Denise Grover Swank ~ Special Guest

Today I’m so pleased to welcome back Denise Grover Swank. You may remember Denise from the two other times I’ve featured her on my blog. She’s the author of Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes and Chosen. Both of which I LOVED. So I was really happy when I was asked to read Denise’s newest release, Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, I’ve invited Denise to come and share a few thoughts about her books and the writing process.

~*~*~*~ The Interview ~*~*~*~

Amie: Where did the story idea come from/how did it come about?

Denise: I had pitched Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes to an agent who said she LOVED the concept. She told me to work up two or three more plots. Around the same time, I got a summons for jury duty. I thought to myself, what kind of trouble could Rose get into on a jury? The ideas started rolling from there.

Amie: One thing you want the reader to walk away with after reading this book.

Denise: I love for the reader to enjoy reading about Rose as she continues to grow and mature, but also to learn to trust your instincts, in spite of what other people tell you.

Amie: Why did you choose your genres?

Denise: It’s funny. My genres usually pick me. With both The Chosen series and the Rose Gardner Mysteries, the story came to me first and then I figured out what the genre was.

Amie: Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing?

Denise: It’s different with each series. For Rose, it’s finding her voice again. It took me several chapters before I felt like I’d found her again, and that was after reading about a third of Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes.

Amie: What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

Denise: Write, write, write. Write all the time. It takes lots of practice to become good and if you want to write books, you need to get into the habit of writing every day.

Amie: Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

Denise: Yes, especially with the book I’m working on right now, Redemption, the final book in The Chosen series. Usually I push through or try to figure out what the problem is.

Amie: What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

Denise: Some writers insist that you have to do character analysis charts. (I never do.) Or that you have to have detailed outlines. (I never do, although I loosely plot.) Writing is a creative process and I find if I put to many restrictions and rules upon myself, it’s harder to write. There ARE rules of course. Watch your passive writing. You don’t need nearly as many dialogue tags as you think you do. Use adverbs sparingly. But when you write that first draft, let yourself have room to write it. You can fix all of that other stuff later.

~*~*~*~ Author Bio ~*~*~*~

Denise Grover Swank lives in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. She has six children, three dogs, and an overactive imagination. She can be found dancing in her kitchen with her children, reading or writing her next book. You will rarely find her cleaning.