Nancy Schoellkopf is a California poet and novelist who writes stories with spiritual themes. She is the author of the Avian Series of Novels: Yellow-Billed Magpie, Red-Tailed Hawk, and Ghost Owl. She writes a weekly blog that includes poetry, essays, and book reviews, but most often celebrates #FlashFictionFridays with a very short, short story. Nancy spent 30 years teaching Special Education classes in urban school districts. A full-time writer now, she enjoys hiking, baking, and spending time with her cats and her supportive circle of family and friends.
About Catherine Over Water
Set amid the yellowed skies and swirling ash of a California city during fire season, Catherine Over Water follows Mythology Professor Catherine Moss who remains trapped in the anger stage of grief, five years after her daughter Sierra’s disappearance.
When a crow swoops down one smoky August afternoon and begins speaking to her, Catherine assumes it’s a cruel joke. Catherine also lives with face blindness, an inability to recognize even those she knows well. Crows, however, are masters of facial recognition. Soon the crow, whom Catherine names Veronica, is perched on her shoulder, whispering the names of students and colleagues into her ear, becoming an unlikely support animal and companion.
Through Veronica, Catherine meets Mari, a young, unhoused artist with her own complicated relationship to loss. Together, they guide Catherine toward confronting her deepest fear: not that Sierra is dead, but that she might one day return irrevocably changed.
The interview
Why do you write in the genres that you do?
After many years of writing, I’ve finally arrived at a place where the content of my writing grows holistically out of my writing process. You see, I’m a pantser.
I don’t plan, I don’t plot, I write by the seat of my pants. I sit down with a vague idea, supplemented by a prompt or two from a friend or an online source, and I start writing.
I begin with a character who is searching for something, or who feels confused. I create a setting with seasonal plants, food, and weather, then I allow the words to flow.
If I get stuck, perhaps my protagonist will magically transform into an animal or a bird, or maybe a pack of coyotes will show up to guide her. I just don’t like to be constrained by the logic of so-called reality.
That’s why I write Magical Realism. At least on the first draft.
Do you have a muse?
I have had many muses:
- The night custodian at the first elementary school where I taught, who became my spiritual guide and my dear friend
- The ivy league-educated homeless man who came to my door when he saw the Buddhist chant I’d written in the wet cement and who soon became precious to my heart
- The special ed kids who I worked with for 30 years, who were more fun than you can possibly imagine
- The sandhill cranes who arrive every fall to winter in our valley
- The yellow-billed magpies, the hawks, hummingbirds, phoebes, towhees, rabbits, deer, and coyotes who all greet me near the river behind my house.
- And of course, in my new novel Catherine Over Water, there’s Veronica—a free crow—who lives in my imagination.
Fill in the blank: “People will like your book if they like stories about…”
People will like my book Catherine Over Water if they like optimistic stories about characters who are searching for a way out of grief, anger, or stagnation, characters who are ready to encounter a bit of magic that may lead them to new attitudes, new friends, new lives. Readers who’ve enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures, The Storied Life of A.J. Frkry, or The Measure may find something to love in my story too. For anyone who feels like they’re stuck in limbo, I hope my story will show them there are ways to find joy.
Would you rather own a bookstore or run a library?
When I was teaching, my instructional assistants and I had an idea that one day we would own a coffee house (even though I don’t much like coffee). We figured we’d bring our students with us, and all day long we’d make muffins and scones and cookies. Then readers would come to talk about books with me, and writers would come and write with me.
Of course, once I dissected this fantasy a bit, I realized what I really wanted was not to own the coffee house. But to hang out in the coffee house, with my students and my writer friends, eating and writing and talking all day.
If Hollywood bought the rights to your book, would you want it to be turned into a movie or series?
I have a fantasy that Catherine Over Water will be developed as an animated film with both cartoon and collage, very colorful and a bit surreal as the story winds from summer into fall. Or maybe it will begin with black and white live action, and then shift into animation as Catherine’s relationship deepens with Veronica, a free crow.
It would be a bit like The Wizard of Oz because at the end, reality will re-set with live action characters, but the vivid colors of the film will remain. I think that would be a good way to symbolize the changes in the lives of Catherine and her artist friend, Mari.
Who is your dream audiobook narrator?
I had never considered this before, because I seldom listened to audiobooks. But now that Catherine Over Water is coming out as an audiobook, I am thrilled to have found John Marshall Media who introduced me to the work of Rebecca Avery. She is a gifted narrator, and I’ve fallen in love with her voice.
The audio book for Catherine Over Water will be available at the usual online outlets, as well as the John Marshall Media website.
Who would you most want to read your book, living or dead?
My late parents. I would love to be able to share this excitement with them.
Who is on your Mt. Rushmore of greatest/inspirational authors?
Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, Toni Morrison, and Madeleine L’Engle.
What is the most unique way that an idea for a piece of writing has come to you.
Most of the time, ideas come as I am writing, and I allow these intuitive musings to direct the plot and character development. With Catherine Over Water, it was a little bit different.
I worked as a teacher with children who have severe disabilities for over thirty years. At one point I was reading a book about sensory integration disorders—something that could affect anyone really, but nearly always affects people who are on the autism spectrum.
One of the disorders I was surprised to read about is face blindness, an inability to recognize even familiar people. I realized that this happens to me sometimes too.
Around the same time, I heard a story on the radio about a group of ornithologists who captured and banded crows on their university campus. The crows were apparently displeased at this treatment, and they began to attack the scientists whenever they saw them. Soon crows off-campus were pelting them too.
It appeared that the crows were spreading the word that these particular humans were not to be trusted. Intrigued (and also scared), the scientists decided they should devise experiments to test crows’ facial recognition abilities. After much study, they concluded that crows were unsurpassed at this skill.
I thought, wouldn’t it be great to have a seeing-eye crow, who would sit on my shoulder and help me out if I didn’t recognize someone? And so, the concept of Catherine and her relationship with a free crow was born.
But a woman who needs a seeing-eye crow is a situation, not a story, so I had to give them more to experience together. I tried various scenarios, but the idea of a lost daughter had the most energy. And so, Catherine Over Water was born.
Have you ever gone away to work on a piece of writing? If not, where would you go if you could?
I used to think going away to a secluded spot to write would be a good idea, but after a few trials, I discovered it doesn’t really work for me. I am most comfortable, and most able to create, in my own home base, with my two cats, and my own writing group.
I’ve been writing with the same writing companions for well over a decade now, and with their support I feel a great freedom to be daring and innovative. These aren’t people who necessarily critique my writing—no, these are my friends with whom I actually sit down and write, together.
At least once a week, we meet and we write. And this has made all the difference.
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