Meet Valerie Niemerg | Author, Cancer Survivor, Foster Mom & Retired Opera Singer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Valerie Niemerg and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Valerie, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I’m a retired opera singer. I took a risk every time I opened my mouth and pushed air out in front of three thousand strangers. Singing is always a risk. Everytime you inhale! But you take that risk because you have faith in something beyond the possible humiliation. You have faith in yourself. Not in some vain “I’m better than other people” sort of way, but more like faith in your human nature. Faith that being a human is a good thing, and that even though we do things wrong, we are still striving to do things right. One of those things is to make beauty. So we sing.

I took a huge risk in publishing my first work of fiction. Before Elly Uncomposed was out there, I remember staring at the ceiling during many sleepless nights, wondering if people were going to laugh at me. You have these terrible visions of everyone who hated you in high school and college, sneering at your pedantic story and all the mistakes your editing missed. . .

But then beneath it all, there is this silent impulse that keeps telling you we have to try. We have to take that risk and keep creating, keep making beauty, and keep trying to find a level of communication between us, a communication that is the mystery of art. It brings us together. It is what makes us human.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
When I was seven years old, I was at a piano lesson for which, yet again, I had not bothered to practice. My teacher, knowing I was a person of faith, and trying to prompt me to practice my piano scales, said “You know, when you get to Heaven, God is going to ask you what you did with the musical talent He gave you.”

My feet still did not touch the floor, but dangled off the piano bench as I swung my little torso around, looked her squarely in the eyes and said “I’m gonna tell Him I was a singer!”

Singing was something I was born with in my heart. I went to a wonderful performing arts high school in Natick, Massachusetts and then to the Eastman School of Music. I didn’t have a huge career, but I got to sing all around the United States and a little bit in Europe. I got to sing many of my dream opera roles repeatedly on stages with orchestras and many great artists. I had a blast. It was an amazing way to live. Singing your heart out day in and day out and telling stories that have been moving people for centuries. You feel like you’re a part of something. A huge movement, a wave of beauty and stories that has been running across humanity for centuries, and I was a part of that.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them hiking! Pike’s Peak baby (Okay we’d drive up there) But Colorado Springs has so many amazing trails – you could never do them all! I especially love the trails that include water, like Seven Bridges, or stone structures, like Painted Mines.

I would go on road trips to Durango, The Great Sand Dunes and Estes park. But in Steamboat Springs (my favorite) we’d sit in Strawberry Park hot springs and camp alongside the Yampa river, go biking along the river, (after tubing it several times of course) and end in breathtaking Botanical Gardens. Finally, we’d go into town and eat some of those crazy hamburgers at Back Door Grill!

Here in the Springs, I’d take them to a show at the Fine Arts Center and then to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for some wild candied apples!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My Beta readers! I am so grateful to Mark Reidinger, Barb Parsons, William Nuessle, Kathryne Jennings, Steve Pivovar and everyone who read Elly Uncomposed and gave me valuable honest feedback. These voices gave me both the encouragement to continue writing and the inestimable gift of their time and energy to tell me what worked and what did not. As a singer, you always need a coach outside of your head, where everything sounds like fairies and butterflies, to tell you how it sounds to everyone else. As a writer, you need honest readers who will guide you to a more universal literary experience. Thank you all!

Website: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B09VZTJJ2G

Twitter: @ValerieNiemerg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100080885423008

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@valerieniemergauthor https://www.amazon.com/Elly-Uncomposed-Novel-Valerie-Niemerg/dp/B09XZMCNPK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=RPRPGQGB4X2H&keywords=elly+uncomposed&qid=1652197077&sprefix=elly+%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-2