Community Corner
Des Peres Author's Romances Serve Up Wholesome Happy Endings
This week, Patch introduces you to Irene Hannon, the award-winning author of more than 35 contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels.
If you like wholesome romances with happy endings, then Irene Hannon might be the author for you.
The Des Peres resident is an award-winning author with more than 35 published titles to her name, including a recent series of romantic suspense novels, one of which earned her the “Oscar” of romance writing this summer.
But Hannon’s books fall into the category of Christian fiction, which she says is keeping some readers from ever discovering her.
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“They think that means it’s going to be really preachy,” Hannon said. “So some people will never look at that stuff.”
But Christian fiction just means “clean, compelling fiction,” without vulgarity, gratuitous sex or violence, she said. “I believe you don’t need those to tell a good story,” she said.
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And she thinks the audience is there, if readers just knew where to look.
“There’s a shift happening in this country back to traditional values and I think that’s happening in a lot of areas,” Hannon said. “People are getting really, really tired of being bombarded by base violence and vulgarity in the media. Christian fiction plays into that trend.”
Hannon’s main characters are not necessarily religious – but they do tend to be committed to doing the right thing and they believe in values such as fidelity, commitment and honor, she said.
In Harm’s Way, which won the 2011 RITA Award for Inspirational Romance at the Romance Writers of America annual conference, a tough but tender FBI agent stops to say grace before a meal and puts his faith at the center of his life. But his love interest, a woman at the center of a kidnapping mystery, expresses doubt and confusion about her own faith.
In the end, of course, there’s a happy ending.
“The goal is to entertain, but I also want to leave people upbeat and with a sense of hope, she said. “A good romance novel really illustrates the power of love to transform lives.”
Hannon has long been a writer, but for many years she juggled fiction writing with her job in corporate communications at Anheuser-Busch. In 2003, she left A-B to devote herself full-time to fiction.
In Harm’s Way is the third in her Heroes of Quantico series. The RITA Award for the best “Inspirational Romance” was presented at a black-tie ceremony in New York City attended by more than 2,000 authors and publishing industry professionals. It was her second RITA and her fifth time as a finalist.
Hannon, who lives in Des Peres with her husband, grew up across the street from the Brentwood library and whiled away many summer days under a backyard tree with a stack of books.
“I was THE Nancy Drew fan,” she said, adding that the local librarian couldn’t believe that she was reading all of the books she was checking out. “I devoured those books one summer.”
Her first novel was a romantic suspense but she said it was so terrible she never showed it to anyone – she didn’t know enough about law enforcement and the ins and outs of police work to make it believable.
Eventually, after producing a number of contemporary romances, she tried again to write a suspense novel. This time she did her homework, contacting a police detective she knew who put her in touch with sources in law enforcement from the FBI to the U.S. Marshals Service. Now she has a network of experts to turn to.
She even took part in an extensive citizens’ police academy, which included a ride-along with a police officer in Des Peres that was more exciting than she’d bargained for.
“That was eye opening,” she said. “What I learned from my ride-along was that I much prefer my suspense between the pages of a book.”
In addition to the three-book series Heroes of Quantico, she also has a series called Guardians of Justice – the third book is due out next summer -- and is at work on a series featuring former law-enforcement types working in private investigation.
She also continues to churn out contemporary romances and her next title, Seaside Reunion, comes out in January.