The Tuesday Ten & Book Birthday With Hannah Currie

I'm excited to introduce you to a new author today! Her name is Hannah Currie and as it turns out, it's also her book's birthday! Her newest book is called Heart of a Royal. The cover is so pretty! Let's get to know Hannah better!

Q1: Your debut novel is releasing TODAY! This is so exciting! How did you decide what your first book was going to be?

Hannah: Actually, it was totally a God-thing that Heart of a Royal became my debut novel. When I wrote it, it was purely for fun as a story to share with my princess-and-book-loving teenaged sister. I was working on sending out proposals for other manuscripts and didn't really have any plans  to publish this one. But then interest in those manuscripts dried up, I totally fell in love with Kenna and the YA genre and  WhiteFire Publishing announced that they were looking for stories for their new YA/Juvenile line. Within a week, I'd sent them a proposal for Heart of a Royal. They loved it and the rest is history :) So yeah, one of those God-things that I never really planned but am sooo incredibly glad happened. I LOVE this story and am thrilled it’s my debut release!

Mimi: One of the reasons I love YA is because I can read them and my daughters can read them. I'm looking forward to your novel!

Q2: When you have writer's block, do you have a place you go or something you do to help you clear your mind or refocus you on your story?

Hannah: Not really. I tend to just skip to a different scene and write that or go back and edit something I’ve already written, which gets the ideas flowing again. Alternately, I might put the manuscript away for a  day or so and read a book instead.

Mimi: I can't even imagine what that must be like. I'm such an impatient person. lol

Q3: So, we both like to bake, but not cook (amen, sister)! If you were having a group
of ladies over to chat about "Heart of a Royal" what would you bake them?

Hannah: Oooh, I’m totally doing this!! We’re going to have a special High Tea afternoon tea to celebrate Heart of a Royal’s release and dedicate it back to God. I’ll probably bake a bunch of little things but my favorites are mini lemon and coconut cupcakes iced with lemon icing and topped with a pink or yellow flower. They always look so pretty and taste so good.

Mimi: My mom got my daughter and I into tea parties. Now we do them with our friends. For my birthday, my daughter and friends had a tea-esta for me... a tea and a fiesta!! SO much fun! I love that you're going to dedicate your book back to God!

Q4: My husband and I love doing our mission trips to Lima, Peru. When your kids are older, if you could do a family mission trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Hannah: My church supports a mission/organisation in Cambodia, called Bloom, which teaches girls who’ve been rescued from the sex-trafficking trade to bake and decorate the most incredibly elaborate cakes. They’re taught business and other life skills alongside the decorating and, in the process, find worth and new lives. I would love to take my girls (especially) there one day on a mission trip to serve alongside them.

Mimi: That sounds like an amazing mission trip to take with your kids! They have the Grace House that we visit in Peru. It helps young ladies/girls to get their lives fixed up and teaches them skills so they can go back into the world and hopefully carry the Lord with them.

Q5: When God revealed to you that you were going to be writing, how did you react
and respond?

Hannah: I was thrilled! Since childhood, I’d wanted to be a missionary and knew without a doubt that that was what God had called me to do. But I always thought that would mean going overseas and working with a mission organisation so was devastated at the loss of that dream when health issues stopped me. Until God showed me that, through my writing, he was using me to tell others about him and share his love and hope with the world – the words and stories he’d given me to share going so much further than I ever could have in person. I was stunned, humbled, excited and honoured. Still am.

Mimi: That is SUCH an awesome way to see how God has truly kept you in the mission field, but it just looks different than you expected. God is so creative!

Q6: You're giving 5 different books to 5 different friends because you want to introduce them to Christian fiction. Which books do you give them?

Hannah: Oh wow, only five??? Would totally depend on who the friends were and what they liked but…um…

• A Noble Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter
• A Name Unknown by Roseanna M White
• Then There was You by Kara Isaac
• There You’ll Find Me by Jenny B Jones
• London Skies by Carla Laureano

Mimi: A Name Unknown is the only book I've read in that list, and now I need to check out the other 4!

Q7: You get to take a writers' retreat anywhere in the world with 3 authors. Where do you go and who do you take?

Hannah: A little cottage in Ireland (you said wherever, right?) and I’d take Melissa Tagg, Robin Jones Gunn and Jenny B Jones. That said, I probably wouldn’t get any work done since I’d just want to sit and stare out the windows at the view all day (when I wasn’t chatting with the others) so maybe I should say somewhere really boring with some people I don’t like if I actually wanted to get any writing done…

Mimi: Ok, so we'd have to change the question to "3 authors and 1 guest" because now I want to go along! HA! I'm not a writer, but I love those authors, and Ireland...one day.

Q8: When you found out your book was going to be published a) how did you react and b) how did you celebrate?

Hannah: I squealed, and was so excited and giddy bouncing up and down that I forgot to even read past the first line of the email until my husband asked what the rest said. Oops! I was buzzing with excitement all day. Life didn’t stop though, being a mom – I still had to take kids to school, look after my youngest, clean the house, cook dinner, etc – but I do remember going through the day in an absolute buzz of excitement and couldn’t stop smiling and thanking God over and over. Pretty sure I ate some ice cream too. I really like ice cream.☺

Mimi: That sounds like how I'd probably react as well! And life never does stop no matter what we're doing. lol We're always still a mom and a wife.

Q9: How do you like to read a book: physical copy, ebook, or audio? Do you have any books in multiple formats?

Hannah: Physical will always be my favorite. There’s something so nice about holding a physical book – the smell and feel of it, the way I can flip pages so quickly and remember where on the page (and in the book) a scene was or look back at the cover. But I do love the practicality of ebooks when it comes to travelling, sitting at appointments or trying to get kids to sleep. Not a big fan of audiobooks, although that’s more to do with the fact that, with little kids, I don’t have enough time to listen to them. Maybe one day.

Mimi: I think I'll always have a greater love for the physical book. One time I was actually using my Kindle and I licked my tongue to turn the page. I'm NOT even kidding. I think I've listed to one audio book on the way from Minnesota to Florida driving. That was years ago.

Q10: What was your favorite book as a child?

Hannah: Soooo many favorites (I’ve always been a HUGE bookworm) but the one I used to borrow from the library the most as a child was Beyond the Rainbow by Christine Marion Fraser. It’s about two girls who have cancer and the friendship they form in hospital. Such a beautiful story of friendship.

Mimi: Wow, that sounds like a beautiful story. I'd probably cry through it! One of my favorite books as a child was The Pokey Little Puppy. I didn't realize until well into my adulthood it was because I could relate to him. lol

About Hannah:

Aussie author, Hannah Currie, loves God, family, people (in small numbers, let’s not go crazy here!) and writing. A book nerd from birth, she knows firsthand the difference a good book can make in a person’s life. Even, and especially, fiction. Her dream as a writer is to make people laugh, cry and maybe even swoon a little but mostly to remind them that no matter how dark life may get at times, because of God, there is always hope. She and her husband live with their three adorable kids in sunny Queensland, where it really is beautiful one day and perfect the next. Except, maybe, during heatwaves. They’re not so fun. She loves to connect with readers at www.hannahcurrie.com


Here's where you can purchase her books:

WhiteFire Publishing (includes sneak peek of chapter 1) – https://whitespark-publishing.com/project/heart-of-a-royal/
Book Depository – https://www.bookdepository.com/Heart-of-Royal-Hannah-Currie/9781946531537
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Royal-Daughters-Peverell-Book-ebook/dp/B07VLHGVZV
Barnes and Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heart-of-a-royal-hannah-currie/1132821604?ean=9781946531537