An Ask and an Offer

ByDeborah Raney
10 Comments

This morning I’m coming to you with a favor to ASK and then I have something to OFFER you.

The “ask” involves the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, which I’ve been teaching at for as long as I can remember. Last year was the conference’s 50th anniversary and I was beyond touched and humbled to be named the conference’s Writer of the Year. This conference has such a special place in my heart and has been a blessing and turning point for more authors than I could name in this space. Just look how many were in attendance last year!

But thanks to the pandemic and, more recently, the horrible fires that threaten so many in California and near Santa Cruz and Felton where Mount Hermon is located, the conference center is struggling, and the writers conference is on life support. My agent, Steve Laube, has launched a Kickstarter fund to help revive the writers conference. There is only one week left to raise the funds needed to bring the conference back. If the Kickstarter campaign makes its goal, I will get to teach the Major Morning Track in Intermediate Fiction Writing at the 2021 conference. There is nothing I’d love more than to hear that the campaign was successful!

So many of you who follow Inspired by Life…and Fiction are amazing supporters of Christian authors. If you are a writer, an editor, a publisher, a bookstore owner, or a reader of Christian books and wish to help future writers in a tangible, sacrificial way, I can’t think of a more worthy cause! You can click HERE for info on how to contribute. Even a small donation of $5 or $10, added to so many others, could make a huge difference. Thank you for prayerfully considering a gift of any size. I’ll end my “ask” with this collage of some of my favorite memories from last year’s conference.

And now for the offer: The ebook version of my fourth novel, Beneath a Southern Sky, is free today only via BookBub! I know many of you have already read this book (which was winner of the RITA Award, ACFW Carol Award, Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award, Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, and a finalist for the HOLT Medallion and several other awards), but in case not, this would be a great time to grab your copy! [Click HERE to get your copy from BookBub.]

My husband designed the beautiful cover of the most recent version, reissued by our own Raney Day Press when the rights to the novel reverted to me seventeen years after the book was first published.
Beneath a Southern Sky has had several different covers over the years, including the original one in blue and purple and the barn image for a bargain line the publisher did. (Ironically, a copy of this version now has a “bargain” price of $51!) The last cover was for the Dutch translation of Beneath a Southern Sky.
It’s been a long time coming, but one of my big writing goals for the past few years has been to complete the Camfield Trilogy with Breath of Heaven. (My husband already has a beautiful cover designed, just waiting for a book to go with it!) I know my characters as well as I know my own kids, I have most of the research and plotting finished, and I’m so eager to tell Natalie and David’s story! I have one rewrite/edit to complete on another book, and then Breath of Heaven will finally get my full attention!

Speaking of BookBub, if you don’t already follow me there, I invite you to click FOLLOW at Deborah Raney.

In fact, all of the authors here on Inspired by Life…and Fiction have BookBub profiles and we’d love to have you follow us there! It’s a great way to see an author’s entire collection of books, get news of new releases, and find out about sales and giveaways. Here are the links for the whole gang:

Tamera Alexander

Lynn Austin

Robin Lee Hatcher

Jody Hedlund

Julie Klassen

Anne Mateer

Dani Pettrey

Cara Putman

Deborah Raney

Becky Wade

Karen Witemeyer

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DEBORAH RANEY's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched Deb’s writing career. Forty books later, she's still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. Her novels have won RWA's RITA Award, the ACFW Carol Award, the National Readers Choice Award, and the HOLT Medallion. She is also a four-time Christy Award finalist. Deb is on faculty for several national writers’ conferences and served on the executive board of the 2,500-member American Christian Fiction Writers organization for 18 years before retiring in 2022. She is a recent transplant to Missouri, having moved with her husband, Ken Raney, from their native Kansas to be closer to kids and grandkids. They love road trips, e-biking, Friday garage sale dates, and breakfast on the screened porch overlooking their wooded backyard.

10 Comments

  1. Thank you for the free copy of Beneath the Southern Sky. (I downloaded it from the Kindle app.) Excited that you are writing a third book in the series, too! 🙂

  3. Since my early days as an ACFW member I had heard of Mount Hermon and sensed it was not only an epic writing conference but one that allowed a closer spiritual connection for those attending. I believe I saw Steve Laube’s Kickstarter request the day it was sent out and knew even if I never attended I wanted to help make it available for others so I contributed. Also praying they are protected from the fires on the West Coast.

  4. Downloaded Beneath a Southern Sky,have already read it,but nice to have a Kindle copy. So looking forward to Breathe of Heaven!

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