MY WRITING JOURNEY by Robin Lee Hatcher

MY WRITING JOURNEY

by Robin Lee Hatcher

I am often asked how I got started as a writer. Did I always want to write stories? Did I write my first book as a child or a teen (as quite a few authors can claim)? Where did it begin for me?

My writing journey began with my reading journey. I fell in love with books before I could read. I lived in a home of readers. My mom, my grandmother, and my older brother were always reading. (My dad died when I was an infant, so I never got to see him with a book in hand.) More than anything, I wanted to read. So, I went off to my first day of first grade with that goal in mind. I was terribly disappointed when they didn’t teach me to read right then.

I must add that I was born a storyteller. It’s part of my DNA. A gift from God. I don’t mean the craft of writing. That is learned through study and practice. But I believe storytelling is an innate gift.

I have a vivid imagination and love to spin stories, both large and small. I tell people my career as a storyteller began at the age of ten when I told my fifth-grade friends that my mom was born in a covered wagon coming West. I grew up in Boise which is located on the Oregon Trail. You can still see the ruts that the wagons carved as they crossed the high desert on their way to the Boise River. Those visible ruts fueled my story about my mom. Plus, she was 47 at the time, so it seemed very plausible to me that she could have been born in a covered wagon.

I was a voracious reader as a child (books about horses and dogs were my favorites, followed by the Trixie Belden series), and I have continued that reading habit all my life, although the types of books changed. My favorite books during my twenties were big historical sagas. That was a popular genre at the time, so I had lots to choose from.

I was in my late twenties when several things happened that led to me becoming a published novelist.

First, I was the writer/editor of a horse association newsletter. It became tiresome to write things like, “Winter’s coming. Give your horse more grain.” I began to write more creative pieces, like what my mare and her foal looked like as they ran through the snow.

Then, I read a half-page feature in the local newspaper about a woman whose first book had been published.

And soon after that, I read a book that had what I thought was a horrible ending. I thought to myself, If that author can get published, so can I.

Of course, I had no idea what the writing and publishing of a novel entailed. The statement revealed my ignorance. Despite that, it forced me to sit down and begin to write the story that had been rolling around in my head for a long time.

I wrote the first line of my first novel in March 1981. I wrote longhand on yellow legal pads in the evenings and on weekends. Then I typed those pages on the office IBM Selectric on coffee breaks and lunch hours. I finished the novel in November 1981, and in January, using a library copy of The Writer’s Market, I mailed out 21 query letters with sample chapters.

Although I didn’t know it then, most of the publishers weren’t appropriate for the type of book I’d written (historical saga), and the majority didn’t even answer my queries. But I did get a couple of requests for the full manuscript, and in May 1982, I signed with a New York publisher. In June, I finished writing the sequel. In August, I learned that the publisher had gone bankrupt.

Ah, the joys of the publishing business.

In February 1983, I sold both manuscripts to another mass market publishing house in New York, and in early 1984, both books were released as romances rather than sagas.

There was so much I didn’t know at the time, and sadly, the publisher I signed with didn’t edit my books at all. As I tell people today, I learned to write while I was being published, and all my mistakes are in print. I don’t recommend any of those early titles, and I definitely don’t recommend that writers publish without being edited.

Eventually, I got an agent, and afterward, I signed with a new publisher. It was there that I learned what a difference a good editor can make to a writer.

I wrote nine books while working as an office manager. The month that ninth book released, I quit to write full time. That was in January 1991.

In 1997, my heart led me into writing Christian fiction. The Forgiving Hour, my first novel in this new market and my thirty-first release overall, was published in January 1999. Since then, I’ve released another 57 novels and novellas.

The publishing industry has changed a great deal over the nearly forty years since I signed my first contract. Few offices had computers when I got started and even fewer homes had them Books were sold primarily in bookstores, and wholesalers got the rest of them put into supermarkets and airports. Now many bookstores have closed. The internet is where lots of book buyers shop. Many of us are reading books on eReaders and/or we are listening to digital audiobooks on our smartphones.

Over the course of my career, I’ve written for nine publishing houses and worked with 20 different editors. I’ve written books to entertain, to make readers laugh and cry, to encourage and uplift. While I don’t have favorite books that I’ve written—each was written for a reason—I do have favorite characters who linger in my memory like good friends. That’s a sweet benefit.

Best yet, I still love storytelling and writing. I’m currently working on the first book in a new four-book historical romance series, and I can’t wait to share them with readers.

It’s been a great journey, and I hope it continues for many years to come.

***

Robin Lee Hatcher is the author of over 80 novels and novellas with over five million copies of her books in print. She is known for her heartwarming and emotionally charged stories of faith, courage, and love. Her numerous awards include the RITA Award, the Carol Award, the Christy Award, the HOLT Medallion, the National Reader’s Choice Award, and the Faith, Hope & Love Reader’s Choice Award. Robin is also the recipient of prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards from both American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. When not writing, she enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, Bible art journaling, reading books that make her cry, watching romantic movies, and decorative planning. Robin makes her home on the outskirts of Boise, sharing it with a demanding Papillon dog and a persnickety tuxedo cat.

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A life in pieces. A hundred-year-old journal. And a chance for love to be reborn.

Olivia Ward arrived in Bethlehem Springs alone—with no job, no home, and no money—after her manipulative ex-husband used his power and wealth to destroy everything. Six years later, the peaceful life she rebuilt is once again turned upside down when she learns that her fifteen-year-old daughter, Emma, will be coming to live with her. The reunion should be a dream come true, but years of deception have driven a wedge between them. And Emma seems more interested in an old diary she discovered than reconciliation with her mother.

Tyler Murphy knows what it’s like to lose everything. Propelled by his history in the foster-care system, he’s determined to root out dishonesty and protect the most vulnerable through his work as an investigator. When he’s hired to investigate Olivia Ward, though, he finds himself longing to believe she’s exactly who she appears to be, and he soon realizes that his desire to learn more about her has nothing to do with his job. But how can he pursue a relationship that began with a lie?

In this latest novel from award-winning author Robin Lee Hatcher, an antique diary, a family-fueled investigation, and unexpected feelings collide to create a promise that’s worth fighting for.

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing