Fiction Friday | Getting to Know Hannah Currie.

Today for Fiction Friday we welcome Hannah Currie.

Hannah Currie is our guest today. We look forward to getting to know more about her and her books.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Funny how this is always the hardest question in an interview! Um… I’m Hannah Currie. I live in Brisbane, Australia with my husband and three young kids. I hate coffee, love reading, hate cooking dinner (do people really have to eat dinner every night???). Love baking, detest heatwaves and practically live in jeans and tshirts. I write Young Adult Contemporary Christian Royal Romance novels (or YA Princess books, for short). And finally am constantly amazed at how God can use fictional stories to change lives.

When you were a child did you have a favourite book or books?

I was one of those kids who read at least one chapter book a day, sometimes more, so I had a lot of favourites. Among them were Enid Blyton’s boarding school series (Naughtiest Girl, Mallory Towers, St Clares). The Saddle Club series, Patricia H Rushford’s Jennie McGrady series and Dave Gustaveson’s Reel Kids series.

Do you have a favourite Genre to both read and to write?

I love romance, both to read and write. So I read quite a bit under that very broad genre – contemporary, fantasy, historical, YA, suspense, sci-fi. Basically, if it has a really compelling love story, I’ll love it. I read other books too but there’s something about romance which absolutely captivates me.

Did you have any favourite authors growing up who have influenced you?

Robin Jones Gunn. I started reading her Christy Miller series as a young teen and basically grew up with her characters, through high school, university, dating, married years… Not only did Robin’s characters have a huge influence in my life but she was the first author who became ‘real’ to me – as in more than a name on the front of a book. I wouldn’t say she’s necessarily influenced my writing as such but she’s certainly inspired and encouraged me hugely as both a person and an author over the years.

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I’ve always loved writing stories but never considered being an actual author until my early twenties. It was around that time that I saw a lot of dreams I’d held on to for years die and, while grieving them, had God give me this new dream of being an author and telling people about him through stories.

How did you go about becoming an author?

In short, I read a lot, wrote a lot (both with the intent of publication and purely for my own enjoyment) and garnered as much wisdom as I could from as many authors as I could along the way.

As to becoming a published author, it was a long process! I knew I wanted to be traditionally published so started by sending out proposals, querying a heap of literary agents and entering competitions to get my name/writing out there. At that point, it was with a historical fiction novel/series I’d written. It kept getting lots of interest and great feedback but, unfortunately, not enough to gain me a contract. During that time, purely for fun, I wrote a YA princess novel to share with my teenager sister.

I felt like I’d hit a wall with getting my historical fiction series published so decided to give it a break and see if anyone might be interested in my YA book instead. Once again, there was a lot of silence but then WhiteFire Publishers announced that they were opening a new juvenile line and accepting submissions. I sent through the proposal for my princess story and, to my excitement, they loved it. Nine years after I started sending out proposals, I got my first contract. A year later, Heart of a Royal, my debut novel, was released

If you were not a writer what would you like to be?

A mum J I love being mum to my kids. If we’re talking outside the home though, I think I’d make a pretty good teacher’s aide.

Outside reading and writing what do you like to do?

I love spending time with my family, albeit playing Lego, stargazing, going for drives, watching Doctor Who/Lois and Clark and/or movies together, blowing bubbles, sitting chatting, reading together. I also really love baking.

Do you have a place you love to visit or would love to visit?

Do op shops count? I’ve come to really enjoy visiting op shops over the past five years or so. It’s like a treasure hunt every time, you never know what you might find!

But if we’re talking an actual place, I’d love to visit the UK, especially Ireland. And Scotland. And England. Okay yep, all the UK.

If you could have a meal with 3 living people who would you choose and why?

Roseanna White, Melissa Tagg and my mum.

Roseanna because she’s been a favourite author of mine for years and I’m still blown away that I now get to work with her in publishing too (she and her husband own WhiteFire Publishing). She’s amazing and I’d love to meet her in person to both talk books and thank her for all her encouragement and support.

Melissa because, again, she’s one of my favourite authors who I could happily talk books with for hours on end, but also because she’s been a huge encouragement to me over the years and is just a really lovely person.

And my mum because I know she’d love to meet both of them and is just as much a fan (of them as authors and people) as me! Yep, it would be a really long meal.

Finally can you tell us about your latest release. Where can buy the book and where can we find you on the web?

Heart of a Princess is the second book in my Daughters of Peverell series and follows on from where Heart of a Royal finishes. It releases 15 July 2020 and can be purchased from WhiteFire Publishing and Amazon currently with more stores to come.

To the watching world, Princess Alina has it all – maids to serve her, a kingdom to revere her, a prince to marry her, and a wardrobe filled with enough frills, flounces and shades of pink to rival a flower shop. But behind the smiles and designer clothes, Alina has a secret. She’s barely holding it together. 

After a moment of panic almost ends in tragedy, Alina is sent to a refuge far from the palace to recuperate. Her family claim it’s for her own good but – faced with cows, knife-beaked ducks and far too many of her own insecurities – Alina is pretty sure it will kill her first. And Joha Samson, infuriating man that he is, will laugh as it does. 

Only there’s more to Joha than she realizes, and more to herself too. When the time comes to make a stand, will she find the courage?

You can find me, purchase links and my newsletter signup at www.hannahcurrie.com.