An
Interview With Ohio Author, Hanna Kraft
Hailing
from the tranquil and picturesque landscapes of rural Ohio, Hanna Kraft is an
author whose storytelling prowess is as deeply rooted in her heritage as the
ancient trees that surround her home. With a fervent passion for genealogy,
Hanna masterfully intertwines the threads of her ancestors' lives into her
fiction novels, creating rich, evocative narratives that honor the past while
captivating the present. Her writing aims to reflect the profound truths of the
greatest stories ever told, bringing to life the legacies of those who came
before her.
When
she's not immersed in the intricate tapestry of her family history, Hanna finds
joy in the simple yet enriching activities of her daily life. You might find
her strumming the banjo, its melodies echoing the traditional tunes of
generations past, or practicing her German, a language that connects her more
intimately with her roots. Hanna's love for the tactile and nostalgic is
evident as she often crafts her stories using a manual typewriter, a symbol of
her dedication to preserving the art of storytelling in its purest form. Her
home in rural Ohio serves as both a sanctuary and a muse, inspiring the
heartfelt and historically rich novels that have garnered her admiration from
readers near and far.
Hanna
Kraft is not just an author; she is a guardian of history, breathing new life
into the stories of her ancestors with every word she writes. Her work is a
testament to the enduring power of storytelling and its ability to connect us
to our shared human experience.
Welcome,
Hanna!
GM:
What is the premise of your new book?
HK:
My latest release, Friendship at Flat Creek Road, follows the everyday
life of Carol Ayers, a fourteen-year-old living in upstate New York during the
beginnings of the Great Depression. Through the fun and boring times, the hard
and the easy days, Carol offers a look at the daily routines and changes while
keeping a diary. Carol’s diaries—real historical artifacts of the author’s
ancestor—provide the basis for the Heritage Diaries books, and most
chapters close with a real diary entry written by Carol herself.
Blurb:
It's 1931 in the rural
countryside of Sprakers, New York. Carol Ayers' home on Flat Creek Road is
tucked between the dairy farms of Montgomery County. Amid the daily routines of
housework and schoolwork, social visits and special events, Carol finds her
friendships are not trouble-free--even the ones in her own family. Follow
Carol, Margaret, and Pete as their sisterly devotion is tested.
GM:
What would you like readers to take away from your books?
HK:
I hope to provide readers with an enjoyable relaxing experience while reading
the stories of Carol Ayers; in the chaos and high-stakes tension that appear in
so many of today’s books—not to mention real life—I want my readers to find a
peaceful alternative.
Through
Friendship at Flat Creek Road, I also hope to communicate to young and
old readers alike the value of family and keeping family relationships through
even severe tensions. And because the subject of the book is a normal girl
living normal life, I hope to show that anyone’s lives can be interesting—they
don’t have to be famous or live a particularly unusual life. As individuals
made in the image of God, everyone has their own unique experience worth being
shared.
GM:
Do you have advice for novice writers?
HK:
I’m always full of advice! (Now, good advice? That may be another matter…). A lot of what makes “good” advice depends on
the main goals of individual writers, but one comprehensive guidance I would
offer is to seek to emulate the Lord Jesus and study how He writes the stories
of life. This includes observing certain extraordinary “storylines” you might
see in real life, as well as reading the Bible.
GM:
The best advice, Hanna! What are you currently reading?
HK:
Too many books at one time. I always like having a nonfiction in progress,
which currently is a 1952 biography of Abraham Lincoln by Benjamin P
Thomas. I am also reading two fiction reads at once: one vintage and one by
a current author. The latter, Confessions
to a Stranger by Danielle Grandinetti, is an historical romance
released last year. The setting of 1930 Wisconsin along Lake Michigan was
intriguing, not to mention a time period of particular interest to me. My
vintage read, from 1917, is The
Secret of the Storm Country by Grace Miller White. I usually derive
pleasure from reading a book my own book characters may have read, and this is
no exception!
GM:
What are you currently writing?
HK:
Rewriting is the better term for what I’m doing to my debut novel The New
Diary (and the prequel to Friendship). After correcting historical
inaccuracies and applying some (good) writing advice I’ve since learned, I will
move on to writing Book #3 of the Heritage Diaries series!
My
scheduled time of fiction writing, however, is often interrupted by other
duties of mine, like genealogy reports and features in my Author
Newsletter.
GM:
Congratulations on your success. We look forward to future titles! Who
is your favorite author?
HK:
An impossible question to answer, unless you will allow me to depart the
human-author realm and name God, as the Author of life itself, as the Greatest
Author by virtue of His words which have the power to give eternal life.
But
in the human realm… well, I admit I am overthinking this to a dreadful degree.
My overloaded brain, in choosing the limiting criteria, came to the conclusion
that even the best authors fail to meet them all.
However,
I do want to give this question a satisfactory answer, so I’ll offer a few
names. Grace Livingston Hill is a vintage author to whom I frequently return to
read Christ-centered romantic sweetness. Because apparently I like three-named
authors named Grace, I must mention Elisabeth Grace Foley as one whose witty
writing style has—multiple times—caused me to drop everything and read one of
her short stories, no matter whether the genre is western, romance, mystery, or
a combination thereof.
If
one can become a favorite author after only one novel, I bear no shame in
lauding author Jayna Baas for her early American story Preacher on the Run.
Plus, I find she has excellent taste in music, so that must count for something
… regardless, I am highly motivated to become more than a onetime-reader of
Baas.
GM:
Take us through a day in your life as an author...
HK:
This is indeed a difficult task! My days, especially when it comes to writing,
are so varied, I cannot explain what a “normal” day might look like. So I shall
choose one particular day for which to lead you on this odd tour: November 11,
2024.
Morning:
I look at, review, and update my to-do list. Many of the things on there are
not related to writing, but this month, I’m especially focused on completing The
New Diary (Heritage Diaries #1), so that takes priority today. I
must also send out a newsletter by the end of the week, so I hope to carve out
a chunk of time to start writing that today.
It’s
a beautiful day, so I choose the task that doesn’t require a computer—drafting
my newsletter feature out on paper—and take it outside.
Afternoon:
I force myself to get some manuscript writing (really editing at this stage) in
before lunch. In between staring at my Word doc and wondering how on earth
words are used to communicate, I manage to type words that are mostly
acceptable (for now).
After
lunch I read a bit of my Abraham Lincoln biography in the gorgeous sunlight
before heading back inside to sit at my computer and make more writing
progress. Of course I can’t write anything before hand-picking some music to
help me focus. I take a break when I decide I’ve finished a chapter.
Evening:
I take advantage of the special offer by the military records site fold3, which is allowing free searches of WWI and WWII records
in honor of Veterans Day. I don’t have a specific project for which I need to
find war documents, so it’s only an unofficial genealogical hunt. Still, I have
fun, and it’s much easier than wrangling words out of my WIP. Someday the
information will be used to create characters in future stories…
GM:
How do you keep ideas, outlines, and storylines for future manuscripts?
HK:
I have so many sources of possible ideas, I couldn’t possibly write them all
down for later. That’s the life of a genealogist—every bit of my research could
result in story material. The research and historical documents themselves, of
course, is one way I keep ideas/storylines—information I learn about Carol
Ayers’ life is saved either through electronic files, transcription, or various
forms of corporeality (such as photographs, vintage books, maps, and etc.).
Aside
from the history-based story inspiration, my imaginative story ideas make it
into a notebook. Once a small idea or outline blossoms into a full plot, it
earns its own notebook, and every related thought/plot aspect is added to it,
however disorganized. Oh, I try to keep it organized—character descriptions in
this section, plot structure in that section, backstory over there … but
inevitably, I run out of room somewhere, and then things start running
together.
GM:
Writing is easy, but marketing takes work…
HK:
That’s an understatement! Well, I disagree on the “writing is easy” part, but I
guess in comparison…
GM:
Do you have author promotion/marketing insights to share?
HK:
Understand (or choose) a target audience, and put efforts into finding those
people, instead of presenting yourself to the whole world in hopes they’ll find
you. Even within specific genres or age ranges there are readers of smaller
niches which are perfectly willing to enjoy your books, even if the Amazon
bestseller list doesn’t. There are plenty of ways to do this—I won’t get into
it all here, especially as I’m no expert—but it’s only too clear the difficulty
of competing on the same platform for the same wide world of readers. That’s
one potentially fruitful way of marketing, as long as your product fits the box
well. But for out-of-the-box stories, like mine, I find it rewarding to engage
with smaller communities, all of whom are more likely to be interested in the
product.
GM:
What do you like to do for fun?
HK:
God has blessed me abundantly with such a passion for genealogical research,
that even though it could be considered “work,” I find it no less than fun.
Other writing-related fun things I do include writing on my manual typewriter,
reading, and studying German (I tell you, everything is related to genealogy,
and genealogy is related to my writing). I do have a few hobbies which don’t
involve the written word, such as swimming, listening to music, and playing the
banjo—and, once in a while, daydreaming new stories …
Connect with Hanna…
Sign
up for Hanna’s NEWSLETTER
Purchase
Friendship at Flat Creek Road
Goodreads
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