The 30 Day Download: How Hatteras House Really Got Written
I need to tell you something that still kind of amazes me.
Hatteras House took about 30 days to write. Start to finish, the whole concept came together in a single month. But here's the part that isn't as easy to explain. It took years before I actually let it out into the world.
My husband Troy will tell you, he had been asking me for close to four years, in the nicest way possible, if I was ever going to finish this thing. I knew God had put this story on my heart a long time before I ever sat down to write it. I just wasn't ready yet.
When I finally did sit down, it came out fast. Like it had been waiting there the whole time, just needing me to get out of my own way. I don't take credit for that. I really believe this was a joint effort between me and the Lord, and honestly, between me and Troy too.
Troy was part of this process in a way I didn't expect. I would write a scene and then read it out loud to him before I showed it to anyone else. I'd tell him, don't judge it yet, just listen until I'm done. And then he would give me his honest input, especially on anything involving the fire scenes. He knows exactly how glass cracks in a house fire, how flames spread, how a scene would actually be handled. Having my own expert in the room made all the difference.
Here's a fun little confession for you. Sometimes when I'm writing an argument between a husband and wife in the story, I get so wrapped up in it that I physically respond. While working on book two, I actually caught myself hitting the keys harder while typing one character's lines because I felt her frustration so much in that moment. It wasn't even based on a real fight Troy and I have had, but the character became so real to me that my body reacted anyway.
That's the thing about this story. It is fiction, but it is also deeply true. Hatteras House is the first in a series of five books, and my goal with all of them is to tell the stories of first responders and their families through fiction. This first book follows a firefighter family on vacation in Hatteras, North Carolina, one of Troy's and my favorite places, and it walks through how this family navigates a mental health diagnosis they weren't expecting. There is a trigger warning at the front of the book because some of it is fairly graphic, but it's honest, and I think honest is what this community deserves.
If you have been wondering whether to pick it up, I hope this gives you a little peek behind the curtain of how it came to be. Hatteras House is available now on my website and on Amazon, in paperback and Kindle.
Grab your copy of Hatteras House on Amazon
Book two is already in progress and I'm hoping to have it out this fall. And after that, I can't wait for you to meet a whole new story in this world. Weathering the Storm follows Kayla and Eric, a young couple trapped together as a hurricane barrels toward the coast, forcing them to face questions about love and growing up that neither one of them feels ready for. And back home, Matt and Laura are still learning what healing looks like after Matt's PTSD diagnosis, discovering that it isn't a one time decision, it's something you choose every single day.
If you want to be part of the journey while I write these next few books, come hang out with me on Instagram. I share a lot of the process there that doesn't make it anywhere else.
Thank you for reading, for supporting this story, and for being patient while Troy and I figure out how to juggle a podcast, a book series, and everyday first responder family life all at once. We're grateful for every single one of you.
