Nicole loves to write about love in all its manifestations. She goes to conventions and workshops constantly, and works toward becoming a better writer every day. Nicole Godfrey is a writer who calls the beautiful city of Colorado Springs home, along with her furry children. She was born in Omaha, NE. and has lived in Florida and Tennessee. Her writing career started with poetry at a young age, leading to her first publication at the age of twelve. Poetry eventually evolved into the love of story telling, and any good story, no matter the genre, is open to her creative mind. She has two short stories published through Colorado Springs Fiction Writers Group; A Page Lost in An Uncommon Collection, and The Power of the Word in Remnants and Resolutions: Tales of Survival. When she’s not writing, Nicole actively participates in Amtgard and loves to play table-top RPG’s. Art has also been apart of her life since a young age, so she spends as much time as possible playing with different mediums.

The path to publication for Hoofbeats was pretty simple. The same friend who got me involved in my critique group, after reading some of my writing, asked if I’d like to coauthor a book with him. He said that he had the report with the publisher already and wanted to branch out into paranormal romance. (For those who don’t know, paranormal romance is one of the hottest selling genres.) So we took the time to write the book, a bit longer than my coauthor’s usual turnaround, and submitted it. We did end up doing one requested rewrite, but it was immediately accepted on the second try.

It was great working with a coauthor. He started with the first chapter and then it was like I was writing a response chapter to his. Almost like a bigger version of a writing prompt. We then went over each other’s chapters, both to edit and to update ourselves on the story, and continued on. I find that I work better with a bit of prodding.

My editing and revision process is smooth at times, but more often bumpy. I usually have to do a rewrite after the whole manuscript goes through the critique group. Then I go over it a few…several times before sending it to beta readers. Then it gets a bit more blood, sweat, and tears until I can convince myself that there’s nothing more I can do for it. Hopefully at that point I have an idea of where it is going and send it on its merry way.

Next on my plate is kind of hard to pinpoint. I have a big plate. I do have another coauthored book in the works that happens in the same universe as Hoofbeats. But I also have a cat shifter high fantasy going through the critique group, a YA with an agent, and a couple of manuscripts that are getting revisions and edits. Oh, and I almost forgot the short eroticas waiting to be uploaded to Amazon. Yeah, okay, overflowing plate, just a bit.

I do a lot of different things to support the writing community in Colorado Springs. I volunteer for both CSFWG and PPW. I advertise for the groups and everything they sponsor. I repost every time someone has a new release. I go to book signings/launches as often as scheduling will allow, for local and traveling authors. When I meet someone who has a wonderful knack for sharing great advise or info, I ask them to present for one or both of the non-profit groups I volunteer for. And I network like crazy through other writing groups I’m affiliated with. (i.e. Tesla Writers Group)

At the 2017 Pikes Peak Writers Conference you can find me attending workshops, Friday I will be attending the Read & Critique desk to make sure that as many people get their work in front of who they want to see it as possible. And of course, before and after meals, you can find me in the ballroom helping to set up and tear down. (I’m hoping to go swimming this go around, but don’t tell anyone I told you.) 😉 lol

My favorite electronic writing tool is my laptop, equipped with track changes. Makes things sooooo easy to edit. My favorite non-electronic writing tool is a good pen and a journal. ( I have a sizable collection of journals. The more antique looking, the better.)

My ideal writing environment might sound a little like I’m being lazy. But it really does impact productivity. I went on a writing retreat with several other wonderful writers. We had goal setting, usually the evening before, and then quiet writing time after breakfast, lunch, and another quiet writing block before dinner. We were supposed to fend for ourselves for breakfast and lunch, but one of the writers present enjoyed taking care of us and cooked everyone food. (She met her goal the first day, so at least there’s that.) Because I had nothing to worry about besides my writing, I managed to achieve over 14,000 words that weekend. I’ve not met or exceeded that level since. So I guess what I’m saying is I need a live in assistant to take care of me in order to have my ideal environment.

Yes, I do still write poetry. Mostly as an outlet for overflowing emotions. Gets a little dark sometimes.

I chose my pseudonym first because I wanted to differentiate my YA material from my adult content, and second I chose it because my middle name is Nicole and my mother’s maiden name is Godfrey.

Good old George. Does he kill of too many characters. It really is becoming a thing, isn’t it? I suppose I started off believing that he was a little punch drunk, maybe one too many hits with the snake (Genie reference), but after seeing the stories come to life on the show, I have to agree that some of them there folks needed to be offed. Not all of them mind you, but some for sure.

 

I’m excited for so many of the Colorado authors to be discovered. Some have yet to put forth their work, but when they do, you betcha I’ll be waving the flag to get peoples attention. So A.M. Burns, Jason Dias, Alicia Howie, Ashley Hodges Bazer, Cindi Madsen, Jennie Bryant Marts, Aaron Micheal Ritchey, Kari Wolfe, and several others I know have books available. Then there is my even longer list of people who aren’t quite there yet, and whom I hope to help make it to publishing soon.

Han all the way. There are some things that just shouldn’t be messed with in the remastering process. Like the poor guy who played the face of Vader. He finally gets a a screen shot where he’s not all ug-a-fied, and what do they do in the remastered version? Replace him with Hayden. No bueno.

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Nicole and I stole a quick minute during break time at Pikes Peak Writers’ Write Brain to talk about Game of Thrones.