About Me

(Right-click on either photo to download.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m a retired fed, lover of aviation, spoiler of grandchildren, published author, short story writer, and aspiring novelist.

And I’m opinionated–really opinionated.

Six-word bio: “I never took the expected path.” Now, you know where the blog name comes from.

About the Author: Phyllis Anne Duncan is a retired bureaucrat with an overactive imagination–at least that’s what everyone has told her since she first started making up stories in elementary school prompted by her weekly list of spelling words.

A commercial pilot and former FAA safety official, she lives and writes in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. A graduate of Madison College (now James Madison University), she has degrees in history and political science. Her love of politics continues to this day.

Her first print collection of short stories was the 2000 paperback, Rarely Well Behaved, which, in 2012, became two separate, reissued books, Blood Vengeance and Fences. In December 2012, she published Spy Flash, a collection of espionage flash fiction stories.

Other short stories have appeared in eFiction Magazine in 2011 and 2012, in the 2013 Blue Ridge Anthology, and in 1 x 50 x 100, a collection of 100-word flash fiction to be released later this year. A short story, “Marakata,” submitted for WriterHouse’s 5th Anniversary Short Story Contest, won third place.

Ms. Duncan has studied writing at the Gotham Writers Workshop, Writers.com, and Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop. End Times, book one of a trilogy on domestic terrorism, was a semi-finalist in the 2011 James River Writers Best Unpublished Novel contest. Her freelance, feature articles on life in the Shenandoah Valley appear occasionally in the Staunton News-Leader.

She is a member of WriterHouse, James River Writers, Virginia Writers Club, Blue Ridge Writers, Shenandoah Valley Writers, SWAG (Staunton, Waynesboro, Augusta Group) Writers, and the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.

When not writing, reading, or reviewing books, she takes delight in spoiling her grandchildren and dabbles in local politics.

* * *

An audio interview with me about my book, Spy Flash, done at The Bookcast.

An interview with me about my experiences at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs 2013 Conference in Boston, MA, by writer friend, Jan Bowman. (Click on the word “interview” to go to the, well, interview.)

An interview with me by my good writer friend, Jan Bowman: http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com/2012/08/entry-84-writers-talk-phyllis-duncan.html (Part 1)

http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com/2012/08/entry-86-writers-talk-phyllis-duncan.html (Part 2)

Here is another interview with me featured on Writers Block: http://www.writersblockadminservices.co.uk/author-interview-phyllis-anne-duncan/

Here is a recent interview with me featured on the James River Writers web site: http://www.jamesriverwriters.org/phyllis-anne-duncan

PROFILE – PHYLLIS ANNE DUNCAN (aka Maggie)

Pets at home: Alas, none. I’m allergic to cats and dogs; fish are too high maintenance. I like to look at the farm next door and see the cattle, knowing I have to do nothing about them, unlike when I grew up.

Best advice you’ve ever been given: As a person/employee/manager, advice my Dad gave me: Treat everybody the way you want to be treated, and never ask anyone to do something you wouldn’t do. As a writer, advice from Sara Paretsky: They’re your characters. Write them exactly the way you want to write them.

Favorite motto or quote: My clan motto is Disce Pati, or “Learn to Suffer,” but that’s a bit of a downer. I prefer my six-word biography: “I never took the expected path.”

Favorite Author: Right now, Margaret Atwood tops the list. The list grows constantly, and the authors on it shift about in ranking.

Recent read: Drift by Rachel Maddow (non-fiction); Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.

Must-see TV: Just about anything on the Science Channel (I’m a frustrated astrophysicist.) and The History Channel 2; the evening line-up on MSNBC; Glee, NCIS, Bones, Castle, and The Mentalist. I won’t be happy until Keith Olbermann returns to television.

Dream Conversation: Vladimir Lenin

If you had the opportunity to sit down with President Obama, what would you say to him? Good job. Now, do better.

What’s on your bucket list? A trip to Ireland

Guilty Pleasure: Maker’s Mark

Dream Vacation: Participating in an archeological dig

Pet Peeve: Hypocrisy

If you could go back in time and experience life in another era, what would it be? As a historian, I’ve considered that; I even wrote a story about it, which appeared in eFiction Magazine. So, I’ll give the same answer: the moment the Big Bang erupted, so we could end that eternal debate.

Favorite Music: It depends on my mood, but it can vary from classical to country to hard rock to songs of the Irish Revolution to rock to opera, but no pop.

Favorite Food: French, hands down.

If you could own a famous work of art, what would it be? Picasso’s Guernica

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I’d never change a thing about myself or my life. That all combined to make me who I am now, and I’m pretty pleased with that. I wouldn’t mind, however, to have been luckier in love.

Thanks to the Staunton News Leader for the format of the profile.

Please like my Amazon Author Page and/or my Facebook Author Page.