Annie's Book Stop of Worcester

 

Annie’s Book Stop of Worcester is happy to shine our Friday spotlight on fantasy author Hannah Whitten.

Hannah, can you please tell us briefly a little about yourself and your writing?

 

 

I’m an adult fantasy author who primarily works with myth, folklore, and twisted fairytales!

 

 

Where can people find your work? (Besides Annie’s Book Stop of Worcester–though they should totally check here first!)

 

 

 Anywhere books are sold!

 

 

How can we follow your work and share your awesomeness?

 

 

I’m on Instagram and Twitter @hwhittenwrites, and you can sign up for my newsletter on my website, hannahfwhitten.com

 

 

For readers unfamiliar with your work, how would you describe what you write?  What can readers expect from For the Wolf?

 

 

My favorite things to write are stories that feel familiar, yet twisted in a whole new way. With WOLF, you can expect a classic fairytale feel with lots of romance, darkness, and explorations of trauma.

 

 

What was the inspiration for For the Wolf? What were the steps you took to bring it from initial inspiration to the finished book?

 

 

My primary inspiration for For the Wolf was mostly that I had a craving for a certain kind of story and couldn’t find what I wanted—so I wrote it. I was also heavily inspired by the creepy forests I grew up in, themes of agency and consent in classic fairytales, a weird nightmare I had once about blood-drinking trees, and the punk-emo music of my wayward youth.

 

 

 

 

What character did you love or hate the most while writing? And why?

 

 

My answer for both is Neve. Plot-wise, I knew what I needed her to do and the function I needed her to fulfill, but her voice and her logic was overwhelming, and I ended up having to really recontextualize how I thought about her to do her justice. She is simultaneously extremely liberating and extremely frustrating to write, but she’s probably my favorite character in the series.

 

 

What is your favorite part of being a writer?  Of the whole writing and publishing process?  What do you think has been your greatest lesson in the journey thus far?

 

 

The best part of the whole thing is getting to share something that is so meaningful to you with other people, and seeing that they find it meaningful, too. Connecting with readers is a dream come true.

 

 

What piece of advice would you want to share with other writers?

 

 

My evergreen advice is to be your own target audience! Write what excites you, because there are others out there who want the exact same things you do.

 

 

Thanks, Hannah, for answering these questions for us!