like science, you need a tribe of people behind you and writing felt like an insurmountable challenge without support. It was a chance meeting with author Victoria Purman five years ago and her encouragement to join the Romance Writers of Australia that set me on a path to publication and I never looked back. Although my interest in science hasn’t waned, I’ve had the joy and privilege of a creative life through writing.
Since joining RWA in 2018, I have written five modern historical romance manuscripts, two self-published novellas in historical romance anthologies with three other writers I met through RWA, and I have four short stories also in a variety of other anthologies. The first to be published was the very first romance I wrote in 2017— Crossing the Bridge —which came out on 1 January 2024.
I still work as a research scientist and love both sides of me, that dogged scientist who loves process, and the creative expression I have in writing. I feel extremely lucky to be a storyteller!
Is it possible that my background in science provides a unique perspective to my romance novels and I hope to bring more romance to the page that incorporates the two different sides of myself.
My somewhat unconventional journey from the rigidity of writing scientific articles to published romance author is a reminder that creativity knows no boundaries. To those wanting to embark on romance no matter your career, embrace the unexpected, follow your passions, and find beauty in the unlikeliest of places.
You can find Nancy here: Website | Facebook | Instagram
Crossing the Bridge
Can two wounded hearts find peace in a time of war?
1944. Widow Poppy Guilford is fighting to save her farm, the one thing tethering her to her husband – and the legacy promised for their young son. But a devastating secret from her husband’s past threatens to derail her struggle to save the property and keep her son by her side.
Former soldier JB Beaton’s wartime injuries and personal losses have left him with scars, both inside and out. Believing he’s too damaged to be the father his son deserves, he leaves him with his sister and takes on a job as a farmhand, far away from the city and his failures.
Poppy, battling the elements and the heartache of her husband’s secret, finds the new farmhand is never far from her thoughts, and JB’s world is thrown into disarray by one of the most beautiful and capable women he has ever met. Neither can battle the surge of attraction they both feel.
In a small town where gossip reigns, will they surrender to duty or follow their hearts?
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