Deborah Raney
Encyclopedia
Deborah Teeter Raney is an American author of Christian fiction who specializes in the inspirational contemporary women's fiction genre. She is best known for her novel, A Vow to Cherish (1996), that drew national attention to the pervasive impact of Alzheimer's disease on a traditional American family. The book was later developed into a movie that was released in 1999 by Billy Graham
's World Wide Pictures
.
and grew up in Rice County, Kansas
. Growing up on a farm in Kansas, Raney was inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder
's popular Little House on the Prairie
series. More than 25 years would pass before she would attempt to write her own book. Raney graduated from Lyons High School in Lyons, Kansas in 1973 and subsequently attended Emporia State University
and later, Kansas State University
.
In 1999, the World Wide Pictures
adapted the book into a screenplay that became a made-for-television movie and was aired in 200 major markets, with Raney and her husband attending the Hollywood premiere in June of that year. The movie was rebroadcast a second time in December 2004, and was subsequently released on video and DVD in seven languages. Ten years after its first publication, A Vow to Cherish was reissued in trade and mass market formats by Steeple Hill books.
After the releases of two additional novels, In the Still of the Night (Bethany House 1997) and Kindred Bond (Bethany House 1998), both of which are now out of print, Raney would pen Beneath a Southern Sky in 2001. The Waterbrook Press (Random House
) novel won the 2001 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, the 2002 Inspirational Readers' Choice Award, Book of the Year for American Christian Romance Writers, and Romance Writers of America's 2002 RITA Award
.
After the Rains was published by Waterbrook Press in 2002. A sequel to Beneath a Southern Sky, After the Rains also garnered numerous national recognitions. After the Rains also earned Book of the Year Honors (2003) from ACFW, was a Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice nominee (2002) and named a Top 20 Fiction book (2002) by Christian Book Distributors.
Raney's next release, Playing by Heart, a novella, was published by Barbour Books in 2003. The plot relied on a bed-and-breakfast for its setting, and was conceived the previous autumn when Deborah retreated to write at such a B and B while on a tight deadline. Playing by Heart again earned ACFW Book of the Year honors (2004), was a 2004 Christy Award Finalist, and recognized with the National Readers Choice Award for Best Novella (2003).
Since then, Raney has written or contributed to more than a dozen other books, most notably her Clayburn Novels series from Howard, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. She serves on the advisory board of American Christian Fiction Writers, and has been on faculty at the organization's annual writers conference since 2001. She has also served on faculty at other writers conferences, including Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Autumn in the Mountains Novelists Retreat, among others.
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
's World Wide Pictures
World Wide Pictures
World Wide Pictures is a film distributor and production company established as a subsidiary of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in 1951...
.
Early life and education
Raney was born in San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
and grew up in Rice County, Kansas
Rice County, Kansas
Rice County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas; it was named in memory of Samuel Allen Rice, Brigadier-General, United States volunteers, killed April 30, 1864, at Jenkins Ferry, Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 10,083...
. Growing up on a farm in Kansas, Raney was inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote the Little House series of books based on her childhood in a pioneer family...
's popular Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie
Little House is a series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder that was published originally between 1932 and 1943, with four additional books published posthumously, in 1962, 1971, 1974 and 2006.-History:...
series. More than 25 years would pass before she would attempt to write her own book. Raney graduated from Lyons High School in Lyons, Kansas in 1973 and subsequently attended Emporia State University
Emporia State University
Emporia State University is a university in the city of Emporia in Lyon County, Kansas, just east of the Flint Hills.- History :...
and later, Kansas State University
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
.
Career
After spending two decades as an at-home mom to her and her husband's two sons and two daughters, Raney finally began work on her first novel – a contemporary story that developed out of a discussion with her husband and teenage children on Alzheimer's disease. Drawing on her experiences working in a New York nursing home early in her marriage, she crafted a fictional account of one family's struggle with Alzheimer's disease. The award-winning book, A Vow to Cherish, published by Bethany House Publishers, would go on to win the 1997 Angel Award from Excellence in Media. It has since been translated into Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Dutch, and was also published in a hardcover large-print edition by Thorndike Press.In 1999, the World Wide Pictures
World Wide Pictures
World Wide Pictures is a film distributor and production company established as a subsidiary of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in 1951...
adapted the book into a screenplay that became a made-for-television movie and was aired in 200 major markets, with Raney and her husband attending the Hollywood premiere in June of that year. The movie was rebroadcast a second time in December 2004, and was subsequently released on video and DVD in seven languages. Ten years after its first publication, A Vow to Cherish was reissued in trade and mass market formats by Steeple Hill books.
After the releases of two additional novels, In the Still of the Night (Bethany House 1997) and Kindred Bond (Bethany House 1998), both of which are now out of print, Raney would pen Beneath a Southern Sky in 2001. The Waterbrook Press (Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
) novel won the 2001 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, the 2002 Inspirational Readers' Choice Award, Book of the Year for American Christian Romance Writers, and Romance Writers of America's 2002 RITA Award
RITA Award
The RITA Award is the most prominent award given throughout the genre of romance novel and some other romantic fiction. It is presented by Romance Writers of America . It is named for the RWA's first president, Rita Clay Estrada. It signifies excellence in one of 13 categories of romantic fiction.-...
.
After the Rains was published by Waterbrook Press in 2002. A sequel to Beneath a Southern Sky, After the Rains also garnered numerous national recognitions. After the Rains also earned Book of the Year Honors (2003) from ACFW, was a Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice nominee (2002) and named a Top 20 Fiction book (2002) by Christian Book Distributors.
Raney's next release, Playing by Heart, a novella, was published by Barbour Books in 2003. The plot relied on a bed-and-breakfast for its setting, and was conceived the previous autumn when Deborah retreated to write at such a B and B while on a tight deadline. Playing by Heart again earned ACFW Book of the Year honors (2004), was a 2004 Christy Award Finalist, and recognized with the National Readers Choice Award for Best Novella (2003).
Since then, Raney has written or contributed to more than a dozen other books, most notably her Clayburn Novels series from Howard, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. She serves on the advisory board of American Christian Fiction Writers, and has been on faculty at the organization's annual writers conference since 2001. She has also served on faculty at other writers conferences, including Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Autumn in the Mountains Novelists Retreat, among others.
Published works
- A Vow to Cherish (Bethany House, 1996)ISBN 0-764-22335-6
- In the Still of the Night (Bethany House, 1997), ISBN 0-764-28128-3
- Kindred Bond (Bethany House, 1998)
- Children's Sermons to Go (Abingdon Press, 1998) ISBN 0-687-05257-2
- Beneath a Southern Sky (Waterbrook Press/Random House, 2001), ISBN 978-1578564279
- More Children's Sermons to Go Abingdon Press, 2001) ISBN 0-687-09962-5
- A Circle of Blessings (Barbour, 2002), ISBN 1-578-56578-2
- After the Rains (Waterbrook Press/Random House, 2002) ISBN 1-578-56576-6
- Playing by Heart (Barbour Books, 2003) ISBN 1-586-60491-0
- A Scarlet Cord (Waterbrook Press/Random House, 2003) ISBN 1-578-56577-4
- A Nest of Sparrows (Waterbrook Press/Random House 2004) ISBN 1-578-56578-2
- Over the Waters (Steeple Hill Books, 2005) ISBN 1-578-56578-2
- Finally Home (Barbour Books, 2007) ISBN 1-597-89595-4
- Within This Circle (Steeple Hill, 2007) ISBN 0-373-78594-1
- CLAYBURN NOVELS SERIES
- Remember to Forget (Howard Books/Simon & Schuster, 2007) ISBN 1-582-29643-X
- Leaving November (Howard Books/Simon & Schuster, 2008) ISBN 1-416-55829-2
- Yesterday's Embers (Howard Books/Simon & Schuster, 2009) ISBN 1-439-15851-7
- Insight (Steeple Hill, 2009) ISBN 0-373-78644-1
- Above All Things (Steeple Hill, 2009) ISBN 0-373-78655-7
- Beneath a Southern Sky (Waterbrook Press/Random House, 2010), ISBN 978-0307458766
- HANOVER FALLS NOVELS SERIES
- Almost Forever (Howard/Simon & Schuster 2010) ISBN 978-1416599913
- Forever After (Howard/Simon & Schuster 2011) ISBN 978-1416599937
- After All (Howard/Simon & Schuster 2012 scheduled)
- We've Only Just Begun (Summerside Press 2012 scheduled)