Write of Way

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Write of Way

When she isn’t jetting around the country to spend time with her six grandchildren, you can find Denise Holmberg behind her desk working on her trilogy of novels.

Denise Holmberg and her husband, Keith, are

enjoying retirement at The Cliffs Valley. We caught up with Denise to learn more about how she is taking advantage of this season of life to pursue her passion for writing.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND HOW YOU CAME TO THE CLIFFS?

We followed friends, Dave and Jeanie Hoover, to The Cliffs a dozen years ago and vacationed here for ten of those. Two years ago, we made it our primary residence. I’m a retired flight attendant from American Airlines and began my career at O’Hare International Airport. I met my husband, Keith, in Chicago. We spent the majority of our married life in the Chicagoland area, but have also lived in Tulsa and Hong Kong.

HOW DID YOUR WRITING LIFE BEGIN?

I’ve been scribbling yarns since I learned my ABCs. I think storytellers are born to it. It’s in our DNA. I’m compelled to tell stories, to entertain, or to capture something important with words. Retirement brought less distractions and gave me time to write. And I feel extremely blessed to live at The Cliffs where my quiet “writing cave” looks out on the peaceful beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

WHAT HAS YOUR WRITING PASSION LOOKED LIKE AT DIFFERENT TIMES THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE?

I’ve been writing my entire life. Usually things for newsletters and church bulletins, but I also wrote poems and children’s stories for my kids when they were young. A little over ten years ago, a story came to me that I wanted to tell in a novel. I wrote it down and realized I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know the craft. So, I spent the next five plus years focused on studying how to write. I completed a master craftsman course, attended a writing residency, and worked with three published authors as mentors: Jerry Jenkins, DiAnn Mills, and Eva Marie Everson. The biggest change was taking it seriously, developing the art, and finishing the projects I started.

“I’M COMPELLED TO TELL STORIES,

TO ENTERTAIN,

OR TO CAPTURE SOMETHING

IMPORTANT WITH WORDS.”

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION?

I’m in the camp of believing that stories find us. That has been true in my life. And if you study under Jerry Jenkins (the New York Times bestselling author of the Left Behind series), you are taught that writing is your job. And you show up for work. When I worked for American Airlines, I couldn’t say, “I’ve got flight attendant’s block today,” and call off a trip. It’s the same approach with writing. If the inspiration isn’t coming, there is always editing, research, or something else to do for your story.

DO YOU ENJOY THE PROCESS OF WRITING ITSELF, OR HAVING WRITTEN?

I think all writers love having written. But there is something compulsive that brings us back to the keyboard and into the process again. It can be a lonely life because you have to work, well, alone. And it is very hard work — the hardest thing I’ve ever done sans childbirth. But when a story comes to you, the excitement is palpable.

HOW DO YOU STRUCTURE YOUR WRITING TIME?

Writing is something I do every day, even if it is just a few sentences, or research, or developing characters. You have to keep your head in the project or it becomes really difficult to figure out where you were and what you were thinking. My most creative time is first thing in the morning and I reserve that for whatever project I’m currently working on. It’s a sign of a productive day if I never get out of my pajamas.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER ASPIRING WRITERS?

Take the time to learn the craft and be a lifelong learner. And read! Great writers are avid readers. But most importantly, keep your butt in the chair. Get your story down, the entire muddled chunk of it. Just move it out of your head and onto the paper. Then go back and edit, edit, edit.

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