Hanna Winter is the pseudonym for Eva Rehberger who is a hugely successful catwalk and fashion model in her native Germany.
Hanna Winter’s first thriller, THE CHILDREN’S TRAIL (2010), became an instant bestseller and Sacrifice has sold over 30,000 copies in Germany since first publication in 2012 – this is the first time it’s been available in English, published by Bonnier Zaffre.
Today I am delighted to welcome Hanna to my blog where she talks about her transition from writing to modelling and how she has managed this in her daily life.
Follow the link (after of course!!) to read my review of her latest release Sacrifice
From Catwalk to Crime
You might think that being a model and being a writer couldn`t be more different. And at a cursory glance, this might well be true. Literature is all about content, while modeling is all about appearance. One is a solitary profession – and I mean that in a positive way – and performed in silence, the other is rooted in the spotlight, quite hectic and performed as part of a larger team.
When I first started out with my writing career, I was actually quite unsure, if it were such a good idea to let people know, that, next to my studies and later work as an editor, I had worked as a professional model for half of my life. It’s so easy to be put into a category, after all. And yet, both professions share one crucial aspect: you become a performer.
As a model, you follow the instructions of the photographer, present yourself – essentially at the push of a button – as happy or cool or aloof, whatever it is you’re asked to do at the time. But what you show to the camera, these aren’t “real” feelings. It’s just a performance. And when it comes to writing, it’s actually quite similar.
You might have to write a high-octane action scene nursing a tremendous hangover, that would have you rather stay in bed all day, cursing your stupidly self-inflicted suffering. Or you might have to write a heartwarming romantic exchange right after you had a fight with your loved one and really couldn’t care less about the feelings of that human subspecies called “men”. But the way you feel doesn’t matter. In both professions, you show up (or get up, at least) and you do the job you’re asked to do. You perform.
One big difference, though, with modeling, it was always easy for me to just “switch off” after work. But when writing a novel, the characters in particular “follow me home from work”, so to speak. They just stay with me until I’m done and their story is out of my system. Mind you, “after work” and “home” during my modeling days mostly consisted of finding myself alone and tired in some anonymous hotel room in some big city, so I’m actually quite happy with how things turned out.
I’m still young, but not that young.
Bonnier Zaffre have just published the eBook of Sacrifice and the paperback is due to be published on the 17th November 2016. The former German model has since published six novels under several pen names. Sacrifice has been received with critical acclaim.
Check out the blog tour dates below for more on Hanna Winter.
