We are delighted to welcome author Nina Mansfield to Omnimystery News today.
Nina's new young adult mystery Swimming Alone (Fire and Ice Young Adult Books; August 2015 ebook format) is scheduled to be published next week, and we recently had a chance to spend some time with her talking about it.
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Omnimystery News: Tell us a little more about the lead character of Swimming Alone.
Photo provided courtesy of
Nina Mansfield
Nina Mansfield: The protagonist of Swimming Alone is 15-year old Cathy Banks. She knows a whole lot about serial killers and has an overactive imagination, so when she ends up in a town with an active serial killer on the loose, her thoughts go a little crazy — but with good reason! Cathy is a little awkward, mildly self-conscious, and prone to day dreams. And when confronted with a dangerous situation — like, oh … having a friend disappear — Cathy isn't afraid to take action. OK, that's not entirely true. She is terrified of taking action, but she does it anyway.
OMN: How much of your own personal experience have you included in the book?
NM: When I was little, my family used to vacation on the beach in Rhode Island. My grandparents rented the same beach bungalow for a number or years, and the setting of Swimming Alone is loosely based on this locale. I tend to be inspired by ocean locations. There's something about that salt water smell that always gets me writing! I also used to spend a week every summer with some high school friends at their lake home in Upstate New York. Those two settings, and some of the experiences I had there — without giving anything away, there was an incident on a boat — had a great deal of influence on Swimming Alone. Luckily though, I've never had to deal with a serial killer, or anything resembling Cathy's ordeal in the book!
OMN: Describe your writing process.
NM: My writing process changes for each project. For Swimming Alone, I started off writing and writing, and seeing where the story went. I am a big believer in the "bad rough draft." I like getting my ideas on paper. These ideas are often a huge mess, but getting them down means I have something to work with. Once I was confident that the story was actually going somewhere — and I had an ending in mind — I began to outline. And I created many, many different outlines as the story progressed, often changing things along the way. The first version of Swimming Alone looks nothing like the book that is going to print!
OMN: If we could send you anywhere in the world to research the setting for a book, where would it be?
NM: Hmm … there are sooooo many places on my bucket list. But I guess I'd have to say Antarctica. Maybe it's the recent heat wave that is making me say that, because I generally prefer warmer climates. But I do love penguins.
OMN: What are some of your outside interests? And have any of these found their way into your work?
NM: Well, I do love spending time at the beach! I also enjoy cooking, gardening and yoga. My main passion, however, outside of writing and reading, is theater. I try to see as much theater as I possibly can — from Broadway to off-off-off-off-Broadway, I see it all — although it is a little tougher these days than it was in my carefree youth. In addition to writing fiction, I am a playwright, and every play I see helps me with my craft. Plus, I just love it. I have not yet written a novel with a theatrical setting, although my short story "A Fellow of Infinite Jest," (Ellery Queen, Nov. 2009) was set in a summer stock theater.
OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?
NM: As a child, I read just about everything: books by Judy Blume, Roald Dahl, Astrid Lingred, Beverly Cleary, and many, many others. And of course Nancy Drew. When I was in 7th grade, a teacher assigned I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan. I was hooked. Lois Duncan and Joan Lowery Nixon were my favorite authors for a period of time. I also fell in love with the short stories of O'Henry. There was always a twist, which I loved. I think I began reading Agatha Christie's books around that time as well. In high school, I read a lot of classics. At one point, I got hooked on Thomas Hardy — his stuff is just so tragic — and I spent a summer reading his books. But I always loved reading mysteries, and always thought I would write them some day.
OMN: What's next for you?
NM: I'm currently revising a young adult novel that I've been working on for a while. This one is a paranormal romance/thriller, but it also has a beach setting. I'm also at work on another short story with a theatrical setting. My blog Not Even Joking also keeps me very busy. I enjoy interviewing writers as part of the "Book Bites" segment of the blog, and also profiling creative people. I find that I am inspired by the creativity and determination of my fellow writers and artists! Other than that, I keep busy raising an extremely active toddler. I can't wait for her to be old enough to read Swimming Alone. She already loves books, which makes me very, very happy!
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Nina Mansfield's plays have been produced throughout the United States and in Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia and Peru. Her short mystery fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Mysterical-E. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, the Dramatists Guild, and the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at NinaMansfield.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Swimming Alone by Nina Mansfield
A Young Adult Mystery
Publisher: Fire and Ice Young Adult Books
The Sea Side Strangler is on the loose in Beach Point, where fifteen-year-old Cathy Banks is spending the summer with her aunt (who happens to be mystery writer Roberta McCabe.) Although thrilled to be away from her psychotic, divorcing parents, with no cell phone or internet access, Cathy is positive that her summer is going to be wretched. Just when she begins to make friends, and even finds a crush to drool over, her new friend Lauren vanishes.
When a body surfaces in Beach Point Bay, Cathy is forced to face the question: has the Sea Side Strangler struck again?
— Swimming Alone by Nina Mansfield
