Nancy Peacock does not have enough fingers and toes (it’s the standard issue of twenty) to count the number of times she’s quit this confounded writing business.
Yet somehow, she always comes back to it, and has finally come to accept it is not only her lot in life, but a damn good place to be. Peacock is a lover of stories and how they connect us human beings. She says that whatever happens in her career, rich or poor, published or not, she always wants to see what’s around the next bend, and this means what’s around the bend for whatever character has blessed her with a visit.
On the physical plane, she lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina, with her partner, Ben. When not writing she teaches writing, reads, cooks, weaves tapestries, and walks the Eno River. And occasionally cleans her house.
Publications and Awards:
Life Without Water – short story – St. Andrews Review – 1987
The Trip – short story – Winner – North Carolina Writers’ Network Fiction Syndicate – 1989
A Bag of Falling Stars – short story – finalist – O.Henry Festival Stories – 1991
The Plight of the Blue Collar Writer – essay – North Carolina Writers’ Network The Network News -1991
Loveline Lilly – short story – Honorable Mention – Spectator Fiction Contest – 1991
Maureen – short story – Sojourner – August 1994
Life Without Water – novel – Longstreet Press – hardback – October 1996
Chosen as a New York Times Notable Book – 1996 Paperback – Bantam- 1997 Published in Germany – hardback – Europa Verlag – 1998 Paperback – Europa Verlag – 1999
My Vita – Why I Became a Blue Collar Writer – essay – Southern Exposure – 1997
Home Across the Road – novel – Longstreet Press – hardback – October 1999
Paperback – Bantam – 2000 Published in Germany – hardback – Europa Verlag – 2000 Paperback – Europa Verlag – 2002
Story Ideas Come in Odd Packages – essay – Chapel Hill News – July 2005
Loveline Lilly – short story – Southern Arts Journal – Winter Issue 2006
To the Man Who Carried My Bag – poetry – Southern Arts Journal – Winter Issue 2006
Enquiring Minds – essay (mistakenly published as fiction)- Southern Arts Journal – Summer 2006
A Broom of One’s Own: Words on Writing, Housecleaning, and Life – memoir – Harper Perennial – a division of Harper Collins – April 2008
Cheryl Strayed – best-selling author of Wild, Torch, and Tiny Beautiful Things says of this book, “Each essay is an engaging, well-written, funny and poignant journey in Nancy Peacock’s generous spirit, humble heart and incisive mind.”
Refitting Your Suit – poetry – The Village Rambler – May/June 2008
English as a Second Language – poetry – Sugar Mule – Women Writing Nature Issue – August 2012
Three Haiku – haiku – Sugar Mule – Women Writing Nature Issue – August 2012
The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson – novel – originally self published through Lystra Books and Literary Services.
Winner of the 2013 ShelfUnbound Best Self Published Novel and winner of the 2015 Writer’s Digest Best Self Published Book in Mainstream Fiction
Picked up and published by Atria Press 2016
Grants Plus:
Hope James Foundation – For Career and Artistic Development – 2009
Hope James Foundation – For Writing Retreat – 2012
Piedmont Laureate of North Carolina – 2018