Patty Hall Interview

I’m happy to have Patty Hall as a guest on The Borrowed Book today. Patty has been making up stories to keep herself occupied since her parents forced her on boring Sunday drives in the Georgia countryside when she was too young to stay home by herself. Now she’s happy to share her wild imagination and her love of history with others, including her husband of 29 years Danny, two smart and gorgeous daughters, and a Yorkie she spoils like a grandbaby. Patty resides in North Georgia.

Welcome to The Borrowed Book, Patty. You had a book to release in July. What’s its title and what is it about?

Engineer Edie Michaels loves her life—she has a good job, close friends, even a chance at romance with former soldier Beau Daniels. But she could lose everything if her secret comes out that she’s the German daughter of a devoted Nazi. And when her father sends spies to force her loyalty, everything Edie values is at risk.

Oh, that sounds exciting. Your heroine intrigues me. Tell us about Edie Michaels, the daughter of a devoted Nazi.

Yeah! Edie is an interesting character! The idea for Edie first took seed while my husband and I were watching ‘Band of Brothers.’ In one scene, the American troops are walking down a road in France and come upon a group of German prisoners, one of which hails from Oregon. Which got me thinking—how many families living in the United States sent their sons to Germany to enlist in Hitler’s army? It was more than you could imagine! But Edie’s story really took shape during a conversation with my youngest daughter’s German teachers. Her father ran away after her grandparents demanded he go to Germany for the war, a rift in the family that never healed. After my research uncovered that their daughters with certain educational backgrounds were also sent back, Edie’s story was born.

How did Beau Daniels, your hero, come to spend time in a Nazi POW camp?

The POW camp came to life after my mother-in-law gave ma a book about a man in her church who had been a prisoner of war during WWII. The one thing that I took away from it was the humanity the Americans showed by sharing the Red Cross rations between themselves and with some of the German people who were starving due to the war. In what should have been a God-forsaken place, I felt God’s presence there in those soldiers’ actions—and thought that should be the place where Beau found his own spiritual freedom.

With a hero and heroine from different lifestyles, there must be a lot of conflict between these two. What do you want readers to take away as they read this story where the hero and heroine face such differences in ther backgrounds?

I do have a habit of throwing the kitchen sink at my characters!~grin~The one thing I would love readers to take from this book is to embrace the truth of loving the sinner while hating the sin. It’s a concept we all struggle with, but one of the fundamental truths Christ taught throughout his entire ministry.

What made you want to focus on a historical romance when you began to write?

Honestly, I started writing contemporaries and while I had some of the nicest rejection letters, they never sold. Now I look back and think the rejections came because I was writing the same old stuff everybody was wrote, nothing new, nothing fresh. And if there’s one thing editors tell you time and time again, it’s that they want ‘the same but different.’ I found a way to accomplish that with historical romance.

What are you working on now?

Tons of stuff. First I’m finishing up the third book of this WWII book for Love Inspired Historical. Then I’m working on a proposal for a new series based in the Georgia gold rush that started in 1829 and continues even today.

Many of our readers would like to write for Love Inspired. What advice would you give them to make their manuscript stand out from the rest?

Don’t submit too early! I know it’s hard to have that manuscript finished and not rush to submit, but it’s best to polish your work first. Send it to your critique buddies. Enter contests and study what the judges have to tell you because your submission is your chance to impress those editors for the very first time, and like everyone, you want to put your best foot forward.

Do you have other words of encouragement for prepublished authors?

In the words of Winston Churchill, never, never, NEVER GIVE UP!

Thank you for being with us on The Borrowed Book. It's always a pleasure to welcome one of my Love Inspired sisters to our blog.

Maybe some of you are interested in writing for Love Inspired. I'm sure Patty would be willing to answer any other questions you might have about writing for the line. If so, leave a question in the comments, and we'll try to help you.