Interview with Vanessa Hall, Author of Unforgiven
Hello everyone! Today I'm helping celebrate the release of Vanessa Hall's fourth book in the Grace Sufficient series, Unforgiven! This is a great book with a wonderful story and a beautiful message, and I hope you guys will go read it when you're done reading this interview! C: Hello and welcome to the Southern Scribblings blog, Vanessa! Let's go ahead and get started. So, how did you get started writing? When did you begin to seriously write? (As in, with the mindset of "this could be published"?)
V: First of all, thank you so much for having me on your blog, Cate! It’s such an honor.
I started writing when I was around eleven years old, and I think part of it came from being surrounded by lots of books (my sister is a huge reader) and learning to type. For some reason, I cannot write fiction by hand. It’s impossible. I think my words have to appear as quickly as I think them (or at least as close as possible!) From there, I just started making up stories, and even though I stopped for a few years as a teen, I always loved crafting stories.
I really began writing more seriously when I was seventeen. I think I always dreamed of being published, but publishing became a reality for me in 2021.
C: What genres do you primarily write in?
V: I’m published in romantic suspense and fantasy, but I also really enjoy historical. I just haven’t been able to get around to publishing any in that genre!
C: What was your first ever completed writing project? (And where is it now?)
V: This is such a fun and good question! My first completed project was a Civil War story, and when I got to page one hundred, that was the end! Don’t worry about an actual story ending, but the number is what mattered to my youthful mind. :)
C: What was your first ever published project?
V: Unknown (Grace Sufficient, #1) was my first published project.
C: How did you get the idea for the Grace Sufficient series?
V: In the beginning, I don’t think I imagined Unknown to turn into the first of four books. As I wrote each following book, I would just “find” side characters who were begging for their own books. (Or rather, the Lord just threw their stories into the mix!)
As for ideas … all sorts of inspiration came together for this series. Russia is such an interesting place to me, and I used some real-life issues in Russia (such as laws against evangelism) as parts of my plots. I originally wanted Unknown to have this espionage thread in it (because I’m kind of obsessed with spies and all of that.) Unknown turned out to be completely lacking in such things, but I got my spy story with Untold. So there are a wide range of things that definitely inspired me for this series!
C: You’ve also written a fantasy novella, which is published in The Black Rose Collection. What’s different about writing fantasy versus suspense, and do you have a favorite to write between the two genres?
V: Yes! I probably never would’ve ventured into fantasy if it hadn’t been for the ever-amazing Madisyn Carlin, who invited me to join the collection. The thing I love most about fantasy is that you can do really whatever you want because it’s the world that you created. It allows for so much creativity!
I definitely enjoy suspense more–it just flows better for me, given I’ve had a lot more experience with it. However, I really enjoyed the more poetic style I was able to adopt for A Life’s Cost (my novella within the collection), while my suspense books are not as … flowery, let’s say. I’ve had to calm my poetic, dramatic writer self down while writing suspense!
C: Can you tell us about your new book, Unforgiven? (And for the readers who care about this, do we need to read the books in order?)
V: Of course! And yes, it’s best to read the books in order … but you can definitely jump into the middle if you’re brave. There are just side characters and events that occur that are mentioned/are impactful for later books. :)
Here's the blurb:
Redemption isn’t free.
Guilty of countless crimes, Vladislav Genkin is desperate to find forgiveness. Violence has long scarred his soul, and his sins push him to Grace Baptist Church to confront Nikolai Alexandrov, one of his victims. Yet Nikolai’s forgiveness brings Vlad no peace, and against Vlad’s will, he’s drawn into the circle of the church and Nikolai’s dangerous past.
Katya Voronova rebuilt her life from the shambles of a long-ago divorce, and Vlad’s appearance leaves her shaken and besieged by memories better left untouched. Yet she is drawn into the rising danger, and Vlad’s past becomes more apparent—and unforgivable.
As the past finally catches up to Vlad and Katya, will they find the forgiveness they crave—and will they discover that grace has already accomplished it?
C: Any other upcoming projects you're working on that you can tell us about? :D
V: At this point, I don’t have any solid plans for my next publication. Working full-time is very challenging to balance with writing! That being said, I am working on a historical fiction novel (also set in Russia) that is very fun. I’d love to see it published someday, but that’s dependent on the Lord!
C: Thanks so much for doing this interview! I appreciate getting to know you and your books better!
If you want to read Unforgiven, you can find out more at Vanessa' website and purchase it on Amazon.
That's all for now! Next week, I'll be interviewing a young author about her newest shop launch! Any guesses who it is?
Until next time,
~Cate
V: First of all, thank you so much for having me on your blog, Cate! It’s such an honor.
I started writing when I was around eleven years old, and I think part of it came from being surrounded by lots of books (my sister is a huge reader) and learning to type. For some reason, I cannot write fiction by hand. It’s impossible. I think my words have to appear as quickly as I think them (or at least as close as possible!) From there, I just started making up stories, and even though I stopped for a few years as a teen, I always loved crafting stories.
I really began writing more seriously when I was seventeen. I think I always dreamed of being published, but publishing became a reality for me in 2021.
C: What genres do you primarily write in?
V: I’m published in romantic suspense and fantasy, but I also really enjoy historical. I just haven’t been able to get around to publishing any in that genre!
C: What was your first ever completed writing project? (And where is it now?)
V: This is such a fun and good question! My first completed project was a Civil War story, and when I got to page one hundred, that was the end! Don’t worry about an actual story ending, but the number is what mattered to my youthful mind. :)
C: What was your first ever published project?
V: Unknown (Grace Sufficient, #1) was my first published project.
C: How did you get the idea for the Grace Sufficient series?
V: In the beginning, I don’t think I imagined Unknown to turn into the first of four books. As I wrote each following book, I would just “find” side characters who were begging for their own books. (Or rather, the Lord just threw their stories into the mix!)
As for ideas … all sorts of inspiration came together for this series. Russia is such an interesting place to me, and I used some real-life issues in Russia (such as laws against evangelism) as parts of my plots. I originally wanted Unknown to have this espionage thread in it (because I’m kind of obsessed with spies and all of that.) Unknown turned out to be completely lacking in such things, but I got my spy story with Untold. So there are a wide range of things that definitely inspired me for this series!
C: You’ve also written a fantasy novella, which is published in The Black Rose Collection. What’s different about writing fantasy versus suspense, and do you have a favorite to write between the two genres?
V: Yes! I probably never would’ve ventured into fantasy if it hadn’t been for the ever-amazing Madisyn Carlin, who invited me to join the collection. The thing I love most about fantasy is that you can do really whatever you want because it’s the world that you created. It allows for so much creativity!
I definitely enjoy suspense more–it just flows better for me, given I’ve had a lot more experience with it. However, I really enjoyed the more poetic style I was able to adopt for A Life’s Cost (my novella within the collection), while my suspense books are not as … flowery, let’s say. I’ve had to calm my poetic, dramatic writer self down while writing suspense!
C: Can you tell us about your new book, Unforgiven? (And for the readers who care about this, do we need to read the books in order?)
V: Of course! And yes, it’s best to read the books in order … but you can definitely jump into the middle if you’re brave. There are just side characters and events that occur that are mentioned/are impactful for later books. :)
Here's the blurb:
Redemption isn’t free.
Guilty of countless crimes, Vladislav Genkin is desperate to find forgiveness. Violence has long scarred his soul, and his sins push him to Grace Baptist Church to confront Nikolai Alexandrov, one of his victims. Yet Nikolai’s forgiveness brings Vlad no peace, and against Vlad’s will, he’s drawn into the circle of the church and Nikolai’s dangerous past.
Katya Voronova rebuilt her life from the shambles of a long-ago divorce, and Vlad’s appearance leaves her shaken and besieged by memories better left untouched. Yet she is drawn into the rising danger, and Vlad’s past becomes more apparent—and unforgivable.
As the past finally catches up to Vlad and Katya, will they find the forgiveness they crave—and will they discover that grace has already accomplished it?
C: Any other upcoming projects you're working on that you can tell us about? :D
V: At this point, I don’t have any solid plans for my next publication. Working full-time is very challenging to balance with writing! That being said, I am working on a historical fiction novel (also set in Russia) that is very fun. I’d love to see it published someday, but that’s dependent on the Lord!
C: Thanks so much for doing this interview! I appreciate getting to know you and your books better!
If you want to read Unforgiven, you can find out more at Vanessa' website and purchase it on Amazon.
That's all for now! Next week, I'll be interviewing a young author about her newest shop launch! Any guesses who it is?
Until next time,
~Cate
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