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‘No Regrets’ for this Successful Author

By Janine Pumilia

Many people want to write a novel, but only a few actually do it. Denise Hunter decided to be one of the “doers” 25 years ago, and put pen to paper while her young sons napped.

“My grandfather had died and suddenly the brevity of life became very real to me,” she says. “I didn’t want to get to the end of my life and regret not having tried.”

Hunter was a voracious reader and knew what she liked – “I wrote the book I wanted to read” – but she didn’t know the mechanics of novel writing, so turned to the Allen County Public Library to research her new craft.

She was drawn to small-town love stories about people struggling with real-life issues. Implicit in a romance novel is the promise that heartaches will be resolved by the last page.

“I didn’t have any idea if I had real writing talent,” she says. “I ran my book by a local editor who told me I should get started on a second book. That encouraged me.” Hunter’s 38th book, “Bookshop by the Sea,” was released last month.

Barbour Publishing purchased her first book and that led to 37 titles and counting. The 38th was released in April, “Book- She also has a home in the Christian romance genre, and no shop by the Sea,” set on the North Carolina coast. plan to shift lanes.

Hunter’s clean prose, swift-moving plots and sympathetic “I hold a Christian world view, so that comes through in characters have earned her several writing awards. Three of her my stories, but not in a super overt way,” she explains. “I’m not stories have been adapted into Hallmark screenplays. But she a preacher, I’m a storyteller. The story is king. Maybe I have a says the best thing about her career is the fact that her three sons character who really needs to forgive someone but is finding it didn’t know she had one. difficult to do so. Forgiveness is a Christian principle.”

“I did all of my writing while they were sleeping or at Now, happily situated at HarperCollins Christian Publishschool,” she says. “It was great for me to have my own thing, but ing, Hunter considers herself fortunate to work with book edion a schedule that allowed me to keep the kids my first priority.” tors and film producers who share her outlook. “The Goodbye With a chuckle, she recalls the day her youngest son, then 13, Bride” is her most recent book adapted by Hallmark. It aired in asked for help with schoolwork. 2019 as “Christmas On My Mind.” Christmas stories have the

“I told him, ‘OK, after I finish this thing on my website.’ He highest viewership of all Hallmark films. said to me, ‘YOU have a website?’ This was at least 14 years into Although Hunter has visited film sets to observe producmy career, and I thought, ‘Maybe I should let the kids know that tion, she spends most days at a Fort Wayne coffee shop churning I do this thing.’” out “at least six good pages” per day. Today the boys are Why a coffee shop? grown and Hunter enjoys “If I’m home, I feel like I should be throwing in laundry or her empty nest with husband making dinner.” Kevin. Natives of southern Book sales climbed during the chaos of 2020. Ohio, they moved to Fort “People are looking for escape,” says Hunter. Wayne in 1989 so Kevin Readers find comfort knowing troubles will be resolved by could pursue a job. Denise the final page of a Denise Hunter novel, no matter what sticky studied commercial art in messes she’s gotten them into. college, but stopped her “All of us carry around wounds of some kind,” says Hunter. studies to clear her plate after “Maybe someone grew up with a very controlling parent or was their second son was born. abused as a child. We all end up with some kind of wound and “This is a wonderful my goal is for readers, when it’s applicable, to see themselves in place to raise a family,” she my characters and to see those characters get past the hurt and says. “We look back and land in a healthier place.” have no regrets. Fort Wayne Learn more about Hunter’s work and sign up for contests Denise Hunter will always be home.” and monthly giveaways at DeniseHunterBooks.com. ❚

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