Q: How did you get your start writing fiction and what genre do you predominantly write in?
Q: Would you tell us about your current book release EXPLOSIVE SECRETS? |
Valerie Hansen interview with Susan Sleeman
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April 07, 2013
A. I was doing all three Love Inspired lines for a while. Lately, I’ve been concentrating on suspense because I prefer it and apparently my readers agree. Q: In this busy world, how do you find time to connect with God and how does this impact your writing? A. It was coming to live in the Bible Belt that really focused my career. I went back to church regularly and made so many wonderful Christian friends I feel surrounded by His love. When I start to drift, which does happen occasionally, I ask for prayer, too. Q: What does your writing space look like? A: Here are a couple of pics. Because I work on multiple books at the same time and they overlap, I keep notebooks of research, etc. for each one. I started doing that when I was asked to participate in a series and it worked do well I’ve continued to do it for all my books. The opposite side of the room is for awards.
Q: What part of a writing career do you find most difficult? A. The first acceptance of an idea and proposal, hands down. Once I get the okay to proceed the story takes off, the characters become real and the book almost writes itself. Well, maybe not quite. A: I’d love to. This book was a joy to write. Not only is it part of a wonderful series about K-9 cops and their dogs, it gave me a perfect opportunity to adopt another rescued Labrador Retriever. Her name is Lucy. I already had Charlie Brown. Q: Where did you get your inspiration for EXPLOSIVE SECRETS? A: Besides my new dog, who just happened to be traumatized just like Titan, the hero’s lab in the story, I credit my fellow authors and editor, Emily Rodmell. Q: Tell us a little about your main character and how you developed him/her: A: Nicki Johnson is young, has been jilted and left pregnant, and now has a gang of criminals zeroing in on her through no fault of her own. The canine cop, Jackson Worth, and his bomb-sniffing dog, Titan, are called in to check her apartment after a bomb threat. Once that scenario was set, the rest fell into place. Q: What did you enjoy most about writing this book? Least? A: Hey, I got a new dog out of it and not only saved her from a life in a kennel, I was able to teach her to love and trust me, all while writing this book. It was a double blessing. Sometimes I have trouble “owning” the characters in a series book but not this time. This one was tailor-made for me. What’s not to like? Q: What is the main theme or spiritual message of this book? A: Forgiveness, probably, although trusting the Lord is part of it. So is going on with life even after mistakes. Just because we’re forgiven, that doesn’t mean there are not consequences to our sins. Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now? A. Which one? LOL Actually, there are several books in the works. I’m almost done with a Love Inspired Suspense of my own, plus just turned in COZY CHRISTMAS, which will be out in Dec. 2013, and have begun another series book for 2014. Oh, and there are 2 more others also contracted. Q: If you could have dinner with 2 people, who would they be? A. Living people? Billy Graham and whoever he decided to bring along. Q: Do you have a favorite hobby? A. Many, although gardening and playing with my dogs are at the top of the current list. I have painted professionally, raised Newfoundland dogs, and held a bunch of crazy jobs that come in handy when I’m looking for background for my characters. Right now I’m happy to fish a little in the pond on our farm and just kick back. Q: What is the most rewarding thing you have ever done? A. Oh, my. Besides having 2 great kids, I’d have to say surviving cancer. It was certainly the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I then went on to counsel others and write uplifting prose about being a survivor. Q: Where can readers find you on the internet? A. There’s www.ValerieHansen.net for the best view and most background on me and my work. I’ve also started a couple of Facebook pages. One for Valerie Hansen, author, and one https://www.facebook.com/valerie.whisenand Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us? A. Just that I consider my writing to be my personal ministry. As in life, not everyone will always agree with me but I do my best to follow Jesus’s leading. I do my best. That’s all there is to it.
The other authors and titles for this series are as follows: TRACKING JUSTICE – Shirlee McCoy DETECTION MISSION – Margaret Daley GUARD DUTY – Sharon Dunn EXPLOSIVE SECRETS – Valerie Hansen SCENT OF DANGER – Terri Reed LONE STAR PROTECTOR – Lenora Worth |
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Valerie has always loved to write. A strong conviction that this is what she was meant to do led her to pursue a career as a novelist. Besides extensive research, she has plenty of interesting experiences to draw upon. She’s been a veterinary assistant, teacher’s aide, volunteer fire department dispatcher, Emergency Medical Technician, bank worker, professional artist, store clerk, bookkeeper, 4-H leader, Sunday school teacher, gospel singer/songwriter, winning quiz show contestant, dog trainer, college extension-class instructor, and antique restorer. She’s built dulcimers and a psaltery, laid bricks and tile, designed stained-glass windows, roofed a house, decorated store windows for the holidays, helped pour cement, raised fancy guinea pigs and finches, driven a long-haul moving van, and was once the proud owner of twenty-three Newfoundland dogs at one time. Her advice? Don’t try that at home!
Twenty years ago, Valerie and her husband moved to eighty forested acres in northern Arkansas and restored an old Ozark farmhouse. She loves to hike the rocky, wooded hills with her dogs, watch for the wildlife so abundant in the area, and think up new ideas for her books, many of which are set in her fictional town of Serenity.
I love that you adopted another dog and that she was part of your inspiration for this book. I love this series, and can’t wait to read this one.