Author Interview with Deborah Vogts

Deborah Vogts--can you have a name closer to mine?--just published her first book, Snow Melts in Spring. My writing partner, Scoti, blogged about it on Monday. Here's a chance to get to know the writer behind the book!


1.How did you get started on the Writing Road?

First, thank you, Beth, for having me on your blog. To answer this first question, I wanted to be a writer since high school, but it wasn’t until 2002 that I began taking serious steps to get to the goal. I joined a local writer’s group and ACFW, (an online writing organization), joined a critique group, read writing how-to’s and attended writing conferences. I met my first agent at the ACFW Nashville Conference. We hit it off at our meeting, and she gave me some tips on making my book series “bigger.” I did that and submitted my idea to her and she took me on. We shopped my Seasons of the Tallgrass series for a year and had a few bites (one of them Zondervan) but no sale. In the end, she released me, which was a real heartbreaker. However, we don’t always see the big picture like God does, and six months later I signed with my agent, Rachelle Gardner with WordServe Literary, and we had an offer from Zondervan three months after that.

2.Who has encouraged you along the Writing Road?

My family has been very supportive of my writing from the very beginning with my parents in high school, and then my husband. In fact, when we married, I told my husband that I wanted to stay home with the children so that I could pursue a writing career. It took me a while, but it finally happened. My girls are all very encouraging, even though they have to endure “Mom’s crazy writing habits.” I also have many friend-encouragers through ACFW, which is a wonderful blessing—who better understands the trials and discouragement a writer faces than another writer. ;)


3.What has been your greatest roadblock along the Writing Road?

The year my series was being shopped around was especially difficult. We would get a bite and then nothing . . . and then a little interest and then nothing. I believed God had placed me on this journey, and things were going so well. Then, all of a sudden, everything stopped! That can really mess with a person’s mind. So, for me, that period between shopping my manuscript and finally getting the sale with Zondervan was a time of learning for me. I had to learn to trust God and put everything in His hands. Not easy.

4.What's next for you on the Writing Road?

I’m continuing on with the Seasons of the Tallgrass series. I’m waiting for edits of my second book, Seeds of Summer and have started working on my third book, tentatively titled Blades of Autumn. One of the neatest parts of the publishing process is seeing what the creative team comes up with for a cover. I’m eager to view the cover for Seeds of Summer, a story about a former Miss Rodeo Kansas queen, and her return to the Flint Hills to care for her deceased father’s ranch and her two younger siblings.


To find out what other bloggers are saying about Deborah, go here.

Deborah Vogts’ Website

Deborah Vogts’ Blog