Hannah D Sharpe is an American domestic suspense author. She enjoys creating morally ambiguous female characters with stories that incorporate mental health awareness and struggles that women face today. Hannah also has an MSN Ed, with a background in emergency medicine, nursing education, and health insurance and a focus on underserved communities. Hannah lives in Northwest Washington State with her husband, three children (ages 10, 7, and 5), and a moody orange tabby cat. When not working, writing, and juggling the family’s extracurricular activities, you can find Hannah delving into the next home project while getting lost in an audiobook.
Between Lies and Revenge, Hannah's debut domestic suspense novel, centers on a daring jewel heist that becomes a lifeline for two women entangled in a web of deceit, pushing them to the brink of trust and betrayal in their quest for redemption and survival.
Hannah stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about writing and researching the book:
It may or may not come as a surprise that my debut novel Between Lies and Revenge is not the first novel I’ve written. The unpublished manuscripts gathering proverbial dust in a folder on my desktop were the most valuable research I’ve done to date.
To write a compelling story requires research long before research for the novel is addressed. This begins with reading avidly in the genres of interest. Reading as a writer goes beyond pleasure by adding research in structure, pacing, character development, and layering of story. In addition to reading published books, it is important for a writer to connect with other writers and find critique partners, beta readers, and writing groups, where the writer not only receives feedback, but gives it to others. By reading other writers works and offering valuable feedback the writer becomes knowledgeable in recognizing mishaps, developmental opportunities, and the steps in which a writer can take to get their work from an initial draft to published.
I have traditionally been a pantser—learning my story as I draft—which meant researching a lot while I was drafting Between Lies and Revenge. There was rarely a writing session in which I didn’t need to pull up Google. Google and the internet have always been my primary go to for research, with anxiety and three children who are now ages 5, 7, and 10 (younger when writing this novel). Additionally, I’m fortunate to have obtained a master’s degree in nursing, which was, in itself, an education about research collection and validation, and came in handy when researching the following for Between Lies and Revenge:
Gemology / Lapidary – I know nothing about the craft of jewelry making, repair, and evaluation and appraisal. However, my character, Elle, made it clear early on that she does. This meant many, many, Google rabbit holes. I spent a long time learning about equipment, processes, education and training, and industry specific terms. I then crosschecked information between sources to determine whether the information found was the most reliable and widely known. This research didn’t end with my first draft, but continued through every edit up until the end, verifying the information I had on the page and strengthening it with new details.
Infertility – Despite having my own experience with infertility, and being a nurse, I needed to delve deep into research for this topic, as I wanted to make sure my novel portrayed the most up-to-date and accurate information. For those who experience infertility and seek fertility assistance, the journey is very personal and becomes deeply engrained. Getting the details right were imperative, especially knowing my character, Olivia, would have a journey that was unique to her, as fertility treatments are personalized and specific as decided by the individual and their provider. This meant going above and beyond the Google search and into professionally published research, as well as speaking to individuals who went through fertility treatments different than mine and reaching out to nurses and physicians who specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. I was also open to feedback and did not become defensive when the information I had on the page was interpreted as inaccurate. Instead, I went back through the research process to verify details, correct inaccuracies, and make sure it all aligned throughout the different stages of editing.
Multi-Level Marketing (and its dark side) – I did a deep dive into research on this component of my story long before I knew I would write this novel. I spent the early years after my children were born longing for a community of moms and having a desire to fit in somewhere. I hadn’t yet found the writing community, but on my phone, right in front of my face, there was a world that said it offered what I was looking for and was wrought with positivity. Desperate to be within these inner circles and to create true connections, I joined various MLMs, and supported many more, slipping into debt and hiding spending from my husband. It wasn’t until I was trying to step away and recover from the impact it all had on my mental health that I decided to incorporate this thread into my writing as a type of therapy. Once I’d committed, I spoke to others who had similar experiences as me, and even read a fantastic non-fiction on the topic of the dark side of MLMs, the hold they have on women, and the use of toxic positivity to mask the wrongs they make (Hey, Hun by Emily Lynn Paulson).
There were many other, smaller components, that required online research as well, such as how long a person can be missing before being reported deceased, and by whom. I also needed to become familiar with Leesburg, VA, and NYC, as I’ve never been to either place. However, in my research I felt like I’d come to know Leesburg well. I also had a writing friend who lives in Virginia verify details, such as the weather and how the grass looks at the end of August, because the east coast is drastically different than the west coast (where I live).
My research on how to structure and pace a novel came full circle when I had an unscheduled edit that I refer to as my “surprise edit” eight months before my novel was scheduled to be released. I’d been given examples of novels that had done what I was trying to do throughout the edit process, and it wasn’t until I’d fully learned what it was like to edit with a publishing house and an editorial team, that I could truly embrace what needed to be done. I knew that my knowledge and the research I’d done wasn’t enough, so I reached out to a critique partner who had been studying the structure and pacing of novel writing for many years, and with her help we rearranged the entire first half of the novel, strengthening the pacing exponentially.
The biggest advice I can give to writers is to be open and receptive to feedback, because you don’t know what you don’t know until you learn otherwise. And when you know that you don’t know, you can begin to learn and research, then do it again, and again, and again, until you have a finished product you can be proud of.
You can learn more about Hannah Sharpe via her website and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads. Between Lies and Revenge is available from Simon & Schuster and all major booksellers.
