Welcome to Readers Write to Know! I asked you, my readers, what questions they would ask their favorite authors if given the chance. This week, I’m so pleased to introduce you to Merrillee Whren. I always love hearing about how authors come up with their story ideas, and as a suspense author, I find a special kinship with authors who get ideas about how to murder someone! I very much enjoyed Merrillee’s interview and hope you do as well.
Category: About Hallee
An Open Letter to the Waitress at Steak ‘n Shake
When we ordered a hotdog for our autistic 9-year-old son, Scott, and explained that the mustard must be made in a squiggly line on top of the hot dog — much like one would see on any picture of any hotdog in any children’s book — you never even batted an eye. You had no idea that if he’d received a hotdog without mustard or with the mustard NOT in a squiggling line in such a loud, cold, visually stimulating environment, it would have likely caused a meltdown for which there may have been no immediate recovering. You just nodded, smiled, said you understood, and brought us a PERFECT hotdog. You made sure the milkshake had a cherry, and brought him a salad as a side to his kids’ meal even though that isn’t the norm.
The Kentucky Christian Writers’ Conference
This past weekend, I joined about 60 other Christian writers and just had an AMAZING conference. Jesse Florea from Focus on the Family was the keynote and delivered several inspiring speeches. I taught two classes (one twice) – Seven Steps to Successful Self Publishing and Writing Fiction with a Realistic Christian Worldview. My classes went well, the feedback was super, Gregg met with several authors for Olivia Kimbrell Press, and we networked and visited and prayed with writers from all over the place.
The New Amazon Author Page!
Amazon has restructured the author pages. Check mine out at this link. I love the look of it. The thing I love the most — you can add me as a “favorite” and get notifications of new releases!
Worst Trip Ever
About three hours into the trip, I was very sick. Thankfully, I’d made it to a rest area. I had about 4.5 hours going in one direction, and 3 hours to get home. I felt a lot better, so I decided to keep going. I never got sick again, but I started running a fever that made my body ache, and I had to drive through this horrible, horrible storm that was hitting the Huntsville, Alabama area with 60-65 mph winds and heavy rain.
rain
I have never been so happy to get to my hotel.
Love Is…
I don’t just write romance novels. I write Christian romance novels. So, my stories have to go beyond the “typical” romance novel and focus on two major points of love: Eros, which is the Greek term for romantic love; and Agape, which is the Greek term for the perfect love of God.
When I write, I have to have the romantic arc – the romantic story between the male protagonist and the female protagonist. And, I also have to write on the spiritual arc – the love the two main characters have or learn to have for God. In this genre, if you leave out one of those arcs, you pretty much have an incomplete story.
