1. Most of your
readers are familiar with your many Heartsong Historicals but Lily is your first trade paperback book
(?). Lily is the first in your Song of the River series. Tell us a
little about this story. Lily is the
oldest of three sisters. We begin her story in 1859 before the Civil War. This
was the heyday for steam-powered riverboats on the Mississippi River. In a bid
for independence, Lily purchases a riverboat only to discover that she is a
co-owner with a gambler who has his own ideas about how to earn money on their
boat.
2. I know you are both passionate about history and making
sure the details in your books are accurate. How much research did you have to
do before you could start writing? We did
research separately and together on all aspects of that time period. Also, we
continue researching as we write the story to make sure our facts are correct.
3. Did you find the transition from the smaller books
(50,000 words) to the larger ones( 85,000+) challenging? Not at all. In fact, we went over our word count with Lily. Our
wonderful editor, Becky Fish, had to remove almost 10,000 words to meet our
publisher’s plans for the book. She did a fantastic job.
4. As co-authors who gets to do the plotting and who does the romance and emotional side? We brainstorm together on all of the aspects of our books, so I can’t say that one does one while the other does something else.
5. Is there a portion of the books that you enjoy writing
more than others? For example, the action scenes, the romance, the black moment
or the part where you type – The End?
Diane – I love writing the action scenes. They seem to come together faster for
me than other parts. Aaron – I love planning scenes that include a lot of
characters like holiday celebrations, balls, and family get-togethers.
6. Struggling writers are always looking for encouragement.
What advice would you give them? Diane - You
can only fail if you quit. I know (from personal experience) about rejections
and writing things that will never see the light of day, but if you can look at
this as a journey rather than a destination, you have begun to succeed. Aaron –
What Diane said is so true, perseverance is one of the most important tools a
writer must have. Also, attend writers’ conferences to get the chances to meet
with agents and editors.
7. Can you tell us how your individual faith journeys have
helped you along your writing path? Diane
- I believe God planted in me the desire to write and has been guiding my
footsteps along the way. Of course, I find that easier to see as I look back
than it is as I take each step. I trust that He is still guiding me and will
until that day when He takes me home. Aaron – I dreamed of being a writer when
I was very young, as I have always loved books. I later realized that dream was
based on selfishness as I mainly wanted to see my name on a book. As I grew
older, and grew in my faith, God led me to Christian fiction and showed me how
my childhood dream could be used be Him to minister to others.
Thank you so much Aaron and Diane for visiting and sharing
your experiences. We look forward to Lily and the other books in the series.
