Rachel Hauck – Author Interview

Feb 27, 2015 by Rachel

Welcome back to Rachel’s Back Talk! Another Friday interview!

Today’s interview is with Rachel Hauck. This past Monday, I had the opportunity to review her book How to Catch a Prince.

So without further ado, on to Rachel’s Back Talk – Special Edition!

Interview:

RR: Hi Rachel! It was great to get to know another like-minded “Rachel” author! When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?

RH: I wanted to be a writer since I was a girl. In fact, I started a book about a girl and her pony when I was ten. Then when I was twelve I wrote about a working girl living in New York City. Ha! Chicklit before it was chicklit. I was inspired by the Mary Tyler Moore show.

RR: That sounds just like me! It is so great when writers have always known they wanted to be writers. How would you describe your writing process? Are you more of a planner or free-writer?

RH: I’m a blend of both. Plantser. I do a lot of planning, blending the character journey with the physical journey. It’s important to know where you’re going before starting the journey. A writer can waste a lot of time trying to discover the story while writing so I try to do that first.

RR: I completely agree. I always seem to work best when I know where I am going, even if I do end up changing courses along the way. So, when is your best time in the day to write?

RH: Afternoon and evening. I try to be in my chair by noon, writing. I hit a good stride around two or three and I like to work until seven or eight.

RR: That sounds awesome and very productive! How do you know when you have a great story idea?

RH: Good question! Sometimes I don’t know if it’s a good idea until you tell it to someone else. But with most of my stories, I know it’s a good idea when I can encompass it in one sentence. When I know if it’s culturally relevant, like the prince stories. I knew they’d be a good idea because Kate Middleton awakened our love for royals. And usually, I get that giggly feeling in my belly. “I love this idea!”

RR: Definitely! And for the record, I love your royalty books! It is wonderful to imagine about marrying our “prince” someday. Out of all your books, which has been your favorite to write?

RH: I love them all. They’re like my babies. But the second book, Softly and Tenderly, that I wrote with Sara Evans is one of my favorites. And I think when all is said and done, How To Catch A Prince will be special to me. I had to power through that book, writing through an unexpected physical issue. The Lord so got me through!

RR: That is amazing!! It is really neat to be able to have experiences like that and I am so glad you were still able to write the book! 🙂 So moving on to your most recent book, how did you come up with the story idea for “How To Catch A Prince” and the other books in the Royal Wedding series?

RH: I got the idea for the series after watching Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. She was so poised and confident, I thought, “I want to write about this.” And how fun, you know, to look into the royal life. How To Catch a Prince actually came when a friend and I talked about Prince William carrying around Princess Diana’s sapphire ring, waiting to propose. “What if he lost it?” That core idea didn’t work out, and ultimately I wanted to do something different with the “catch” idea.

RR: I love it! Are the characters of Corina, Stephan, Nathaniel, and Susanna based off of anyone you know?

RH: Not really. Just a combination of real and imagined royals. 😉 And people I dream up.

RR: Sometimes dreaming up characters is just as much fun as basing them off of real people. You can actually make “new” friends that way! How much time was spent researching verses writing in this book in particular?

RH: For the third book, I did most of my royal research but I had a big rugby learning curve. So I spent a bunch of time watching and reading about rugby. I also research as I write when I need something or a fresh idea.

RR: There are times when you just don’t know what research to do and the best is just to do it while writing! Well, as we close, is there one tip that you could share that has really benefited you in your writing that you could share with other writers and readers here?

RH: I made up my mind I was going to write and I devoted myself to learning the craft, to a writing schedule and to networking with other writers. Those three rally combined helped me launch my career.

RR: Wow, that is a great way to end! Thank you so much for being here, Rachel. And I hope everyone else enjoyed the time spent with you as well.

If you have any other questions you would like to ask Rachel, feel free to leave a comment below!

 

And in case you missed it, here is the review that I wrote on Rachel’s book, How to Catch a Prince.

Missed the other two books in the series? Check out my review for Once Upon a Prince and Princess Ever After. 

 

 

Rachel Hauck is an award-winning, best selling author of critically acclaimed novels such as The Wedding Dress, Love Starts with Elle, and Once Upon A Prince.

She also penned the Songbird Novels with multi-platinum recording artist, Sara Evans. Booklist named their novel, Softly and Tenderly, one of 2011 Top Ten Inspirationals.

A graduate of Ohio State University with a degree in Journalism, Rachel worked in the corporate software world before planting her backside in an uncomfortable chair to write full-time in 2004.

She serves on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers and leads worship at their annual conference. She is a mentor and book therapist at My Book Therapy, and conference speaker.

Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and pets, and writes from her two-story tower in an exceedingly more comfy chair. She is a huge Buckeyes football fan.

You can learn about Rachel on her website – www.rachelhauck.com or her facebook page.