As I've Explained Earlier this month, I'm starting a new 'thing' on my blog, Author of the Week. And What this is going to be, is an interview with the author(on most occasions), and then some reviews of the authors work! And this will all take place during the week, so In order to get to 'know the author' and their work, Check back the whole week!
This Month's Author of the Week is Hannah Alexander! Welcome Hannah and thank you for joining me here at Caffeine & Romance .
Thanks for inviting me. This sounds like fun.
1) What is your inspiration for your Books?
I've been inspired by all kinds of things, but mostly incidents in my life. Hideaway was inspired by the memories I have of the death of my beautiful, eighteen-year-old stepdaughter, and then of my nephew a year later. I wanted to give their lives more meaning, and so I delved more deeply into my imagination to do this.
2)What's your favorite part about writing a book?
Rewrites. I love rewrites! One of my favorite memories was the month I spent deleting thirty percent of the words from The Crystal Cavern to make Hidden Motive when we resold the book to Steeple Hill. Some writers are just like that. Rewriting is an obsession of mine.
3) How did you know you wanted to be a writer? What got you started?
I have been making up stories since before I knew how to read. I've always had a wild imagination. One day, when I was 29, I sat down and decided I wanted to write a romance. I used a single girlfriend of mine as a character example, and realized that no romance would be complete without Christ at the center of it. I also realized that, being a person who becomes easily bored, I couldn't focus on a simple romance, but needed some action. So romantic suspense became my passion.
4) What was the road to getting published like? Any Advice for amateur authors?
I wrote for fourteen years--thirteen manuscripts in all--before I saw publication. Mel (my collaborator) and I met while I was working on my thirteenth unpublished novel. We dated for a year and a half, and then we got married. Mel was an ER doc, so he was a natural resource for the medical situations I had always enjoyed including in my stories. We began to sell the novels we worked on together, and when I rewrote all those unpublished stories I'd labored over in the past, patterning the hero after Mel's loving character, we began to sell. I would advise any amateur author to remember what the word amateur author means--it's writing for the love of writing. If you don't love writing, find what you are passionate about and do that, because becoming a novelist, and remaining a novelist, is hard work.
5) Who are some of your favorite Authors to read? And Favorite Books?
I have a lot of favorite authors. My favorite ABA author is Dean Koontz. I love to watch his books become more spiritual as he grows as an author, and as a human being. I have a lot of friends who are published novelists. Deborah Raney, Colleen Coble, Stephanie Whitson, Angela Hunt, Terri Blackstock, Judy Miller, Doris Elaine Fell, Nancy Moser, Lori Copeland, Barbara Warren, Rene Gutteridge, James Scott Bell, Athol Dickson, Mark Mynheir, Jack Cavanaugh, Gayle Roper, Kristin Billerbeck, Susan May Warren, Kristen Heitzman, Francine Rivers, Robin Lee Hatcher, Ann Tatlock, Tamera Alexander, Carol Cox...and the list goes on. Those are just off the top of my head. You'd be amazed at the number of excellent, talented writers in the Christian market.
6) Do you have a favorite Time Period/Place to write in, and why?
Except for one historical, I always write contemporary novels, because there's enough research to do when writing medical suspense. Adding historical research to that is a little over the top for me.
7)How have your personal faith and beliefs influenced your story?
There would be no story without God in the center of my life. When I was writing my first novel, I dedicated my writing to Him. I want to never write anything that would make someone doubt the love of God.
8) What is your Life's Verse, and how do you apply that in your life?
Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. I know this verse is true, because I delighted myself in the Lord during some of the most difficult and painful years of my life, and He saw me through them and to the other side of that dark time. He has blessed me beyond belief, and given me the desires of my heart. I'm a published author, I am married to a man who not only supports my writing, but helps me with it, and who is the tenderest, most wonderful husband in the world. God is so very good.
9) What's your next Book called and about?
The book we're working on now is tentatively titled Hallowed Halls, and of course, it's a medical drama set on the Missouri River amongst the vineyards that play a part in the theme of the story. Please visit our website and sign up for us to send you an alert when the book comes out. Also, Sacred Trust, Solemn Oath and Silent Pledge will be rereleased in August, September and October of this year. If you haven't read them, and if you like medical fiction, I hope you give them a read.
10)Who is your favorite character and why?
One of my favorite characters is Blaze Farmer in the Hideaway series. A tragic accident killed one of my nephews many years ago. He'd had a hard life, and rumor had it that he wanted to die. He had dyslexia, a learning disability. Well, my cousin had that same learning disability when he was growing up, and he had a loving family to support him. He is now a director at Cal Poly Tech in Southern California. I gave Blaze dyslexia, and gave him black skin in a cream white town, and watched him fight his way through with humor and strength because of his faith in God. Another favorite character is Clarence Knight, in the Sacred Trust series being republished this summer. His character is based on my beloved cousin, Mark Patterson, whose younger brother, Eugene, is my #1 webmaster and assistant. You'll see what I mean about Clarence if you read Sacred Trust, Solemn Oath and Silent Pledge. He fought the battle of obesity, as Mark did. I wish Mark had lived long enough to know that his memory, and his spirit, live on in a hero who overcomes.
11)Anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Keep reading. It's a way to learn, to grow, to connect with others, and to escape when life overwhelms you.
Thanks again for joining me here today Hannah!
Thank you so much for the honor of asking me. It's been fun!
Hope everyone Enjoyed this Interview, because I know I have,
Check back later this week for some reviews of Hannah's Work!
And don't forget to check out her web Site!
This Month's Author of the Week is Hannah Alexander! Welcome Hannah and thank you for joining me here at Caffeine & Romance .Thanks for inviting me. This sounds like fun.
1) What is your inspiration for your Books?
I've been inspired by all kinds of things, but mostly incidents in my life. Hideaway was inspired by the memories I have of the death of my beautiful, eighteen-year-old stepdaughter, and then of my nephew a year later. I wanted to give their lives more meaning, and so I delved more deeply into my imagination to do this.
2)What's your favorite part about writing a book?
Rewrites. I love rewrites! One of my favorite memories was the month I spent deleting thirty percent of the words from The Crystal Cavern to make Hidden Motive when we resold the book to Steeple Hill. Some writers are just like that. Rewriting is an obsession of mine.
3) How did you know you wanted to be a writer? What got you started?
I have been making up stories since before I knew how to read. I've always had a wild imagination. One day, when I was 29, I sat down and decided I wanted to write a romance. I used a single girlfriend of mine as a character example, and realized that no romance would be complete without Christ at the center of it. I also realized that, being a person who becomes easily bored, I couldn't focus on a simple romance, but needed some action. So romantic suspense became my passion.
4) What was the road to getting published like? Any Advice for amateur authors?
I wrote for fourteen years--thirteen manuscripts in all--before I saw publication. Mel (my collaborator) and I met while I was working on my thirteenth unpublished novel. We dated for a year and a half, and then we got married. Mel was an ER doc, so he was a natural resource for the medical situations I had always enjoyed including in my stories. We began to sell the novels we worked on together, and when I rewrote all those unpublished stories I'd labored over in the past, patterning the hero after Mel's loving character, we began to sell. I would advise any amateur author to remember what the word amateur author means--it's writing for the love of writing. If you don't love writing, find what you are passionate about and do that, because becoming a novelist, and remaining a novelist, is hard work.
5) Who are some of your favorite Authors to read? And Favorite Books?
I have a lot of favorite authors. My favorite ABA author is Dean Koontz. I love to watch his books become more spiritual as he grows as an author, and as a human being. I have a lot of friends who are published novelists. Deborah Raney, Colleen Coble, Stephanie Whitson, Angela Hunt, Terri Blackstock, Judy Miller, Doris Elaine Fell, Nancy Moser, Lori Copeland, Barbara Warren, Rene Gutteridge, James Scott Bell, Athol Dickson, Mark Mynheir, Jack Cavanaugh, Gayle Roper, Kristin Billerbeck, Susan May Warren, Kristen Heitzman, Francine Rivers, Robin Lee Hatcher, Ann Tatlock, Tamera Alexander, Carol Cox...and the list goes on. Those are just off the top of my head. You'd be amazed at the number of excellent, talented writers in the Christian market.
6) Do you have a favorite Time Period/Place to write in, and why?
Except for one historical, I always write contemporary novels, because there's enough research to do when writing medical suspense. Adding historical research to that is a little over the top for me.
7)How have your personal faith and beliefs influenced your story?
There would be no story without God in the center of my life. When I was writing my first novel, I dedicated my writing to Him. I want to never write anything that would make someone doubt the love of God.
8) What is your Life's Verse, and how do you apply that in your life?
Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. I know this verse is true, because I delighted myself in the Lord during some of the most difficult and painful years of my life, and He saw me through them and to the other side of that dark time. He has blessed me beyond belief, and given me the desires of my heart. I'm a published author, I am married to a man who not only supports my writing, but helps me with it, and who is the tenderest, most wonderful husband in the world. God is so very good.
9) What's your next Book called and about?
The book we're working on now is tentatively titled Hallowed Halls, and of course, it's a medical drama set on the Missouri River amongst the vineyards that play a part in the theme of the story. Please visit our website and sign up for us to send you an alert when the book comes out. Also, Sacred Trust, Solemn Oath and Silent Pledge will be rereleased in August, September and October of this year. If you haven't read them, and if you like medical fiction, I hope you give them a read.
10)Who is your favorite character and why?
One of my favorite characters is Blaze Farmer in the Hideaway series. A tragic accident killed one of my nephews many years ago. He'd had a hard life, and rumor had it that he wanted to die. He had dyslexia, a learning disability. Well, my cousin had that same learning disability when he was growing up, and he had a loving family to support him. He is now a director at Cal Poly Tech in Southern California. I gave Blaze dyslexia, and gave him black skin in a cream white town, and watched him fight his way through with humor and strength because of his faith in God. Another favorite character is Clarence Knight, in the Sacred Trust series being republished this summer. His character is based on my beloved cousin, Mark Patterson, whose younger brother, Eugene, is my #1 webmaster and assistant. You'll see what I mean about Clarence if you read Sacred Trust, Solemn Oath and Silent Pledge. He fought the battle of obesity, as Mark did. I wish Mark had lived long enough to know that his memory, and his spirit, live on in a hero who overcomes.
11)Anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Keep reading. It's a way to learn, to grow, to connect with others, and to escape when life overwhelms you.
Thanks again for joining me here today Hannah!
Thank you so much for the honor of asking me. It's been fun!
Hope everyone Enjoyed this Interview, because I know I have,
Check back later this week for some reviews of Hannah's Work!
And don't forget to check out her web Site!
I love Hannah Alexander's books. They are compelling and full of God's love and mercy. As is Hannah Alexander...
Thanks for changing the colors. I can read it now! =) I'm enjoying the new aspects of your site.