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Interview & Writing Tips with Denise Weimer

February 17, 2020 by Karin Beery Leave a Comment

We’re going to try something a little different here this year, and I’m introducing some author interviews. These interviews, however, focus more on the craft of writing: how do people do it and what have they learned through the publishing process. I hope this will encourage you as well as give you an inside-look at what it’s really like!

Kicking off our interviews is author and editor Denise Weimer.

Denise, thanks for your willingness to appear on my blog! I’m looking forward to sharing your knowledge and advice with the rest of the world (at least with the small portion of it that follows my blog). What genre do you write? How did you pick it?
I’m a hybrid genre writer, having published contemporary and historical romance as well as time slip and romantic suspense novels, mostly set in my home state of Georgia. I was a huge history buff and living historian as a young adult, so it was natural that I’d start writing historicals. At one point, my agent encouraged me to try a contemporary romance since those often prove easier to place. My main story in my dual time period Restoration Trilogy had been modern, and I’d enjoyed writing it, so out came Fall Flip (September 2019), Spring Splash (March 2020) and Traces (March 2020).

What are your favorite genres to read? Why?
Historical eastern frontier romances. What a thrilling time for America. I often imagine the virgin forests, the native peoples, the early wars for ownership, and the many challenges of surviving and thriving in the nation’s backcountry. The conflict is right there, ripe for many stories!

How long did it take you complete your first manuscript (published or not)?
I wrote my first published novella, Redeeming Grace, when my younger daughter would take naps. Not long after, I began The Georgia Gold Series, four historical fiction novels set in Northeast Georgia and Savannah in the mid-1800s. I researched a year before I started writing. Then it took me about three more years to write what would become four novels of the series.

Have your follow-up novels been easier or harder to write? Why do you think that is?
Thankfully, easier, because I learned how to focus my research and know when to stop and start writing. I’ve since been trained and now work as an editor, which has really helped tighten my writing in early drafts. My last historical was researched and written in six weeks. That astonished even me.

What’s surprised you the most about the book-publishing process?
How vital authors are to each other. From endorsements to shared promotions to collections to introductions, they are key in opening doors and providing support.

What’s been the most challenging part of getting a book published?
Finding the path that could put my work in front of traditional and larger publishers. For me, it involved group blogging that led to participating in a collection that led to an agent. Now that I have several individual books out with houses recognized in Christian publishing, the next challenge has been building social media connections and sales numbers. Marketing is always a daunting task.

What’s your favorite part of the publishing experience?
Possibly the cover design process. It’s such a thrilling moment to see your book cover for the first time, like putting a face to a name. I love that LPC gives authors some input into their covers. When it all comes together, the cover reflects several elements of your story and offers an enticing package for potential readers.

For learning the writing craft, which do you prefer – books or conferences?
If you could recommend one writing conference, what would it be?
If you could recommend one writing book, what would it be?
If I may answer the three questions above in one … My path has been a little different where writing craft books and conferences have been concerned. Instead of either, my pattern became learning from mentors: my first publisher, Wendy Dingwall of Canterbury House; my agent, Linda S. Glaz of Hartline Literary; other authors and editors; and finally, my senior-ME, Pegg Thomas at Smitten Historical Romance, and editing training with you, Karin, at the PEN Institute.

That said, Pegg and I do recommend books on self-editing and writing deep POV to budding authors who submit to our historical imprints, and conferences are wonderful. I’ve attended and gotten to be on faculty at the North Georgia Christian Writers’ Conference. While finances have needed to be directed elsewhere in our family up to this point, I hope to attend the Blue Ridge Conference in the near future. And maybe when it comes closer to Georgia again, ACFW!

If you could pick any of your novels to be made into a movie, which one would you pick? Who would you want to play the lead roles, and why?
I’m not very good with assigning actors and actresses to roles from my novels, but if I had to pick a novel to be made into a movie, it would be my novella in the Backcountry Brides Collection, Across Three Autumns. My heroine, Jenny White, is a strong frontier woman who holds off British and Native Americans from her home during the Revolutionary War. And my hero, a Scottish scout for Elijah Clark, is swoon-worthy.

For a full-length novel, that historical I mentioned above as having been written in six weeks, working title Bent Tree Bride, would make a great movie. It’s about a mixed-blood lieutenant in the Cherokee Regiment who struggles to reconcile the scholar and warrior within him while fighting Red Stick Creeks during the War of 1812—and trying to avoid falling in love with his white colonel’s feisty daughter. But first, I have to pray it finds a home with the right publisher.

Thank you so much for appearing on my blog! Have a blessed day!
Thank you for having me!


Spring Splash: When an injury sidelines college swimmer Anna Callaway, her dreams are crushed. She pours herself into her sports marketing practicum, helping a local special needs organization promote their athletic event. What she doesn’t expect is a swim team ripe for the Special Olympics—and their handsome but stubborn coach.

Craig Holt has dealt with eager and ignorant volunteers before. No matter how determined or persuasive uptight Anna might be about coaching his team to the Special Olympics, he has no intention of allowing her to raise the hopes of his swimmers, his sister, or his guarded heart.

Then Anna herself gets a second chance at becoming a champion. Will she pursue her lifelong goals or make room for a new dream?

Traces: When a failed romance and a $500,000 prize lure Kate Carson into participating in the reality TV show, Traces, the least she expects is to pick her partner. After all, she’s the PR spokeswoman of the company that derived a thirteen-lens, rotating camera from military use and installed it atop Atlanta’s tallest skyscraper. But she never would have chosen to evade techno hunters for twenty days with “G.I. Joe.”

Stoic, ex-military Alex Mitchell is the sort of man she always vowed to avoid, while the shadows of Alex’s past cause him to spurn emotional involvement. When Kate’s insider knowledge makes her a target of someone more threatening than game show hunters, Alex offers her only hope to reveal the dark plans of proponents of The Eye.

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Filed Under: interview Tagged With: author interview, Denise Weimer, writing fiction, writing tips, writing tools

A Dozen Do’s for Editors by Denise Weimer

September 16, 2019 by Karin Beery Leave a Comment

The word “editor” elicits a strong response—whether positive or negative—from most authors.

Likewise, good or bad experiences working with certain authors stick with editors for years.

Those of us who have worked on both sides of that equation gain a unique perspective. From day one, the editor can take steps to strengthen his or her relationship with the author. In fact, what a great opportunity to employ a Christ-like model.

Mark 10:45a: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”

A Dozen Do-s for Editors who want to be that servant leader:

  1. Introduce yourself. In the initial e-mail, include where you live, what your family is like, and a few interests. This paints a picture of a real human rather than a stock image of the author’s eighth grade English teacher with a red pen in her hand.
  2. Are you also an author? Share that. It’s a relational plus, not a minus.
  3. If your publisher allows, or you’re independent, consider giving the author a little control by offering to send edits in one, two, or three batches.
  4. If you’re running late on edits, communicate. Wouldn’t it be better for the author to know that you had to help your mom who just got out of the hospital than assume that you’re overbooked or just … slow?
  5. When you deliver the first round of edits, consider preceding those with an e-mail. Track change markings can take aback even a seasoned author. And an emerging author may need a quick primer to avoid panic.
  6. Give a few specifics you liked about the story, letting the author know you recognize his or her strengths. You may also take the opportunity to share areas you’ll help move the story from good to great.
  7. In the e-mail, mention the types of edits you made on a repeated basis. In the manuscript, explain the first time, then use a simplified term to identify repeated edits (like “POV” to remind the author to stay in deep point of view). Clarify changes made to comply with your style manual. This can help an author self-edit in the future.
  8. Let the author know if you are expecting him or her to click to accept or reject every track change, and if you want them to explain their reason for rejecting. Not being clear can mean a whole lot of clicking left to you.
  9. Comment throughout the manuscript on positives. Statements such as “this is the type of active voice I’m looking for” or “great hook” let the author know when they’re hitting the target.
  10. If you are working under a managing editor, copy him or her on all but minor communications. That avoids misunderstandings, provides documentation should a conflict arise, and allows the ME to chime in if there’s a need.
  11. Before the second round of edits, prepare the author that fresh changes might arise from moving and adding text in the first round and issues that weren’t visible when marking the biggest things. This is the chance to beef up or trim and polish the story.
  12. Connect on social media. View the partnership as ongoing. Become one of the most vocal proponents for book release. Your relationship should be mutually beneficial and can open further doors for both of you.

Past betrayal has turned John Kliest’s passion to his work as a builder and surveyor in the Moravian town of Salem, North Carolina. Now, to satisfy the elders’ edict and fulfill his mission in Cherokee Territory, he needs a bride. But the one woman qualified to record the Cherokee language longs for a future with his younger brother.

Clarissa Vogler’s dream of a life with Daniel Kliest is shattered when she is chosen by lot to marry his older brother and venture into the uncharted frontier. Can she learn to love this stoic man who is now her husband? Her survival hinges on being able to trust him—but they both harbor secrets.

Now available on Amazon!

The tragic death of Shelby Dodson’s husband—her partner in a successful Home Network house flipping business—stole love, status, and career. Now a bungalow redesign thrusts Shelby into the company of a new contractor. Scott Matthews remembers high-and-mighty Shelby from high school, and her prissy, contemporary style goes against his down-to-earth grain. When the house reveals a mystery, will its dark secrets—and their own mistakes—cost a second chance at love?

A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses!

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Represented by Hartline Literary Agency, Denise Weimer holds a journalism degree with a minor in history from Asbury University. She’s a managing editor for Smitten Historical Romance and Heritage Beacon Historical Fiction imprints of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and the author of The Georgia Gold Series, The Restoration Trilogy, and a number of novellas, including Across Three Autumns of Barbour’s Colonial Backcountry Brides Collection. Her contemporary romance, Fall Flip, and a historical, The Witness Tree both release September 2019 with LPC.

Filed Under: editing Tagged With: Denise Weimer, editing, editors, professional development

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Editor. Teacher. Novelist.
A passionate lover of fiction, Karin doesn't just write novels, she helps others write their best stories! A certified substantive editor with the Christian Editor Connection, her goal is to help authors to put her out of business by equipping them with the tools they need to become better writers.

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