Butterfly Premonitions

Nancy Roe

Book ideas come from strange places. A song. A picture. Newspaper articles. Real life.


The idea for Butterfly Premonitions started with portions of my life. Not in the murderous kind of way, but in the history of my family.

1. My mother spent many years on genealogy research. She not only researched her own family, but helped others doing research in Delaware County, Iowa. In her hospital room a week before her death, she spoke with a couple from Wisconsin that wanted to thank her for her research.

2. Anne Dudley Bradstreet was the most prominent of early English poets of North America and first writer in England’s North American colonies to be published. She is the first Puritan figure in American Literature and notable for her large corpus of poetry, as well as personal writings published posthumously. Anne Bradstreet is my ninth great-grandmother on my mom’s side of the family. (This must be where I get my love of writing.)

3. Rebecca Towne Nurse was convicted of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials and hanged as a witch on July 19, 1692, at age 71. Rebecca Nurse is my eighth great-grandmother on my mother’s side of the family.


4. My two papillons inspired the title. (If you don’t know, papillon is French for butterfly.)


All of these family markers are reflected in my new book.

Premonitions. A missing father. A murdered stepmother. A reopened cold case.

Merli Whitshire’s foreboding premonitions lead her home after a ten-year absence. She hopes to find her missing father, but her first night in Haven Hill, Iowa ends with a murdered stepmother.

Merli’s reintroduced to her four best friends she hasn’t seen for ten years since the evening of high school graduation. She had cancelled her summer plans and abruptly moved to New York City to live with her wealthy aunt and pursue a career in fashion design. Merli thought she was running to NYC, but she was really running away from Haven Hill.

Everyone she meets is hiding a secret, but only one is a killer. Will Merli find out who wants revenge before she dies trying?

Nancy Roe is an Award-Winning Author and Professional Formatter. She has self-published eight books and is writing her next mystery.

In August 2021, the League of Utah Writers recognized Nancy, awarding her the Gold Quill Award for her book, The Accident, and First Place for the first chapter of her novel, Butterfly Premonitions.

Nancy served as a panelist at the Killer Nashville International Writer’s Conference, speaking on the subjects of self-publishing, minor characters, and dialogue. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Guppy Chapter, The League of Utah Writers, Just Write Chapter, Writer’s Circle, and Newsletter Chair of the Newcomers Club of the Greater Park City Area.

On Nancy’s website you’ll find articles on organizing tips, recipes, craft ideas, unusual holidays, and grammar tips, as well as information on book formatting services.

Nancy is a Midwest farm girl at heart and lives in Utah with her husband and four-legged children, Max and Addison.

Visit at: www.NancyRoeAuthor.com

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/nancy-roe

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NancyRoeAuthor

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NancyRoeAuthor

Books: www.NancyRoeOnAmazon.com

5 Tips I Wish I’d Learned Sooner

                                    Nancy Roe

Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to write a book. I even wrote in my sixth-grade autobiography that I wanted to be an author. It took me until I turned fifty to make the dream a reality.



I’ve learned many lessons in the past eleven years. Here are five tips I wished I’d known at the beginning of my career.



Tip 1: Find a writing group. Writing groups, whether in-person or online, are a valuable source of information. Share your words, your stories, your soul. Sometimes we get so close to our writing that another person can spot weaknesses in plot or ask questions we hadn’t thought to ask ourselves. Perhaps your state or city has a writer’s group. I live in Utah and joined the League of Utah Writers, and the Just Write Chapter.



Tip 2: Take courses. Learn, learn, learn, and never stop. Reedsy Learning has tons of free courses. Jane Cleland offers a free hour webinar every month. For paid courses, look into Writer’s Digest, Margie Lawson, or Sisters in Crime.



Tip 3: Sign up for emails from authors you admire, agents, writing instructors, and writing blogs. After a few weeks or a few months, you’ll know which providers give you the best information, and the ones you dislike, you can always unsubscribe. My favorites are Jane Friedman, Joan Dempsey, K.M. Weiland, Lisa Hall-Wilson, Mary Carroll Moore, Social Media Examiner, and Writers in the Storm. (Of course the #1 blog is Suite T!)



Tip 4: Attend writer’s conferences. Meet fellow writers. Share your experiences. Ask questions. Don’t think of fellow writers as competitors, but as friends. And never, ever be afraid to talk to the guest speakers. The headliners go to conferences to share their wealth of information, not stand on a pedestal.



Tip 5: Read, read, read. Read stories in your genre. Read stories in other genres. Why do you enjoy certain books and not others? Was it how the story made you feel? Did you love the red herrings and plot twists? Did you stop halfway because the book was boring, or did you stay up all night?

Gold Quill Award-Winning Novel

Nancy Roe is an Award-Winning Author and Professional Formatter. She has self-published seven books and is writing her next mystery due for release this summer. (Butterfly Premonitions. A missing father. A murdered stepmother. A reopened cold case. Can Merli find the truth among the lies, or will the murderer get deadly revenge?)



Nancy served as a panelist at the Killer Nashville International Writer’s Conference, speaking on the subjects of self-publishing, minor characters, and dialogue. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Guppy Chapter, The League of Utah Writers, Just Write Chapter, Writer’s Circle, and Newsletter/Communications Chair of the Newcomers Club of the Greater Park City Area. Nancy is a Midwest farm girl at heart and lives in Utah with her husband and four-legged children, Max and Addison.



NancyRoeAuthor@gmail.com

Website: www.NancyRoeAuthor.com

BookBub: www.bookbub.com/profile/Nancy-Roe

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/NancyRoeAuthor

Books: www.NancyRoeOnAmazon.com

Never Stop Believing in Yourself

Nancy Roe

Anyone who attended high school or college had to write a story for an English assignment. Some dreaded the task, others relished in the exercise. (I was the latter.) Upon graduation, a majority of people never write another story. A select few become successful award-winning authors.



I’ve always considered myself in the middle category. A self-published author that entered contests and submitted my books for awards, but always received the dreaded, Thank you for your submission, however… Ugh. I love to write. I love to solve mysteries. I love the feel of a book in my hands. I wanted a win in my repertoire.



Never give up!



My latest entries were in two categories for the annual League of Utah Writers Quills Conference. Eleven days before the conference, I received an email. Dear Quills Awards author, Congratulations! This email is to let you know that your book is going to be recognized at the awards banquet.



My heart stopped for a few seconds. I was in shock and ecstatic at the same time. For the first time, my work was being recognized by a group other than family and friends. I told a few people, still unsure what the email entailed. Did I receive fourth place or an honorable mention? Not once did I contemplate a win.



The food and company (a multiple winner and writer of the year) at my table kept my butterflies in check until the awards ceremony began. I sat, listened, and clapped as fellow writers achieved success. When it was time for my first category, the Olive Woolley Burt Award for Creative Writing, First Chapter (Novel), the butterflies swirled. The League President, John Olsen, announced first through third honorable mentions. Not me. Third Place. Not me. Second Place. Not me. I thought, better luck with my other category.



Then, the most unbelievable thing happened. John announced my name! I received First Place for the first chapter of my upcoming mystery novel, Butterfly Premonitions (due to be released in 2022). I couldn’t text my husband fast enough to announce my achievement.



When the coveted Quill Awards for Published Books began, I assumed my chances were slim. I’d already received an outstanding honor. In the Novel category, John announced the four recommended reads and Silver Quill winners. Then, for the second time of the night, he announced my name. I had won the Gold Quill Award for my novel, The Accident. I was ecstatic, thrilled, elated, euphoric, and twenty other synonyms. My feet still haven’t touched the ground since the night of the banquet.



Never stop writing. Never stop submitting your work. Always believe in yourself. The most surprising events can happen to you too!

Nancy Roe is an Award-Winning Author and Professional Formatter. She has self-published seven books and is writing her next mystery. (Butterfly Premonitions. A missing father. A murdered stepmother. A reopened cold case. Can Merli find the truth among the lies, or will the murderer get deadly revenge?)



Nancy served as a panelist at the Killer Nashville International Writer’s Conference, speaking on the subjects of self-publishing, minor characters, and dialogue. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Guppy Chapter, The League of Utah Writers, Just Write Chapter, Writer’s Circle, and Communications/Publicity Chair of the Newcomers Club of the Greater Park City Area. Nancy is a Midwest farm girl at heart and lives in Utah with her husband and four-legged children, Max and Addison.

NancyRoeAuthor@gmail.com

Website: www.NancyRoeAuthor.com

BookBub: www.bookbub.com/profile/Nancy-Roe

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/NancyRoeAuthor

Books: www.NancyRoeOnAmazon.com

First Published at Fifty

Nancy Roe

My quest to become a published author started when I wrote my autobiography for a sixth grade English assignment. In the last chapter, I wrote that I wanted to be an author. Why? This is a direct quote from my twelve-year-old self: “Since I like to read books a lot I want to write them so I can write what I want so I don’t have to look in the shelves just to find a good book.” The prose is terrible, but the thought is pure. Thirty-eight years later, I made my dreams come true.

While mystery novels are my first love, I started my writing career with a nonfiction book. Multiple articles led me to believe nonfiction was easier to sell than fiction. My one passion (some might say it’s a calling) is organizing. I know Marie Kondo and I would be friends. My pantry is full of alphabetically arranged spices, I have lists of every gift I’ve received for my birthday or Christmas since I was ten, and I’ve kept track of my finances since I moved into my first apartment at eighteen. This year, I’m using sixty-three categories to classify my expenses and income. To me, organizing is fun.

My book, Organize The Nancy Way, took me two years to write, edit, and publish. I remember many sleepless nights considering trim sizes, fonts, layout, publishing paths, what ISBN meant, and how to get the book on Amazon. I read hundreds of articles from many sources, getting more confused with each article I read.

When I set a goal for myself, there is nothing that will stop me. My goal was to publish my first book at fifty. I persevered, found the right steps to follow, and with seventy-one days to go, made my goal a reality. I released Organize The Nancy Way on September 11, 2012.

There is nothing more thrilling than when the UPS driver delivers a box of your book on the doorstep. My name was on the cover of a book! Me. Nancy Roe. A farm girl from a small town in northeast Iowa. I made my husband take a picture of me holding my first book so I could share my triumph with family and friends. This moment needed documentation. With what little marketing skills I had, I put my book into the universe. To date, I’ve sold almost 1,200 paperbacks and have had over 23,000 Kindle downloads.

For my second book, I returned to my first love—mysteries. Going from nonfiction to fiction was another learning curve. I now had to deal with plot, red herrings, character development, and setting. I had the basic idea for the book and wrote the first 50,000 words during NaNoWriMo. (For those that don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It happens every November, and the goal is to write 50,000 words in thirty days.) I participated in NaNoWriMo for my next two mystery novels.

My four stand-alone mystery novels are Secrets Can Be Deadly, Hidden in Shadow Pines, Black Roses for Cassidy, and The Accident. I expect to release my fifth mystery this fall. I enjoy the writing process and sharing my stories with the world.

If I could go back ten years to when I started writing my first book, I would tell myself to find a writer’s group. Be willing to share your story with others and openly accept their feedback. Also, never be afraid to ask fellow authors for advice. We are on this journey together.

Nancy has self-published seven books and is writing her next mystery.

Nancy served as a panelist at the Killer Nashville International Writer’s Conference, speaking on the subjects of self-publishing, minor characters, and dialogue.

On Nancy’s website (www.NancyRoeAuthor.com), you’ll find articles on organizing tips, recipes, craft ideas, unusual holidays, and writing.

Nancy is a Midwest farm girl at heart and lives in Utah with her husband and two four-legged children, Max, and Addison.



Website: www.NancyRoeAuthor.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/NancyRoeAuthor

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/NancyRoeAuthor

Books: www.NancyRoeOnAmazon.com