Welcome, everyone, to my Adventures in Writing Blog. I am honored to have with me today Ellen
Gable Hrkach, an award-winning historical Catholic fiction writer.
Ellen has published 4 Catholic fiction novels to date:
Ellen has published 4 Catholic fiction novels to date:
Emily’s Hope
Stealing Jenny
In Name Only,
and
most recently A Subtle Grace
A Subtle
Grace is alive with drama. The obstacles are many; the characters,
lively. The devil lives in the
historical world of the O'Donovan family.
The writer knows her genre. This
Catholic Fiction novel demonstrates the power of love and faith to forgive and
protect. You won't be disappointed.
Thank
you, Ellen, for visiting with me.
Ellen: My pleasure.
VML: Ellen, what
made you decide to become a writer and how long have you been writing?
Ellen: Many years ago, I
began writing in a journal to ease the grieving process after suffering several
miscarriages. These journal entries actually served as the basis for my first
published article, “Five Little Souls in Heaven,” which was published in the Nazareth Journal in 1995.
From there, other articles
were published in various Catholic magazines. Around 14 years ago, after
researching about my family tree and finding out some unusual aspects about my
great-grandmother, my husband suggested that I write a novel based on the
parallel true stories of myself and my great-grandmother. I learned how
to write a novel in that (four year) period of time. When I finished that
book, I knew that I wanted to write more novels.
VML: And write them, you
did. It’s amazing that your books have
been downloaded over 500,000 times on Kindle since 2010.
Ellen, why did you choose Catholic
fiction as your genre?
Ellen: First, I’m
Catholic. Fifteen years ago, there were very few Catholic novels. As a
novelist, I wanted to write in a genre that I could relate to, that was inspiring
and was less competitive than other genres. Most Christian novels are
generically Christian; the characters sometimes pray and often seem “too good.”
I wanted to write complicated stories and create believable characters with
depth from a Catholic point of view.
VML: Fully developed
characters are needed for readers to become involved in stories. And of course, it isn’t a story without
conflict. Ellen, some writers begin with a
situation, some with characters. As a writer of historical Catholic
Fiction, how do you begin writing a novel?
Ellen: I usually start
with a situation. I outline the basic story and a few simple ideas for
characters. This often takes months, even years, given my other duties and
responsibilities. Once I have the basic outline complete, I then spend
several months researching. This is one of my favorite parts of the
process and fairly easy, given modern access to the internet. Next step is to
write character studies, and then begin writing the first draft.
VML:
Ah! I’m not a pantster either,
except for my YA short stories. I
believe in the outline for longer work.
What some writers forget is that an outline is just a way of keeping you
writing. Outlines are merely guidelines
and are apt to change slightly as the storyline grows and moves forward. Now character studies are a great idea. I learned about those in one of my earlier
writing courses.
The process of writing and
re-writing can be a tedious one--especially for full-length novels. How
do you know when your novel is ready for the presses?
Ellen: It’s hard to
explain. With my own novels, I get to a point where I need to move on to
the next project. Once I’ve finished my first presentable draft, I then
work with a developmental editor (who assists with plot and characters, as well
as sentence structure), then I work with two copy-editors. The “tedious”
edits are definitely not my favorite part of the process, but they’re very
important because each time a manuscript goes through an editing process, it
becomes more polished and helps the story and characters shine more
brightly. Four to six proofreaders then read through for typos and other
errors missed by myself or the editors.
VML:
Lucky you to have such a writing support
staff. Writing is not the solitary
profession it was once thought to be.
And even then, writers discussed details with other writers. Always great advice to have others read the
manuscript when you’re finished to see if what the writer thinks is on the
page, in fact is.
Do you have any advice to offer
writers on how to stay committed to a longer writing project?
Ellen: Perseverance and patience!! These are two virtues that are absolutely essential to the modern writer.
VML:
The two “p’s” of writing. I’ll
always be a writer, but the patience needed to hear back on my manuscripts is
the difficult part for me.
How about
you, fellow readers? Which is more
difficult for you, in whatever you do; perseverance or patience?
Thank you so much, Ellen,
for stopping by my Adventures in Writing blog.
You can connect to Ellen Gable Hrkach on
the web at www.ellengable.com. Her books
are available at http://www.amazon.com/Ellen-Gable/e/B002LFMXOI/.