WHEN HOPE SANK - Denise Weimer - One Free Book

Welcome back, Denise. How did you come up with the idea for this story? The plot for When Hope Sank came about when my agent, Linda S. Glaz, learned Barbour Publishing was planning a new series, A Day to Remember, based on tragedies in U.S. history. She shared Barbour’s list of suggestions with her authors. One of the tragedies was the sinking of the Sultana, which occurred in the Mississippi River in April of 1865, the week after President Lincoln was assassinated. The date leapt out at me because I’ve done extensive living history and research in that time period.

I learned that the steamboat was carrying paroled Union POWs on their way home. The boat was severely overcrowded due to bribes and kickbacks. The boiler had been shoddily repaired. The river was at flood stage. When three of the boilers exploded just north of Memphis, Tennessee, around two thousand souls were expelled into the freezing water. Around half lost their lives, making the incident the worst maritime disaster in the nation’s history. To make matters worse, rumors of sabotage abounded. The towns on the Arkansas side of the river—including Mound City where my heroine’s uncle runs an inn—were known hotbeds of spies, bushwhackers, and saboteurs. I chose to explore that connection after Lily Livingston rescues Lieutenant Cade Palmer, a former Union surgeon, from the swollen waters of the Mississippi.

If you were planning a party with Christian authors of contemporary fiction, what six people would you invite and why? I’m hard pressed to answer that question since I rarely read contemporary fiction. I think Ted Dekker would be very interesting to converse with. And maybe some of the big-name authors who have written multiple series and whose books have been made into movies. I’m sure we could learn a lot from them!

Now let’s do that for a party for Christian authors of historical fiction, what six people would you invite and why? Now you’re talking my language. LOL. Can I issue more invites since I’m not doing a modern party? Francine Rivers, of course. Laura Frantz is one of my favorite authors. We share a love of writing Eastern frontier romances. Lori Benton for the same reason. Shannon McNear and Pegg Thomas are particular author friends of mine, co-authors on a previous Barbour collection. I’d like to ask Deanne Gist how she’s so good at humor in her historicals. And I’d love to learn more from Lynn Austin, Heidi Chiavaroli, and Tamera Alexander. But I’m just getting going. As an editor at Wild Heart Books, I want to invite every single amazing author I work with!

Many times, people (and other authors) think you have it made with so many books published. What is your most difficult problem with writing at this time in your career? Probably balancing all the attention book releases require with my editing work and personal life. I always feel I’m coming 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 to go around. I’m thankful, so thankful, that I get to do what I love and feel called by God to do as a career.

Tell us about When Hope Sank.

April 1865

The Civil War has taken everything from Lily Livingston—her parents, her twin brother, her home. Now she works at her uncle’s inn and keeps her head down. Speaking up for her beliefs proved too costly in a part of Arkansas split by conflicting loyalties and overrun by spies and bushwhackers. One of those partisans, her brother’s childhood friend, will soon return to claim her hand—whether she wants to grant it or not.

Emaciated in body but resilient in spirit, Lieutenant Cade Palmer is crowded onto the Sultana with other paroled Andersonville and Cahaba POWs for the journey north. But a fiery explosion rends the steamer and empties two thousand men into the frigid Mississippi River. 

Recovering from wounds that might end his career as a surgeon 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 reported a suspected saboteur’s claims? And when the man returns to town and encoded messages pass through the hotel, Lily must follow her convictions to prevent another 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 the inn’s back alley door, froze Lily Livingston’s arms in mid-swing. The dirty dishwater she’d been about to fling from the entrance to the kitchen swirled and settled in the pan, all but a defiant trickle. The speaker’s head swiveled in her direction. He’d removed his gambler-style hat, providing a glimpse of long, center-parted black hair despite the drizzly night. Something in the slash of his frown, the alertness of his posture, caused Lily to withdraw into the doorway.

Who was entering River Rest’s private room the back way, and why were they offering such a strange greeting to whomever answered the door? Experience had taught her to use caution where patrons of her uncle’s establishment were concerned. Some of the worst sorts of shirkers and criminals slaked their thirst and sought their slumber at inns along the Mississippi these days. These days. She sniffed. Even before the Civil War made Arkansas a haven for guerillas and bushwhackers, river ruffians had abounded—gamblers, thieves, swindlers. And worse. Much worse.

“Miss Lily, what you doing?”

The question shot through Lily with the urgency of an alert on a telegraph wire, straightening her spine.

How can readers find you on the Internet? Denise Weimer writes historical and contemporary romance from her home in North Georgia and also serves as a freelance editor and the Acquisitions and Editorial Liaison for Wild Heart Books. A wife and mother of two daughters, she always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.

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I was born in Arkansas and grew up there. I’m eager to read this book. Thank you for sharing it with my readers and me.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.

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