Interview With Twila Hanna

by

Susan Vaughan

1. What do you love most about being a writer?

Answer: I love to take an idea and play the game of “what if”. I love creating characters who allow me to come along with them on their adventure, and I love being surprised when they do something I didn't plan for them to do.

2. What do you like least about being a writer?

Answer: There are down sides to being a writer, of course, but I don't find anything I truly dislike about it. After pouring my heart into a project, rejection certainly hasn't been my favorite part of being a writer, but I’ve learned to measure my success by whether I’m pleased and proud of what I’ve produced, and then hope others who read what I’ve written will enjoy it also.

3. Briefly summarize how you began writing.

Answer: An avid reader most of my life, I'd never met a writer and thought they must be special people, gifted by God to create the wonderful stories that lined my bookshelves. There was nothing special about me, so I never dared to think I could be a writer, although I’d been creating puppet scripts, writing for church and community projects for years. My oldest daughter persuaded me to take a writing course and I was hooked. I'm still not special, but I now dare to call myself a writer, and I’m loving every moment of it.

4. Please give a brief description of your forthcoming book. What inspired that particular work?

Answer: Shadows In Time is a story of love and forgiveness. Juliette Sutton-Ross has everything that money can buy, yet it never filled the empty spot in her heart because of what she doesn’t know about a father who has been absent all her life. A rundown farm in Kentucky holds the key to the past, and the country doctor who lives there, holds the key to her future, but will she dare unlock either of those doors and face the secrets that are hidden behind them?

Kentucky is a beautiful state, and I loved the people I met when I lived there a short time after I was married. The story in Shadows In Time evolved from a small idea, and I somehow knew I had to set it in Kentucky.

5. As a writer, what are your goals?

Answer: I hope to continue to grow as a writer and produce stories I like. Hopefully, they will be stories that touch the hearts of those who read them just as so many stories I’ve read, have touched mine.

6. What are your greatest challenges?

Answer: Self doubt is always lurking around my office to challenge me and discourage me. I am learning to give self doubt a swift kick, and go right back to writing.

7. Who are your favorite authors?

Answer: I have so many it’s hard to pick favorites. I've always loved reading the classics and have read them over and over. Daphne De Maurier has always been a favorite. I enjoy historical romances, and I especially love to read a good mystery.

8. What gets your creative juices flowing?

Answer: Music. I love to listen to music as I write. It truly inspires.

9. What is your philosophy of writing?

Answer: To write consistently. It doesn’t matter how long the writing session is, or how short, consistency works best for me. Of course, music, a good cup of coffee, and something chocolate helps also.