Raney, Deborah 1955-

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RANEY, Deborah 1955-

PERSONAL: Born 1955; daughter of a retired farmer and a homemaker; married Ken Raney (an illustrator), 1974; children: two sons, two daughters. Education: Attended Emporia State University, 1973-74, and Kansas State University, 1974-75. Religion: Christian. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, music, indoor gardening.

ADDRESSES: Agent—The Literary Group, 270 Lafayette St., Ste. 1505, New York, NY 10012.

CAREER: Novelist.

MEMBER: Romance Writers of America, American Christian Romance Writers, ChiLibris Authors Group.

AWARDS, HONORS: Angel Award, Excellence in Media, 1997, for A Vow to Cherish; RITA Award, Romance Writers of America, and Reviewers Choice Inspirational Novel of the Year, Romantic Times Book Club Magazine, both 2002, both for Beneath a Southern Sky.

WRITINGS:

A Vow to Cherish, Bethany House (Minneapolis, MN), 1996.

In the Still of Night, Bethany House (Minneapolis, MN), 1997.

Kindred Bond, Bethany House (Minneapolis, MN), 1998.

Beneath a Southern Sky, Random House (New York, NY), 2001.

After the Rains, Random House (New York, NY), 2002.

A Scarlet Cord, Random House (New York, NY), 2003.

Playing by Heart (novella), Barbour Publishing, 2003.

A Nest of Sparrows, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

Also author, with Vicky Miller, of Children's Sermons to Go and More Children's Sermons to Go. Contributor to The Storytellers' Collection, I and II, Multnomah; A Currier and Ives Christmas; Teatime Stories for Women; and Teatime Stories for Mothers. Contributor of articles to periodicals, including Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion, Writer's Digest, Christian Parenting Today, Arrington's Inn Traveler, and Welcome Home.

ADAPTATIONS: A Vow to Cherish was filmed by World Wide Pictures.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A novel, tentatively titled Over the Waters, set alternately in Chicago and Haiti, for Steeple Hill Books, expected 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Deborah Raney has written several romance and inspirational novels, including the award-winning titles A Vow to Cherish and Beneath a Southern Sky. In the latter title, published in 2001, a woman seeks guidance from God in making a choice between honoring the memory of the missionary husband she thinks is dead and making a future with the new man in her life. In the novel's sequel, After the Rains, the woman's choice is shown to affect her daughter, a teen who feels lost without the knowledge of her true father and decides travel to Colombia in search of him. While taking issue with some stylistics, a Publishers Weekly contributor found favor with Raney's "compelling message that God can redeem poor choices, no matter how tragic the initial consequences."

Raney told CA: "As a seat-of-the-pants or 'intuitive' writer, I find the process of writing a book nearly as much fun as reading a great novel. I love experiencing the discovery of plot and characters much as my reader will. As a Christian, I write from a Judeo-Christian worldview. And although I have written a short historical novel, I find that I am much more captivated by contemporary issues and characters."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Christian Parenting Today, May, 2001, Deborah Raney, "Parenting Teens and Toddlers—at the Same Time!," p. 46.

Independent Sunday (London, England), October 20, 2002, Elizabeth Boston, review of Beneath a Southern Sky, p. 21.

Library Journal, February 1, 1996, Henry Carrigan, Jr., review of A Vow to Cherish, p. 66; February 1, 1997, Melissa Hudak, review of In the Still of the Night, p. 68.

Publishers Weekly, August 26, 2002, review of After the Rains, p. 43.