Interview: Wife of Submarine Vet Shares Experiences

Hi! I am Carolyn Howard Johnson, your trusty New Book Review blogger and author of the multi award-winning HowTo Do It Frugally Series of books for writers. This blog has heretofore been exclusive for reviews but I thought I’d do a special series of interviews after I chatted with Jeanie Loiacono, President of Loiacono Literary Agency – Where ‘can’t’ is not in our vocabulary!  I thought sharing the interviews would help the many subscribers and visitors to this New Book Review blog, including authors, reviewers, and, of course, readers who just might find a new favorite author among the featured books and authors.

So, today welcome Mary Nida Smith.

As the wife of a submariner, she lived through many troubled day. Her husband, Melvin T, Smith, was one of these honorable men. He is a lifetime member of the USS Submarine Veterans Inc., (Holland Club) and the Vice Commander of the USS Submarine Veterans Base, Mountain Home, Arkansas and also former member of the Idaho Spuds-USS Submarine Veterans of WWII and the Northwest Regions/Idaho/Montana/Oregon/Washington. Through it all, she stuck by him—and wrote.

Mary Nida Smith, author, freelance writer, poet and photographer has lived in several states, submitting and publishing in local magazines and newspapers. Magazines: The Ozarks Mountaineer, Ozarks, Arkansas Living, Good Old Days, Polaris (WWII), Grit, Northwest Living (Field Editor), Storyteller (photographed cover), Salute, Journal of the Ozarks and contributed to the anthologies Echoes of the Ozarks and Women in Nature. Newspapers: Magic Valley Farm Lines (South Idaho Press-Clark newspapers), Port Orchard Independent (Washington- weekly column), Ozark Mountain News (Mountain Home, AR), and Oregon Journal (Portland - book reviews). Newsletters: U.S. Submarine of Veterans of WWII (Arkansas Diamond Chapter), Salute, Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI- Australia), SCBWI-Missouri, SCBWI-Arkansas, Ozarks Writers League (OWL), and Missouri Writers Guild.

1. What is your genre? Is it fiction or nonfiction? Nonfiction, but I do write other genres.
2. What made you want to be a writer? My first/second grade teacher said she liked my stories. I had lots of sisters and brothers I use to tell stories to, since we had no books in the house.
3. Of all the authors out there, who inspired you most? Jesus. Most were songs since we were a singing family.
4. What is your writing style? Do you outline? Linearly? By scene? Why?  I outline in my head and then put it on paper. That’s what storytellers do.
5. Do you write every day? How much? How long? I don’t write every day. I put words down every day. Sometimes they find themselves in a story or book.
6. Do you think reading is as important to writing for an author? Why? Yes, that helps you learn.
7. What are some of the things you would like to share with budding authors? Write, be yourself, don’t listen to naysayers and never give up.
8. Do you have any marketing and promotional advice, referrals, tips you would like to share? Be the best sales person you can be; if you’ve ever worked in retail stores you would have had to, or you may lose your job. Be kind to everyone.
9. Do you think conferences are beneficial? If so, what have you learned? Which ones do you frequent? Yes! Weekend retreats, workshops and conferences are great for making contacts, and learning from each other and speakers. Most of all, for me was to build confidence and to know I wasn’t dumb or silly to reach for my dream of being a writer.
10. Where can we find you, your books and when is your next event? Just Google me and my books and blogs all come up. My latest nonfiction is, Heroes Beneath the Waves: Submarine Stories of the Twentieth Century, which I dedicated to my loving husband, Melvin, who went on “eternal patrol” November 2015. http://submarinestories.blogspot.com  Mary Nida Smith Events  Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency, Jeanie Loiacono http://www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com/authors/mary-nida-smith

MORE ABOUT THE SPONSORING AGENT

Jeanie Loiacono, President, Loiacono Literary Agency

A facilitator of dreams, Jeanie Loiacono represents over eighty authors. Her forte is mystery, romance, thrillers, historical/military/southern fiction, and all quality fiction/nonfiction. Her passion is to see her authors succeed.

“There is nothing more rewarding than to hold one of my author’s books and know I helped bring it to fruition. I am so blessed and privileged to be able to work with some of the most talented writers in the world.” Jeanie.L@llallc.net  www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE INTERVIEWS--TO FIND GREAT READING OR TO NETWORK WITH AUTHORS--PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG. YOU ARE A WELCOME ADDITION TO THIS FAMILY WHO LOVES BOOKS! YOU'LL FIND A WINDOW TO DO THIS AT THE TOP OF THIS BLOG PAGE.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.