Guest Post ~ Nikki Noffsinger

The Reason I Love To Write and the Stories I Love To Tell

I am often asked, “Why do you like to write?”  The answer is always the same; I started out with a great love of books. Books gave me places and adventures to go and were the catalyst for my imagination. I fell in love with books and when I was about seven or eight when I wrote my first little story in the backseat of the maroon Oldsmobile on the way to Kentucky. It was a little story about me and my cousin Karen, who I would soon be meeting for the first time and we were mermaids that lived in a hotel swimming pool. I’m sure it wasn’t quite that fine tuned but that was the gist of it. I began to write all sorts of little things and as I got older I began to write longer stories and more poems.

I never really did show my writings to anyone outside of if I wrote letters to the public letterbox of the local paper voicing my opinions or to the school paper. I dreamed often of being an author or journalist but my own fears and insecurities kept me from sharing my stories and poems with more than just me, a few teachers, and only a select few friends. It wouldn’t be until I was 35 years old that I would not only write but submit a manuscript. It wouldn’t be until my publishing nightmare with a vanity press, Publish America, that it would lead me to my friend and mentor, Denyse Bridger who would introduce me to XoXo Publishing’s Penny Adams and Gina Cianfarnai who have been an active part in the publishing of my first solo E-book project, Cursed Awakening. Unlike my novel that was published through the vanity press, I got someone to help me through the editing process, someone to format the book in E-book format, and a wonderful cover that meet all my expectations that was done by Kayden Mcleod; who has a digital art business with her husband Trent Kingsley as well as being an accomplished author. So I have been given the red carpet treatment that they give to all their authors.  I’m really fortunate and proud to be working with all of them!

Another question I am asked, “Why do you write about vampires and scary things?” I guess it throws people off to know I was raised in a very Christian home and I don’t seem the “type” to be a scribe of the macabre. The answer is quite easy; I grew up loving horror movies. My grandpa and I used to watch Sammy Terry on the local channels here in Indiana and my mother was a huge scary movie fan. I grew up loving all those great B movies and 80s horror flicks. I loved Stephen King, Clive Barker, Wes Craven, and Dean Koontz whose stories were made into either movies or television specials that made it hard to sleep afterwards. I stayed weekends at my mother’s house and she and I would stay up to watch shows like “The Hitchhiker”, “Tales From The Crypt”, and “Freddy’s Nightmares”, and countless others. My favorite horror movie villans were always the vampires. I blame the 1975 version of “Dracula” with Frank Langella and the 80s cult classic, “Lost Boys” for that. I also had a great love of fantasy books as well. I loved the Brothers Grimm, and one of my favorite books from childhood is the Book of Fairy Tales I received as a young child from my Grandma Betty. I also and it is a love I still have to this very day is I still love the animated film and cartoons. Aside from the myriad of Saturday morning cartoons, animated films like: The Last Unicorn, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Warriors of the Wind, The Wind in the Willows, and Unico were just some that fed my jones for fantasy. 

I do not limit myself to one genre; I have stories from most of them running in my head. Just about everything sparks inspiration with me. I love history especially European as well as Early American history and I love to read books both fiction and non fiction of those periods. I love to use actual historical references in my stories as well as write historical fiction. I also love to write paranormal romance fiction because I get to play with a wide range of characters. My goals are simple, I want to share what I write and have people love it. I look at writers such as Denyse Bridger, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lynsay Sands, Kerrilyn Sparks, and so many more that started just like me-with nothing more than a love of the written word and a passion to write!

Cursed Awakening by Nikki Noffsinger

Ivy Morgan has re-invented herself and is looking forward to the future for the first time, in a very long time. Since fleeing for her life from an overzealous religious cult, she is able to be a modern woman that is gaining her independence; so taking up with a sexy stranger named Nyx is the last thing she needs. Or, is it?

Nyx Wahpeton can’t stop thinking about the young woman he’s met. It couldn’t have come at the worse possible time with the clans meeting and his family wrapped up in a centuries old war that’s nothing short of what horror movies are made from. He’s been a protector of his people and those that reside at the Reservation. There’s betrayal and evil at his front door; but, in his heart he knows Ivy is the one for him. She’s surrounded by secrets that he’s vowed to unlock, as well as her heart. However, can he keep her safe from his own secrets?

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Nikki's Bio

Nikki Noffsinger, 37 mother of two, lives in Marion, Indiana, fourteen miles from the birthplace/hometown of James Dean. She grew up in a Christian home and was raised by her grandparents and made enough family trips to London and Manchester, Kentucky, to be considered an honorary hillbilly. Aside from her great love of books and writing; she enjoy baking/cooking, music, art in its many forms, travel, many outdoor activities, and has a great love affair with theme parks especially the thrill rides. Nikki's favorite authors range from Tomie de Paola and Maurice Sendak to classic literature to Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kerrilyn Sparks, Lynsay Sands, and many others. She loves both non-fiction and fiction, but her favorite genre is paranormal romance.

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