Nancy J. Kopp

I wanted to write as long as I can remember, but Life got in the way. College, teaching third and fourth grades, marriage and motherhood, giving emotional support to my husband in his career, being an active community volunteer—all these things proved to be barriers in my desire to write. Maybe they were also good excuses. In my mid-fifties I told myself it was now or never. I began by taking a correspondence course to learn to write for children. After Lesson 1, I was hooked. I completed the course, read every writer’s handbook I could find, joined a writer’s critique group and attended local writer’s conferences. And I wrote many children’s stories, submitted them to juvenile magazines and collected rejection slips--until that special day when I sold my first story. What a thrill it was. I still get rejection slips, but I’ve also sold several of my children’s stories.

I branched out and tried to write fiction for adults, then moved into essays and creative nonfiction. It was there I found a true niche. I enjoyed this kind of writing and had many acceptances at various internet e-zines and a few magazines. I’ve also written many articles on writing for various writer’s e-zines. The old teacher never dies, I guess. In fact, I feel that I’ve continued to use my teaching skills through the written word.

But you may want to know a little more about me. I grew up in a Chicago suburb, attended IL State University and lived in a couple small towns in IL after I married. My husband, who operated trust departments in banks, wanted to make a major move when our children were 3 and 7 years old. So, off we went on a big adventure. The Chicago girl ended up living in the heart of the Flint Hills of Kansas. Manhattan is home to Kansas State University. It didn’t take us long to fall in love with the tallgrass prairie and the hills here. Years later, when our children were on their own, we went back to northern IL for 6 years until my husband retired. We returned to to Manhattan, KS and have been here ever since. Our son lives in Dallas and our daughter in Kansas City, so we are within easy visiting distance. We have three granddaughters and another grandchild on the way. They truly light up our life.

My Chicago background and many years of living in Kansas figure prominently in my writing, along with my family memories. I discovered that there is a mystery writer whose name is also Nancy Kopp, so to make a difference I’ve added my maiden name on my work. My dad, who is no longer living, would be so proud of that.

Ken and I like to travel in the US and overseas and both do a lot of volunteer work. My greatest form of relaxation is playing Bridge. I love to cook and bake and have never been bored a day in my life. There’s far too much to see and do.

Story ID:	196
Written by:	OurEcho Admin (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Story type:	In The Spotlight
Location:	Manhattan Kansas USA
Year:	2006
Person:	Nancy J. Kopp