A lot of people think they have a novel in them. But it takes work and maybe a little luck to get from a great idea for a book to an actual publishing deal. Eugene teacher Anna Grace is finding success by writing books about love.
Her latest in a series of books set in a fictional central Oregon town is just out. It's called Her Hometown Christmas.
Grace spoke with KLCC’s Rachael McDonald.
Rachael McDonald: So, Anna, tell us about the latest book and about your series?
Anna Grace: This is a five book series based on the Wallace family, a fictional family, in Central Oregon, as you noted. And book four that just came out, Her Hometown Christmas, is about Hunter who runs a restaurant in this fictional town. And Hunter is like this really driven sort of overworked person trying to sort of reclaim his sense of self, and he falls in love with this woman who was a drifter from Eugene Oregon, who shows up in their small town. So, it's been a really fun one to write about.
Don't let the title deceive you. Her Hometown Christmas sounds like one of those…
McDonald: Hallmark Channel?
Grace: I mean, there's definitely some feel good Hallmark vibes to it. But, it's definitely a little more complex than just, a woman showing up and celebrating Christmas.
McDonald: I want to delve into this fictional central Oregon town just a teeny bit because one of the fun things about reading the series is getting to know the people in the town and it feels a little like maybe Sisters (Oregon). So, can you tell us a little bit about the community?
I got my first rejection from Harlequin in the 1990s. So this has been a long process for me. It's taken a lot of different attempts, a lot of learning, a lot of tears, a lot of rewriting.
Grace: Absolutely. So, this town is a fictional town that I think is Sisters and Redmond and Terrebonne if they were all kind of stuck in the middle of Lower Bridge Road. If you've ever driven from Sisters to Terrebonne along Lower Bridge Road, that's where I imagine it to be.
It's a town that had some tough years, as a lot of our small Central Oregon towns did, but then found itself sort of blossoming again as more and more people became interested in the outdoor sports that we have in Central Oregon. So it's a town that has a very strong community that's been there for a long time. But, then also really welcomes a lot of newcomers to town and people coming through as they experience Central Oregon.
McDonald: So you were able to get a publishing deal with Harlequin, which is a really big name in romance books and your books are part of the "Heartwarming" line. So, what does that mean?
Grace: I'll just say I got my first rejection from Harlequin in the 1990s. So this has been a long process for me. It's taken a lot of different attempts, a lot of learning, a lot of tears, a lot of rewriting. And then finally kind of hitting on my voice. I think that was huge. I kept sort of writing what I thought maybe other people wanted to read and then this. If you read these books and, you know, me at all, they're so, like, it's like my goofy imagination. But, also, done in a way that will appeal to a lot of readers. And so I think that was sort of the key element there.
McDonald: What drew you to the romance genre?
Grace: So, I have been writing romance novels since I was 12. I wrote my first romance novel at Girl Scout Camp. And I would read out loud to my cabin-mates in the evening. Then, as I moved into middle school I would write these short stories for my friends.
It would be like, my friend and Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran and their love story and my friends would be like, “Oh, write one about John Taylor for me!” And, I don't even know where these stories are. Hopefully, they have all been lost to time. So, I really have been drawn to romance for a long, long time and, you know, more people read romance novels than the next three genres combined. It is the most popular genre of novel in the world. And so I think we’re all drawn to love stories. I’ve oftentimes thought I should write a dark and serious book, but every time I start writing a book the characters are like, “It's a romance now”. And so that's just my genre.
McDonald: Romance has, like you said, always been popular, but it seems like it's becoming more, we're realizing that it really is a big economic force in the publishing world. What do you think has changed about how romance is seen?
Grace: Yeah, that is a great question. So, I think a lot of the stigma against romance comes from the fact that it is a billion dollar industry mostly run by women. And so people feel fine, you know, historically mocking it and we're coming into a time now where people are stepping back and being, like, wait a minute, these are really good books. Now, not all romance novels are good. Not all mystery novels are good or thrillers are good. There's a huge variety, but I think as romance is taken more seriously, people begin to take on bigger themes. I would say in the last 10 years the industry itself has opened up so you can find a greater variety of representation in romance novels, which has been just so refreshing and wonderful. And with the idea that everybody deserves a love story, so you can find writers coming in from all perspectives, writing their love stories and putting them out there in the world. So, I think together those two things, one that as romance writers, we all step back for a minute and we're like, wait a minute, take this seriously. Why would we not take it seriously just because it has a happy ending? And then also the industry itself, the publishers, you know, Harlequin, Tule, Entangled, all of these publishers being like, no, we need to open up this genre and tell everyone's love stories.
McDonald: Switching gears. You're still working in education but not in the classroom anymore. So, tell us about what you're doing. You were at South Eugene (High School) for quite some time?
Grace: I have an amazing job. I loved teaching. It was a fantastic career for me for 29 years. And then an opportunity opened up through 4J to work with two really specific programs that are close to my heart. Part of my job entails working with the ninth grade humanities block. So that's blocked classes of social studies, language arts, and health with a social emotional learning component there. So, I help those teachers, we look at best practices. We work together as a team. And we're looking to build a teacher-led future for that program. And that's really exciting. The other part of my job is helping Advanced Placement, College Now, and IB teachers open up their classes to traditionally underrepresented populations. And again, that's done by looking for what are the best practices happening in our district right now. I've gotten to observe some incredible teachers in our district. And looking at what's working, how are people opening up access to their courses and then spreading those good ideas. It's an amazing job. I miss the classroom, but I am thrilled to be in this new position at 51 years old doing something I've never done before. It's pretty exciting.
McDonald: And it sounds like balancing the two careers is working?
Grace: So, I should be clear. My amazing husband, Jeff Hess, is retired and so Jeff is now able to really take on the bulk of the household's responsibilities. And so, yep, I have two jobs. I get up at 4 AM and start writing. I do my writer work. I come in, I do this new, challenging and exciting job. And, in the evenings I do my social media work that I need to do for the writing. And I have this amazingly supportive human at home who has done the grocery shopping and, you know, cooks dinner. And so I am in a position right now where I'm able to really have these two careers and it's still a lot. I also have two children who are enormously self-sufficient. They are 20 years old and 18 years old and we get to spend a lot of really good time together. But they are, they always have been, you know, Owen's first steps were like in the opposite direction of me. My kids have always been out there and ready to take things on and so that I have a really supportive network, supportive friends, and supportive parents so that I can do this right now in my life.
McDonald: So what's next? The series still has at least one more book in it, right?
Grace: Piper's book in this series, which is the one that everybody's been waiting for. Piper's book comes out in January. And then I have another series coming out with Heartwarming in the spring. The first book in that series comes out in May and it's called The Teacher Project. And it's about four teachers straight out of ed school who have come from Portland and Corvallis and Eugene. Those teachers are recruited to work in a tiny town in southeastern Oregon that I've called Pronghorn. And it's this little tiny town. And these teachers come in to revive a high school and mayhem ensues. It's really fun.
Grace is teaching a workshop about how to get into romance writing on Jan. 13. More details are available at this website.
This interview was edited for clarity.
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