Interview with the Denise Hunter, Author of A Cowboy's Touch
Have you always wanted to be a writer? When did you first begin to write?
I’ve always been an avid reader, but I didn’t start dreaming about writing a novel until I was in my early twenties. By then I was married and busy pursuing a degree. I put writing on the back burner until my grandfather became fatally ill. While I was visiting him in the hospital, I was struck by the brevity of life and felt God pressing on my heart to take the first step. I started my first novel a couple weeks later. I had two small children by this time, so I wrote while they napped. I wrote my first four books that way. Even if you can only write a page a day, by the end of a year you’ll have a complete manuscript!
Are you a small town or a city girl? What inspired you to write a book about the life of a cowboy?
I’m a little of both. We live in a country setting just outside the city. It’s the best of both worlds. There’s something very earthy and organic about a cowboy’s life. I was drawn by the idea of living off the land. I think it takes us to a simpler time and place—even though the life of a cowboy is not necessarily simple! And Montana is such a beautiful state. I thought my readers might like to journey there with me through story.
Can you tell us a little about what you have learned about the cowboy lifestyle while doing research for this book?
I learned a lot of fascinating details about the workings of a ranch: branding, breeding, cattle disease, etc. But what I came away with is a great respect for cowboys and their families. Those who choose this way of life do it because they love it. It’s not easy, and it’s not for the faint of heart.
Abigail’s title at her job is “the Truthseeker.” What is the significance of this title, and what do you think a real truthseeker does?
I thought it would be interesting to write about a protagonist whose job was to seek the truth and have her find out that she was missing the real Truth the whole time. Since Jesus is the Truth, a real truthseeker follows Him.
Forgiveness seems to be a recurring theme in your books. Why do you feel it is so important? Your main characters both dealt with forgiving their past mistakes. Do you think that it is just as important to forgive ourselves as it is to forgive the mistakes of others?
With sin rampant in all of us, this is something we need to get good at! Eventually, someone’s going to do something you struggle to forgive. I think this is partly because forgiveness is easily misunderstood. It’s not saying that what they did is okay. It’s saying that you’re not going to hold it over them anymore. I do think it’s just as important to forgive ourselves as it is to forgive others. Oftentimes, it’s even harder.
Abigail and Wade both threw themselves into their work in order to escape their pasts. Do you believe it is easy to find an escape in work in order to hide from our problems?
No one likes to hurt, so I think the tendency is to avoid it however we can. Throwing ourselves into our work is certainly one way of doing so. But these things have a way of bubbling up to the surface eventually, no matter how hard we try to avoid them.
What would you like your readers to take away after reading A Cowboy’s Touch?
Abigail was essentially trying to work off her guilt. She thought if she could just keep exposing other peoples’ wrongs, it would appease her own guilt. I’d like readers to see that only God can redeem us.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Labels
(in)courage
(in)mercy
1 star
12 Pearls of Christmas
12 Pearls of Christmas 2012
12 Pearls of Christmas 2013
2 star
2 stars
2.5 stars
2012 Review
3 stars
3.5 stars
4 stars
4.5 stars
5 Minute Friday
5 stars
A Year of Weddings
Abingdon Press
Advent
Announcements
ARC August
Author
B-H Books
Banned Books Week
Barbour Publishing
BBAW 2012
beauty
Bethany House
Blitz
Blog Action Day
blog hop
Blog Mooch
Blog Tour
Blogaversary
Blogging
Blogging for Change
Blogside Chat
Book Blast
Book Club
Book Trailer Thursday
Bout of Books
Bout of Books 11.0
Bout of Books 13.0
Bout of Books 7.0
Bout of Books 8.0
Bout of Books 9.0
Brookes Faves
celebration
Center Street
CFBA
challenge accepted
Character Meet and Greet
Charisma Media
Children's
Christian Speaker Services
christianaudio
Christmas
Christy Awards
Clean Sweet
community
Compassion
Compassion Blog Month
Contemporary
Countdown to Christmas
Cover Love
Cover Reveal
Dani Pettrey
David C. Cook
Devotion
Devotional
DiAnn Mills
DNF
Easter Egg Blog Hop
End of Summer Read-A-Thon
Etsy
Events
Faith Words
Fall Into Reading 2012
FB Chat
Fiction
FIRST
Food
Freebies
Friday Five
Getting To Know You
Giveaway
Giveaway Hop
Glass Road PR
goals
Grand Finale
Great Escapes
Guest Blogger
Guideposts Books
Harlequin Heartwarming
Harvest House
High Summer Read-A-Thon
Historical
home goods
Hope International
Howard Books
If the Shoe Fits
Influenster
Inspired Design Publications
Jody Hedlund
Jolly VoxBox
Just for Fun
Kenya
Kregel Publications
Literacy Read-A-Thon
LitFuse Publicity
Looking Ahead
Love for Books
Love Inspired
Mailbox Fun
Month in Review
Moody Publishers
Mother of Pearl
Mother of Pearl 2013
Movie
Music
NavPress
Net Galley
New Hope Publishers
New Leaf Publishers
New Release Feature
Non-Fiction
Operation Christmas Child
pinterest
pray
pray for the horn
Prism Book Tours
Promo
Random
Random House
Random Question
RCCleanup
read-a-thon
Reading Cram
reflections
Reformation Trust
Release Day
Retirement Community
Revell
Review in Haiku
River North
Road to the Christys
Road Trip
Romance
Samaritan's Purse
Sandra Byrd
Sandra D Bricker
Sandra Leesmith
scripture
Secret Church
shutterfly
snacks
Snappy Reviews
Sneak Peek
Spring Break '11
Spring Reading Thing
SSMT
SSMT 2013
Sterling
Summer Lovin' Read-A-Thon
summer reading
Summerside Press
Susan May Warren
Suspense
Take a Chance on Me
Tamera Alexander
Tanzania
Teaser Tuesday
Tens List
The B-B Media Group
The Story Behind the Story
The Travel Bug
The Word
Thomas Nelson
Thursday 3
Top 10
Top Picks
Top Ten Tuesday
Trailer
Tricia Goyer
Tyndale House
Waiting on Wednesday
WaterBrook Multnomah
webcast
WestBow Press
What Are You Reading
What's Next
Whitaker House
WinePress Publishing
World Watch List
WWW Wednesdays
YA
Young Adult
Zondervan
Powered by Blogger.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love comments! Thanks for letting me know what you think!