If you ran into RaeAnne Thayne at the grocery store near her Logan home, you might not think anything of it. Her laid-back, warm and light-hearted demeanor does not necessarily speak to how hundreds of thousands of people know her: as the New York Times Bestselling author of the Hope’s Crossing and Haven Point series. But her books haven’t always been the sales juggernaut they are now. “I was 24 when I started my first romance novel. I had wanted to write one for forever,” she says.
And just over two decades later, Thayne has a whopping 57 books on her growing list of publications. “[Planning my books] is organic most of the time. In my first series, Hope’s Crossing, I knew what the first three would be and had them completely plotted out,” she recalls. While the amount of details she plans ahead may vary, Thayne recognizes that she has to plot out her writing process. “I’m a plotter. I’m my business, there are plotters and pantsers—people who write by the seat of their pants—but I’m definitely a plotter,” she says. “The book I’m writing right now was planned last October.” Thayne’s very clearly sees writing as her job, and makes sure to churn out some new pages every day—though she has the perk of “writing in [her] jammies.”
Staying in Utah may seem like an odd choice for such a popular writer, but her family has no plans to move in the near future. “Cache valley is our home. We have great friends and neighbors here. I love Utah; we really love it,” she says.
Though her novels fall firmly into the romance genre, not everything is just about the excitement of a new relationship. Every book she’s written seems to have one core theme to it. Thayne says, “my core story is that we’re all here to learn how to take care of each other. Everyone in my books learns some lesson that you need to connect with the world and take care of each other.”
To learn more about Thayne and the increasingly popular romance genre, you can listen to our Salt Lake Speaks podcast with RaeAnne Thayne here. The sixth book in her Haven Point series, Serenity Harbor, is on bookshelves now. But also keep an eye out for the seventh book, Sugar Pine Trail, due out on September 26.
