An Interview with Author Robin Lee Hatcher

Kristen Vasgaard Ingebretson is the Senior Art Director at HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and I have been working with her on my covers for many, many years. I have a lot of input on my covers, although the cover for You’re Gonna Love Me was very much Kristen’s inspiration.

2. How did this idea come to you for the plot?

The plot for this novel came entirely out of the characters (which is true of most of my books). At the beginning, I only knew that I needed to bring Samantha to Thunder Creek. Then I got the idea to have Ruth get thrown from a horse, and that was the perfect way to bring Samantha to my small town. Somehow I realized that she was a fearful person and control freak, and once I knew how and why she was that way, it became obvious that Nick had to be the opposite.

In truth, much of my writing comes together in my subconscious, and I am not able to explain why I thought of it. Just one day I wake up and I have a new piece of the puzzle.

I am a seat of the pants writer. My books are not outlined/plotted in advance. My first step is to get to know the characters on an intimate basis. Then I go to my computer each day, waiting to see what will happen to them, the same way readers will pick up the book and read to find out what will happen. It is part of the adventure for me.

3. When it comes to plot construction, do you have tips? A method you follow? Any advice for rookie writers?

Sorry. As stated above, I write by the seat of my pants. My books are not plotted in advance. The characters completely guide the story. Naturally, there is a plot but it comes to me day by day, almost organically. My stories are character-driven, so my method is to write first person autobiographies of the main characters from birth to the opening of the story. I do this in a stream of consciousness style, simply letting my imagination go.

Advice for rookie writers? Write something every day and try everything. You have to discover the way that God created you to create. There is no right way to write a novel. There is only the right way for you to write a novel. But at the start, you should try everything you hear about at writer’s conferences, etc. In my early years as a writer, I experimented with all types of tools and methods, and slowly I learned what worked for me. I had to learn to be comfortable in my own writer’s skin.

I once heard a writer tell how he put every scene on a 3×5 card and taped them to the wall of his office. Then when he was editing, he moved the cards around, tossed some, etc. I remember thinking that I would get a job selling shoes at the mall before I would want to write a novel that way. It worked for him but would never work for me.

I am currently working on my 79th book. I still struggle. I still wish writing got easier with each book. It doesn’t. Every book still gets written one word, one paragraph, one page at a time.