“Are You Bailey?”

My fans ask it with a squint in their eye. They ask it with a hint of a smile–because they love Bailey–and a hint of concern–they know Bailey’s life in an abusive foster home is a wreck.

I’ve never seen the point in evading the question. In fact, I’m surprised more people don’t ask.

“Yes,” I tell them. “I’m Bailey.”

To clarify, I was never in foster care. I was never physically abused. I was never sexually abused. But I was mentally and emotionally abused for the first twenty-six years of my life. So while our exact circumstances were different, the ways in which it affected us are the same.

My fans absorb what I say. They nod quietly. Their eyes are full of sympathy. They ask no further questions. It would be impolite. It’s not their place to pry.

And until recently, I was okay with that. My abuser suffered brain damage and is incapable of comprehending the harm she does. I feel no need to blame or harass her for things that aren’t even entirely her fault.

Nor do I feel the need to kick the bee’s nest. As often happens with mental illness, my abuser vehemently denies her illness and takes strong offense to anyone who suggests there may be something “wrong” with her.

But the longer I write, and the larger my platform grows, the more I ask myself what my role is in this world. Do I have a passion? A charity? A cause? I have your ear. (Thank you for that, by the way.) What do I want to speak into it? If I could choose some good to try to do in this world, what would it be?

The words that come back are these:

Take care of your heart. Take care of your spirit and your soul. Take care of your emotions. Take care of your mind.

In short, take care of this thing we call your mental health. I’ve seen what happens when you don’t.

I write about broken people. Bailey believes she’s worthless, invisible, and unlovable. Tommy struggles to talk about matters of the heart and believes he’s too much of a failure to help Bailey. Ryan believes the narrative that he’s shifty, immature, and unreliable–and he doesn’t believe he could break that mold. Monica tries to bury her pain under a fierce exterior and flawless performance.

Yes, it’s a suspense series. But ultimately, it’s not a story about stopping the bad guy and saving the world. It’s the story of how broken people fought bravely to not be broken anymore.

That’s what I write about in my novels. And increasingly, it’s what I want to write and speak about more openly, with the veneer of fiction removed. The stories I tell are real stories. Mine, yours, a lot of people’s. There’s power there. The kind that can save lives and change the world we live in.

Going forward, you might see me writing more about what happened to me and how it led to the stories I write. As I do, I hope to normalize conversations about our mental health. About our hearts and what’s going on inside them.

We’re all broken, somehow or another. That’s just life. With my words, I want to inspire people and help them to be a little less broken.

There’s a comments section down below. How about dropping a note of encouragement, a prayer, or a positive intention–for you, for me, for anyone you know, for the other fans, or the world at large. Let’s spread some joy.


Book Club Questions: The Girl on the Boat

2021-01-27 Book Club Questions, The Girl on the Boat

Let’s do something fun today! I’ve had requests for book club questions to go along with my books, and I would love to make such a thing available. (Let me know in the comments if you want me to include it in my books or as a separately available download!)

In the meantime, I thought I’d include some book club questions here! It’s been almost a year since I released The Girl on the Boat, and it continues to be one of my best-sellers, so I thought we’d start there. (Plus, it’s a quick read if you want to brush up or try it out in order to participate!)

To make it more fun, let’s include a giveaway! Answer any one of these questions in the comments below (or leave any comment!), and you could be chosen to win a free copy of any one book in the series (your choice!), in either paperback or ebook.

Warning: If you haven’t read The Girl on the Boat yet, there may be spoilers in this post and in the comments!

Okay, let’s go!

* * *

1 Which character did you like best? Why? Here are a few to choose from: Bailey, Tommy, Monica, Stan Lehman, Baron Hackett. 

2 Did the characters feel believable to you? Did they remind you of anyone you already know?

3 Have you ever wanted something as badly as Bailey wanted to be a mail jumper? What was it? Why was it important to you?

4 Have you ever been afraid of getting someone in trouble, like Bailey was? Have you ever doubted your own mind because a person you disagreed with was popular or powerful?

5 Do you think Tommy should have pushed Bailey to report the break-in suspect, even when he didn’t know who it was? Why or why not?

6 Baron is smart and popular and apparently has many secrets! How did you feel about him in the beginning of the story? The middle? The end? Who’s side do you think he’s actually on?

7 Do you think Monica was justified in jumping to conclusions about who broke into the police station and why? Or should she have waited until more facts were available?

8 At the end of the story, what questions do you still have? What do you wish the author had gone into more detail about?

Contest Rules

    • In the comments, answer at least one of the questions above. (For clarity, go ahead and include the question number!) Or leave a comment of your choice.
    • The contest will remain open until Feb. 3rd, 2021 at 11:59pm Central Time.
    • Danielle will randomly choose one winner from the people who answered a question. She will get in touch with them to let them know they won. The winner will also be announced in the comments.
    • The winner can choose one copy of any of Danielle’s books–even Mailboat IV! (Releasing June 5, 2021.) The winner can choose to receive their book as an ebook (for any device) or as a paperback. If the winner chooses a paperback, they can also have it autographed for free.

Okay, people, this book club is open for discussion! Start commenting for your chance at a free book!


Need copies of any of my books for your book club? Get them here!

I’m Restarting the Blog!

Once upon a time, a long time ago… I ran a blog. In fact, before I even had any books published, I blogged about the books I was going to publish. And if you’ve been with me for a very long time, it’s possible my original blog was how we first met!

After not blogging for several years… I’ve decided to restart my blog. But why, you may ask? And what am I going to blog about?

Read on!

Oh, but maybe some housekeeping first.

That’s great, but… who are you?

Maybe you’re new here, and you don’t even know what I’m talking about. If that’s the case, let me introduce myself.

My name is Danielle Lincoln Hanna and I’m the author of the Mailboat Suspense Series.

A forgotten teen, all Bailey wanted was a family of her own. Instead, she found a body at the end of the pier…

Set in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, the series features the real-life Mailboat that delivers the mail house-to-house around the lake. Intrepid young mail jumpers must leap off the boat onto the piers to get the mail in the boxes. The catch? The boat never stops!

Here’s some footage I captured while doing research for the series:

Now that you know who I am and what I write, let’s talk about why I’m restarting this blog!

Why am I restarting the blog?

The fact that I get to sit down every day and write suspense is thanks 100% to YOU, my readers. You buy my new releases as soon as they drop, you talk about them non-stop to your friends, you drive from hither and yon to attend my book signings, you ask your local libraries and bookstores if they will pretty please carry Danielle’s books, etc., etc., etc.

My gratitude for all you do is never far away.

And while I can’t always sit down with you and let you know how much you’re appreciated, I can create ways for us to connect, even when you’ve already turned the last page in my latest book.

One way I do that is through my newsletter. Another way is through my Facebook page. But another way I can help us connect is through restarting this blog.

So welcome!

And if I haven’t made it clear already, THANK YOU for everything you do to support me as a writer. This is literally the only life I’ve ever wanted.

What can you expect to find here?

That’s what we’re going to find out! I’ve learned from my previous blogging experience that you start out thinking it’s going to be about this, but as time and your readers evolve what you’re doing, it turns out to be that. So take this list of ideas as just that: A list of ideas.

At Danielle’s new blog…

    • Pull back the curtain on Danielle’s life, what she writes, and how she writes it
    • Learn the story-behind-the-story of the Mailboat Suspense Series
    • Find out what Danielle has read, what she’s reading now, and what she wishes she had the time to read!
    • Be entertained by other random thoughts on Danielle’s mind

And from there, we’ll see what develops. I plan to post once a week-ish. Feel free to comment any time! I’ll probably even reply. 😉

And now… let’s blog on!

~ Danielle

Danielle Lincoln Hanna blog

 

 


Danielle Lincoln HannaDanielle Lincoln Hanna is the author of the Mailboat Suspense Series. “All she wanted was a family of her own. Instead, she found a body at the end of the pier…”

 

 


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