1. Hannah Alexander is a pen name. How did you come up with it?

I wanted to emphasize the fact that Mel and I worked together as a team, as one person, and so we decided on a pen name. We tried variations of both our names, such as placing our middle names together or something. Dee Linn just didn't work. Neither did Linn Dee. So we both chose names with which we identified. I chose Hannah because I could identify with Hannah in the Bible, pre-Samuel, as I have no children. Hannah means "her hope is in the Lord." Mel chose Alexander because it means "servant of mankind." Since he is a physician, he likes the thought of being of service to mankind. An added perk that we hadn't counted on was the placement of our books in alphabetical order. We're next to Randy Alcorn and Tammy Alexander in the bookstores. That's a good thing!

2. How does your "writing partnership" work?

I'm the main writer of the team. Mel and I were talking one day, and we realized that I had spent as much time studying the art of novel writing as he had spent in med school. So it only made sense that I would be the main writer, and Mel would critique, edit, research, encourage, and provide insights from his day job as an ER physician. He's always wanted to be a part of my writing, and the teamwork is a good thing. Of course, sometimes I have to drag him away from something he's doing, like flying his remote control airplanes, boats, cars, helicopters, but for the most part he's willing to drop everything to help me when I need it.

Since Mel's job does lend itself well to medical plots, we always try to have at least some medical influence in our books, and he does the medical scenes for me to incorporate wherever I need them.

3. Tell me a little about your newest release "Under Suspicion."

This is our first Hideaway novel that was set outside the immediate Branson/Hideaway area of Missouri. It's about a state senator who is killed in Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri. His oldest daughter becomes a suspect. Since his youngest daughter is Karah Lee Fletcher from Hideaway, we make the connection there.

I've always loved Jefferson City, and set one of our very earliest books there. It seemed to work for readers, so we did it again.

4. I read that both of you like to hike. How would you comparing the writing journey to setting out on a mountain trail?

Ah, a mountain trail? That would be a very good comparison, because starting at the base of a tall mountain is exactly how it feels beginning a new novel. First of all, it's so exciting! We love to find the trail on a map...oh, well, that doesn't work, because when we're writing something new, there's no map. We have to make our own map. However, learning about the mountain, all its pitfalls and crevices and cliffs, is much like learning about the characters in our novels, all the quirks and personalities and conflicts. And as with a new mountain, a new novel brings us unexpected surprises.

I always begin a new novel with a 7-10 page outline, but since our books are actually character based, and since I'm always just learning about the character as I'm writing about her, there area always surprises. I can plot a good outline, but when the character takes shape for me--which she can only do well as I write about her--I will often discover that she wouldn't do things the way I'd planned for her to do them. The plot has to change.

Therefore, the first draft of the novel is always about climbing the mountain, which often seems like the hardest part. However, it's possible that coming down the mountain is actually harder on certain parts of my body, such as my knees, or my backside if I slip and fall. Rewrites are the most fun part of writing for me, but when I go back through a first draft and find all the problems, oversights, character problems, it can be quite harrowing. Such questions haunt me as haunt other novelists, "What made me think I could write?" "I'm a failure!" "I've lost it completely!"

That's when Mel comes in. When we're hiking, I tend to feel overconfident. Then I slide, or get tired of carrying my heavy pack, or run out of water, or forget to pack a jacket, and Mel steps in and takes my load, helps me up when I fall, gives me his water. Once, when I was sliding down a steep cliffside, he actually jumped in front of me to stop my fall, and nearly fell, himself. He does this when we're rewriting. He has never felt confident with the initial plotting, since he can't read my mind. He can help with a problem plot, though, and he often saves the day when I'm at a loss about how to fix something. He's my real-life hero.

5. If you had to base your next novel off a recent stories to hit the Tabloids, what would you pick?

Actually, we're doing that now, since Mel found himself treating a couple of the FBIs most wanted who had gone on a killing spree across the midwest a few months ago. They ended up in his ER after a drug-related automobile accident. We really never wanted that much up-close and personal research material, but since it landed in his lap, we'll go with it.

6. For writers who don't have a medical professional at their beck and call, what would you recommend for writers who want to create characters who are medical professionals, while ensuring realistic details and insider insights?

Whatever they do, they should NOT accept television medical shows as authentic. I can't watch a medical show with Mel because he's constantly saying, "They just killed the patient...that never happens in a hospital...they'd get sued for that...!"

If I didn't have Mel working with me directly, through all drafts, I would never attempt to write medical novels, or even novels with a lot of medical scenes in them unless it was something I had experienced, myself. There's just too much that can go wrong, and too many medical personnel who love to read. Even the best novelists in the business, with excellent research abilities, get the medical wrong. It's disappointing, especially to readers who know better. It breaks the spell. That's not good.

If I wanted to write about a main character who was a doctor or nurse or other medical professional, I would either pay someone with that particular experience to read what I've written and edit it for me, or I would stay out of the hospital or clinic. You can write about someone who is medical without doing a play-by-play of his job. In fact, I have spoken with colleagues of Mel's who would prefer to read about the private lives of the doctors--since a doctor often works too hard to have a private life if his own. If you can't get it right, then you aren't writing what you know, and I'm a firm believer in doing that. Don't do what the television shows do--don't fake it.


7. Would you consider yourselves risk-takers when it comes to writing? Why or why not?

Sitting down and writing a novel is taking a risk, but so is painting a work of art, or singing a solo in front of an audience. We place our hearts out there for strangers to see, and we risk criticism. I do not, however, consider myself a risk taker, because I never read reviews, good or bad, about something I've written. I never go online to read our Amazon numbers, and I usually don't even read our published books. Why look back? Novel writing for me is all about moving forward, exploring the next story. When I stopped worrying about what everyone else said about my writing, the risk disappeared. Yes, it's nice to receive royalty checks, and nice to hear good news from our editors, but our editors seldom tell us what to write. I write what I want, and it seems to work for our publisher. If it ever changes, I'm sure they'll let me know.

8. All writers like to believe their work has changed readers in some way. In what ways do you hope your work makes a difference?

The whole reason for writing, the whole reason for living, is to know God, and to show Him to others. We have kids as young as eleven, and adults as old as 97 who like to read our books. If we can encourage them in some way to look at God in a different way, to experience His love for them, and to show that love to others, then what we're doing has mattered. I see the hand of God when I'm hiking. He's everywhere, in the trees, in the birdsong, in the creek, the flowers, the very dirt we walk on. He made it all. I've been called to write, and that's what I'm doing. I must trust God to reveal Himself in those words.

9. Splashing through rain puddles or sand between your toes?

That's an impossible decision. I grew up by the ocean, so I love that sand between my toes, but I love the water in all forms. We do a snow hike every year. Mel and I plan to go on a rain hike tomorrow. Can I get back to you on that?

10. Finally, what have you learned from each other about the craft of writing?

I've learned from Mel to stay humble, to stay open to new ideas. I can't do this alone, and he's there beside me to help. I wrote and studied novels for thirteen years alone, and the writing became MY work, My calling. When Mel and I met and married, it suddenly became a partnership. It helps that none of my writing sold until after he and I were married, because then it really was ours, and not just mine.

I believe Mel has also learned humility. He's always been so gifted in many areas of his life, but he knows that he isn't going to go back and study all the things I've learned about writing. That's my expertise, and medicine is his. We're both happy this way.