From Professor to Novelist: Moral Complexity and Family Secrets with Nancy Napier

Nancy K. Napier spent over 35 years as a Distinguished Professor at Boise State University, studying organizational creativity and leading executive programs in Vietnam, before becoming a mystery novelist. Her debut, A Case of Too Many Deaths, follows a rookie lawyer racing to save an aunt on death row, while her second novel, The Art of Lies, set in Hanoi's art world, explores a museum curator uncovering forgeries tied to her own family.In this episode, Nancy shares what it was like becoming a beginner again after decades as the expert in the room, how her academic research into creativity shaped, or complicated, her own creative process, and what she calls "formalized curiosity," poking and prying with purpose in service of a story. She also opens up about researching genetics, courtrooms, and art forgery for her two very different novels.What We Talked About:Becoming a beginner again after 35+ years as an academic expertHow studying creativity shaped her own creative processResearching genetics and courtrooms for her debut novelUncovering how art forgery works for The Art of LiesFinding ideas from Vietnam to Botswana to her own backyardConnect with Nancy Napier:Website: nancyknapier.comFacebook, Instagram & LinkedIn: linked on her profile