To say I love to write should be a given since I have taken to calling myself an author these days. I have always told people that I enjoyed writing, but aside from some short stories and outlines of several unfinished projects, I had nothing to show for it. I also lacked the faith to “just do it” since I viewed writing as a dead-end career-wise.

Having absolutely zero experience, I just dove in and started writing my first complete novel just to see what would happen. I set a goal of 1,000 words, or four pages, a day. Before long, a story began to take shape. I am still amazed at the characters and plot points that just seemed to pop into my mind during that process.

My initial concept was to make the main character a sort of modern-day crusader who went about dethroning popular false prophets and antichrists of the day. Instead of focusing on the grandeur of taking down the never-ending web of lies and deceit, “The Road to Hell” focused on an average man facing extraordinary odds with no experience or understanding of how to face his challenges. Sound familiar? I didn’t plan it to mirror my own struggle at the time. It was either my subconscious coming out on the page or spiritual intervention. I lean toward the latter.

At the same time I started writing, I also went back to my love of reading which had been dormant for many years. In 2011 I devoured more books than I had in the previous decade. That trend continues. I read mostly fiction about the supernatural, as you might imagine, since that is my area of interest. But I leave the door open for any good yarn.

I give full credit to my faith for reawakening my long dead passion for the written word. I wasn’t ready to take myself seriously as an author until that time and I have been writing ever since. Now that I am three books in, with multiple short stories under my belt, a fourth novel ready to publish, two completed first drafts, and another story in the hopper, I will be keeping myself busy as far as I can see into the future.

Several common themes that runs through my stories are facing overwhelming obstacles, redemption, and the pervasiveness of hope. I do not pull any punches in my descriptions of the horrific circumstances that lead to those outcomes, but horror without hope is empty and ultimately strikes me as disingenuous. Throughout it all, my primary goal is to tell a story I would like to read and hope readers feel the same.

Jess Hanna