Beautiful Brides: Deborah Raney

Being as I wrote a book about four brides and a wedding dress, I asked some author friends to share their wedding pictures and stories with me. Now I'm sharing them with you!

First up, the beautiful Deborah Raney!

"When I met Ken Raney and it was almost love at first sight. We dated all summer, but in the fall, we went off to different colleges 60 miles apart (Ken is 2 years older than I am and was starting his junior year).

But we'd already fallen hard for each other and had even started using the "M" word. In October Ken planned to come visit me at my college and wrote to tell me he was bringing me something exciting.

He gave me clues: round, shiny, hole in the middle, and it would always make me think of him.

Well, woohoo, I polished my fingernails and prepared to receive my engagement ring! WRONG.

You know what that man brought me? A Monkee's record album. (Hey, hey, we're the Monkees!) He thought this was SOOOO funny.

(RH: LOL!!)

Well, it was round, shiny, had a hole in the middle and had a stupid song on it that was supposed to make me think of him. I was NOT amused.

But we DID get engaged that Thanksgiving and I got my diamond for Christmas. We married the following August, 1974. Almost 38 years now!

On the right is a picture of Deb's parents. :)

Forever After by Deb Raney

I'm thrilled to have another good friend and acclaimed author on the site this week!

Please welcome Deborah Raney.

Forever After is the second book in Deborah Raney's Hanover Falls Novels series from Howard/Simon &

Schuster. The first novel in the series, Almost Forever, won the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence and a

HOLT Medallion Award of Merit.

Synopsis: Lucas Vermontez was a proud firefighter like his father. Now, not only has he lost his father and his best friend, Zach, in the fire at the Grove Street Homeless Shelter, but the devoted rookie can no longer do the work he loves after being crippled in the tragic event.

When friendship with his buddy's beautiful widow turns into more, he wonders what he could possibly offer Jenna. Jenna Morgan is trying to grieve her husband's death like a proper widow, but the truth is, she never really loved Zach.

His death feels more like a relief to her. But that relief is short-lived when she loses her home and the financial support of her in-laws. Now the secrets of her past threaten to destroy her future. Almost Forever, Book 1 in the Hanover Falls Novels series, won the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence in 2011.

DEBORAH RANEY's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched her writing career after 20 happy years as a stay-at-home mom.

Her books have won numerous awards including the RITA, National Readers Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, the Carol Award, and have twice been Christy Award finalists.

Deb also serves on the Advisory Board of the 2500-member American Christian Fiction Writers. Her 20th novel released this month from Howard/Simon & Schuster.

She and her husband, Ken Raney, enjoy tending wildflowers and native grasses in the Kansas prairie garden in their large back yard. They also love traveling together to conferences, and to visit four children and three little grandsons who all live much too far away.

Almost Forever by Deborah Raney

Almost Forever
by Deborah Raney
Howard/Simon and Schuster

Please welcome my good friend, the lovely and gracious, Deborah Raney and her new release.

Unearthing a lost memory may cause her to lose everything she holds dear. But could it also set her free? Volunteer Bryn Hennesey was there at the Grove Street Homeless Shelter the night five heroic firefighters died at the scene. Among them was her husband, Adam.

Now a terrifying absence of memory has her wondering if she might, in some way, be responsible. Garrett Edmonds' wife, Molly, was the only to perish in the blaze. He was supposed to protect the woman he loved.now she's the one who's died a hero. How can he go on in the face of such unbearable loss? And what started the fire that destroyed the dreams and futures of so many? Investigators are stumped. But someone knows the answer...

Deborah Raney books always captivate me! Almost Forever is a beautifully written and enthralling read. It made my heart sing, dance, cry, and turn more than a few flips! -- New York Times best-selling author Cindy Woodsmall

As a fan of the very talented Deborah Raney, I expected a great read and I got it in the richly emotional Almost Forever, a story of faith, forgiveness and redemption. It began with a gripping scene and proceeded to hold me enthralled to the end. Don't miss this one! -- Karen Young, author of Missing Max and Blood Bayou

DEBORAH RANEY is at work on her 20th novel. Her books have won the RITA Award, HOLT Medallion, National Readers' Choice Award, Silver Angel, and have twice been Christy Award finalists. Her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title.

Almost Forever, first in her new Hanover Falls Novels series, will release in May from Howard/Simon and Schuster. Deb and her husband, Ken Raney, enjoy small-town life in Kansas empty nesters with four grown children and two precious grandsons, all of whom live much too far away.

Order her books here:

Leaving November is the second novel in the Clayburn Novels series from Howard/Simon & Schuster.

Daughter of the town drunk, Vienne Kenney has escaped Clayburn for law school in California.

But after failing the bar exam - twice - she's back home with her tail between her legs, managing Latte-dah, the Clayburn cafe turned upscale coffee shop.

Jackson Linder runs the art gallery across the street and Vienne has had her eye on him since she was a skinny seventh grader and he was the hunky high school lifeguard who didn't know she existed.

Now it's his turn to fall for her and suddenly Clayburn seems like a pretty nice place to be. . . until Vienne discovers that Jack is fresh out of rehab and still struggling with the same addiction that ultimately killed her father.

DEBORAH RANEY is at work on her seventeenth novel. Her books have won the RITA Award, the HOLT Medallion, National Readers' Choice Award and Silver Angel from Excellence in Media.

Deborah's first novel, "A Vow to Cherish," inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title.

Deb serves on the advisory board of American Christian Fiction Writers. She and her husband, Ken Raney, have four children and enjoy small-town life in Kansas. Visit Deb on the web at www.deborahraney.com.


Chatting with Deb. . .

Q. I love the premise of this book, Deb, what was your inspiration for Leaving November?

A. When I was writing the first book in the series, Remember to Forget, Jackson Linder, a secondary character in the book, really intrigued me. Jack has struggled with something that is my greatest fear: being responsible for the death of another person. I wanted to explore how someone in his shoes could find forgiveness, redemption, and even happiness.

Q. Living with that responsibility would be incredibly hard. What a great topic to tackle in fiction. So, what are you working on now?

A. I've just finished the first draft for the third book in the Clayburn series, Yesterday's Embers.

I have a new contract for another three-book series, and a couple of stand-alone novels to write, but there are other characters from the Clayburn novels begging to have their stories told! I don't know if I'll get to write any more Clayburn books, but I've loved my time in this little fictional Kansas town!

Q. Writing about a town and people we love really helps the writing journey. What do you enjoy most about writing? The least?

A. Most: Having written! Because that means I'm getting reader feedback on my novel - the reward for all the hours of solitude! I also love that I get to be at home and make my own hours.

Least: First-drafting! I love rewriting - taking my editors' comments and applying them to make my book the best it can be. But the blank page terrifies me! For me, it's far easier to fix a horrible manuscript than to try to come up with something out of thin air.

rh: I agree, Deb. I love getting my editor's feedback, then get to rewriting. Most of all, hearing from readers.

Q. Tell us, what do you do when you're not reading or writing?

A. I love working in the beautiful garden my husband, Ken, designed in our back yard (for a peek, go to http://kansasprairiegarden.blogspot.com) and I love decorating our home.

It's such fun to comb antique shops and flea markets for a great object from the past that I can use on my desk or in my kitchen, or a great piece of furniture to paint or refinish.

I'm not much for pretty stuff just for the sake of having it on display, but I love "repurposing" antiques -like the old chamber pot I use for deadheading in the garden, or the antique bank mail sorter that serves as my filing "cabinet."

As much as I enjoy my career, I've always believed that my most precious calling is wife to Ken, my husband of 33 years; mom to four great kids; and now mom-in-law, and "Mimi" to two darling little grandsons.

In addition, I have some of the most amazing friends in the world, including a group of women who share my name. We affectionately call ourselves Club Deb. I think being in the solitary profession of writing helps you really appreciate the people you have eye-to-eye contact with!

rh: Very true. We need to keep up with the outside world!

Thanks for stopping by, Deb.

The 12 Authors of Christmas welcomes Deborah Raney

Please welcome friend and author, Deborah Raney. I met Deb almost seven years ago on an email loop for writers, then in person at a conference. She's always kind and beautiful, and a great source of encouragement to all writers.

Welcome, Deb!

Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

I remember the Christmas Eve service at the little country church I grew up in. The wall behind the pulpit would always be covered with a huge mural depicting the nativity and I loved getting lost in that scene, imagining that I was there at that very first Christmas.

At the end of the service, every single person in the church got to bring home a brown paper bag filled with candy. Candy wasn't something we had around the house so this was a real treat and we made it last as long as we could - at least into the new year.

(rh: Funny how little things like candy can be such a blessing.)

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

I grew up with a brother and three sisters and we five kids took turns reading the Christmas story every year before we opened our gifts.

After that, we would present a little program for our parents, reading poetry or devotions or singing. Most memorable was the year my brother played Christmas carols on pop bottles. He worked for hours, filling the bottles with varying amounts of water so just the right tone would sound when he blew across the top of the bottle.

(rh: How cool.)

We've carried on the tradition of reading the Christmas story, only now it's my parents' twelve grandchildren who take turns reading. Two years ago my sister's foreign exchange student "son" read the Christmas story in Spanish, and soon there will be great-grandchildren old enough to take a turn reading.

When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up right after Thanksgiving. My husband works assembly and outside lights. I do the rest. Describe the decorating at your house.

We've always been pretty low-key when it comes to decorating. We put the tree up on Thanksgiving weekend, and we try not to be late because it comes down on December 26 without fail. I have a real aversion to Christmas decorations after the holidays are over!

(rh: I keep the tree up until the first week of January, but I'm ready for it to come down.)

Other decor includes a beribboned wreath on the front door, quilted stockings (hand-sewn by my cousins twenty-five years ago) hanging on the stair rail, and a sprig of mistletoe over the kitchen door my husband comes through every night after work. (He gets a kiss year round, but it's extra fun to kiss beneath the mistletoe.)

And I always set out a red ceramic reindeer that a darling little girl named Amy gave me years ago when I was her story hour teacher. Amy got married last Christmas and I helped serve the punch at her wedding reception.

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? I grew up with a Johnny Mathis Christmas CD and it's still one of my favorites. My other is a copy of Mel Torme singing his "Christmas Song."

My dad is a big country western fan, so I remember listening to Charlie Pride's Christmas album a lot. Also, Doris Day, Patti Page and Pat Boone Christmas records playing on my folks' Hi-Fi.

But I think the Christmas music that is most nostalgic for me is simply the traditional carols that our church would sing from the hymnal beginning the Sunday after Thanksgiving. To this day, I can sing multiple verses of the old carols from memory.

(rh: O Holy Night is one of my all time favorite songs.)

Christmas morning, my parents didn't want us in the living room until the tree was plugged in. So, we'd wake up early, five a.m. or so, and bang on the floor to stir my parents awake. Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

We always had our family Christmas at home after the church service on Christmas Eve. That's what we considered the "real' Christmas. But Christmas morning was special too because we always had one more present under the tree that was signed from "Santa."

As the oldest, I found out the secret about Santa (that he was my Dad) when I was eight years old, but at first I thought that meant my dad was Santa for ALL the boys and girls in the world. That didn't surprise me a bit since Daddy was the best at EVERYTHING!

(rh: Too funny, Deb. But what a great statement about your father and good dads everywhere.)

After I discovered the truth, I don't think my parents really tried to keep Santa a secret to the other kids. And even though the tags on those Christmas morning packages always said "Love, Santa," we always knew they were from Mommy and Daddy.

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, but I've been a Florida girl for 33 years! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

Oh, growing up in Kansas, it was a BIG disappointment if we didn't get snow! But not so much that we couldn't make it to church or to my grandmother's house for Christmas with the cousins.

I can remember many years tramping through the snow on Christmas Eve to stand out in the yard and look up at the stars. It always seemed like that one star (the Bethlehem star, of course!) shined just a little brighter over our farm on Christmas Eve night!

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

NOT the mall! But we have a little different tradition in our family. Once our kids became teenagers and were really hard to shop for (not to mention money was scarce back then!) we decided that except for the trinkets we put in the kids stockings on Christmas morning, we wouldn't give gifts. Instead, we gave them cash, and then we choose a day during the week between Christmas and New Years and we all go shopping together to spend our Christmas money.

(rh: Sounds good. Great time to hit the sales and extend the holiday cheer.)

This way, they can pool the cash they get from grandparents with ours and get what they really want, plus everything is on sale after the holidays.

We always begin our shopping trip by going out to eat as a family and this is the one time that nothing on the menu is off-limits. If they want prime rib, fine. Coke and a milkshake?

No problem. Dessert? You bet! Everybody's favorite part of the meal is when we leave our server a special Christmas tip (a $100 bill) and sneak away before we can see his/her reaction.

We always pray that the Lord will send us a server who really needs that little extra at this time of year. Our tradition became the inspiration for my novella "Circle of Blessings" in A Currier & Ives Christmas from Barbour Books.

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

Now that three of our kids are grown and living out of state, one of the biggest things the holidays mean is being together with those we love most in the world. It's wonderful to see our daughter and her husband establishing a Christian home and raising their two little boys to love and serve the Lord.

And it's special to still have my husband's grandparents (now 98 and 97!) to celebrate with. The love of our family through the generations is a great reminder of the ultimate gift God gave the world when He sent His son as a baby.

(rh: My grandmother is still living strong at 93!)

It's Christmas day, what's for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

Usually Christmas day is spent traveling to one of our parents' homes to celebrate with extended family.

At my parents' house, we still carry on a tradition of having my mom's wonderful, milky potato soup for supper with lots of saltine crackers and a vegetable plate. With the addition of lots of sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law - and growing teenage grandchildren, my mom has added a thick vegetable soup and breads to the menu, but it's still that potato soup that says "Christmas" to me!

(rh: I love potato soup.)

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

When I was growing up, we lived just down the road from a wonderful couple who adopted us as their "honorary" grandchildren. Every Christmas, Don and Jewel would have the five of us, plus assorted other neighbor children to their home to decorate and bake Christmas cookies.

Jewel had a collection of dozens of cookie cutters, and a recipe for "painting" the cookies with an edible egg paint. When the cookies were done, we'd have a tea party with Jewel's special singing teapot filled with hot chocolate. One of my sister's lived in Don and Jewel's house after they moved into town and she inherited the teapot, and each of us got some of Jewel's cookie cutters. We still use them to make cookies from her recipe almost every year.

My husband and kids prefer a thick powdered sugar frosting to the egg paint, but the cookie base is always Jewel's. I dedicated "A Nest of Sparrows" to Jewel and named characters in the book after her and Don. She was a faithful reader even after failing eyesight forced her to listen to books on tape. Jewel passed away a couple of years ago at a very spry ninety-something.

What are your plans for this season?

We'll all be together at our daughter's house. Our sons will travel from Washington and Iowa and it'll be the first time my husband and our sons have met our second little grandson. We spent Christmas at our daughter's two years ago because our first grandson was just two weeks old then. I really like this new tradition of a new grandbaby every other year!

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

I just want to wish all my readers the most blessed Christmas ever!

(rh: Deb, what lovely stories and memories. Thank you!)

The official word on Deb Raney.

Deborah Raney is at work on her seventeenth novel. Her books have won the RITA Award, the HOLT Medallion, the National Readers' Choice Award and the Silver Angel from Excellence in Media, as well as being a finalist for the Christy Award. Deborah's first novel, "A Vow to Cherish," inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title.

Her newest series is the Clayburn novels with Howard/Simon & Schuster. She's had three books release this year: "Remember to Forget" from Howard/Simon & Schuster; "Within This Circle" (sequel to A Vow to Cherish from Steeple Hill) and "Missouri Memories," which contains Deb's novella "Finally Home."

She also serves on the advisory board of American Christian Fiction Writers. She and her husband, Ken Raney, have four children and enjoy small-town life in Kansas.

FREE BOOK ALERT!! Deb is giving away a copy of "A Vow to Cherish" and its brand new sequel, "Within This Circle." Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing.

My friend Deb Raney has a new release out this month Within This Circle. And, she's a new grandma! Congratulations Deb.

Here's a little about Deb and the book: Deborah Raney is at work on her seventeenth novel. Her books have won the RITA Award, the HOLT Medallion, the National Readers' Choice Award and the Silver Angel from Excellence in Media, and Playing by Heart was a Christy Award finalist.

Deborah's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Her new Clayburn Novels series from Howard/Simon & Schuster kicked off with Remember to Forget.

Leaving November will be out in March 2008 and Yesterday's Embers early in 2009. Deb serves on the advisory board of American Christian Fiction Writers and loves teaching at writers conferences. She and her husband, Ken Raney, enjoy small-town life in Kansas. They have four children and two little grandsons who live much too far away.

Visit Deb's website at http://www.deborahraney.com

The brand new sequel to A Vow to Cherish, will release this week from Steeple Hill in mass market format. Within This Circle continues the story of John Brighton and Julia Sinclair.

After a tumultuous courtship, John and Julia Brighton have a second chance at happiness, a fresh marriage and, now that their children are grown, a new era in their lives to revel in the promise of the future.

Only such a promise is never guaranteed. And life can change in a heartbeat. The Brightons' life is turned upside down when John's daughter, Jana, abandons her husband Mark and three-year-old daughter.

As Jana struggles through delayed grief over her mother's death, her actions put her marriage and her own daughter in danger.

John and Julia reach out to little Ellie, to give the young couple time to heal, but the little girl is confused and longing for her mother. How much sorrow and stress can both fledgling marriages endure?

Two very different couples - each with only their love and faith to guide them - can only pray it will be enough. A Vow to Cherish released in mass market format last month. This beautiful book duo would make a wonderful Christmas gift for your favorite reader.

Order Within This Circle and Deborah's other books here: http://snipurl.com/orderdebsbooks 
Listen to an audio interview with Deb at http://snipurl.com/withinthiscircle