Category: Deb Raney

March 3, 2008 / Deb Raney, Leaving November / No Comments »

My good friend Deborah Raney is dropping by the Edge today so we can chat about her new book, Leaving November, book number 2 in her Clayburn series. I have to say, you won’t find a more genuine soul than Deb Raney. Even on my good days, I don’t have the class and gentility that this Kansas girl has. And I love the premise behind this book. Check it out:

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 café 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.
I just love that Latte Dah coffee shop image! And I love it that Vienne (very cool first name) is a protagonist with such lovely flaws. Failed the bar exam twice!

Edge: So, Deb. What was your inspiration for Leaving November?
Deb: 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.
Edge: What are you working on now?
Deb: 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!

Edge: What do you enjoy most about writing? Least?
Deb: 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.

Edge: What do you do when you’re not reading or writing?
Deb: I love working in the beautiful garden my husband, Ken, designed in our back yard (for a peek, go to http://kansasprairiegarden.blogspot.com/) 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!
Edge: Thanks for gracing the Edge today, Deb. On Friday, Edglings, a book review of Those Who Save Us.
October 30, 2007 / Deb Raney, San Diego fire / No Comments »

Life goes on

Thanks to all for your kind thoughts in the aftermath of a very stressful week here in San Diego County. I saw stars last night and today, blue sky. Life is slowly returning to pre-fire normal. My son went back to his high school today after the fires had forced a week’s closure. When he got home he asked me to guess what he found in his locker. I didn’t have to think twice. I knew it wasn’t a love note or a forgotten ham sandwich. Ash covered the tops of all his books and papers. Lockers are housed outside in San Diego. All the lockers at his school were lined with ash on the inside. But he brushed it away and now it’s gone.

For so many others of course, the fire’s aftermath can’t just be brushed away. My family and I were some of the lucky ones. Nearly 350 students in my son’s school district alone were left homeless by the fire. Well, not exactly homeless. Houseless is a better word. The recovery and rebuilding process will be long and tedious for so many. I wish there was a way to speed up time so that the Big Inbetween could somehow seem short. I’ve heard that for many of the victims of the 2003 San Diego fires, it was 2005 before life seemed normal again. Kind of puts my light and momentary inconveniences in perspective.

I should mention, too, that in our haste to flee last Monday, I forgot to take a picture when we released Truman back into the wild. (Truman is the tarantula, as in “Hairy S.” Geddit?) I had promised the Edge that I would post a picture of his release. But the day we evauated was also the day we decided Truman needed to be able to run like the dickens into a rock pile if the flames reached the house. So the last thing we did before we left the house to whatever destiny awaited it, was let Truman go. It actually wasn’t that dramatic. I think he might’ve been a little sluggish from all the crickets he had eaten the day before. (Note to self: Do not put all four crickets in tarantula cage thinking he will eat just one a day. He will eat them all the same day. Little hairy piglet. ) When we drove down the driveway, Truman was just sitting on the piece of bark we used to coax him out of his temporary home, watching us go. I’m thinking he might not have wanted us to see which way he went.

And now that the local world is spinning on its axis at the normal speed, here’s a look at a new mass market release by my good friend and simply the nicest person you will ever meet, Deb Raney. Within This Circle is a sequel to her stunning A Vow to Cherish.
Within This Circle continues the story of John Brighton and Julia Sinclair. After a tumultuous courtship, John and Julia Brighton have a second chance at happiness, a fresh marriage and, now that their children are grown, a new era in their lives to revel in the promise of the future. Only such a promise is never guaranteed. And life can change in a heartbeat. The Brightons’ life is turned upside down when John’s daughter, Jana, abandons her husband Mark and three-year-old daughter. As Jana struggles through delayed grief over her mother’s death, her actions put her marriage and her own daughter in danger. John and Julia reach out to little Ellie, to give the young couple time to heal, but the little girl is confused and longing for her mother. How much sorrow and stress can both fledgling marriages endure? Two very different couples, each with only their love and faith to guide them.
Check it out. See you on Friday. And if you happen to see Truman, tell him I said hey and for pity’s sake, go easy on the crickets.