Thursday, April 03, 2008

Win an Autographed Copy of Deborah Raney's Leaving November!

This past week I had the pleasure of reading Deborah Raney's lastest release called "Leaving November." I cannot say enough good things about this book! It's the second in her Clayburn series about a small fictional Kansas town , the first being "Remember to Forget" which is NOT a book you want to remember to forget LOL. But I digress.

Please note, you do not need to read the first book to enjoy Leaving November. Enough backstory is covered to allow a new reader to catch up, but like always in series reads, it doesn't hurt to have read the first book.

I just wrote a review of Leaving November on the Amazon site and you can check it out when you click on the book title just below this paragraph and go there to order the book!



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 cafĂ© 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 Reader's 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 athttp://www.deborahraney.com/.

I figured y'all might enjoy a few questions and answers with Deb regarding this book, so here ya go. And when you are done keep reading to learn how you can win a signed copy of Leaving November for yourself!

Q&A with Deb:
Q. 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. 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. What do you enjoy most about writing? 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.

Q. 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
our website about it!) 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!

LOL, Pam here again, I love that name Club Deb. What a cool idea. Several years ago a gal who shared my name of Pam Meyers did an Internet search and contacted all the Pam Meyerses she could find. It was pretty interesting, and there are a ton of them. Another reason I'm probably going to publish my fiction under my grandmother's maiden name of Andress.

Would you like to win your very own signed copy of Leaving November? Just leave a comment to this blog post by clicking on the word "comment" below. PLEASE BE SURE TO LEAVE CONTACT INFO SO IF YOUR NAME IS DRAWN I CAN CONTACT YOU WITH THE GOOD NEWS! If you don't leave contact info your name will NOT be put in the "hat."

The drawing for Leaving November will take place next Wednesday, April 9th.

31 comments:

lollipops said...

I would love the opportunity to read this. Please enter me in the drawing.


vernet lh @ yahoo .com

Anonymous said...

I LOVE Deborah Raney! :-) And I'm dying to read this book... please enter me!

Thank you for the contest and for the interview. :-)

ladyufshalott[at]yahoo[dot]com

luv2read said...

I have not read any of Deb's book but have heard they are great. I would like to be entered into the drawing for sure. I'm amazed she had four kids and has written 17 books. spowell01(at)bellsouth.(net)

Julie Lessman said...

Oh, Pam & Deb, great interview!! I would LOVE to win this book, so please toss my hat in the ring.

Hugs,
Julie

Hope Chastain said...

Wonderful interview! Thanks so much for sharing with us! I loved REMEMBER TO FORGET. It was so well-written, and the characters are great. I'd love to read the second. Please toss my name in the hat! Thanks! :-)

hope_chastain [at] yahoo [dot] com

Janna said...

This book looks fantastic - please enter me in the drawing...

Janna
ryanx6@msn.com

Anonymous said...

I would love to be considered for this drawing ;) Thanks!!!

Carolynn said...

The book souds great! I would love to read it, please enter me, thanks!

Rose McCauley said...

I love all of Deb's books and she is so creative with her place names like the Latte-dah cafe! Please sign me up. thanks, rose
crmcc at setel dot com

tetewa said...

Enjoyed the interview and would like to be in for the drawing! tWarner419@aol.com

Anonymous said...

What a interesting interview. I would love the opportunity to win this group. It sounds fantastic!

Jo
ladijo40 (at) aol (dot) com

Mimi N said...

Pam, thanks for this interview. I've never read any of Deb's books. I'm glad to finally know who she's married to. I've been wondering if it was Dennis Raney from the radio show "Real Family Life". I've only heard the name "Mimi" used for grandma once before. Maybe I've been known as "grandma" all my life! hahaha Thanks for the chance to win her book!

Blessings,
Mimi (not a grandma only a nickname)

mnjesusfreak[at]gmail.com

Pamela S. Meyers said...

Mimi, you won't be disappointed in reading any of Deb's books! I'm sure Deb gets questioned a lot about being related to Dennis. Actually he spells his last name differently, Rainey, I beleive is how he spells his. Deb's is without the 'i'.

Your name is going into the 'hat.'!

CherryBlossomMJ said...

oh oh oh oh pick me!

cherryblossommj (at) gmail [dot] com

windycindy said...

Hi, I have loved the cover of her book since I saw it! The story line sounds very good and one I would enjoy reading! I love to garden{My
garden is not nearly as beautiful and large like hers), and I like to decorate my home with antiques and folkart. Please enter me in your delightful giveaway. Many thanks for the interesting interview and the book drawing. Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

Anonymous said...

This sounds like a good read. :)

penningprose(at)gmail.com

Anonymous said...

I would love to have my name put in the hat for this book as well. I am a Kansas gal, so this series of books has a special interest for me!

Thanks
Carolyn

prairierose5811@yahoo.com

Deborah Raney said...

Just wanted to stop by and thank everybody for signing up! I hope you'll enjoy the book - whoever the winner is. : )

Have a great weekend!

Deb~

KT said...

this sounds great!

Pamela S. Meyers said...

Here's a copy of a comment that was left. I mistakenly hit the reject button instead of the publish button and it went away!

Kara, you are in the hat!

Kara has left a new comment on your post "Win an Autographed Copy of Deborah Raney's Leaving...":

Looks like a great book. Please enter me :)

chicklitdownunder (at)yahoo.co.nz

TK Williams~Hurlston said...

Great interview, this book sounds interesting, I look forward to reading it. Please enter me in your drawing. Thanks TK. vcw1476{at}gmail{dot}com

Grateful Gramma said...

Please enter me in the drawing. Thanks!

Ginnie
vmstokes{at)verizon{dot]net

Donna said...

I just read Remember to Forget this week. I hope I am not too late to enter for the drawing.

runninmama at sbcglobal dot net

maggie87 said...

i absolutely loved the first clayburn novel. i can't wait to read the next one!

mrg873@hotmail.com

Rashmi said...

That was a nice interview! Count me in for the giveaway.

I've also posted this at my book review/contest blog - A Book Blogger's Diary.

I have a couple of book giveaways going on as well. Hope to see you there!

Thanks!
callmeabookworm at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

Great interview. I would love the opportunity to win this book.

Jo
ladijo40 (at) aol (dot) com

Anonymous said...

Right on time, me thinks! Count me in!

gautami[dot]tripathy[at]gmail[dot]com

T. Forkner said...

Great interview. I like to Garden too, when I'm not writing. Of course, in Wyoming it's a short growing season! Thanks for sharing about your new book.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great book - so happy to have found your blog. Please count me in -
amateurdelivre at gmail dot com

Deborah Raney said...

Congratulations luv2read! And thanks so much everyone for all your encouraging words. I'm so glad to know you've enjoyed my books, and I'm delighted that this book went to someone who's new to my books. Hope you enjoy it!

Have a great day!
Deb~

IvĂż said...

great interview; sounds like a very interesting book.

pls include me in the drawing of this book.

ivan[dot]manalansan[at]gmail[dot]com