Nancy Milholland

How many people do you know who were born in Montana? I grew up on a hobby farm in Sonoma County, complete with pet cows named after the Apostles, apple pie for breakfast and 4H. Orchards and pastures were my stage; I re-enacted scenes from favorite shows and wrote my own scripts based on Sunday school assignments. I also read the dictionary and the encyclopedia for fun and inspiration. My parents thought I was 'unique' because I talked to myself. A lot. Still do. After years of studying Method acting in San Francisco and pursuing acting in Los Angeles - I realized I must totally suck. I never got a job. But, the most important thing I wanted to do was tell stories, it didn't matter if I was the actor - in fact I could tell more stories if I was the author. My first production was, "The Pet Shop" a local cable series focused on rescue/adoption of shelter pets. Think Wayne's World for dogs instead of rock stars.
From there, my two hour a day reading habit has informed, expanded and enlightened my writing to include subjects as diverse as: Marie Antoinette, Ethicists, Police K-9s, the animated personification of Clouds, the NFL, NASA's history with female astronauts and Mounted Deputies. My first thriller novel: The Uninherited, deals with the repercussions of secret adoptions, switched-at-birth scenarios, the vagaries/villainy of genetics: nature vs nurture, and challenges the idea that the maternal instinct is sacrosanct. It is semi-autobiographical.
As a female story teller, my goal is to share everyone's story. There is no strong female character - to me that is redundant. Every character is strong otherwise they don't belong in the script.