WHEN HOPE SANK - Denise Weimer - One Free Book
Welcome back, Denise. How did you come up with the ideafor this story? The plot for
WhenHope Sank
came about when my agent, Linda S. Glaz, learned BarbourPublishing was planning a new series, A Day to Remember, based on tragedies inU.S. history. She shared Barbour’s list of suggestions with her authors. One ofthe tragedies was the sinking of the Sultana,which occurred in the Mississippi River in April of 1865, the week afterPresident Lincoln was assassinated. The date leapt out at me because I’ve doneextensive living history and research in that time period. I learned that the steamboat was carrying paroled Union POWson their way home. The boat was severely overcrowded due to bribes andkickbacks. The boiler had been shoddily repaired. The river was at flood stage.When three of the boilers exploded just north of Memphis, Tennessee, around twothousand souls were expelled into the freezing water. Around half lost theirlives, making the incident the worst maritime disaster in the nation’s history.To make matters worse, rumors of sabotage abounded. The towns on the Arkansasside of the river—including Mound City where my heroine’s uncle runs aninn—were known hotbeds of spies, bushwhackers, and saboteurs. I chose toexplore that connection after Lily Livingston rescues Lieutenant Cade Palmer, aformer Union surgeon, from the swollen waters of the Mississippi.
If you were planning a party with Christian authors of contemporaryfiction, what six people would you invite and why? I’m hard pressed toanswer that question since I rarely read contemporary fiction. I think TedDekker would be very interesting to converse with. And maybe some of the big-nameauthors who have written multiple series and whose books have been made intomovies. I’m sure we could learn a lot from them!
Now let’s do that for a party for Christian authors of historicalfiction, what six people would you invite and why? Now you’re talking mylanguage. LOL. Can I issue more invites since I’m not doing a modern party? FrancineRivers, of course. Laura Frantz is one of my favorite authors. We share a loveof writing Eastern frontier romances. Lori Benton for the same reason. ShannonMcNear and Pegg Thomas are particular author friends of mine, co-authors on aprevious Barbour collection. I’d like to ask Deanne Gist how she’s so good athumor in her historicals. And I’d love to learn more from Lynn Austin, HeidiChiavaroli, and Tamera Alexander. But I’m just getting going. As an editor atWild Heart Books, I want to invite every single amazing author I work with!
Many times, people (and other authors) think you have itmade with so many books published. What is your most difficult problem withwriting at this time in your career? Probably balancing all the attentionbook releases require with my editing work and personal life. I always feel I’mcoming up short on the marketing end. Some people are so savvy in that area.But we all have different angles and gifts…and only so much time and money togo around. I’m thankful, so thankful, that I get to do what I love and feelcalled by God to do as a career.
Tell us about WhenHope Sank.
April 1865
The Civil War has taken everything from Lily Livingston—herparents, her twin brother, her home. Now she works at her uncle’s inn and keepsher head down. Speaking up for her beliefs proved too costly in a part ofArkansas split by conflicting loyalties and overrun by spies and bushwhackers.One of those partisans, her brother’s childhood friend, will soon return toclaim her hand—whether she wants to grant it or not. Emaciated in body but resilient in spirit, Lieutenant CadePalmer is crowded onto the Sultanawith other paroled Andersonville and Cahaba POWs for the journey north. But afiery explosion rends the steamer and empties two thousand men into the frigidMississippi River.
Recovering from wounds that might end his career as asurgeon but clinging to his faith, Cade threatens both Lily’s defenses and her heart.How can she tell him she might’ve prevented the tragedy if only she’d reporteda suspected saboteur’s claims? And when the man returns to town and encodedmessages pass through the hotel, Lily must follow her convictions to preventanother tragedy.
Please give us the first page of the book.
Mid-April 1865
“Free Arkansas.”
The unexpected phrase, whispered a stone’s throw away at theinn’s back alley door, froze Lily Livingston’s arms in mid-swing. The dirtydishwater she’d been about to fling from the entrance to the kitchen swirledand settled in the pan, all but a defiant trickle. The speaker’s head swiveledin her direction. He’d removed his gambler-style hat, providing a glimpse oflong, center-parted black hair despite the drizzly night. Something in theslash of his frown, the alertness of his posture, caused Lily to withdraw intothe doorway.
Who was entering River Rest’s private room the back way, andwhy were they offering such a strange greeting to whomever answered the door? Experiencehad taught her to use caution where patrons of her uncle’s establishment wereconcerned. Some of the worst sorts of shirkers and criminals slaked theirthirst and sought their slumber at inns along the Mississippi these days. These days. She sniffed. Even before theCivil War made Arkansas a haven for guerillas and bushwhackers, river ruffianshad abounded—gamblers, thieves, swindlers. And worse. Much worse.
“Miss Lily, what you doing?”
The question shot through Lily with the urgency of an alerton a telegraph wire, straightening her spine.
How can readers find you on the Internet? DeniseWeimer writes historical and contemporary romance from her home in NorthGeorgia and also serves as a freelance editor and the Acquisitions andEditorial Liaison for Wild Heart Books. A wife and mother of two daughters, shealways pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.
Connect with Denise here:
I was born in Arkansas and grew up there. I’m eager toread this book. Thank you for sharing it with my readers and me.
Readers,here’s a link to the book.
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