Author Interview with Donna Hatch

Welcome, Donna Hatch, author of gripping romance novels including The Guise of a Gentleman, The Stranger She Married, and Queen in Exile. Her books have won several awards, and they are among my favorites!

First, some fun stuff about Donna:

Donna, what is one of your most embarrassing moments?

Realizing a guy in one of my classes I'd been talking to all semester was, indeed, a girl. Yeah, lots of replayed conversations wondering how many times I'd stuck my foot in my mouth when I thought she was a he.

Oh. My. Goodness! That is embarrassing. I definitely want to hear more about that one later! What are you most passionate about, other than writing?

Music! 

Favorite Quote

“For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.” -Judy Garland

Any reoccurring nightmares? Humor us.

I'm terrified of spiders, and have frequent dreams of spiders--usually humongous spiders--crawling toward me or on me.

You and Ronald Weasley (add ME to the list, too!). Five favorite movies. Go.

Somewhere in Time, Sense and Sensibility (actually all of the Jane Austens), Tangled, While You Were Sleeping, Enchanted

I love it! We have similar tastes in shows. List five of your favorite novels (I know, rude to ask for only five since I’m sure there are many!) 

You're right--totally hard question, but here are some that really stick out in my mind:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

This is All I Ask by Lynn Kurland

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Illuminations of the Heart by Joyce DiPastena

A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist

There are some on that list I’ll have to add to my to-read pile. Donna, what hidden talent do you possess besides writing?

I don't know how talented I am, but I love to sing, dance, and play the harp.

Donna’s Books:

Tell us about your all-time favorite character (of your own creation).

Jared from The Guise of a Gentleman was so fun to write. I did absolutely no characterization on him, he was such a wild card, and so fully developed, that it felt like I ran around after him and madly typed everything he did. I even dreamed about him. Vividly.

I just downloaded The Guise of a Gentleman on my Kindle, so this makes me extra excited to read about Jared! How did you come up with the premise for Queen in Exile?

That was a 20-year project that started when I was in high school and evolved significantly. I honestly have no idea where the original story was born but when I heard the song; All I Ask of You from Phantom of the Opera, I thought that could have been their theme song.

Wow! I love Queen in Exile, so that was a fun tidbit for me to learn. Character, setting or plot: which one is most important to you and why?

My books are very character-driven, but setting and plot are so crucial that I have a hard time separating them because they are all interwoven. The setting dictates much of who the characters are, and the plot is basically what they do and why they do it which can create fairly complicated plots with some adventure or intrigue.

Well said! Last of all, what project are you working on now, Donna?

I'm doing final edits on a novella and revisions on a full-length novel which is book 3 of my Regency series. I hope to have good news about that soon.

I hope so too. I, for one, will be looking forward to everything Donna Hatch in the future. Thank you for interviewing on my blog, Donna!

Thanks so much for having me.

Donna and several other great authors (Sarah M. Eden, Heidi Ashworth, Annette Lyon, Joyce DiPastena and Heather B. Moore) have teamed up to publish A Timeless Winter Anthology, a collection of romantic short stories that will be available this fall (just in time for Christmas!). Here is the cover (isn't it a beauty?):

You can find out more about Donna on her website, her blog, or her Facebook page. I love comments! AND be sure to check back Monday morning to enter a GIVEAWAY of one of Donna's novels!