The first time Hannah Martian wrote a book, they were in middle school. Their English teacher offered extra credit for students who met the annual National Novel Writing Month challenge: 50,000 words in one month.
“It was basically fan fiction for the Gallagher Girls book series by Ally Carter,” says Martian (’20, MA ’24 Sport Mgmt.). “But I just kept writing.”
Long Time Gone hit the shelves October 15, 2024. The murder mystery, published by Crooked Lane Books, features a queer romance between leading characters Quinn Cuthridge, a private investigator, and a ranch hand named Hunter.
“I had been kicking it around in my brain to do a cowgirl romance since I graduated in 2020,” says Martian, who identifies as a lesbian and uses they/them pronouns. “When I got to Casper, Wyoming, I started writing it as an adult mystery and, finally, everything clicked into place.”
Martian was interning for the Casper Horseheads Baseball Club, a summer collegiate baseball team in the Independence League.
“The novel’s setting is fictional, but it’s based on the small little nothing towns in Wyoming,” Martian says. “Wyoming is the only state that doesn’t have a city with a population over 100,000 people.”
Growing up, Martian considered a few different careers: teacher, actress, sports broadcaster, literary agent. At WSU, they studied sport management and explored their identity.
“There were lots of clubs and programs and people who were so supportive of me and so open and so caring,” Martian says. “Pullman is really great.”
When Martian returned for their master’s degree, they planned on being an athletic director. But working as an intern in the industry changed their mind. Martian has since worked as a substitute teacher in Whitman County and at Pullman’s Neill Public Library as a youth services assistant.
“The one thing that’s remained constant is that I’m always writing something,” Martian says.
