Phoenix Entertainment and Development

Phoenix Entertainment and Development

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Paula Hrbacek Interview Part 1

Welcome everyone to another great week of the Writer's Revolution.  I am your host, the author of The Phoenix BladeAndrew Hess.  Our guest this week is author Paula Hrbacek


Tell me a little about yourself.

I graduated from the University of Missouri with degrees in journalism and art.  I’ve always been a little bit torn between those two interests.  I’m married, with four children and five grandchildren.  We live in Pensacola FL.

What inspired you to write?  What type of genre do you write?

I’ve wanted to be a writer since the third grade.  It’s just something that has always been in my heart.  When you feel a calling to a destiny, it comes from God, and what you do should be in keeping with God’s will.  I write sweet stories and helpful articles, because that is what I think I’m supposed to be doing with this gift.Tell me about your book.Stars Shine After Dark is about two stars.  Mona is an actress, raised in Holly wood, who wants to have a more normal life, and a more mature image.  She decides to take time off from acting and go to UCLA.  She becomes friends with her agent’s niece, and meets Tim, the star quarterback for the Bruins.  At first, it seems like a fairy tale, but someone is leaking stories about them to the tabloid papers.  The stories take the facts and twist them just enough to make it look like something else.  The story is about truth; not only telling the truth, but being true to that inner desire that fills your heart.

Tell us about the main character, what makes them unique and what makes them tick

Mona was raised in Hollywood as a child actress.  Her parents did all of her management, but they have to duck out of the picture for health reasons.  She is now a young woman, taking steps on her own for the first time, managing her own career, making her own decisions for the first time.  She is strong, but also a little afraid.

What inspired you to write this book?

Stars Shine After Dark is a sweet love story set at UCLA.  It was inspired when someone I cared about was facing a divorce.  When someone is going through that, the last thing you should say is “I know what to do” because, really, you don’t know.  So I took my concerns and insights, gave them to fictional characters, and worked out the problem as a story.

What other books or blogs have you written?


My first three books are out of print now; St. Louis Is for Families, a tourist guide, Created in Faith, a craft book, and Bible Verses for Young Children, a coloring book.  My current books include Day Camp in Hawaii, a leader’s resource for program ideas that is suited for any type of summer camp or recreational program.  It has games, skits, crafts, and all the things you do at camp, all using a tropical theme. I’m working on my second novel, which I hope to release soon. I also write two newspaper columns for The Examiner.  One is about children’s arts and crafts.  The other is about books and writing. Were your other books self-published or traditionally published? The first three were traditionally published by the publisher I worked for.  I guess it’s true that you need to know someone, because that’s what happened to me.  They were assignments from my boss.  Stars and Day Camp are self-published.  Stars doesn’t quite fit into the romance category because the characters get married half way through the book.  Day Camp has a very small market, so I published it to be of service to the few camp directors that are looking for program ideas. Who is your greatest writing inspiration? When I was growing up, I wanted to be the next hints to Heloise.  My first published piece was a handy hint, and I’ve been published in her column three times. 

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