Nancy Elizabeth Hofeling Anderson
and Family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was born in 1950 in Lovell, Wyoming to a mother who quoted Chaucer to her children in Old English and a father who was a master storyteller. No wonder I found making up stories in my head as natural as breathing! My imagination helped me manage the sadness I felt when we moved from our well-loved home to Colorado, South Dakota and eventually to Minnesota.

Even though I grew up in a family of readers, I preferred playing outside to reading until 1960. That summer, I spent a month on my grandparents’ Wyoming farm with a cousin who loved reading more than anything else. Out of boredom I started reading the books she finished and was immediately hooked. Writing down the stories in my head seemed the logical next step. English and creative writing became my favorite subjects in every school I attended.

After my first year at BYU I married James Wayne Anderson, the love of my life. I began my life-long career in self-education when I put my studies on hold to help him through graduate school. If I needed a new skill there was always a book to read, a class to take, or someone to talk to who knew more than I on the subject.

For example, when we started our family, I took classes on parenting. When our budget needed boosting, I learned to garden and can fruits and vegetables. I took classes to qualify to teach the Great Books program in our children's school and attended the district in-service programs for teachers to improve my teaching skills. I took vocal lessons to bring music into our lives. I studied watercolor techniques and have decorated our home with my paintings. I became proficient in home nursing so that I could for my children and help my mother-in-law and mother through their last days.

When my teenagers began singing in their school's renaissance festival, I threw myself into the study of costume design and construction. Over the 11 years that I was the costume mistress for the festival, I designed and sewed over 50 costumes, including one patterned after a famous painting of King Henry VIII.

Now an empty nester, I have been pursuing my life-long goal of being a published author. I'm blessed to have the support of my husband, my five children and eleven grandchildren. I'm also blessed to have two gifted writers as my mentors and co-authors: my sister, Carroll Hofeling Morris, and my long-time friend, Lael Littke. The novels of our series, The Company of Good Women, reflect what I look for in good books--family relationship stories of challenge and growth based on strong gospel principles.

Even though writing is now a main focus in my life, being a wife, mother and grandmother still is my number one job. I'll always make time to play in the garden with my grandchildren, read the stories they like the best and tuck them in at night when they stay over.