Interview with Donna Hatch

Donna, your new release, Queen in Exile, is described as a Fantasy, can you tell us a little about the book?

It’s sort of a blend between a fairy tale and a medieval-style romance, mixed liberally with adventure. Here’s my official pitch: The last surviving member of her family, a princess must place her life, and the fate of her kingdom, into the hands of a trained killer. But accepting her destiny, and her own dark powers, will mean losing the man she loves.

In the past, you seem to have focused on Historical and Regency genres. What made you decide to try a Fantasy? How did you like writing Speculative Fiction as opposed to Historical?

I have loved fantasy almost as long as I have loved historical. I grew up reading both; the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, Jane Austen, Anne of Green Gable, and Jane Eyre, plus I adored fairy tales, which are very magical and have lots of fantasy elements. Then, a little later, I discovered authors such as Anne McCaffrey, David Eddings, Andre Norton, and Terry Brooks.  So I grew up with two loves. When I started writing as a kid, I wrote fantasy because I loved being swept away into a totally new world. My fantasy novel was actually conceived when I was a junior in high school. About a hundred revisions (or more) later, Queen in Exile is the finished product.  I like writing both genres; both are pretty much new worlds, since we don’t live in the same world as Regency England, so there’s a lot of imagination and world building required for both historical and fantasy.

What did you find were the major differences between the two? Was anything more or less difficult?

Both required extensive research, the Regency much more than the fantasy, of course, but I did research knights, weaponry, battle tactics and the Japanese Samurai Warriors, after whom my hero is patterned. There is a little more freedom with regards to research in fantasy.  If I need something to happen in the fantasy story, I don’t have to stop and find out if that’s based on any sort of historical event or custom, so that part is really convenient.

On the subject of difficult, just how much research do you think is required to write effective, believable Regency Romance? (Readers, I am fascinated by the prospect, but fear the organization involved just might kill me)

I actually wanted to write historical novels all along, but was intimidated by the research required.  But I had a story that just had to be told with characters demanding I tell it. So I read and re-read a lot of Jane Austin and Charlotte Bronte to help give me a good idea about the world and customs in which they lived, because they write books that took place during their time, so they weren’t making any historical inaccuracies, which one would normally find in a historical written today.  I also joined a couple of on line Regency research groups where we discuss aspects of the era.  I read a lot! It’s an on-going process and sometimes I learn things that make me wish I could go back and edit my previously-written books to correct mistakes.  

That being said, I don’t think an aspiring historical author should wait until she/he thinks they know everything there is to know about that time period to write about it. Otherwise, they’d never write it!

Your book covers are stunning across the board. How much input did you have in designing them?

Thank you! In all cases with both publishers, I was asked to submit detailed character descriptions, questions about the tone of the story, and a basic concept of the cover. In The Stranger She Married, they gave me a heroine with the eye color spot-on, but nothing about the rest of the cover was what I had envisioned. I liked it instantly, though. Queen in Exile included a castle, but that was about it as far as what I’d asked to have on the cover. The Guise of a Gentleman was almost exactly what I wanted, right down to the Jolly Roger waving across one corner.

What other projects are you working on?

I’m working on book three of the Regency Series. It’s rough-drafted and I’ve just begun revisions and edits. I’ve also started writing a dark young adult paranormal. No, there are no vampires ;-)

Do you have any favorite advice to give for the aspiring authors out there?

Be persistent. Most people have dreams of writing a novel, but never finish one. Most people who finish a novel never submit it, and most who submit, give up after a few rejections.

 I wish you the greatest success with the new book! Can you tell us where we can find it?

You can find my books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and my website www.donnahatch.com. Queen in Exile is also available at Costcos across the country.  The Guise of a Gentleman is also available at www.thewildrosepress.com Here is the direct link to my book page. The Wild Rose Press

I’m also running a contest to win a book for free and you have five chances if you do all five, or you can just do one or a few:

1.    go to my website and then find out what is the name of the hero of The Guise of a Gentleman (hint, read the backcover blurb underneath the book cover), then send me an email at donnahatch29@gmail.com, telling me the answer to the question and put "free book" in the subject line

2.    go to my website and then find out what is the name of the hero of Queen in Exile (hint, read the backcover blurb underneath the book cover), then send me an email at donnahatch29@gmail.com, telling me the answer to the question and put "free book" in the subject line.

3.    Follow my blog, then send me an email at donnahatch29@gmail.com, telling me you're now following me and put "free book" in the subject line.

4.    Leave a comment in my blog, www.donnahatch.blogspot.com. Then send me an email at donnahatch29@gmail.com and put “free book” in the subject line.

5.    Friend me on Facebook,  Click here then send me an email at donnahatch29 at gmail dot com, telling me you're now my friend on Face book and put "free book" in the subject line.

Remember, for each thing you do, you have another chance to win. Good Luck!!!

Thank you, Donna for joining us. You can find Donna’s books at Amazon, Your local bookstore, and her website, www.donnahatch.com. Queen in Exile is also available at Costcos across the country. 

Cayman Summer by Angel Morrison

Angel Morrison, my fellow ANWA member, and author of Taken by Storm and Unbroken Connection  finishes up her series with Cayman Summer. 


"In Morrison's debut young adult novel, TAKEN BY STORM, Michael faces incredible loss, but he finds Leesie. UNBROKEN CONNECTION is Leesie's story. By the final page, she is broken and battered--physically and spiritually. Morrison vowed to her readers not to leave her that way. CAYMAN SUMMER recounts Michael and Leesie's final journey.
"Michael takes Leesie to the Cayman Islands to heal. Time, sunshine, and Michael's devotion free her of physical pain, but grief and guilt haunt her. Michael will do anything to find the old Leesie who prayed, spoke of visions, and kept the rules. For Leesie, that girl is lost forever. Rules? What's the point now? She's ready to break every one."


You won't want to miss this contest. She is giving away some amazing prizes. So head on over to her blog to enter. Click here to visit. You'll be glad you did.

Shared from Peggy Urry's Blog

Peggy Urry posted on her blog today something that struck me. In her blog she discusses the power of words. As a writer, I have the power to heal, the power to hurt, the power to demean, or the power to build up.

One of the most powerful phrases comes from John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Think about it for a moment. What are words? What impact do they have in your everyday life? Since my greatest desire is to write using words, let them be the kind that will bring joy, will edify, will build character. I hope you enjoy this very short video about the power of words.

Thanks, Peggy, for sharing. To see Peggy's blog click here.

Clarity in Writing

As I go back through my edits on my various novels, I think to myself WWJD (I know what you're thinking and no, it's not that. I've already asked those questions during my first draft.) It means, "What would Janette Do." One of my favorite writers is Janette Rallison. She has brutally slashed and hacked apart more than one of my stories, and yet I keep going back for more. Why? Because she is brilliant! She really knows writing. Along with voice, style, and point of view, she excels at Clarity.

Clarity is something I've been working for in my writing. I picked up this great little book, called A Pocket Style Manual by Diana Hacker. In her section on Clarity she outlines 9 ways to make your writing clear:


1. Tighten wordy sentences: Get rid of redundancies, inflated phrases and needless complex structures.

2. Choose active verbs over passive. "As a rule active verbs express meaning more vigorously than their duller counterpart- forms of the verb be."

3. Balance Parallel ideas, such as paired ideas, and series or words or phrases.

4. Add needed words: "Do not omit words necessary for grammatical or logical completeness."

5. Eliminate confusing shifts: This has to do with point of view. Don't head hop. Also Shifts have to do with verb tense. Stay in the same tense.

6. Untangle mixed constructions: The subject and verb should make sense together. For instance: "Social Workers decided that Tiffany's welfare would not be safe living with her mother." Tiffany or her welfare?

7. Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers:
     Misplaced words: these include adverbs if placed in the wrong spot portray the wrong meaning. Her example: Wrong: "There are many pictures of comedians who have performed at Gavins on the wall at." Wow, that must have been hard. Gravity has a way of keeping comedians on the floor. Corrected: "On the walls are many pictures of comedians who have performed at Gavins."
     Dangling modifiers: A modifier that fails to refer to the thing it is modifying.
     Split infinitives: Putting adverbs in between the "to" and "verb" part of a sentence. Such as: Mr. Harris instructed his students to brightly sing at the concert." No, no, no...that just sound silly. Try it this way. "Mr. Harris told his students to sing brightly at the concert." Yes, that sounds so much better.

8. Provide some variety: Okay, this one is just a plain no brainer. Vary your sentence lengths and structures, combine choppy ones, shorten excessively long ones. (I'm guilty of this!). Also vary your sentence openings. I once heard that if you had to pay your editor for the number of time he/she had to take he/she out of our opening sentences, most authors wouldn't get paid. (Maybe that a bit of an exaggeration.)

9. Find an appropriate Voice: This would be one that fits your subject and your audience. You want to be sure and engage your reader.

And there you have it. Diana Hacker in a nutshell. If you'd like more information click here for more information.

Short Story Characters

by Betsy Love

Round or flat, static or dynamic. What does that mean in terms of characters?

Round ones, not fat ones, are the characters that we know something about, okay we know more about them than we do other ones. Round characters are never stereotyped. They have personalities, struggles, values. How they react to any given situation is a result of their roundedness. On the other hand a flat character is almost never the main character. A flat character might make a brief appearance in the story--the cab driver, the waitress, the nosy neighbor next door.

A dynamic character is one who changes as a result of the situations in the story. He is the one who realizes something important about himself. Or she finds herself doing something she might not have done. We grow with this character and feel what he/she feels. Whereas a static character is one that does not change through out the story. Villains are often portrayed as static characters.

The most interesting characters are the ones we care about. Give me a reason to buy into why your character (good or evil) does what he/she does, and you'll have a great story.

I hope you'll take some time and write a short story and then submit it to my contest. You can read about the submission guidelines at:

Short Story Contest-Deadline May 31

Oh, and by the way, everything I just told you about short story characters applies to characters in all genres of fiction.

Happy Writing!