Colleen Hoover and her books
In one way, you could say Colleen Hoover is just like any other woman.
She has lived in the same place near Sulphur Springs since she was four years old and has been married to the same man for 21 years. But there the similarity stops. Colleen is a famous, successful writer of romance and thriller novels that have been translated into 40 languages. She responds to all that by saying, “I don’t feel famous.”
She bought a Tesla, but thought it was too weird and traded it in for a Toyota.
She did allow herself one luxury. In her home one of the bookshelves opens up to a secret room where she locks herself in when on deadline. When she’s in that room, it’s off limits to her husband and 3 teenage sons.
“The boys are always having friends over, bless their hearts. I tell them if I’m in my office they can talk to me all the want to. But when I’m in my secret room they cannot interrupt me. It’s very hard when you get pulled out of a writing groove.”
Colleen has written 24 books, most of them released by major publishers.
One has been made into a TV series (CONFESS), one became a movie (HOPELESS) and 3 are in the hands of movie producers. She has had book signings in 20 countries.
“I usually do an international tour once a year. I’ve done the Philippines, Poland and Brazil recently. It’s just been insane.”
All this has happened in the last 10 years after she wrote a book for her mother.
“It was a Christmas present and I finished it on Christmas day.”
The book, titled SLAMMED is about a slam poet. Her friends wanted to read it, so instead of making copies, she put it on the Internet. It ended up on the New York Times Best Seller List.
Colleen started a charity and raises money for it through a subscription book club. “It’s been a little over 5 years now and we’ve donated nearly 2 million dollars to different charities.”
Colleen lives at a place called Saltillo.
The area around there has benefitted greatly from her generosity. She has a bookstore in downtown Sulphur Springs called THE BOOKWORM BOX. Once she invited Erika Mitchell (pen name E. L. James), the British author of the book FIFTY SHADES OF GREY to come to her store for a book signing. “Yeah, that was crazy,” says Colleen. “She released the book and had 2 signings in the world. One was in New York City and one was in Sulphur Springs, Texas. I could not believe that she took time out of her schedule to come and do that. It was such a fun, fun day. She donated all of the proceeds that day to our charity.“
Colleen has always written as a hobby.
She has a degree in Social Work and was working for the local welfare office and living in a trailer when she started writing that book for her mother. The people she worked with in the welfare office are now on her staff. “I couldn’t make it without them,” says Colleen. “They just take care of everything. We had fun working together in the welfare office and we’re still having fun in the book business.”