PM: Thank you so much for joining us today, Denise! I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with me!

DW: Thank you for having me!

PM: If you couldn’t be a writer, what career path do you think you’d choose to be on?

DW: Probably the one I almost chose rather than a degree in journalism with a history minor — preservation/restoration. My parents took me to historic sites across the Southeast as I was growing up. They expected me to be bored during long-winded tours, but I was listening intently and would start asking questions. I just love old houses and how they whisper the stories of the past. In fact, my Restoration Trilogy and my new contemporary release, Fall Flip, are romances centered around restoration projects.

PM: I have a love for old homes as well, I always enjoyed looking at them and wondering about the people that used to live there! If we were to open you your refrigerator right now, what would we find in it?

DW: LOL. Not a lot, because my college age daughter and my high school age daughter keep it cleaned out. Eggs, fresh fruit, two casseroles, lunch meat and cheese, and, um, a whole shelf of various flavors of coffee creamers.

PM: I see you write both historical and contemporary fiction – which genre do you prefer?

DW: I enjoy both for different reasons, but my roots are with the historicals. Especially since I’m also an editor for historical fiction and romance.

PM: What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite gender?

DW: That question makes me smile because I just taught a class at the North Georgia Christian Writers’ Conference on that very thing. I actually love writing from the male POV. The differences in the way a masculine hero and a feminine heroine think and communicate makes for great romantic tension.

PM: I completely agree with you on that! I love getting the different perspectives, too. If there was a news story about your life, what would the headline say?

DW: Construction Zone: Work in Progress

(me AND my stories)

PM: That is so well said! Do you ever get “too attached” to your characters? And if so, do you want to share which one?

DW: Too attached in terms of not wanting them to be edited, or too attached in that I want to have conversations with them and I miss them when they’re gone? LOL. I’ve gone through enough editing rounds that I realize all characters need some polishing, but I did become rather sad when I finished writing my most recent work in progress this past spring. It’s about a mixed-blood Cherokee son of a chief — he’s actually a student at the mission school in The Witness Tree, my recent historical release — who grows up to fight in the Cherokee Regiment against the Red Stick Creeks in 1813-14. Sam falls in love with his colonel’s daughter, Susanna. It’s an exciting frontier romance that my publisher is shopping right now. It was hard for me to “come in from” the Alabama wilderness back to modern life.

Thankfully, I’m not the only one who seems to have trouble keeping my characters on the page. My Restoration Trilogy was inspired by the renovation my parents did on a doctor’s house and apothecary shop. They frequently have visitors who ask if their bedroom is “Michael’s room.”

PM: You have got me so interested in reading these books now! I take it you live in Georgia, which is where my hubs is from, have you lived there all your life? What would you tell someone who has never been there is the best part of Georgia?

DW: Oh, how neat! Where is your husband from? I have lived in Georgia my whole life — except for a brief stint at Asbury University in Kentucky. The thing I love most about our state is its varied topography — from the mountains to the coast to the piedmont to the South Georgia pines.

PM: My hubs is from a little near Augusta….GO DAWGS! What are you reading for fun right now?

DW: I’m part of Elva Cobb Martin’s endorsement/launch team for her November release, Marisol: Spanish Rose. When I’m not writing or editing myself, a lot of my fiction reading is to help endorse, beta read, and promote for author friends.

PM: That is so generous of you! I know they must appreciate your assistance so much. When do you find the time to write? Where is your favorite place to write?

DW: Whenever my family is gone to work and school — because I work from my kitchen island. One day … sigh … one day, I might have an office with a door that closes. 🙂

PM: How can readers keep up with you and your new releases?

Thank you so much for asking. I’d love to connect with new readers on social media.

Connect with Denise here:

Monthly Newsletter Sign-up

Website

Facebook

Twitter

BookBub

Denise Weimer writes historical and contemporary romance and romantic suspense set in her home state of Georgia. She’s authored over nine novels and a number of novellas. As a managing editor at Smitten Historical Romance and Heritage Beacon Fiction, Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, she also helps others reach their publishing dreams. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.

PM: Finally, coffee or tea? Cream, sugar?

DW: Coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon. And for sure, Stevia and flavored creamer!