I have met best-selling, award-winning author Denise Hunter in passing at some of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) conferences, but we have not had time to connect much yet. I received her book The Convenient Groom for my birthday this year (my request) and read it in two days! I never read a book that fast, but this one I could not put down! Denise is up for the RITA Award in the Inspirational Romance category from Romance Writers of America for this romance novel, and I believe the honor is well deserved. Highly recommended!

Denise lives in Indiana with her husband Kevin and their three sons. In 1996, Denise began her first book, a Christian romance novel, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she’s been writing ever since. Her books often contain a strong romantic element, and her husband Kevin says he provides all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too! Besides writing, Denise enjoys reading, playing the drums, traveling with her family, and eating dark chocolate. Not necessarily in that order.

Jill says, “Denise, we have much in common! Supportive, sometimes humorous husbands, :) three sons, love of romance, travel, and dark chocolate!”

Denise’s novel Sweetwater Gap is a December 2008 release from Women of Faith:

She wished she could go back and change things . . . but life doesn’t give do-overs. Could anything but good-byes be waiting on the other side of Sweetwater Gap?

Josie Mitchell’s sister Laurel thinks she’s come home to pitch in with the apple harvest and save the family orchard. Her brother-in-law Nate thinks she’s there to talk the overworked, very pregnant Laurel into finally selling the family business. The orchard’s new manager Grady Mackenzie just thinks she’s trouble with a capital T.

They’re all right . . . and all wrong. Because no one really knows what drove Josie from home in the first place. Why she’s never come home before, even for her own father’s funeral. Why she pushes herself so hard . . . and what she’s running from. And nobody, not even Josie, is prepared for the surprising new fruit she’ll find on her last trip home.

You can find Sweetwater Gap at these three online bookstores:
Amazon
Christian Book Distributors, or
Barnes & Noble

I asked Denise to give us some insight into how God is using her and her writing.

Jill: When and how did you know that you wanted to be a writer?

Denise: I’ve been an avid reader from the time I was little, and during high school I enjoyed writing poetry. But the idea of writing my own book didn’t come up until I was about 21. But I’d just gotten married, was going to college full time. Then we started a family and the thought of writing a novel was put on the back burner.

Then one day in 1996 I got word that my grandfather was nearing death. I went to the hospital and as I sat watching him struggle to breathe, I thought about how much he’d accomplished for God. It occurred to me that one day I was going to be at the end of my life too and it was going to be too late to do anything I was supposed to do.

The dream of writing a novel resurfaced on my ride home. I knew God put the dream on my heart for a reason and if I didn’t take that first step, I’d never know what he had in store. Within a week I started my first manuscript, which was eventually published as Stranger’s Bride in 1998.

Jill: I love that, Denise! I believe God created each of us to do things that He already planned for us to do, but it’s up to us to figure out what those things are. When we discover them, we’d best do them! I’m so glad you followed His lead to write. (I started with poetry too!)

Can you share with me some of the highlights of your writing journey – something particularly memorable or humorous?

Denise:: Highlights, hmm . . .

Getting The Call and running outside, jumping up and down, screaming to my husband that I was going to be published.

Traveling to my first conference (downtown Chicago), driving alone, having my car overheat and stall numerous times on the highway, then arriving to find out my new buddy Colleen Coble had invited our editor Becky Germany to share our room. First thought: My editor is going to see me in my jammies.

Writing the book of my heart, my first women’s fiction story, and receiving a rejection from virtually every publisher AND agent. (Boy, can I relate!)

Selling the book of my heart (Mending Places) to Howard Publishing and getting a contract for a 3-book series.

Going to conferences with buddies Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt and having the time of our lives.

Selling a 4-book series of love stories to Thomas Nelson.

Being asked to write a Women of Faith novel (Sweetwater Gap).

Doing my first TV interview (The Harvest Show) and living to tell about it. Having Colleen and Diann travel with me just for moral support.

Jill: Awesome! And congratulations on living through each one of those! :)

Tell me a bit about what you write now and what you hope/plan to write in the future. Do you have a favorite genre?

Denise: I initially started writing romance novels and then stretched into longer women’s fiction. After three of those, Thomas Nelson contracted me to write a 4-book series of love stories set on the island of Nantucket. They’ve encouraged me to bring some of the depth and layers from the longer women’s fiction into my stories.

I have to say, love stories are my genre. It’s what I love to read and write. I love going with the character through the emotions, and I have to admit, I’m a sucker for that happy ending.

Jill: I love a good love story and look forward to reading more of yours!

Do you consider your writing the work God has given you to do for a lifetime or for a season of your life? Can you see yourself pursuing something outside of writing for His glory?

Denise: I’m totally and completely satisfied writing novels, and I’ll be thrilled to keep writing as long as God continues to provide contracts. :) I love the whole business of publishing and all the wonderful people I’ve had the opportunity to meet.

If I HAD to pick another career, it would probably be in the commercial arts field.

Jill: Are there people in your life who encouraged you, who are responsible for you becoming a published author?

Denise: : My husband has been a wonderful support from the beginning. But when I first started, I was writing in a vacuum! I had no internet, not even a computer, and I didn’t know any writers. It was only after I got my first contract that I met my writing buds Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, and then Diann Hunt. We critique each other’s work, brainstorm stories, attend conferences, share our lives, and are basically inseparable. Together we formed a blog called Girls Write Out at www.GirlsWriteOut.blogspot.com.

Jill: Such friendships are a treasure!
Can you share one struggle that entered your life as a result of writing and how God helped you to overcome it, to make you more like Christ?

Denise:: Writing is scary to me. The whole creative process, starting with a blank document and knowing you have to fill it with words that are somehow supposed to grip readers for 300 pages, is daunting to me. You’d think that fear might go away after a dozen or so books, but no, there it is every time I sit down to write.

Jill: This is not making me more confident here… :)

Denise: One thing God has taught me as a result of that fear is dependence on him. I can’t write the story by myself, and I know it.

Jill: You are so right – I could never write a book without God’s help and guidance. Some chapters are written on prayer!

Likewise, is there a particular joy in this writing business/ministry that God has used to remind you that He is, in fact, using your words to His glory?

Denise: The reader letters are such a blessing. When someone says my words made them change the way they treat their husband or made them see afresh God’s love for them, it really makes it all worthwhile.

Jill: Has writing opened opportunities for you to give your testimony and witness for Christ or minister to fellow believers? If so, can you give one example?

Denise:: As an author I have opportunities for various kinds of interviews, sometimes with a media outlet like secular radio or newspaper. I love to share what God has done in my life and how he’s guided me in my writing journey. My writing also gives me many opportunities to talk to others about God one-on-one. People are curious about novel writing, and once the subject comes up, it’s easy to share what God’s doing in my life.

Denise’s next release is:

Seaside Letters Coming September 2009

Sabrina Kincaid didn’t intend to fall for Nantucket native Tucker McCabe, the man she serves coffee to every morning–the man tied deeply to Sabrina’s most mortifying secret.
Then Tucker decides to hire Sabrina to help locate his online friend Sweetpea–the mysterious woman he’s falling in love with. Sabrina is not inclined to help, but letting Tucker hire someone else could spell disaster. Because if someone else helped him–if someone else sifted through the letters and figured out the truth–then Tucker would discover that the person he’s trying to find is . . . her.

You can visit author Denise Hunter and get to know her better by checking out her personal website or her Girls Write Out blog here.

Thanks Denise, for joining us this month on Spotlight!