Hannah Warren was born in Paris (Fr.) in 1956
as a second child to a Dutch father and an English mother. She has lived in The
Netherlands almost all her life but has a strong connection with France, UK and
Holland.
She studied Dutch literature and Mass
communication at the University of Amsterdam and also obtained a B.A. in
English Literature & Language and a B.A. in Translation from Rotterdam
University. She currently works at the International Office of HZ University of
Applied Sciences in Vlissingen.
Her free-time is taken up by writing fiction,
teaching Yoga and pottering around in the garden. After having been a single
mum for nearly two decades, her three children have flown the nest. The great
sadness that befell Hannah in March 2014 was the loss of her eldest child,
daughter Joy, who died after an intense two-year struggle against bile duct
cancer. In time Hannah will launch a foundation for more research into this
rare but deadly form of cancer.
From the early age of 8, Ms Warren has written
poetry and short stories but it took her fifty years to become a published
author.
Her debut novel, the literary romance
Casablanca, My Heart was initially published by Taylor Street Publishing (When
The Ink Dries) in 2012 and relaunched in June 2014 by Hannah's new publisher
Thorstruck Press. Her second novel, the psychological thriller The Cottage on
the Border will be out soon. The third novel, a historical family saga set in
south Sweden and called Daughter of the Alvar is in production.
Welcome Hannah!
- What
sparked your interest in writing? Your proverbial light-bulb moment?
Classic type of
enlightenment, actually. The 7-year old getting hold of an Enid Blyton novel
and after the first THE END picking up a pen to write her own over-the-top
adventure story, including several pairs of twins and multiple dogs.
- I think we all have an over the top story somewhere! Which
genre are you most comfortable writing in?
I consider myself
a multi-genre writer as I've dabbled in romance, suspense, family saga,
children’s stories, poetry and recently even fantasy. But in my heart of
hearts, I think I’m a suspense writer.
- Would you
say you draw most often from your own knowledge base when writing or do
you research for fresh material?
I have an idea for
a story to start off with and then I research as I go along. Wouldn't know what
to do without the Internet to check and double check all sorts of facts and
ideas. A treasure trove.
- Agreed! The internet is our go-to place :) Tell us a
bit about your work. How, for instance, do you choose your titles?
The title comes
first, then I start writing but I've found myself changing titles in all phases
of the work in progress. Generally, I only have a vague idea which way the
story is developing so together with my characters I go through a lot of surprising
turns and twists. With the exception of The Cottage on The Border, the
psychological thriller that Thorstruck will publish in November. This novel
came as a clear and complete story to me in a dream.
- We love
to read excerpts. Share with us your favourite bit of writing from you
latest book.
As Casablanca, My
Heart was first published in 2012 I already used quite some excerpts in
different interviews and now suddenly realise that I usually take snippets from
the first part of the book, Heather’s point of view. The book consists of two
parts, one is told by the female MC and the second part by the male. So let’s
choose something from Ghalib’s story, our Moroccan aristocrat and playboy.
I listen to the rapid pattern of Heather’s sandals on the tiles in the
hall and hear the resounding bang when the front door shuts behind her, echoing
through the empty house.
Irritated, I grab my cigar case, only to find it completely empty. I
fling the thing across the room where it hits the ugly marble statue of one of
the Vestal Virgins and drops to the floor, dented. The marble remains as smooth
as ever, for some reason reminding me of Amanda’s skin. Come to think of it,
she is like that statue, no wonder she gave the damn thing to me as a birthday
present. Damn women!
Melissa’s voice on the phone had also annoyed me. And of all the
times for her to call! With that habitual sly sort of apologetic ring her soft
slurry voice always carried, she hesitantly informed me that we had been
discovered. Damn them all! Cursing, I stomp to my bedroom on the first floor.
I pick up the home phone and shout into it. “Latifa, get my car ready
to take me to the airport immediately. Yes, Paris. Tonight!” I adjust my
clothes and comb my hair. A whiff of recent lovemaking wafts through my nose,
but I ignore it.
“I’ve had it with women! All of them! To hell with the whole female
race!”
My mobile starts ringing and I see it is Amanda. I ignore it and the
voicemail that rings soon after. I am not going back to the ship. Maybe I will
let her know tonight. Let her miss me for once, although I doubt she will now
that she has Tony around. He will make up for my absence. He knows how to do
that very well.
Comfort, comfort. How we seek comfort from our emptiness! We think
we are entitled to it, that people owe us comfort. Hell, we have been like this
for ages. Why, for heaven’s sake, do we stay married? Then again, why not? I’m
not looking forward to going through another divorce hassle, certainly not with
cold-blooded Amanda. She may seem sweet and lovely, but she will rip me apart
if she can. Maybe literally, with those rock-hard fake nails of hers, which
cost me a fortune every month. She knows I know, so for now we are keeping the
balance as it is.
- Love it and can't wait to read it! Who do
you identify with most in your work? And why?
I feel quite
detached from my characters. I fly over them in my helicopter, from where I
register their actions, voices, thoughts, movements, future, present and past.
I made the beginner’s ‘mistake’ to write Casablanca, My Heart in first person
and had reviewers commenting on me doing this or that and I was
flabbergasted. My life is nothing like Heather Simpson’s but then again how can
readers know that? No more first person novels for me. J
7. If you could choose who would play Heather in the movie or series made from your work, who would it be?
- Which
four words would you use to describe yourself?
Sorely tried,
emphatic, humorous, imaginative.
- Which
four words would you use to describe your work?
Soulful, visual,
lyrical, engrossing.
- I have to
throw this in! That list of favourites we’re all interested in!
Favourite book: Anna Karenina
Favourite movie: The Hours
Favourite TV series: Downtown Abbey
Favourite colour: sea-green
Favourite food: fish & chips
Favourite drink: tea, white wine
Favourite pet: dog
Favourite season: spring
Favourite place: Öland, Sweden
- Often
personal fame and prominence for your work go together, but frequently
authors prefer remaining in the background while hoping their work will
assume the limelight. Is this true for you, or don’t you mind a bit of
fame?
I wouldn't mind a
bit of fame at all as long as it brought in the dough. After all, a writer can
remain relatively anonymous as her face isn't photographed all the time. And
being a woman of imagination it must be possible to create multiple
personalities to stay out of the
limelight.
- Like the sound of that! Tell us
about your next book (we love to know what to look forward to!).
I've already
mentioned The Cottage on the Border a few times in this interview and I really,
really can’t wait for it to be published. I have high hopes for this one.
Casablanca, My Heart was me testing the waters of authorship but in this
thriller I show (hopefully) what I’m capable of as a story-teller.
A short intro…
Jenna Kroon de
Coligny is the estranged, adopted daughter of the farmer’s couple Theo and Dora
Van Son and foster sister to Vincent, who is six years her senior. She is of
aristocratic birth but knows very little about her background. She has never
known her father. Her ‘hippy-mother’
Marcia killed herself when Jenna was three years old. Jenna’s maternal
grand-parents pay the Van Sons for her upbringing but do not want to acquaint
themselves with their ‘bastard’ grand-daughter. Jenna has always suffered from
mood swings and has an eating disorder.
Since the age of
twelve she has lived away from her foster family to go to boarding school to
train as a professional dancer. At nineteen (the start of the book) her dance
career and her love life have fallen to shambles and she tries to kill herself.
She ends up in an Amsterdam hospital but to prevent herself from being sent to
a psychiatric ward, she agrees to a visit from her brother Vincent, who is an
apprentice-psychiatrist. They have not seen each other for seven years and for
Jenna this is a forced reunion. They used
to be close in the years after Jenna’s adoption when Vincent was the only one
who could ‘calm’ Jenna. Hence, his longing to become a psychiatrist.
The house they
rent for Jenna’s recovery and treatment close to the Belgian border appears to
be haunted. From there the story develops that will take Jenna to ‘the
underworld’. Will she be strong enough to face all her trials or will she have
to become a cold-blooded killer like her father?
On macro-level,
this psychological thriller follows the 20th century development from
National-socialism to Neo-Nazism. On micro-level it is a story of redemption
and an ode to a love that transcends blood-ties. The filial love of two foster
children turns out to be stronger than the distorted family ties that make up
Jenna’s past.
- It sounds like we can expect an emotional journey- looking forward to it and good luck! What
comes next, besides a new book project? A holiday, an event?
Let’s not talk of
that. I’ll be seeing the inside of hospitals more often than I care to think
about right now.
- Our sympathies, Hannah, and stay strong. Finally, if you could choose one person, living or dead, you would like to
meet, who would it be and what would you ask of that person?
My daughter Joy,
who passed away at age 29 on 15 March 2014. I wouldn't ask her anything just
want to hold her and hold her and hold her.
Hold her in your heart and your dreams, lovely Hannah, and know your friends and family think of you and support you. It was wonderful chatting to you. May you go from strength to strength on every front!
Heather Simpson takes a cruise to get away from her husband. Far away from judgmental eyes she meets Ghalib, a French-Moroccan aristocrat who seems to know everything about her and has been eager to meet her for years. When the ship docks in Casablanca, Ghalib invites this soulful author into his home and into his heart.
Returning from Morocco to every day life, Heather faces a dilemma. Sometimes it seems we are destined to meet the love of our life for only a fleeting moment, leaving us thinking, 'Did fate work so hard to bring us so little or is there more to come?'
This glorious romance will take you to the exotic, stranding you in love's oasis, feeling as if you too have captured the diaphanous emotion of soul-love, questioning your choices and your destiny.
Coming soon as an audio book as well!
Find out more about Hannah on her website and her Thorstruck Author Page and connect with her on her Facebook Page and twitter.
2 comments:
Dearest Elaina, thank you so much for this lovely interview and sorry I wasn't around last Wednesday to shout about it right away but will do so now. Maybe I can repost it on my own blog for some more exposure?
You are welcome, Hannah! It's always lovely chatting to you :)
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