Author ~ Science Fiction ~ Sci-Fi ~ Young Adult ~ Childrens' ~ Literary Works by Nancy Reil Riojas ~ Sci-Fi ~ U.S. Copyright Office, Washington, D.C.
HomeLife of Nancy Reil Riojas ©
Born: Nancy Varela Reil
Nationality: American
Spouse: Johnny S. Riojas
Nancy Reil Riojas (born Nancy Varela Reil: July, 19 - ) is an American indie author, poet, copyeditor, literary critic, an autodidact, and considered a trailblazer in the Electronic Book Movement. Best known for sci-fi tales, emotional-moral narratives, and fast-paced fiction, they are electronically delivered to reading devices world-wide under the auspices of U.S. based Smashwords, the leading Ebook distributor that officially launched in 2008. Smashwords partners with Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, Flipkart, Inktera, Oyster, TXTR (in Berlin), Scribd, Overdrive, Library Direct, Gardners Extended Retailer, Gardners Library, Baker & Taylor Blio, and tens of thousands of libraries. Today, Smashwords authors reach fifty-one countries worldwide and growing, including the U.S., Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Finland, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and New Zealand to name a few.
Nancy was born in San Antonio, Texas at downtown Santa Rosa Hospital; she was the third child to Andrew Reil, a fourth generation German/Mexican American Texan who served in World War II wherein on April 11, 1945, he was one of the many American soldiers who encountered Holocaust massacred victims and assisted survivors in Buchenwald, Germany, the largest concentration camp.
Nancy is the second child to Felicidad Varela, a Mexican American Texan who is always setting goals and is extremely disciplined. Her father, a bus operator for the city of San Antonio was a man of many construction talents, talents which he practiced to earn enough money to move the young family out of a poor district and into a middle class neighborhood when she was one year old.
Nancy learned to straddle two cultures: her father’s anglicized sophistication and her mother’s deep roots in the romantic Mexican culture. Her mother, a strikingly beautiful woman, was often mistaken as one of the teenagers in the family. She was fluent in Spanish, sang Spanish songs, along with the popular KCOR radio station while tending to her children; whereas when Nancy’s father, fluent in English and Spanish, arrived home from work he immediately switched the radio to a country western station or played country western records by Marty Robbins and Johnny Horton. During the 1950s, their neighbors were a melting pot of interesting families to say the least: German Americans, Italian Americans, English Americans, Mexican Americans, and Oriental Americans, among whom discrimination reared its ugly head from time to time.
Her father purchased a brand new Royal typewriter for her when she was eleven and said, “That will be your bread and butter.” Before leaving on a date during coming of age was an embarrassment with a strict, straightforward father. One of the “greatest generation” he announced, “Just remember, you are in charge of your zipper.”
Her parents divorced and sometime afterward her mother established a food catering business and later paid off their home, sold it, purchased a different home, sold that one, invested her money and moved into an apartment. Her mother learned to speak, read, and write English and always prided herself on the fact that she never relied on anyone for financial assistance, not even her own children, “Not one cent,” she said but also taught them to provide for themselves, “Don’t ask me for money, not one cent.” At eighty-four she negotiated and purchased a brand new car and gleamed, “I live a glorious life.”
Before he passed away, Nancy’s father shared a vision he had had for his children. He chose that first house, he said, because it was within the boundary lines of a college-preparatory high school which he insisted his children attend. Two of Nancy’s brothers attained their college degrees, one brother attended college same as Nancy; all four established businesses that contributed to the growth and development of San Antonio, Bexar County, and the State of Texas.
Nancy graduated in the 1960s from Thomas Jefferson College Preparatory High School (elevated core curriculum) and was hired as a Stenographer at the age of eighteen for the Bexar County Adult Probation Office. After five years she enrolled at San Antonio College, majoring in English Language and Literature yet did not accomplish a degree, instead married and bore two children. Soon thereafter, NBC Bank hired her as an administrative assistant. Years later in 1989, she passed the Texas State Board of Realtors exam at first attempt. She served as an agent, and always managed her sales business under the auspices of a real estate brokerage firm. For twenty-one years she surpassed sales goals, earned awards, and achieved designations: Top Realtor twelve years, Remax 100% Club Member, Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), Graduate of the Realtor Institute (GRI), Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR), and “Who’s Who in America?” 2006 – 2009.
During the first few years as an agent, Nancy uncovered two serious discrepancies at two different intervals concerning the transfer of home insurance coverage from seller to buyer within the Texas Residential Listing Agreement and the Texas Residential Sales Contract, overlooked by the L B Committee since the documents’ inceptions. The discrepancies surfaced during purchase negotiations of two of Nancy’s homes listed for sale. After Nancy informed her broker, the Texas Residential Listing Agreement amendment was voted upon during a Lawyer-Broker Committee hearing and passed within six months. When Nancy informed her broker the details of the second discrepancy, the Texas Residential Sales Contract amendment was passed within eight months because legal ramifications to and or between brokers, realtors, sellers, and buyers were highly feasible. Nancy was never involved in any type of lawsuit or complaints filed through the Grievance Committee, and was never fined during her entire real estate history. Nancy's Texas Real Estate License record is publicly posted on the Texas Real Estate Commission website.
She retired 2010 after forty-two years of working and embarked on a second career, authoring. Her goal: encourage all children to read ―yet target Mexican American children and young adults to read beyond school requirements by featuring in her ebooks bold, mainstream Mexican American protagonists who persevere through adversity (such as Angela Garza in Moonshiner The Wolf and Ortiz, Garcia, and Ramirez in Monster at My Window and Night Invaders). These characters conform to the contemporary Anglo Saxon culture, the culture that students learn to live by, and the culture that dominates teachings in public schools where most Mexican American students attend.
Nancy’s first publication was a slim paperback, Moonshiner, suited for children, but after eleven months she cancelled it from the market, “I could have said more. Something held me back, but now I have the confidence to say it.” The replacement evolved into an adult short novel, her magnum opus, Moonshiner The Wolf. The Sci-fi novella Monster at My Window and the short novel sequel Night Invaders followed (soon to be released), along with short stories and flash-fiction narratives of which several evolved from her childhood years, some revelatory, controversial, or derived from catastrophic acts of nature that threatened to kill her or the family: Flood of 1965, Hannibal, Steven, Visiting Mary, and The Rabbi’s Books. Poetry by Nancy Reil Riojas consists of over one hundred poems classified as narrative, dramatic, free verse, and lyric.
Work History Overview
Literary Works by Nancy Reil Riojas
Texas Author
2010 – Present (8 years)
While she imagines the real and the fantastic, there can be nothing more satisfying than writing her thoughts. She outlines, composes, and copyedits her short novels, novellas, novelettes, and short stories. After her editor's revisions and blessings, she copyrights the narratives and uploads them to Smashwords for distribution to popular Ebook websites.
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Texas Realtor ~ Remax International
October 1989 – November 2010 (21 years 2 months) San Antonio, Texas
Nancy specialized in representing both sellers and buyers of residential/commercial properties. As a self-employed business owner, she was responsible for all expenses related to building and running her business.
Duties related to selling real property: Honored the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the National Association of Realtors; helped clients determine the value of property they wanted to sell; prepared market analysis statistics; provided tips to help sellers stage property; advertised listed property; hosted caravans; hosted open houses; negotiated contracts with buyers and/or agents acting on their behalf; educated sellers about disclosure requirements; facilitated the closing process on behalf of client.
Duties related to purchasing real estate: Honored the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the National Association of Realtors; provided prospective clients with information that helped them identify areas to look for property; researched listings of property for sale; helped buyers identify properties that met their needs; showed homes to clients; negotiated purchase agreements with sellers and/or their agents; verified that appropriate facts about the property were disclosed to clients; coordinated various aspects of the closing process on behalf of clients.
In closing, she was responsible for building her own clientele, and so spent a significant amount of time marketing her services in addition to dealing with real estate transactions. She did her best to provide exceptional customer service, which is an essential part of the job description of a Realtor, and those efforts lifted her into the Remax 100% club membership. Because of the nature of the business, successful real estate agents' long-term success is often closely tied to referral business and repeat customers. Successful Realtors know the independent nature of this work and dedicate significant time, energy, and effort to building a successful business for themselves.
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Professional and Executive Loan Department Administrative Assistant
National Bank of Commerce
February 1983 – April 1989 (6 years 3 months)San Antonio, Texas
Responsible for servicing elite customers of the Professional and Executive Division at National Bank of Commerce, namely doctors, lawyers, and various business owners.
Helped to verify that business loans were processed in accordance with established regulations and bank policies; demonstrated accuracy and thoroughness; gathered and analyzed information skillfully; met commitments; participated in meetings; ensured quality customer service by resolving issues in a timely manner; responded promptly to customer needs; solicited customer feedback to improve service; focused on solving conflicts, not blaming; maintained confidentiality; contributed to building a positive team spirit; supported everyone's efforts to succeed; worked well in group problem solving situations; used reason even when dealing with emotional topics; asked for and offered help when needed.
It was during her service at National Bank of Commerce that Nancy ascertained a fraudulent loan. As a result an employee was found guilty in a court of law, was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $350,000.00 to NBC Bank and served probation time.
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Stenographer
Bexar County Adult Probation Office
May 1970 – January 1976 (5 years 9 months)San Antonio, Texas
Nancy transcribed, from her shorthand, Presentence Investigation Reports dictated by Bexar County Adult Probation Officers. Psychological Evaluations of offenders were also transcribed. Together, these reports enabled Bexar County Judges to decide whether to grant or deny probation to offenders. If probation was granted, same reports were also instrumental in determining appropriate sentences for said probationers.
Causes Nancy Reil Riojas cares about:
- Children
- Education
- Animal Welfare
- Arts and Culture
- Health
Organizations Nancy Reil Riojas supports:
Writers' Guild of Texas
Fiction Writers Guild
Latino and Latina Writers Group
Authors and Publishers Association
Independent Writers
Religious affiliation:
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
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