Author Archives: Nancy Pinard

About Nancy Pinard

Professionally-speaking, Nancy Pinard is an author-educator who spends her days writing, teaching, reading, and researching for her writing and teaching. She is the author of two published novels, Shadow Dancing and Butterfly Soup, and numerous short stories. She has taught the craft of fiction writing in many venues including Sinclair Community College, University of Dayton Life-Long Learning Institute, Antioch Writers' Workshop, Mad Anthony Writers' Workshop, and Molasses Pond Writers' Workshop. Personally, her faith is what sustains, inspires, and motivates her to continue to explore meaning through literature. "You are right in demanding that an artist approach his work consciously, but you are confusing two concepts: the solution of a problem and the correct formulation of a problem. Only the second is required of the artist." — Anton Chekov to Alexei Suvorin, October 27, 1888

An Exercise in Point-of-View

Posted on 8. June 2011 by Nancy Pinard

I’m working on a scene where it’s hard to understand Einstein’s behavior.  It’s mid-July, 1901, and Mileva is about to re-sit her exams at the Polytech, having failed them the summer before.  It’s her last chance to pass, and, oh-my-god, … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, family members, Fictional biography, historical fiction, Mettmenstetten, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, point of view, Serbia, Switzerland, writing | 3 Comments

Einstein’s Particular Genius

Posted on 17. May 2011 by Nancy Pinard

“Nothing new comes of thinking about a problem the same way we created it,” Einstein said.  It was a good rationale for his reluctance to repeat experiments and collect data that had already been collected by someone else or to … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, genius | Leave a comment

Einstein’s Particular Genius

Posted on 17. May 2011 by Nancy Pinard

“Nothing new comes of thinking about a problem the same way we created it,” Einstein said.  It was a good rationale for his reluctance to repeat experiments and collect data that had already been collected by someone else or to … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, genius | Leave a comment

Time Out for History

Posted on 2. May 2011 by Nancy Pinard

Is it alright, I ask myself, to take a day off writing historical fiction to experience history unfolding?   The fact that I ask that question gives you a clue to how OC I can be about writing.  Today, the day … Continue reading →

Posted in 9/11, anthrax, Colin Powell, death, George W. Bush, historical fiction, Laura Bush, Mohammad ElBaradei, reading, Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz, Usama Bin Ladin, Weapons of Mass Destruction, World Trade Center, writing | 3 Comments

My Reading of Fictional Biographies

Posted on 25. April 2011 by Nancy Pinard

One of the ways writers make decisions is to read similar work by other authors.  I have recently begun to check out fictional biographies from Dayton’s three library systems, to see how other writers have handled some of the problems.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Darwin, Diego Rivera, Einstein, Fictional biography, fictional truth, Flower Festival: Feast of Santa Anita, historical fiction, Jim Shepard, Max Phillips, reading, The Artist's Wife, The Writer's Notebook: Craft Essays from Tin House, writing | 2 Comments

Einstein’s violin

Posted on 24. February 2011 by Nancy Pinard

I’m working on a scene where Albert Einstein is playing a largo movement of a Handel sonata for violin and piano. (He was quite an accomplished violinist, and some biographers guess that through his violin he expressed the intimate emotions … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, genius, Pauline Einstein, Violin | Leave a comment

Einstein’s violin

Posted on 24. February 2011 by Nancy Pinard

I’m working on a scene where Albert Einstein is playing a largo movement of a Handel sonata for violin and piano. (He was quite an accomplished violinist, and some biographers guess that through his violin he expressed the intimate emotions … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, genius, Pauline Einstein, Violin | Leave a comment

The Wonders of Google Maps

Posted on 22. February 2011 by Nancy Pinard

I’ve written before about what a handicap it is to write about a setting I’ve never visited.  I can read descriptions in books–and in the case of Albert Einstein, some of the biographers are fine writers who provide me with … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, family members, Google Maps, Mettmenstetten, reading, Research methods, Switzerland, writing | Leave a comment

German Jewish Family Values

Posted on 15. February 2011 by Nancy Pinard

Additional research–my thanks to Marion Kaplan for her book The Making of the Jewish Middle Class–reveals that as laws in Germany allowed Jews freedom to join the professions and become upwardly mobile, the German ideals of cleanliness entered the Jewish … Continue reading →

Posted in Marion Kaplan, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, reading, Research methods, Serbia, writing | Leave a comment

Why did Einstein’s mother hate his wife?

Posted on 12. February 2011 by Nancy Pinard

In an effort to understand Pauline Einstein’s (Albert’s mother) outright rejection of  her son’s love for Mileva Maric, I did some research on Jewish family values in Germany from 1870 -1900. The obvious answer might be that Mileva was raised … Continue reading →

Posted in Einstein, family members, Mileva Maric, Pauline Einstein, reading, Research methods | Leave a comment