Cappo, Nan Willard 1955-

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CAPPO, Nan Willard 1955-

PERSONAL: Born March 5, 1955, in Traverse City, MI; daughter of Gradon F. (a chemical company executive) and Ellen (a nurse; maiden name, Connor) Willard; married Dirk F. Cappo (a financial consultant), 1983; children: Ellen, Emily, Mark. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: University of Notre Dame, B.A., 1977; University of Pittsburgh, M.B.A., 1981; Wayne State University, M.A., 2003. Religion: Roman Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, movies, international politics.

ADDRESSES: Home—Farmington, MI. Agent—Edite Kroll Literary Agency, 12 Grayhurst Park, Portland, ME 04102. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Novelist, 2000—. IBM marketing representative, 1982-87; Oakland Community College, English teacher, 2002—; leader of various writing workshops; public speaker. Odyssey of the Mind, coach, 1991-99.

MEMBER: Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Detroit Women Writers (chair of writers' conference, 2002).

AWARDS, HONORS: Judy Blume Contemporary Novel-in-Progress grant, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, 1992; nomination, Edgar Award for best young-adult mystery, 2003, for Cheating Lessons.

WRITINGS:

Cheating Lessons (young adult novel), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Natalie Wishbone, a young-adult novel.

SIDELIGHTS: Nan Willard Cappo told CA: "I always thought I'd be a writer someday, but until I quit my corporate job to stay home with my children, I never wrote fiction. Fortunately, a lifetime of reading had taught me more than I knew. The plot for Cheating Lessons came from my love of English literature, from coaching school teams in national competitions, and from my fascination with the difficulty most people, including me, have being honest all the time. As I wrote, the characters in the story began to remind me of people I knew. I changed their height and coloring to avoid libel charges and disinheritance. Bernadette is a bit like me at sixteen (though her memory is much better), and almost as smart as she thinks she is.

"My favorite review is the one in Horn Book, which calls Bernadette 'an adolescent who gains . . . friends when she learns to be a little less critical and who, while losing her naive confidence in adults, refreshingly maintains confidence in herself.' Bernadette's new tolerance for other people, now that she's seen how easy it is to do bad things for good reasons, is one of the things I like best about the book. Who doesn't face those temptations? Who doesn't wish the people you love could be a bit more lovable? But teenagers seem to like the scene where she hides in her teacher's closet while he takes off his shirt. Go figure.

"I have three teenagers of my own who supply me with plenty of material. Recently I began teaching college English, so my students, too, give me more ideas than they suspect. The best advice I have for young writers is to read like a writer. Try to figure out how authors did what they did, and then attempt the same thing, using your own material, of course. I pore over books by Anne Tyler and Jane Austen and Francine Prose—stories about things that matter, like courage and love and clever conversation. Some of my favorite writers for children are Anne Fine, Katherine Paterson, Nancy Farmer, Lynne Rae Perkins, and J. K. Rowling. For me, reading books I wish I'd written and trying to crack the code remains the best writing instruction in the world."