A short biography...
Author and wildlife artist Nancy Quinn is a leading creative force. She is noted as the author who "paints with words", and has won prestigious literary and art awards. She lives with her family, dogs, and horses in the wilds of Montana, sharing the modern western experience through her books, art, and videos.
A Note from Nancy...
Books have always been such an influence in my life; I secretly wondered if I would ever write one. I had greatly admired the books written by James Herriot, and being a wildlife artist and having a love for animals, I enjoyed the stories of his encounters and relationships with dogs, cats, and livestock. I had many personal experiences with both domestic and exotic wildlife, I often thought my own true stories might make an interesting read.
When my husband and I moved our family from Washington, D.C., to a rural mountain in Montana, I felt I finally had a story worth sharing in the written word. My debut book, Go West, Young Woman! won the Will Rogers Medallion Award for excellence in western writing.
We wanted to pursue a more pastoral lifestyle, hoping our days would be calmer and less hectic. We endured a steep learning curve those first five years, and the subsequent books, Stay West, Young Woman! and Still West of Nowhere! chronicle many of our more comical and dangerous experiences. Now our nearest neighbors are hummingbirds, songbirds, magpies, crows, owls, ospreys, hawks, eagles, grass snakes, ants, spiders, deer, elk, moose, horses, cows, foxes, coyotes, wolves, chipmunks, squirrels, mice, rats, rabbits, skunks, marmots, beavers, badgers, bobcats, cougars, and bears – to name a few! Hardly a day goes by without a visit from one of them, though they’ve yet to ask me for a cup of sugar.
Painting of horse by Nancy Quinn is featured in her first book, Go West, Young Woman!
Hope and faith are recurring themes throughout the books, along with perseverance and the need to cultivate a humorous perspective on life. Dreams don’t come true without a continual effort. Even though you may fail at first, or encounter hardship, there is a greater success if one keeps on trying, again and again. Humor helps, especially when times are difficult. I want people to find my books uplifting; that is my primary goal.
I have been writing about our frontier life for 13 years now and have completed a trilogy of our homesteading adventures. I know I’m a fish out of water with my city ways and I still continue to blend the elements of two different lifestyles.
Being able to combine my careers in art and writing is a blessing too. I have many of my illustrations in my books of the wildlife we encounter in our daily life.
I invite you all to come west with us through my books, art, and videos. You don’t even have to get your boots muddy!
Drawing of cougar by Nancy Quinn is featured in her second book, Stay West, Young Woman!
Nancy's books are a mix of "Little House on the Prairie", James Herriot stories, and "Green Acres" TV program.
Drawing of bear by Nancy Quinn is featured in her third book, Still West of Nowhere!
Here are Nancy Quinn's books in order of publication.
Go West, Young Woman! Cougars on our swing? Moose in our driveway? Choosing to leave Washington D.C. for a Montana mountain was a culture shock for the Quinn family. Enjoy their true comical and dangerous adventures as they discover the real meaning of the "Code of the West."
Stay West, Young Woman! Although a little more savvy. The Quinn's continue to face, mercurial weather, wild animals, unorthodox neighbors, and an expanding family of horses and dogs, as they homestead along America's Continental Divide.
I'm excited to announce Nancy's new release, Still West of Nowhere! It was on Amazon's Best Seller's List for 3 days!
Still West of Nowhere! There is a mystique about the American west, do any of the traditional concepts of the old west remain viable today? Still West of Nowhere! recounts the Quinn's most recent escapades as they continue to adapt to their wilderness homestead.
Nancy Quinn's Contact Information:
A special thanks to Nancy Quinn for joining us today.
Should you be interested in one of my Christian books, here they are for your convenience.
Not Again, a young adult Christian romance.
Love Knots: Stories of Faith, Family and Friendships, a 40 day devotional.
Thank you so much, I hope my work comforts and inspires everyone.
Maria, They sure sound like it.
Lori, Nancy's books are great combination!
This is quite the mix of faith and adventure