Family Matters eBook ó

Family Matters eBook ó Debbi BedfordDeborah Bedford was born on in Texas USA and earned her degree in journalism and marketing from Texas AM University Immediately after graduation she accepted editorship of Evergreen Today a weekly newspaper based in the small mountain town of Evergreen Colorado While serving as editor there she worked or hours each week writing stories and cut lines sports and features chasing fire trucks and checking police reports taking pictures editing laying out pages opauing the negatives stacking papers into vending machines and taking out the uartersIt was long before she began to dream of returning to her first love fiction writing For her birthday in the summer of her husband Jack bought her a copy of the Writers' Market and she began to meticulously send letters to every publisher listed in the book Rejection letters flowed back by the handfuls She has a large folder where for posterity's sake she has kept these to this day She has also kept the letter from Harleuin Books she received which invited her to submit a complete manuscript but warned her that Harleuin did not want books about cowboys airline pilots guest ranches or Texans Deborah laughs now when she tells the story Her manuscript was the story of a woman who marries an airline pilot in Texas Then when he dies in a plane crash she runs away to a guest ranch and falls in love with a cowboy When she showed her husband Jack the letter he said Honey you've managed to write a manuscript that has everything in it they don't want Harleuin bought the manuscript five short weeks after she submitted it At that time her editor told her This book isn't a romance but we're going to publish it anywayWhen Debbi Bedford's first book Touch the Sky was released by the Harleuin Superromance line its sales topped every Harleuin record for a first time author It earned rave reviews and a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice award During the next seven years she published six books for the Harleuin Superromance series and a historical novel Blessing before signing a contract with HarperCollins Publishers This paved the way for her to move on to write mass market mainstream women's fiction where her work garnered numerous awards and appeared on the USA TODAY bestseller list The word she uses to describe her career is beguiling Whenever she wrote words about Jesus or God in her stories those spiritual overtones were never touched edited or omitted But along with those words she admits that she was writing steamy scenes I wanted all the reward that the world would give me she says I wanted all the fame and all the status But I realized that I was giving away lentils in the Lord's battlefield That's when I became convicted The time had come for a changeWhat surprises Deborah the most she says is the freedom she now finds in writing for her Heavenly Father It feels like gloriously falling forward and wondrously coming home all at the same time she says The Story Jar March written with Angela Elwell Hunt and Robin Lee Hatcher and including pieces from Left Behind author Jerry B Jenkins Francine Rivers Debbie Macomber and Lori Copeland marked Deborah Bedford's writing debut for the inspirational market It held a spot on the CBA Bestseller list for three consecutive months While still shopping for the right publisher for her novel length fiction she had the opportunity to stand up at the Jackson Hole Writers' Conference read an excerpt from The Story Jar and explain to conference attendees about the call she felt to leave mass market fiction and follow the Lord In the audience that evening was Jamie Raab publisher of Warner Books The rest as everyone says felt like stars moving into placeWhen You Believe w.