Diane Hanks: Don’t Resist Rewriting

Diane Hanks has a BFA in Creative Writing from Roger Williams University and an MA in Professional Writing & Publishing from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. A medical writer by day, she has written numerous screenplays and recently returned to her first love—writing novels. Diane also is a mentor for the Writers Guild Initiative, which makes the art of storytelling accessible to underserved populations.

Diane Hanks

In this post, Diane discusses uncovering forgotten historical figures in her new historical fiction novel, The Woman With a Purple Heart, her advice for other writers, and more!

Name: Diane Hanks
Literary agent: Mark Gottlieb, Vice President and Literary Agent, Trident Media Group, NYC
Book title: The Woman With a Purple Heart
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Release date: November 7, 2023
Genre/category: Historical fiction
Previous title: Summer Camp: A Memoir (self-published)
Elevator pitch for the book: Based on the real-life of Lieutenant Annie Fox, Chief Nurse of Hickam Hospital, The Woman With a Purple Heart is an inspiring WWII novel of heroic leadership, courage, and friendship that also exposes a shocking and shameful side of history.

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What prompted you to write this book?

I work for the Department of Veterans Affairs as a medical writer. I was writing about VA’s Annie App—a text messaging service for Veterans—and wondered who it was named for and learned that it was named after the first woman to receive a Purple Heart for combat: Lt. Annie Fox. I had never heard of her before. Nor had I ever heard of Hickam Hospital, part of Hickam Air Base and adjacent to Pearl Harbor. The story about Annie and Hickam Air Base needed telling.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

I first wrote about Annie Fox and Hickam Air Base in a screenplay titled Hickam a few years ago. The screenplay was going to be produced as a podcast by The Black List but got scuttled, as so much did, by the COVID-19 pandemic. This happened around the same time I began adapting my screenplays into novels. Hickam wasn’t the first one I’d adapted, but it’s the first to get published.

The basic premise of the story did not change from screenplay to novel, but I did get to expand the story by about 200 pages. This gave me room to further explore several “supporting” characters, including Kay Kimura. It could be argued that Kay faced the most conflict. While Annie’s path was clear to her because duty to country lit the way, Kay’s was shrouded in a fog of betrayal. The novel also gave me opportunities to discuss what happened to Japanese-Americans in more detail, especially those who were considered to be community leaders, many of whom were targeted by the FBI.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

Working with Erin McClary, my editor at Sourcebooks, was a pleasure. Easier than I’d expected. But working on screenplays for more than two decades gave me lots of experience in processing feedback. It was also full of highs—winning the PAGE International Screenwriting Award, being part of the inaugural GLAAD/Black List, and being a Nicholl Fellowship semifinalist—and lows (too many to mention).

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

The biggest surprise was how little information there was about Annie Fox. It appears as though she never sought attention, which made her an even more attractive heroine. I believe she thought she’d merely done her job that day. This is a mindset that is typical of our military. The majority of which do not see themselves as heroes, but as soldiers doing their duty.

The other big surprise was how much information I found about Hickam Air Base and what happened before, during, and after December 7, 1941. I really enjoy the research part of writing historical fiction; it’s like playing detective. And the search for information about Hickam did not disappoint. I was very happy to be able to weave in many actual events throughout the novel.

The other surprise was how easy it was to follow Annie’s lead. As a writer, you feel like you’re just typing what the character is seeing and hearing. It was like that for me whenever I wrote from Annie’s POV. She was easy to write for, and with.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I hope they will take heart in the fact that so many ordinary people can do such extraordinary things when necessary. Heroism was on full display that day—at Hickam Air Base and Pearl Harbor. Not just in the overt acts of bravery, but in the smaller acts of kindness and selflessness. Americans are a brave people, which I believe is literally part of our DNA because it took bravery for our ancestors—no matter where they came from—to travel to a new country and begin again.

Another thing I hope readers get from the novel is that our country does not always do the right thing. Imprisoning thousands of Japanese-Americans, including children, was wrong. Period. Fear often makes people do things they regret. Some use fear as a kind of adrenaline and march into the fray; others use it to manipulate and control. However, history can teach us lessons, if we’re willing to learn.

And, of course, the price people of all nations pay when there is a war is beyond words. We’ve seen it over and over again, and we’re seeing it today in Ukraine. I’ve worked in a VA hospital for a long time and have seen the price individual soldiers have paid. Not to mention the “invisible” injuries, including PTSD and traumatic brain injury. I’ve also read a lot of research on the topic for a novel I’m currently working on about the horrific injuries associated with WWI. War should always be a last resort.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Read—a lot. The good stuff. Read writers who inspire you. But don’t aspire to be them. Be different. Be unique. Find your own voice.

Write what you’re passionate about, which will make it less likely that you’ll be bored. If you’re bored when you edit your first chapter, everyone else will be too.

Don’t resist rewriting. Think of editing as the part when you get to be the director of your own story. Move things around. “Play” with it until it feels right. Don’t be afraid to “kill” a character. And do what it takes to make the story as truthful as possible. People want to read the truth even if it’s embedded in fiction.

Find a good agent. They can make all the difference. My agent, Mark Gottlieb at Trident Media Group, sold my novel in less than two weeks to the perfect publisher for this particular story. A good agent will know who to send your manuscript to.

Most importantly, enjoy your writing! It really is the best part.

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