Five Questions with Ingrid Hahn

by Julie Tetel Andresen | June 7, 2016 |

Five Questions Series

There are so many fascinating authors and bloggers out there, and I feel lucky to be meeting many of them through Twitter and blogs. This is the latest entry in my series of conversations with other romance authors, who join us to share about their creative process, their habits, their inspiration, and more. Our guest today is Ingrid Hahn, an author of historical romances novels.

1. What drew you to romance initially?

Ingrid Hahn: As an angsty teenager, I was in the horror section of my local bookstore when I spotted a pink book. A very pink book–bright fuchsia. The backcover copy all about a handsome, dark, brooding guardian in Victorian New Orleans and his beautiful, defiant ward who is shocked to discover he wants her for himself. In my innocence, I though to myself, well, I guess that could be horror. Deeply intrigued by what I’d read, I bought the book. And read it. Again and again. Some of the scenes were very educational! Thankfully, I did figure out that the book had been mis-shelved–and the rest is history!

2. You just released your first book, To Win a Lady’s Heart. What have been the biggest challenges of going through the publishing process for the first time?

Ingrid Hahn: My contract for the first book came when my baby was only a few months old. Getting any amount of time to myself is challenge enough. What time I do get, I almost invariably spend writing. Right around the time I needed to be getting book number two written, my child was nine months old and I started him on babysitters. The first week was great. The second week he hit square into his stranger danger and separation anxiety stage.

3. Where did you find your inspiration for the Landon Sisters?

Ingrid Hahn: Sometimes I get ideas for characters before I ever start writing. More often than not, though, I don’t know much about the people in my books until I start writing. Writing really is an act of magic for me.

4. Your first book is a historical romance. What kind of research did you do for the book?

Ingrid Hahn: I’ve spent a lot of time engaged with the Regency world, so much of the setting and period details are already firmly imprinted on my brain. I try to fact check myself as much as is both possible and feasible. So many things we think about as quintessentially British are from the Victorian era–little things, like pool queue chalk. Because I enjoy it so much, I always spend time pouring over which colors were fashionable in which years. I like the historical names for different colors and I like mentioning historically accurate fabrics. Also, because TO WIN A LADY’S HEART was set around Christmas, I researched Regency Christmas traditions, although most of what I discovered actually didn’t make it into the book.

5. Tell me about your writing routine.

Ingrid Hahn:

Me: Hi, sweetheart, I’m so glad you’re home! *kisses husband* Here, have a baby. I’m going write for a while.