Writing with Purpose and the Magic of Nantucket: How Nancy Thayer Published 35 Bestsellers

Why is Nantucket such a powerful setting for novels about renewal and reinvention? The island seems to be a place where life can change in the course of a summer, especially for those in midlife facing an empty nest or a change in a relationship.  

As author Nancy Thayer explains, Nantucket is for many people a magical place that changed her own life and now provides a setting where her characters can reset and start over.  Thayer has turned that magic into an amazing 35 novels, most of them set on island, focusing on the lives of ordinary women who can find respite from life issues of raising kids, family relationships and marriages. She also shares her writing process and her embrace of social media to stay in touch with her many fans.

Over the more than 40 years of her writing career, she has broken ground on topics not addressed in the novels of the time, such as step-parenting. With the Hot Flash Club series, she addressed menopause long before it became a mainstream topic.

Covered in the podcast:

• Why she focuses on the lives of ordinary women across all generations, who have often been left out of literature

• How and why she incorporates changing social norms into her stories

• Her highly disciplined writing process enables her to produce a new novel every year

• Her encouragement for aspiring writers in midlife,

• Her use of social media to connect with readers

• The enduring importance of physical books, how the act of reading is an intimate, personal experience essential for mental health.

About Nancy Thayer:

She is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including Summer Light on Nantucket, All the Days of Summer and Summer Love and many more.  Born in Kansas, Thayer has for forty years been a resident of Nantucket, where she currently lives with her husband Charley.