"Recently I caught up with my friend Deborah Raney. She's a wonderful author and you can visite her website at www.deborahraney.com." - DiAnn
 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:
Q: How long have you been involved in your particular career?
Almost exactly 10 years. I started writing New Year’s Day 1994.
Q: What prompted your decision to become a writer?
Reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series as a pre-teen. I wanted to give people the same pleasure Ms. Wilder’s books gave me.
Q: How has your line of work changed during the past ten years?
I’ve been writing steadily since I first began, at the pace of about a book and-a-half a year. Probably the thing that has changed most is that I’ve begun to do quite a bit of speaking, teaching, and traveling.
Q: What aspects of your work do you enjoy the most?
The fact that I can work from home, set my own hours, and read novels, while calling it research! I also really enjoy the traveling and meeting new people that being a writer can involve.
Q: What are the most challenging problems for writers?
After writing 8 novels, I have no problem with finding new ideas and plots for stories, but it’s becoming difficult to find fresh, new ways to express myself within each story. It’s also often a challenge to be at home surrounded by so many other things that need doing, and force myself to meet my daily word count.
Q: What motivates you?
Deadlines! The promise of a royalty check! I’m also extremely inspired and motivated by the letters I get from readers who have enjoyed my books.
Q: How did you get your first big break into the writing business?
Six months after I sent out my first proposal (and after about 17 rejections) I had offers for contracts from three different publishers. I’d consider my really big break to be when that first novel was made into a movie by World Wide Pictures.
Q: For what achievement would you like to be remembered?
I’d like there to be a few more people in heaven because my books pointed the way to Christ.
Q: Are there things you haven’t accomplished yet that you still would like to accomplish?
I have a couple books burning inside me that I haven’t been able to sell yet. I’d love to convince a publisher that those ideas are worthwhile.
Q: If you were not involved in your present work, what would you most likely be doing?
I’ve always enjoyed studying people and what makes them tick, and I feel I’ve been gifted with a listening ear and common sense wisdom. If I weren’t a writer, I would probably be studying to become a professional counselor.
Q: How keen is competition in your field?
Christian fiction is a growing area and is opening up to more and more genres, so I’ve never felt the competition was extreme. But then I’ve never really been a terribly competitive person, so I’m probably not a good judge.
Q: What is the secret to having satisfied readers in your business?
I think we must respect our readers’ intelligence, write real, flawed characters and tell their stories realistically, while still being sensitive to the fact that most Christians don’t want to read graphic portrayals of sin; and they want the books they read to portray the hope of redemption. Most of all, I think readers want to identify with the characters in novels, so I try to create characters that are lovable, and honorable, yet interesting.
Q: What trends are currently developing in your profession?
One of the most recent trends seems to be the chick lit/mom lit phenomena. Christian romantic suspense is also very popular right now, and we’re seeing doors open up to science fiction and fantasy that weren’t there a few years ago.
Q: What is an average workday like for you?
I’m up around 6 to check email and have devotions with my husband before he goes to work. After our daughter leaves for school, I do a few quick household chores and try to be at my desk writing or researching by 9 a.m. I usually work through lunch and quit when our daughter comes home from school. If I’m on deadline, I may go back to work for a few hours after supper. I don’t usually write on the weekends, although I often spend that time reading research material, catching up on industry magazines, answering reader mail and corresponding with other writers. Two-three times a month I speak to women’s or writers’ groups, or attend writers’ events, booksignings, etc.
Q: What kinds of projects are you currently involved?
Although I still write an occasional magazine article or devotional for an anthology, most of my writing is for my novels. I’m a slow writer and prefer to write only one long work of fiction and perhaps a novella or short story each year.
Q: How do you get your characters?
All of my characters have a little bit of me in them. But their physical traits usually come from a photograph in a magazine or newspaper, and their personalities are usually a combination of several people I know.
Q: Do people in your line of work have much time for families?
It would be extremely easy to completely shut my family out of my writing life and find every hour taken up by some aspect of this business. But being a wife and mother is my first calling and my priority and I carefully guard my family time by setting distinct limits on my calendar, and planning my book deadlines to allow me to take evenings and weekends off.
Q: Do you travel much?
Writing- and/or speaking-related activities take me away out of state or overnight about 5-6 times a year, but I try to never be gone more than 5 or 6 days at a time unless my family is able to accompany me.
Q: Does your work put pressure on you?
Sometimes I procrastinate and allow a book deadline to sneak up on me and cause me to have to burn the midnight oil. Then I and my family feel the pressure. But it’s almost always self-imposed. I know my limitations and have planned my contracts accordingly. I want to enjoy this work, this calling, for many years to come, so I’m pretty careful not to get over-committed.
Q: How did you prepare yourself for your career?
Mostly I read the kind of books I wanted to write. But I also practiced writing by journaling, having a pen pal, writing letters to the editor. And I took many writing-related classes in high school and college because it was what I enjoyed doing even back then.
Q: What type of reading do you like?
I enjoy a wide variety of books, both non-fiction and fiction, including mystery, historical, women’s fiction, romance, legal thrillers, etc. But if I could only choose one kind of book to read (besides the Bible, of course) it would be exactly the kind of books I like to write—contemporary fiction with a touch of romance.
Q: In regard to your profession as a whole, of what are you most critical?
Hmmm. That’s a tough question. I guess the things that irks me most are marketing departments who give all the marketing dollars to the authors who are already guaranteed a spot on the best-seller list; and reviewers who are critical for the sake of appearing clever or witty.
Q: What do you do when you need to get away from it all?
Well, this sounds crazy, even to me, but…I READ! I also love to go for long walks. That’s my best thinking, praying, winding-down time.
Q: Are there any professional associations that you belong?
I’m a member of American Christian Romance Writers, Romance Writers of America, and ChiLibris, a group of multi-published Christian novelists.
Q: What are your short and long range career goals?
Short-term: Finish my manuscript that’s due August 1.
Long-range: Improve my craft with each book, and find time for more opportunities to teach and mentor new writers.
Q: What sort of educational background do you have?
I studied Speech, English and Literature at Emporia State University and Kansas State University.
Q: How do you spend your weekends and off-duty hours?
With my family. My husband Ken and I have four children. Three are grown and living in three different states, and we have a 13-year-old at home. Our youngest son plays basketball and football in college so we often travel to watch his games; and our teenager is involved in athletics as well, so I spend a lot of time on various bleachers. : ) My husband and I try to have an evening out together at least every other week, too. We also lead a couples Christian Education class in our church together. My parents and in-laws, and my siblings all live close by, so extended family is a big part of my life too. |
