Hannah Linder

Anytime young Hannah Linder was given fiction writing assignments in school, she went above and beyond on the project. Hours after their homeschool had ended for the day, Hannah’s mom would find her still writing and polishing her short story. “She’d be like, ‘Um, you can be done now,’” Hannah remembers with a laugh. “But I just…loved [writing] and I didn’t even realize that I loved it.”

Time to Try

Hannah’s passion for storytelling only grew as she got older. When she was 11 years old, she tried her hand at “Wanted Dead or Alive” posters based on the Western movies her family watched. “I would just write the description of the characters, what they did that was against the law, how much money was up for reward, and I just really enjoyed…dreaming up characters.”

When she learned that her second cousin was writing a novel, it was like a lightbulb went off for Hannah. She loved writing and had written multiple short stories, but could she actually write a full-length novel? She was determined to try.

“A few chapters in,” Hannah recalls, “I was like, ‘This is literally the best.’ I just really loved it.”

Then, before she was even a teenager, Hannah self-published her manuscript and became a published author under a pen name. With a growing passion, it’s no surprise that the young novelist was only getting started. “After finishing and completing my first novel at 12, I really felt like, okay, I can actually do this,” she says. Holding the published book in her hands made her dream tangible and within reach. There was no way now she wanted to stop.

“From a pretty early age, my goal was to become traditionally published…and to get to walk in a bookstore in any state and be able to find my book,” she explains. Now, as an award-winning and multi-published author, the 20-something West Virginia native is living proof to the fact that dreams really do come true.

The Decision that Changed Everything

Growing up, Hannah’s parents taught her and her four younger siblings (three brothers and a sister) about the Lord. But it wasn’t until August 3rd, 2004, that Hannah realized she didn’t just want to know about Him but to know Him personally.

“I had been asking questions for a while about [following the Lord], and I really felt like I was to the point where I wanted to make that decision, and I wanted to accept Jesus into my heart, go to heaven when I die. We talked about it, and [my mom] went through the plan of salvation with me, and then I asked Him to save me,” Hannah says with a smile.

Now, 20 years later, her growing relationship with the Lord spills over into everything she does, including her novels, as she recalls the countless times God has protected and shown up for her, answered personal prayers, and “just really been a Friend and a Deliverer in my life.” She goes on to add, “I can write about characters going through hard times and understand how amazing it feels when He does answer prayers.”

What Happened Next

After Hannah self-published her first novel, she continued to publish her fiction under a pen name until 2019, when she rebranded her author website and officially launched Hannah Linder Books. Now, all her Regency fiction would be published under her real name, while her other fiction would be released under her pen name.

Eventually, she landed an agent, and together, they began to pitch her manuscript, Beneath His Silence, to multiple publishers before it was finally accepted by Barbour Publishing. But to the now award-winning author’s credit, Barbour wasn’t the only publishing house interested in her work.

“[When my agent called me], she said that there were two publishers that were both offering contracts for Beneath His Silence…. That was probably the moment that I felt like, wow, this is real. Like, it’s actually happening. That was very exciting. I was so tickled to see how God worked all that out, and it was [both] a frightening and exciting moment.”

Since then, Hannah’s novels have won several Selah Awards, and one of her most recent releases, Garden of the Midnights is a finalist in the 2024 Carol Awards with American Christian Fiction Writers. Each award comes as a pleasant surprise to this young author, but none so much as the first time she won a Selah Award.

“I had no idea [it was coming] because, like, I’d entered the Selah Awards before, never placed, and I was actually there at the [Blue Ridge Mountains’ Writers Conference], so I got to be there in person, and when they said my name for first place I was just like [there’s no way!]”

What inspires this award-winning author anytime she sits down to write a new novel? Well, Hannah usually starts by asking herself a basic question at the beginning of the brainstorm process. Questions like “How cool would it be if a girl fell in love with somebody who kidnapped her?” (the initial question that sparked The Girl From the Hidden Forest) or “How cool would it be if a girl fell in love with somebody who murdered her sister?” (the question she asked before beginning Beneath His Silence). Then, she goes from there.

While writing and winning awards are great, Hannah is so grateful to God for the people she’s met through her craft. She admits that sometimes she has a hard time connecting with people and feels like she is on a different page from most. “When I get together with other Christian writers, I really feel in tune with them and like [there’s] a really strong connection.”

Photos provided by Hannah Linder.

From left to right: Hannah's sister, her mom, Hannah, and her granddaddy.

A Change of Path

In addition to being a talented writer, Hannah is a professional graphic designer, with a specialty in book cover design. “I kind of first got into [graphic design] when I wrote my first novel. I had self-published my first novel at 12 and I knew I needed a book cover, so I started designing my own book cover and then for each book that I self-published after that.”

After designing book covers for each of her self-published novels, Hannah realized that this was something she enjoyed and would like to explore as a career option. In 2019, while in college for graphic design, she attended a writers’ conference where she met a publisher who offered her a job. “[He] looked at some of my work and he was like, ‘If you want to do this…I’ll hire you and you can design for my publishing house.”

Needless to say, when Hannah returned home from the conference, she quit her job at the fast-food restaurant where she’d been working for the past two-and-half-years and dove headfirst into officially starting www.hannahlinderdesigns.com. “I really felt at peace about [that decision],” she says.

But writing and graphic design aren’t the only outlets of creativity for Hannah. In her spare time, she enjoys historical fashion self-portrait photography, acrylic painting, walking in the rain, playing instruments, square dancing, and reading.

The Journey Ahead

At the time of this publication, Hannah is working on the second installment of her poetry collection—the first one, Bygone, was published in 2023— and is working on her next Regency novel, set to release after Never Forgotten, her current title releases (it’s now available for pre-order). And of course, she continues creating stunning book covers for her clients.

Her hope is to continue living in her 1800s farmhouse, one day marry and raise 4 or 5 children, write even more books, and maybe add some farm animals to her list of furry friends (she currently has a dog and a cat she calls Mr. Peter McGregor). Those who know Hannah with her warm Southern personality won’t be surprised to learn she wants to live a cozy, simple life.

But no matter where she goes in life, Hannah trusts the Author of her story. “I think that as a Christian, we look at life differently…We know that if we’re walking with God and in His will, everything that happens to us, everything that enters our world, God allows for a purpose, and so we can trust everything that happens is for our good and His glory.” She goes on to add, “I kind of view [plotting books] through that same lens [that] nothing happens by accident. And these characters, yeah, they’re going to go through terrible things, and it’s going to seem random and chaotic…but as the author I know, in the end, it’s going to work out…[God’s] doing what’s best for [the characters], and it’s just going to all be okay.”

That’s given Hannah hope for her own future: the truth that the Author knows what He’s doing, nothing is wasted, and He will work all things together for our good and His glory.