Hello, hello everyone! This week's blog post is a very special post. Wonder why? 
H.S. Kylian (I know her as Hannah) was one of my very first editing clients, and since working on Arrows: Faithful and Just, we've become good writing buddies. She was one of two authors who encouraged me and watched in live time as I wrote the last few parts of one of my short stories (an experience that was full of fun and so much laughter XD), and she's asked me for tips on character motivation and the Southern setting.
So without further ado, here's the interview! Author Interview Hi Hannah! Welcome to the Southern Story Scribbler. Let;s go ahead and jump right in! ​How did you get started writing? When did you begin to seriously write? (As in, with the mindset of "this could be published"?)
I started writing when I was nine and have always said that I started getting serious about it when I was thirteen. I was sleeping over at my grandma’s house with two of my sisters because us older two were in quilting camp at the time, and Grandma lived closer. Anyway, I don’t remember what inspired it, but I remember picking up a legal yellow pad and writing down a few paragraphs of an idea that would eventually become a Civil War series. (Not the Matthews one; that happened later!)
Oooh, that sounds familiar. I think one of my first stories was also written on a legal pad. XD What genres do you primarily write in?
Historical, romance, and contemporary - all from a Christian worldview, of course. I’ve tried fantasy before too, and have a Snow Queen retelling simmering on the back burner, waiting for me to get back to it. 
I love stories based on The Snow Queen! Keep us in the loop on that one, please.What was your first ever completed writing project? (And where is it now?)
I think it was… Preserving the Past 2. That story has changed since then. Right now, it’s in the fridge, but I take it out occasionally to think about it, then put it back in. At some point, I’m going to go back to it, I just don’t know when. The Matthews and Grays have 99% of my attention right now. :D 
Okay, when I read that, I thought you meant literal fridge for a minute, and I wanted to ask if that's just a writerly thing. XD What was your first ever published project? 
That would be For Better or For Worse and To Love & To Cherish, two short stories from my Woodsman’s Legacy series. Both were originally published in anthologies; FBOFW in Tell Me You Love Me and TLATC in Seize The Love. The former is still available but only until Valentine’s Day, which is when I’m releasing FBOFW on its own. TLATC was released on its own last May. 
Cool! I think I've read Tell Me You Love Me, but I forgot For Better or For Worse was in there. Shifting the focus to your upcoming book, what inspired you to write the Arrows series? 
Oh boy…honestly, I’m not sure. The original plot was way different - it was a suspense/mystery that eventually turned into a series with law enforcement characters as the protagonists, but they weren’t Jack & Maggie. In fact, they didn’t even exist yet! But, there are two Arrows characters that have been around since the original plot: Connor & Kelly, who readers will be meeting before Season One is over. ;)
The current plot as is, albeit with a few tweaks here and there, has only existed since like, 2020, which is when I dropped the law enforcement angle and just focused on the pro-life thread, which I think had popped into the original almost as soon as the idea took shape.
Well, if you ever decide to go back to the law enforcement angle, I'm always up to read that. Some of my readers may not know this, but the Matthews-Gray stories span several generations and historical eras - how do you keep track of everything and everybody? 

Writing it down, making family trees…maybe a dose or two of insanity.
I think there's a few authors among us who subscribe to that formula too. XD Can you tell us about your new book, Arrows: Faithful and Just? 
Faithful & Just is about a young couple who conceived their first child out of wedlock and insist on doing the right thing by getting married and raising their kid, even if they’re met with some resistance. And this is only the beginning, since the series is going to span just over thirty years. Meaning you’ll all get to see their kids grow up and start their own families. ;)
The series will also contain references to the Matthews’ Civil War series, A Higher Law, which itself will actually be relevant to the plot of Arrows. Hence why I’m going to be working on that series in tandem with this one.
And as a history nerd, I am so excited for the Civil War project! Any other upcoming projects you're working on that you can tell us about?
Well, aside from releasing For Better or For Worse on its own next month, I’m also going to be releasing another Woodsman short story titled Handprints in March. I’m also working on a few others that I hope to publish later this year, Lord willing. At least two of those projects are:
~ A Time of War, the first book in the A Higher Law series.
~ Sunflowers Under The Harvest Moon, which is about Jonathan & Nicki from The Woodsman’s Legacy series.
Thanks so much for doing this interview! I appreciate getting to know you and Arrows better!
You’re welcome, Cate! Thanks for having me! 
About the Author Arrows: Faithful and Just is the first book in Season 1 of Hannah's family saga series, and it releases January 22, 2025 - one week from today! If you pre-order Arrows: F&J, you'll receive a sneak peek at the next episode, a Matthews-Gray family tree and a flash fiction piece about the main characters of F&J! 
If you want to find out more about Hannah and her work, you can visit her at her blog, follow her on Goodreads, check out her socials on Facebook and Instagram, or follow her on BookBub.
Preorder F&J Here!
Fill out the pre-order form here!