Hannah Orenstein: Your First Draft Will Be Bad
In this interview, author Hannah Orenstein discusses the education the writing process gave her in writing her new novel, Maine Characters.
Hannah Orenstein is the author of Maine Characters, Meant to Be Mine, Head Over Heels, Love at First Like, and Playing with Matches, as well as the Deputy Editor of Lifestyle and Wellness at Bustle. She splits her time between Brooklyn and Maine. Follow her on X (Twitter) and Instagram.
In this interview, Hannah discusses the education the writing process gave her in writing her new novel, Maine Characters, her hope for readers, and more.
Name: Hannah Orenstein
Literary agent: Allison Hunter at Trellis Literary Agency
Book title: Maine Characters
Publisher: Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House
Release date: May 13, 2025
Genre/category: Women’s fiction
Previous titles: Playing with Matches, Love at First Like, Head Over Heels, Meant to Be Mine
Elevator pitch: A “grown-up Parent Trap,” the story of two half-sisters who meet for the first time at their father’s lake house in Maine after his unexpected death.
What prompted you to write this book?
I grew up spending summers on a lake in Maine and still live there part-time today. I’m biased, but I think it’s the most beautiful place in the world and I wanted to bring readers there with me! There are pink and purple sunsets, loons and lobsters, sunny afternoons on boats, and an old house packed with treasures from another time. I hope it feels like a vacation.
I love to write about sisterhood, and The Parent Trap was my jumping-off point to create a deeply messy family dynamic. Before Vivian and Lucy were born, their father and respective mothers made questionable decisions and buried certain secrets. As adults, the women are forced to unravel what really happened and grapple with the ramifications.
Vivian is a sommelier, a selfish choice on my part simply because I wanted to learn more about wine and call it book research. I studied with the Wine and Spirits Education Trust to bring a splash of flavor to her world. Her mother Celeste is a romance novelist desperate to claw her way back onto the bestseller list, which was my way to play with the publishing industry.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
The idea hit in 2020. I wrote and edited the manuscript from 2021 to 2024, mostly while sitting on a little boat like the one in the book. (I write longhand in a notebook because I love nothing more than working outside.) The big picture stayed the same, but my way of getting there changed as I got to know the characters better.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
The cover is by Ariel Lee, an artist who does incredibly colorful, evocative, gorgeous landscapes. I sent over some photos of the lake as inspiration and knew whatever she did would be beautiful, but I didn’t realize she was going to paint my house! I’ll never get over how meaningful this cover is to me.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
My other books weren’t easy to write, but they were more straightforward. This time, I wrote 100,000 words, scrapped half of it, and revised in a different direction; wrote another 50,000 and threw part out, revised again, etc.! It was an extremely thorough education in craft, persistence, and patience. Ultimately, I love where it landed and couldn’t have gotten here any other way. I’m so grateful to my agent Allison Hunter and editor Cassidy Sachs for their invaluable notes.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
Please enjoy! I hope it whisks you away to Maine. And if you want some big feelings about family, forgiveness, and building a new life, I’ve got you covered there too.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Your first draft will be bad. It’s just how it is. Mine are bad too. Keep going! Trust that once you have the story down on paper, you’ll be able to mold it into something great.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
