Vicki Hinze Interview

Q: Let me start with asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself.

A. I’m a woman, wife, mom, grandmother and a writer.

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

A. In 1987, though I started writing before entering elementary school. I was a corporate director of operations and my family moved often because of my husband’s military career. It was move and start over, move and start over. I’d dabbled in writing all my life, but I began writing in earnest in 1987. Hubby had moved on to a new assignment and I stayed behind, working, caring for the kids, waiting for school to let out for the year, and waiting, trying to sell our house. It was a horrible time to start writing, but I did and wrote a book in five months with all that going on. I was hooked on writing full-time from then on and still am.

Q: Could you give us the highlights of your professional writing career including how you got your first writing break?

A.  This can vary a great deal, depending on how one defines success. What I’m saying is the highlights (like winning awards on specific books and for career achievement, while important, aren’t what I recall as highlights. So I’ll share mine with you.)

            1. My mother loved to read and loved writers. She was always extremely supportive. Putting a copy of my first book in her hands and seeing her read the dedication and burst into tears was absolutely the superbowl of highlights to me. No one I know loved books more, and what that meant to her . . . it still chokes me up.

            2. When I began writing, I didn’t know any other writers. I learned by making mistakes and via the school of hard knocks. I promised myself that if I ever learned anything, I’d share, and try to spare other writers from hitting all those same mud puddles. I’ve tried to do that in a variety of ways. So imagine how moved I was when RWA’s PRO named me as their first Mentor of the Year. I was up for a RITA that year, and there’s no way that could have meant to me what the mentor award did. It was proof I’d kept my promise to never forget how hard and confusing it can be for new writers and to help them as best I can.

            3. In 1998, my dad passed away and I wrote a book, mourning him, working through the loss. That book was “too different” and didn’t sell until 1994. Publishing was delayed for one reason after another and finally the book came out in 1996. One day, I get a call from a stranger. She’d just lost a nephew she’d been raising like a son. He’d committed suicide. She felt such guilt because she hadn’t realized something was wrong, and she couldn’t cope with his death or see her way forward in life. Her young daughter and she were at a store, and her daughter grabbed this book I’d written all those years before on losing my dad off the shelf. She told her mother she needed to read that one. The mother asked why and the girl told her, “It will help you.” By this time, during the phone call, I’m weeping, but what the woman said next made me sob. Through that book, she said, she found her way back to life. She hadn’t seen how she could go on, and now she did. She thanked me for that. I’ve never forgotten that, or the power in the impact writers can have on others. It’s kept me determined to write with passion and compassion, and to never forget the timing on that book. If it’d come out when I wrote it, it wouldn’t have been there for that woman on that shelf when she most needed it. Since then, I think in terms of God’s perfect timing and not my own, and what a blessing it was to be shown so plainly how deeply writers can touch lives.

There’ve been many highlights, but these are the things that most matter to me.

My first writing break.

I was doing interviews for an RWA publication and did one on Lucia Macro. She showed it to then editor, Melissa Senate, who liked my writing style. I had written a book and told my agent to try submitting it to Melissa Senate. She did and two weeks later, Melissa bought the book. I was so excited—and so sure she’d made a mistake I didn’t answer the phone for two days because I just knew she was going to call back and say she’d made a mistake. She’d meant to buy someone else’s book. I’m chuckling as I write this now, these fifteen plus years later, but then the knots in my stomach were very real.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release?

NOT THIS TIME is the third and last book in my Crossroads Crisis Center series. It’s Beth and Joe’s story (both were introduced in the prior book, DEADLY TIES.) They are great characters and in a world of trouble. The book opens with police arriving at a wedding and finding everyone sprawled in the grass. It’s clear there’s been a terrorist attack. Now Beth and Joe must find out who and why, and the odds and time are just not in their favor.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for NOT THIS TIME?

A: As with many of my stories, I married a news report with a magazine article. The internal conflicts are about torn loyalties, doing the right thing when it costs you everything, being betrayed, used, falsely accused, and courageous enough to do the right thing again anyway and open yourself up to be hurt. It’s about having faith but also doubts, and finding your feet in this world and spiritually.

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?

A:  No matter what happens, you’re never alone, and no matter how far you stray, you’re never out of God’s reach or beyond redemption. And when your instincts warn you that to trust is dangerous, it’s very possible that’s not your imagination but honest warnings that to trust is dangerous. We really need to attune to our instincts and listen to them.

Q: What is your favorite scene/chapter from the book?

A: I LOVE the opening scene at the wedding. For other reasons, love the scene of the police at the rusty shed. And for still others, I LOVE the scene where Beth and Joe have an honest dialogue about why she fears him. That was touching and took as much courage as facing the terrorists.

Q: What inspires you to write?

A. Many things, but mostly people. Issues that impact people. The situations and events that impact people and how they react to them. I’m fascinated by people and so their lives and circumstances and ideas and attitudes all interest me. I write to make sense of things. Making sense of things, understanding them, that inspires me. More than anything, I so fervently want to help those who are broken find a constructive way to heal.

Q: How has being a published novelist differed from your expectations of the profession?

A: I spend a great deal more time on ancillary aspects of the profession than I anticipated or expected. Of course, that’s become so over time as the industry has evolved, and I expect it will do so for the foreseeable future. That sounds like a bad thing, but it’s a very good thing. Stagnant anything dies. Evolution keeps things fresh and replenishes.

Q: What advice or tips do you have for writers who are just getting started?

A: Never settle for “good enough.” Strive for excellence. Keep reading—not just those with whom you agree, but with those you disagree. Study your market and understand how publishing works. The market is changing rapidly. You need to know how and the ways it impacts you and your work. Remember ethics and integrity and don’t compromise on them. Always play fair with your readers; respect them. Keep your sense of humor and remember that today’s “no, thank you” can be tomorrow’s gateway to a “yes, please” so mind your manners and hold yourself to high standards on personal conduct. Remember that when you fail to meet your obligations, like deadlines, you impact others’ schedules negatively. Allow yourself ample time to write, allotting for things that come up as much as humanly possible. And most importantly, never, never write a book you don’t love. It shows in the work, and that’s bad. Look, your time is your life. If you value your life, then don’t waste it by writing something chasing a market or a publishing slot. Write books that mean most to you. Love them. That creates slots and opportunities and ask yourself this: If I write something I don’t love will I be content? Fulfilled? Enough said.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?

A. Well, in the last few weeks, I’ve been working on multiple projects. I just finished the second book in a new series, and am about to start the third. They’ll be out at the end of next year. I finished a new venture for me and got an enthusiastic response on it from my agent, so it appears we’ll be moving ahead on that. I just received a two-book offer on a third series and am debating on whether or not I want to write it right now. Also finished the final on a short story that will be out in April and another one that is coming out in May in collections. And I’ve been working on a stand alone novel in my spare time. I’ve wanted to write this story for a long tine but couldn’t fit into my schedule. I finally decided the only way I’d get to do it is to just do it in spurts when I have a few minutes here and there, so that’s what I’m doing. Otherwise, it’s blogging the new Inspire Me! Series of video blogs, and the typical other things that always need doing. The to-do list is under four pages for the first time in a month, so I’m happy.

Q: What is something your readers might be surprised to learn about you?

A. I don’t yell. When I’m not happy, to let others around me know it, I dye my hair red. No one messes with redheads.  My family cringes at the thought of me going red, so I haven’t had to do it in a while. Just mention it and whatever is making me crazy straightens up. <g>

Q: When you’re not writing what do you like to do?

A. I love remodeling projects on the house. I used to love to oil paint and sewing projects. Now I spent non-writing time with Hubby and the grands doing whatever they want to do. Being with them is my favorite thing.

 Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us?

A. Only that I thank you for your interest in me and my work and for being so supportive. That’s a gift I treasure and I’m grateful for it. And I hope that you’ll love NOT THIS TIME. It’s my personal favorite in the Crossroads books. I think because I have such admiration for Beth and for Joe. I’ve talked a good bit about her, but not so much about Joe. He’s special. You’ll see what I mean.

What a pleasure to visit with you today. Thank you again!