An Interview with Ohio Author Kathryn Haueisen

An Interview with Ohio Author Kathryn Haueisen

Kathryn Haueisen is the author of two novels, Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures and Mary Brewster’s Love Life: Matriarch of the Mayflower. I first met Kathryn in December at the Hocking Hills Book Fair at The Dairy Barn, Athens, Ohio. A joy to meet, Kathryn writes historical fiction based upon ancestral facts. Her two novels are intriguing and recommended reading.

Welcome, Kathryn!

GM: What is the premise for your new book?

KH: The premise of my new book is that people from vastly different backgrounds can and should learn how to complement each other’s perspectives rather than compete with one another.

GM: How do you maintain thoughts and ideas for storylines?

KH: I maintain my thoughts and ideas for a story line primarily by reading a lot of history and following the events I learn about in my research. Much of the main plot is already prepared from. I expand it by imaging how I would have reacted and what I would have thought if I were living through the historical events about which I write. I consider it my task is to bring historical events and people to life so the reader is transported back to their situations.

GM: Do you include family and friends to develop characters?

KH: I don’t intentionally include family and friends in my characters, but I do look to people I know well to help me fully develop my fictional characters. For example in my Mayflower historical novels I depended on what I remembered about my grandfather to describe Elder William Brewster, since the two men are related. In visualizing my grandfather and his sense of humor, I could imagine that the Elder Brewster may have had a similar personality. 

GM: How do current events and headlines play a role in your writing?

KH: Current events and headlines play a role in my writing in that human nature really doesn’t change from generation to generation.  So as I read about today’s events and see the consequences and outcomes of them, I can apply similar out comes to the people in the historical fiction I’m writing. We continue to watch conflicts and wars erupt when peoples of different cultures, religions, and customs clash. 

GM: As an author, can you share a personal quote to inspire fellow authors?

KH: A personal quote I’d share with a fellow author is to keep in mint that it’s never too late start writing; it’s always too early to give up.

GM: Who is your favorite author?  

KH: One of my favorite authors is Jodi Picoult because she writes about important topics through engaging fiction. She does with current topics what I aim to accomplish with historical topics.

GM: What are you currently writing?

KH: I am currently working on a third version of the significance of the Mayflower voyage, set in contemporary times in the Midwest.

GM: What are you currently reading?

KH: I am currently reading several books.  I’m just finishing up John Grisham’s Brethren.  I’m most of the way through American Carnage by Thomas Gabor and Fred Gutenberg. Over Christmas I read a series of holiday theme short stories by David Sedaris in his Holidays on Ice.  I have a copy of Henry Winkler’s Being Henry ready to start when I finish Brethren.

GM: Do you have advice for novice writers and those looking to publish their first book?

KH: My advice for novice writers looking to publish a first book is to find a community of other authors and interface with them as often as possible, both to learn more about the craft and business and to form an informal support group to encourage you and introduce you to people who can help get you published.

GM: List 10 things your fans may not know about you...

KH:  Ten things people may not know about me are:

* I’m an only daughter and middle child. As  such, I was trained to be a peace maker.

* I grew up along Lake Erie and seek places where I can see water as often as time and budget allow.

* I love dogs and have lived with one all my life except for short interludes between canine companions.

* I started school in the first grade. There was no kindergarten where we lived when I was that age.

* I love to sing, but others do not enjoy listening to me singing. 

* I’m a good cook with basic comfort types of food.

* Many of my ideas come to me while walking outdoors, observing nature, birds, squirrels, and other wonders of nature.

* My various jobs have included public relations for an outdoor drama, managing a camp and retreat program, raising funds for churches and 

non-profit organizations,  and editing copy about salamanders and other creatures while working for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

* I’ve served on staff at six congregations.

* Know most of the words to most of John Denver’s songs.

From the Author:

I’ve long preferred to learn my history through a combination of narrative non-fiction and well researched historical fiction. I draw inspiration from learning more about the challenges and circumstances of those who came before us. It is part of the logic behind naming my website “How Wise Then.” Our ancestors have valuable information that can inspire and inform the choices we face today. I have chosen to focus on the stories behind the Mayflower voyage as at least two of the passengers on that ship are part of my personal biography. Additionally, three of my grandchildren have that heritage plus Native American heritage through their father’s family. His family has introduced me to a part of American history I never learned in school. The more I learned about the first peoples to dwell in this remarkable continent, the more I was drawn toward seeing history through their perspectives, in addition to the version I’ve learned from my English ancestors and traditional American history classes. I wanted the people who encountered one another on this land four centuries ago to communicate with one another, That compelled me to write two historical novel versions of what I imagine their lives must been like. My research took me to New England, England and the Netherlands. I interviewed Native Americans as well as established English genealogists and historians to tell compelling stories that I hope readers will enjoy as much as I enjoyed doing the research.

About the Author:

Kathryn Haueisen launched a freelance writing career after graduating from Bowling Green State University with a degree in journalism and before becoming a Lutheran pastor. She has invested her retirement years researching and writing about historical events that continue to impact us today. Thus far she’s published two historical fictions, based on real events, real people, and realistic conversations. Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures and Mary Brewster’s Love Life: Matriarch of the Mayflower are available wherever books are sold. She also writes articles and short stories that focus on good people doing great things for our global village. She frequently speaks to groups large and small about places she traveled and things she learned while doing the research.

Connect with Kathryn…

Kathryn M. Haueisen, Freelance Author, Pastor, Speaker

Website: HowWiseThen  
Facebook: AuthorKHaueisen  
Instagram: kathrynhaueisen8
LinkedIn: AuthorKHaueisen
Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures
and Mary Brewster’s Love Life
Now available wherever books are sold, including:
Bookshop.org
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Blue Willow Bookshop
Gramercy Books Bexley

Kathryn signing books at the Hocking Hills Book Fair, December 2023