Ask the Author: Kristin Hannah
Answered Questions (106)
Kristin Hannah
This sounds so fun! I love Edmonds. Unfortunately, I can't say yes because I would open the floodgates. But thank you so much for choosing The Women. I hope you enjoy it.
Kristin Hannah
I like to believe I've gotten a lot better, but I am still most interested in the lives of extraordinary women.
Kristin Hannah
Just trying to be patient.... :)
Kristin Hannah
I would go to Middle Earth to be with the LOTR gang. Or maybe to Derry, where Stephen could scare the heck out of me. Or maybe to Jane Austen's beautiful world... lots to choose from!
Kristin Hannah
Thank you so much, Tanya! I loved writing it also. And yes, there were many Vietnam vets--female and male--who offered their much needed expertise. xxook
Kristin Hannah
Good for you! I truly believe that if you have the desire to write a novel, you can find the ability. It's really a question of timing and dedication and commitment. And it's fabulous to know that so early in life. I'm assuming you are a voracious reader. I went into writing with very little information/talent/knowledge about it. I learned by the seat of my pants, really, by writing. I joined critique groups and writing organizations. I went to writing conferences. Mostly, I wrote and re-wrote. I didn't know what I didn't know. 🙂 Honestly, I don't think there's anything I wish I'd known or done differently in the beginning. The journey of writing has been ups and downs, but always fun. It's really about finding an unfounded faith in your ability to succeed and then you keep writing and you never give up. Good luck!
Kristin Hannah
I have always felt that Kate from Firefly Lane was the character I related to the most. She is a combination of me and my mother, and I loved the message that being a stay at home mom has immense value but is often a difficult road.
Kristin Hannah
As many of you know, for many years, I was an at home mom while I wrote my novels. I wrote my first published novel when my son was two years old, so I barely had time to write and research, let alone travel to my destinations. It's only been in the last ten years, my empty nest years, when I have been afforded the time to travel to France for The Nightingale, to Alaska for The Great Alone, and to Texas and Oklahoma and California for The Four Winds. I really love being able to see the places I'm writing about, and to meet the people who live there, as well as interviewing people, and I think it adds a richness to the work.
Kristin Hannah
Hello and thank you for your question! First a little about my process is needed to understand what I do on a daily basis to write. Most importantly, I spend a lot of time researching a novel, designing it, planning it, and imagining it. This process can take as much as a year (admittedly, I'm also having some fun during this period, reading and traveling). So, when I sit down to finally write, it is with an extended synopsis, and a knowledge of the beginning, the middle and the end. From here, after all the planning, I become a "pantser," meaning that I become very free form and I follow my instincts a lot. As to rituals, I do not have any. From the beginning of my career, long ago, when I was a new mother, I have always treated writing as a job, which means that I do it in the hours (or less) than my life allows for it. That doesn't mean I don't have bad days where I sit there and think and cross out what I've written, but it does mean that I consistently put in the time. The old saying that you can fix a written page but you can't fix a blank page is something I ascribe to. If you want to be a writer, write. Time and experience will improve your skills. Good luck!
Kristin Hannah
Thank you so much, Octavia!! I don't see a sequel to night road yet, but you never know!! :)
Kristin Hannah
Lol! The Nighingale!
Kristin Hannah
Hi Jodi!! My favorite novel to date is The Nightingale. Next is Winter Garden. Thanks for asking!
Kristin Hannah
LOL. Hi Barbara. Where is SA???
Kristin Hannah
The Nightingale was inspired in part by the story of Andree de Jongh, an amazing nineteen year old Belgian woman who began the Comet line, as escape route through German occupied France during World War II.
Kristin Hannah
I write regardless of inspiration, really. The best inspiration is to have something to write and something to say, which really means to live well and love well and read a lot and watch a lot of movies. And then to sit in front of the computer every day and get started.
Kristin Hannah
LOL. The Nightingale is a tough book to follow up, but I'm working on it. A contemporary family drama. That's all I know at this point. :)
Kristin Hannah
You might want to read other answers in this thread. I urge you to read a lot, write every day that you can, join a critique group, join a writer's group, attend classes, go to conferences, and keep believing in yourself. Half the battle is never giving up.
Kristin Hannah
The best thing about being a writer is working at home. It allowed me to be the at home mom I wanted to be. :)
Kristin Hannah
Hello and thanks! I don't let the idea of writer's block into my mind. That's not to say I never suffer with what to write next, I just frame as a problem to be solved with research, rather than labeling it as a problem.
Kristin Hannah
Hi Gleneatte--
LOL! I hear that a lot. Readers what to hear what happens "after." I don't have a plan to write a sequel of Night Road right now, but you never know...
LOL! I hear that a lot. Readers what to hear what happens "after." I don't have a plan to write a sequel of Night Road right now, but you never know...
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