Author Deborah Raney - INSIGHT - Free Book

I love having Deborah Raney as a guest. The first book I read of hers touched me in deep ways I hadn't experienced very often. Now I have to read all her releases. Welcome, Deb. What are some of the spiritual themes you like to write about?

No matter what theme I think I’m writing about, my novels almost always seem to circle back to this: God can take the most horrible, hopeless situation and turn it into something beautiful. That redemption theme is at the core of every story I’ve written. Romans 8:28 acted out.

That's true of all your books I've read. What other books of yours are coming out soon?

The third (and probably final) book in the Clayburn Novels series, Yesterday’s Embers, releases from Howard/Simon & Schuster in March and I’m currently working on a new series for Howard––this time set around the lives of the survivors of six firefighters who died in a tragic blaze in a homeless shelter in (fictional) Hanover Falls, Missouri. This coming June, I have another book coming out with Steeple Hill, Above All Things.

If you could spend an evening with one contemporary person (not a family member of yours), who would it be and why?

Oh! There are so many I’d love to spend time with. But I’d probably choose my dear friend and critique partner Tamera Alexander. Because Tammy lives in Tennessee and I’m in Kansas, we don’t get to see each other nearly often enough. It would be nice to catch up on each other’s news face-to-face instead of online or on the phone.

How long have you known that you wanted to be novelist?

Ever since the summer I read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s entire Little House series. I was about 11 and I think that’s the first time I realized that behind every wonderful book I read was a real live person who penned the words. Once I made that discovery there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be the one to give people the kind of pleasure Ms. Wilder gave me with her stories of life and faith and hope.

What can you tell authors who have been receiving only rejections from publishers?

I know how discouraging it must be to have your manuscript rejected again and again. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Those rejections are proof of great accomplishment! You have finished a novel––something few people ever do!

• If you’ve prayed about your submission and you’ve truly given your talents over to the Lord, you can be assured that things will happen as He wills, in His perfect timing. And you wouldn’t want it any other way!

• Consider the possibility that those rejections are evidence that you still have work to do in learning the craft of writing. Let them nudge you to do whatever is needed––reading more books on the craft, working with a critique partner or free lance editor, saving up to attend a writers conference, or simply continuing to practice your craft as a writer however long it takes.

Wise words. Tell us about the featured book.

Insight was inspired by an article in a Good Housekeeping Magazine about ten years ago. I was doing research on my novel A Scarlet Cord, and in the middle of a story about a woman in the witness protection program, I found a tidbit about a heart transplant and a recipient who married the widower of her donor. Unfortunately, someone else apparently read that same magazine and their idea became the wonderful movie Return To Me. But I played with the basic elements of that true story and came up with another twist on the transplant theme. Insight is the result, and I think you’ll really like it! It releases from Steeple Hill February 1, 2009.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website is at http://www.deborahraney.com/ and there’s a link to email me on the home page. I’ve also recently become part of the shoutlife community and I’d love to make friends with readers there: www.shoutlife.com/debraney

Thank you, Deb, for spending this time with us.

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