WordVessel

Greetings! It is my great joy and pleasure to be able to host WordVessel's first author interview with Christian novelist Deborah Raney.

Deborah is currently at work on her eighteenth 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. Her newest books are the Clayburn Novels from Howard Books/Simon & Schuster, including Remember to Forget, a 2008 Christy Award finalist. 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.

What is a typical day like for you?

My day starts very early--usually around 5 a.m. with a quick read of email and the news, then my husband and I spend 45 minutes on the treadmill and elliptical. After devotions together, he and our daughter are off to work and school and my writing begins. I try to be at my desk writing by 10 a.m. and I usually write through until Ken and Tavia are home for the evening. When I'm on deadline, I may go back to my computer after supper, but otherwise evening is my time to read for fun (or sometimes for endorsement). Our daughter is in her last year of high school and is involved in sports and music, so many evenings, we're at her activities. After over 25 years of having at least one child in school, we'll miss that when she goes to college next year!

What do you like to do in your free time?

My husband and I started gardening together about three years ago when we moved into our home and we have really gotten into it. I keep a blog for our garden and started one of authors gardens, too. You can see them at:

My other favorite thing to do outside of writing is traveling to visit our kids and grandkids. For some reason, our four kids all chose to move out of state when they left home. Consequently, our two little grandsons live nine hours away. We get to see them several times a year, and the whole family is almost always together at Christmastime. I've learned, too, that I get a LOT of writing done in the car while my husband drives, so it works out pretty well.

Where do you write?

I have several favorite “offices” at our home in our small Kansas town. For the first time in my career, I got a great dedicated office when we moved into this house, but the truth is, during the week, I do most of my writing on our back deck or if the weather doesn’t permit (which is often in Kansas!) I write at the kitchen bar, or the living room sofa…or sometimes at the coffee shop in town. Several times over the years, I’ve checked into a bed-and-breakfast for a few days when I was on deadline. There’s something about a new environment—especially one where I have zero responsibilities—that really gives my creativity a jump-start.

How long does it normally take you to write a book? How many books do you write per year?

I like to have at least nine months to write a first draft. I haven’t always had that, especially when I’ve been writing for more than one publisher. But I’m back in that situation now—at least for a time—and it’s nice to have the extra time to make that first draft the very best it can be before it goes off to my publisher. Rewrite is my favorite part of writing, so I always feel like my story doesn’t really come to life until the editing process. But still, the cleaner and more complete a first draft I turn in, the more I can accomplish in rewrite. I’ve always written about 1.5 books a year—or three books every two years. This year, oddly enough, I’ll have three full-length novels coming out, but one of them was written almost two years ago. I also have several of my older novels being reissued, and a couple of Dutch language translations slated, but of course I don’t write those!

Do you edit as you go or wait until completing the first draft? How many drafts do you normally do for each novel?

I edit as I go, though I’m trying to learn not to be quite so nit-picky on my initial draft. But I do start each writing day with a read through and mild edit of what I wrote the day before. Then I read again and do a stronger edit after my critique partner has gone over my manuscript. And if there’s time, I read everything straight through on paper once again before I send it to my editor as a “first draft.” By the time the substantive edit, line edit, copy edit and galleys are finished, I estimate I’ve read through every manuscript at least 8-10 times before it hits the shelves. By that time I’m pretty sick of it, and so horribly close to my own work that I have NO sense of whether it’s any good or not!

What are you currently writing?

I just started a new series for Howard/Simon & Schuster and I’m really enjoying the research and preliminaries—creating a new setting and characters that will carry through my next three books. This story is about the widows (and one widower) of a crew of firefighters who die in a tragic and suspicious blaze at a downtown homeless shelter. One of the first things I’m doing for research is taking training to volunteer in a homeless shelter in a nearby town. Our church recently got involved in training volunteers and they were very willing to take me on, even though my motives are a little less altruistic than most of those who give of their time and efforts to man the shelter. I have a feeling that the Lord will use my time there to mature me in ways I’m not expecting. He seems to surprise me that way on a regular basis.

Do you have advice or tips for writers who are just getting started?

Read! Read everything you can get your hands on, especially in the genre you wish to write in. And take advantage of the many, many great books on the craft of writing that are available in the bookstore or your local library. I wish I’d known about the wealth of craft books when I first began writing…I would have saved myself some serious rewriting!

What are you currently reading?

I had the privilege of reading Roxanne Henke’s soon-to-release novel, On a Someday, recently. Roxy is one of my favorite authors and I think her last three books have been her best ever. I’m also reading The Shack, since it seems to be the book everyone is talking about and I don’t want to be left out of the discussions! Next on my TBR stack is Maureen Lang’s My Sister Dilly, a gift from Maureen at the recent ACFW conference.

What are your favorite writing conferences and why?

I have a special place in my heart for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference and the Autumn in the Mountains Novelists conference, also held in the Blue Ridge Mountains at Ridgecrest, because it was one of the first conferences where I served on faculty. I absolutely LOVE teaching writing, and have had the opportunity to do so at Mount Hermon and other smaller conferences. If you are writing fiction, though, the very best conference in the country is the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Conference held every September. I serve on the advisory board of ACFW, and it is just the premiere conference (and organization) for writers of Christian fiction. (http://www.acfw.com/)

What accomplishements are you most proud of, writing-related or not?

Definitely our kids! I’m not sure I can take any credit for them as an “accomplishment,” but my husband and I have been blessed with the four most incredible kids on the planet. Not only that, but they are starting to get married and have their own kids, and our precious son-in-law and daughter-in-law are exactly who we prayed for since the time our kids were babies. It has been such a revelation to us what a great relationship we have with our grown kids. And then there’s our two little grandsons…you don’t even want to get me started!

In closing, what are some ways that readers of your books can help you as an author?

Oh, thank you for asking that! I have a whole list of ideas on my website here:
http://debiraney.blogspot.com/2005/01/how-can-you-help-promote-new-book.html
But the bottom line is if you aren’t able to “vote” with your pocketbook and buy an author’s book, you can still help promote it by checking it out from the library, borrowing it from a friend, and then telling people about it––people who WILL go out and purchase it. If I don’t sell books, I don’t get to keep writing books, so as much as I hate the promotional part of my job, it’s very necessary.

A special "thank you" to author Deborah Raney, for this wonderful insight into the life of a writer!

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