BLOGWORDS – Thursday 24 January 2019 – CHAT THURSDAY – AUTHOR INTERVIEW – DEBORAH RANEY
CHAT THURSDAY – AUTHOR INTERVIEW – DEBORAH RANEY
“There’s just something about a gathering of more than five hundred people worshipping God together, breaking bread together, and seeking to help each other grow as writers and as children of God.”
“Deborah Raney dreamed of writing a book since the summer she read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books and discovered that a Kansas farm girl could, indeed, grow up to be a writer.”
I am pleased to welcome Deborah Raney to my little nest.
FAST FAVS
Cake or Cookies? Is tiramisu cake? 😉 rem: of course it is
Call or Text? Text
Dogs or Cats? Cats
Eggs or Pancakes? Could I choose bacon? 😉 I’m with ya Deb!
Facebook or Twitter? Facebook by a mile!
Paperback or Kindle? Paperback
Thornton or Darcy? Darcy
Yoga Pants or Jeans? Yoga pants
rem: Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
DEBORAH: I was raised on a farm in Rice County, Kansas and had the happiest childhood imagineable. I’m the oldest of five and now live in Wichita, Kansas where all my siblings and my dad live now. It’s wonderful living close to family, though I’m sad our kids have all moved out of state, which means our grandkids live out of state! 😦
rem: Boo to grandbabies being so far away! But so wonderful to be so close to your siblings and dad!! Tell us three random things about yourself no one knows.
DEBORAH: I’m pretty much an open book, so there probably aren’t many secrets to tell, but here are a few lesser known facts:
- I speak fluent Pig Latin (thanks to my dad teaching us kids the “secret” language he and my mom used to communicate. She was not very happy about that! LOL!)
rem: Iay ovelay itay!! #winkwink What is your favourite quotation and why?
DEBORAH: I love Jim Elliot’s quote: He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
rem: And what a powerful sentiment it is! What’s the most random thing in your bag or on your desk?
DEBORAH: What a fun question! Right now my favorite random thing on my desk is a pretty painted tile depicting an island village. It was a garage sale find and I use it for a coaster.
rem: I love your garage sale finds!! Tell us about your garage sale adventures!
DEBORAH: Every Thursday morning, my husband and I set out with coffee (me) and hot chocolate (him) and troll our town for garage sales and estate sales. It’s a cheap date as we rarely spend more than $20 and often find things we were needing anyway—and at great discounts! We’ve been doing this for 5 or 6 years now and it’s still so much fun! I do have a one-in-one-out rule, necessary to keep our garage sale treasures from taking over the house!
rem: If ever there was a necessary rule, that’s a good one. If you could go back in time, what era would you choose and why?
DEBORAH: I really, really love being a contemporary girl! But if you “forced” me to choose, I think I’d like to go back to the 1950s and life on the farm where I grew up.
rem: Which speaks to your happy childhood you mentioned. Do you have a favorite Bible verse? And why is it a favorite?
DEBORAH: It’s become almost a cliché as Bible verses go, but I still love Romans 8:28 because it’s so very true. And it seems to be the theme in all my stories: when we love God, He ultimately works everything out for our good and His glory.
rem: Oh yes, He certainly does! I’ve watched it unfold time and again in my life. If you could spend an evening with a fictional character, who would it be and why?
DEBORAH: Oh, I just love Father Tim and Cynthia from Jan Karon’s Mitford novels.
rem: What do you think is significant about Christian fiction? How has being a novelist impacted your relationship with Christ?
DEBORAH: I love that my work requires me to seek out what God has to say about whatever issue or relationship I’m writing about. Researching for my novels often turns into a Bible study, and I love that! As for reading Christian fiction, my answer is two-fold: 1. I love that I don’t have to worry about the content of a Christian novel. I know that it will be free of things that offend me or take my mind where it shouldn’t go. 2. I love that Christian fiction makes me think about what I believe and why, and that it encourages me to draw closer to the Lord and to others.
rem: Such a powerful genre, don’t you think? When reading, what makes or breaks a story for you? Your fiction pet peeve?
DEBORAH: I really hate stories where the couple hate each other from the get-go, argue and bicker through the whole book, and then get married! I also don’t like books that end without hope. It doesn’t have to be the traditional happily-ever-after, but there is always hope in Christ!
rem: Right! Who wants a bickering happy couple? How does that even work?? What would you do if you weren’t writing?
DEBORAH: I love home decor, antique and flea market shopping, houseplants, and other “nesting” pursuits. Not sure I’d want to be a decorator, but maybe? I also love reading…even though my job requires me to “read” all day, that’s still one of my favorite things to do with my free time.
rem: I think reading is in our blood… What are you reading right now?
DEBORAH: I just started James Rubart’s newest novel, The Pages of Her Life, reading for endorsement. I’ve really loved his other books, and this one is promising to be among the best!
rem: He is a phenomenal writer. What do you munch on while you write?
DEBORAH: I love M&Ms, Coffee Nips, jawbreakers. And potato chips are my downfall. 😦
rem: Can’t eat just one, I know… You are part of the Inspired by Life and Fiction Blog, and provide the Inspired by Scripture Sunday post each week. Tell us a little about the blog.
DEBORAH: The blog started out as one for historical fiction readers and writers, but they later opened it up to contemporary and I was thrilled to be invited to blog with the gang. There are ten of us, and you’ll get a wonderful variety of posts about writing, reading, family, faith, favorite things, and everything in between! We’d love to see some new readers there!
rem: It is one of the many I follow, and is such a lovely blog. Tell us a little about your writing journey.
DEBORAH: I knew from the time I was 11 or 12 and read all of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books that I wanted to write a book someday. But I didn’t start writing seriously until I was almost 40 and we had a son headed for college and a three-year-old that I desperately wanted to stay home with. I thought writing might be a way to accomplish that. And sure enough, it was!
rem: What is your Writing Routine?
DEBORAH: My routine? Well…I piddle around for 3 months, then write obsessively and furiously for 3-4 more months, and then when the book is finished, I take a couple of months off to let the next book percolate.
rem: I love that, “My routine?” Not so different to mine… Typically I ask where you write—but you have such a lovely office space. How did your mug collection get started?
DEBORAH: The mug collection started when I was telling my husband how much writing I got done spending a day in a coffee shop. He suggested setting up a little coffee bar in my office. Then our son, who was living in Berlin at the time, brought me back cool mugs from Europe, and the rest is history. 😉
rem: Don’tcha just love how some of the best ideas start from random thoughts like that? I notice you publish through Raney Day Press—love that play on words—and that your husband designs your covers. Who’s idea was it, and what’s it like working with him?
DEBORAH: All the creative ideas are Ken’s! I couldn’t do what I do without him, especially now that I’ve gotten rights back to my older books and we are reissuing them through Raney Day Press! We truly love working from home, making our own hours, and doing what we love. That said, it’s a good thing our offices are on separate floors of our house. When I’m on deadline, I really have to be firm about getting enough uninterrupted time to write.
rem: What makes you struggle as an author? How do you handle it?
DEBORAH: Deadlines! And first drafts. Sometimes I just have to power through and DO it because I have a deadline! And because I want to get paid! 🙂
rem: I an Indie so I set my own, but a deadline is still a deadline! What do you enjoy most about being a writer?
DEBORAH: Interacting with readers! I’m kind of rare among writers in that I just love social media because it’s a chance for this extrovert to connect with my readers!
rem: Oh, me too! I “live” on Facebook and love chatting with readers and other authors. What are your top 3 recommendations for a new writer?
DEBORAH: 1. Read, read, read! (rem: yes, yes, yes!) Read the kind of books you want to write. 2. Read books on the craft of writing. I learned SO much from reading craft books. 3. Don’t get too attached to your words. Be willing to learn to self-edit and to be edited by others. It’s the best growing tool for a writer!
rem: Do you think of the entire story before you start writing?
DEBORAH: I’m definitely a seat-of-the-pants writer. I know the basic plot situation and I usually know the basic ending, but after that, I’m just writing and letting the story unfold as I go. If I plotted too much, I’d be bored with my own story before I finished!
rem: Me too, Deborah. My characters dictate to me; I’m along for the ride. Tell us a little about your latest book? What is your current project?
DEBORAH: My newest book that released just this week is actually a reissue of my first novel, A Vow to Cherish. I’m so excited to have a 25-year-anniversary edition of this book for new readers!
rem: Congratulations! Such a lovely cover. Tell us about why you wrote this book.
DEBORAH: I was seeing too many people—even Christians—abandon the vows they’d made to their spouse when the going got tough. Yet I’d seen others—my parents, my grandparents, my in-laws and siblings—hang tight with one another until the storms passed. This novel was the inspiration for the World Wide Pictures film of the same title, and the movie accomplished everything I hoped for with my story, highlighting what it really means to honor your wedding vows—in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, as long as you both shall live.
rem: How exciting for you! Please give us the first page of the book.
DEBORAH:
John rolled over in bed and propped one elbow on the pillow. He rubbed his eyes, disoriented, then groped in the dark to find the other side of the bed empty. Holding his breath, he listened. The shower in the bathroom off the master bedroom droned. He threw back the covers. Why had Ellen allowed him to oversleep? She knew he had an important meeting this morning.
Easing his long legs over the side of the bed, he tried to focus on the digital clock on his bedside table. The red numbers blurred and faded, but it looked like one-fifteen.
Not yet fully awake, he plodded into the bathroom. Through the steam of the shower he saw that Ellen’s carriage clock on the counter read one-fifteen also.
“Ellen? What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“Well, sleepyhead,” she called cheerfully through the shower curtain, “you’re finally up. No, I’m not sick. What makes you ask?”
“It’s one o’clock, El. You just went to bed two hours ago.”
The spray stopped abruptly. “One o’clock? In the morning? It can’t be.”
“Well it is.” He yawned and stretched. “Come back to bed, you silly girl.”
Wrapped in a thick white towel, she stepped from the shower. Her pale auburn hair clung in ringlets to her forehead and the nape of her neck. John planted a soft kiss behind her left ear.
But she brushed him off and leaned to inspect the clock, her forehead furrowed. She picked up the clock and held it to her ear, bemused laughter rising in her throat. “That’s strange… I could have sworn it was morning.”
rem: Well, that’ll grab your attention! What is one take-away from your book(s) that you hope readers identify with?
DEBORAH: That God will always honor commitment in marriage, even when it is extremely difficult.
rem: Yes, He surely does. Where can we find you online?
DEBORAH:
http://www.deborahraney.com
http://tinyurl.com/DRreadergroup
http://instagram.com/deborahraney
http://www.pinterest.com/deborahraney/
https://twitter.com/authordebraney
http://amazon.com/author/deborahraney
http://tinyurl.com/DRGoodReads
http://inspiredbylifeandfiction.com/
rem: Thank you so much for chatting with us at my little nest today!
DEBORAH: It was MY pleasure! Thanks so much, Robin!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Deborah Raney’s first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Since then, her 35+ books have won the RITA Award, ACFW Carol Award, National Readers’ Choice Award, and three times have been Christy Award finalists. In addition to Deb’s award-winning Chicory Inn Novels, the first book in her new Chandler Sisters Novels series just released. Many of her older titles have been reissued by Raney Day Press. Deb and husband, Ken, have four children and a growing brood of grandchildren, who all live much too far away.
GIVEAWAY
In honor of the return of Chat Thursday, I am doing a giveaway, and Deborah has generously offered to donate a mug from her wonderful collection.
Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
Giveaway will begin at midnight on Wednesday 23 January and end at 11:59 on Thursday 31 January. * All times are Eastern Time Zone, USA. Giveaway is subject to the policies found on Robin’s Nest.
RAFFLECOPTER
“As a true extrovert with a very solitary occupation as a writer, I truly enjoy social media. Sometimes I tell people I’m not sure I could have survived my 24-year writing career without it!”
#Blogwords, Chat Thursday, Author Interview, Deborah Raney
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