Debbie Macomber

Debbie Macomber
Born October 22, 1948 (1948-10-22) (age 63)
Yakima, Washington, U.S.
Occupation Novelist
Nationality U.S.American
Period 1983 - Present
Genres romance, women's fiction
www.debbiemacomber.com

Debbie Macomber (born October 22, 1948 in Yakima, Washington) is a best-selling American author of over 150 romance novels and contemporary women's fiction. Over 140 million copies of her books are in print throughout the world,[1] and four have become made-for-TV-movies.[2] Macomber was the inaugural winner of the fan-voted Quill Award for romance in 2005[3] and has been awarded both a Romance Writers of America RITA and a lifetime achievement award by the Romance Writers of America.[4]

Contents

Biography

Breaking into Publishing

Although Debbie Macomber is dyslexic and has only a high school education, she was determined to be a writer.[5] A stay-at-home mother raising four small children, Macomber nonetheless found the time to sit in her kitchen in front of a rented typewriter and work on developing her first few manuscripts.[6] For five years she continued to write despite many rejections from publishers, finally turning to freelance magazine work to help her family make ends meet.[5]

With money that she saved from her freelance articles, Macomber attended a romance writer's conference, where one of her manuscripts was selected to be publicly critiqued by an editor from Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. The editor tore apart her novel and recommended that she throw it away. Undaunted, Macomber scraped together $10 to mail the same novel, Heartsong, to Harlequin's rival, Silhouette Books. Silhouette bought the book, which became the first romance novel to be reviewed by Publishers Weekly.[5]

Career

Although Heartsong was the first of her manuscripts to sell, Starlight was the first of her novels to be published. It became #128 of the Silhouette Special Edition category romance line (which is now owned by Harlequin).[1] Macomber continued to write category romances for Silhouette, and later Harlequin. In 1988, Harlequin asked Macomber to write a series of interconnected stories, which became known as the Navy series. Before long, she was selling "huge" numbers of books, usually 150,000 copies of each of her novels, and she was releasing two or three titles per year. By 1994, Harlequin launched the Mira Books imprint to help their category romance authors transition to the single title market, and Macomber began releasing single-title novels. Her first hardcover was released in 2001.[1]

In 2002, Macomber realized that she was having more difficulty identifying with a 25-year-old heroine, and that she wanted to write books focusing more on women and their friendships. Thursdays at Eight was her first departure from the traditional romance novel and into contemporary women's fiction.[5]

Since 1986, in most years Macomber has released a Christmas-themed book or novella. For several years, these novels were part of the Angel series, following the antics of angels Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy. Macomber, who loves Christmas, says that she writes Christmas books as well because "Every woman I know has a picture of the perfect Christmas in her mind, the same way we do romance. Reality rarely lives up to our expectations, so the best we can do is delve into a fantasy."[7]

In general, Macomber's novels focus on delivering the message of the story and do not include detailed descriptive passages. Her heroines tend to be optimists, and the "stories are resolved in a manner that leaves the reader with a feeling of hope and happy expectation."[7] Many of the novels take place in small, rural town, with her Cedar Cove series loosely based on her own hometown.[8] Because of her Christian beliefs, Macomber does not include overly explicit sexual details in her books, although they do contain some sensuality.[9]

Over 140 million copies of her books are in print throughout the world.[1] This Matter of Marriage, became a made-for-tv-movie in 1998.[2] In 2009, Hallmark Channel broadcast "Debbie Macomber's Mrs. Miracle," their top-watched movie of the year. The next year Hallmark Channel aired "Call Me Mrs. Miracle," based on Debbie's novel of the same name, and it was the channel's highest rated movie of 2010. This year, Hallmark Channel plans to premiere "Trading Christmas," based on Debbie's novel "When Christmas Comes" (released in 2004), on November 26, the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.

Debbie also now writes inspirational non-fiction. Her second cookbook, "Debbie Macomber's Christmas Cookbook," and her second children's book, "The Yippy, Yappy Yorkie in the Green Doggy Sweater" (written with Mary Lou Carney), will be released by the end of 2011. There is also a Debbie Macomber line of knitting pattern books from Leisure Arts and she owns her own yarn store, A Good Yarn, in Port Orchard, Washington.

Recognition

Macomber is a three-time winner of the B. Dalton Award,[4] and the inaugural winner of the fan-voted Quill Award for romance (2005, for 44 Cranberry Point).[3] She has been awarded the Romantic Times Magazine Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award and has won a Romance Writers of America RITA Award, the romance novelist's equivalent of an Academy Award, for The Christmas Basket. Her novels have regularly appeared on the Waldenbooks and USAToday bestseller lists and have also earned spots on the New York Times Bestseller List. On September 6, 2007 she made Harlequin Enterprises history, by pulling off the rarest of triple plays—having her new novel, 74 Seaside Avenue, appear at the #1 position for paperback fiction on the New York Times, USAToday and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. These three highly respected bestseller lists are considered the bellwethers for a book's performance in the United States.[4]

She threw out the first pitch in a Seattle Mariners game at Safeco Field in 2007. The Romance Writers of America presented Debbie with their prestigious Nora Roberts

Personal

Macomber is a volunteer mentor for young people, and is active in fundraising for battered women's shelters and for literacy and medical research. She is also a national board member for Warm-Up America,[1] and was appointed an ambassador for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America national office in 1997.[4]

Debbie and her husband, Wayne, raised four children and have numerous grandchildren. They live in Port Orchard, Washington and winter in Florida. When not writing, she enjoys knitting, traveling with Wayne and putting on Grandma Camps for her grandchildren, for whom she has built a four-star tree house behind her home in Port Orchard.

On August 11, 2011, her youngest son, Dale Wayne Macomber, (age 36) was found dead near his house in Washington State by his brother Ted and local police. Having suffered from depression for years, Dale Macomber had threatened suicide and was declared missing August 9, 2011.

Bibliography

Single Novels

Legendary Lovers Series

  1. Cindy and the Prince, Silhouette Books 1988
  2. Some Kind of Wonderful, Silhouette Books 1988
  3. Almost Paradise, Silhouette Books 1988

Navy Series

  1. Navy Wife, Silhouette Books 1988/2003
  2. Navy Blues, Silhouette Books 1989/2003
  3. Navy Brat, Silhouette Books 1991/2004
  4. Navy Woman, Silhouette Books 1991/2004
  5. Navy Baby, HQN Books 1991/2005
  6. Navy Husband, Silhouette Special Edition 2005

The Manning Sisters Series

  1. The Cowboy’s Lady, Silhouette Special Edition 1990
  2. The Sheriff Takes A Wife, Silhouette Special Edition 1990

Those Manning Men Series

  1. Marriage of Inconvenience, Silhouette Special Edition 1992
  2. Stand-In Wife, Silhouette Special Edition 1992
  3. Bride on the Loose, Silhouette Special Edition 1992

Orchard Valley Trilogy

  1. Valerie, Harlequin 1992
  2. Stephanie, Harlequin 1992
  3. Norah, Harlequin 1993

From This Day Forward

  1. Groom Wanted, Silhouette Special Edition 1993
  2. Bride Wanted, Silhouette Special Edition 1993
  3. Marriage Wanted, Silhouette Special Edition 1993

Angel Series

  1. A Season of Angels , Harper/Avon 1993
  2. The Trouble With Angels, Harper/Avon 1994
  3. Touched By Angels, Harper/Avon 1995
  4. Shirley, Goodness and Mercy, MIRA Books 1999
  5. Those Christmas Angels, Harlequin SuperRomance 2003
  6. Where Angels Go, Mira Books, 2007

That Special Woman Series Multi-Author

Midnight Sons Series

  1. Brides For Brothers, Harlequin Romance 1995
  2. Marriage Risk, Harlequin Romance 1995
  3. Daddy's Little Helper, Harlequin Romance 1995
  4. Because of the Baby, Harlequin Romance 1996
  5. Falling For Him, Harlequin Romance 1996
  6. Ending In Marriage, Harlequin Romance 1996
  7. Mail Order Marriages, Harlequin Romance 2000
  8. Family Men, Harlequin Romance 2000
  9. The Last Two Bachelors, Harlequin Romance 2000
  10. Born In A Small Town, Harlequin SuperRomance 2000

Deliverance Company Series

  1. Someday Soon, Harper/Avon 1995
  2. Sooner or Later, Harper/Avon 1996
  3. Moon Over Water, MIRA Books 1999/2003

Heart of Texas Series

  1. Lonesome Cowboy, Harlequin Romance 1998
  2. Texas Two-Step, Harlequin Romance 1998
  3. Caroline's Child, Harlequin Romance 1998
  4. Dr. Texas, Harlequin Romance 1998
  5. Nell's Cowboy, Harlequin Romance 1998
  6. Lone Star Baby, Harlequin Romance 1998
  7. Promise, Texas, MIRA Books 1999
  8. Return to Promise, MIRA Books 2000

Dakota Series

  1. Dakota Born, MIRA Books 2000
  2. Dakota Home, MIRA Books 2000
  3. Always Dakota, MIRA Books 2001
  4. Buffalo Valley, MIRA Books 2001

Cedar Cove Series

  1. 16 Lighthouse Road, MIRA Books 2001
  2. 204 Rosewood Lane, MIRA Books 2002
  3. 311 Pelican Court, MIRA Books 2003
  4. 44 Cranberry Point, MIRA Books 2004
  5. 50 Harbor Street, MIRA Books 2005
  6. 6 Rainier Drive, MIRA Books 2006
  7. 74 Seaside Avenue, MIRA Books 2007
  8. 8 Sandpiper Way, MIRA Books 2008
  9. 92 Pacific Boulevard (MIRA Books, September 2009)
  10. 1022 Evergreen Place Fall 2010
  11. 1105 Yakima Street MIRA Books 2011
  12. 1225 Christmas Tree Lane MIRA Books 2011

The Blossom Street Series

  1. The Shop on Blossom Street, MIRA Books 2004/2005
  2. A Good Yarn, MIRA Books 2005/2006
  3. Susannah's Garden, MIRA Books May 2006
  4. Christmas Letters, Mira Books October 2006
  5. Back on Blossom Street, MIRA Books 2007
  6. Twenty Wishes, MIRA Books 2008
  7. Summer on Blossom Street, May 2009
  8. Hannah's List, April 2010
  9. A Turn in the Road, April 2011

Anthologies

Anthologies In Collaboration

Non fiction

Awards

See also

List of romantic novelists

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Donahue, Dick; Coffey, Michael (June 19, 2006). "How They Do Debbie". Publishers Weekly. http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6344654.html. Retrieved 2007-04-16 
  2. ^ a b Cockburn, Catherine (2006). "Debbie Macomber: the interview". The Romance Writers of Australia. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070830111241/http://www.romanceaustralia.com/interviews/2006debbiemacomber.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-16. 
  3. ^ a b Munro, Aria C. (October 13, 2005). "Debbie Macomber Wins First Annual Quill Award for Romance Category". Publishers Newswire. http://www.publishersnewswire.com/news/2005-10-1013-PNW001.shtml. Retrieved 2007-04-16. 
  4. ^ a b c d "Debbie Macomber". eHarlequin.Com. http://www.eharlequin.com/author.html?authorid=130. Retrieved 2007-04-16. 
  5. ^ a b c d Dinsmore, Jeffrey (Spring 2005). "Meet the Writers: Debbie Macomber". Barnes and Noble. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?z=y&cid=1020005. Retrieved 2007-04-16. 
  6. ^ "ARR Interview with Debbie Macomber". A Romance Review. 2005. http://www.aromancereview.com/interviews/debbiemacomber.phtml. Retrieved 2007-04-16. 
  7. ^ a b Huseby, Sandy (2005). "Q&A: Macomber's high-flying romance". BookPage. http://www.bookpage.com/0512bp/debbie_macomber.html. Retrieved 2007-04-16. 
  8. ^ Green, Tara (October 22, 2003). "Interview with Debbie Macomber". Contemporary Romance Writers. http://www.contemporaryromancewriters.com/Interview.cfm?InterviewID=33. Retrieved 2007-04-16. 
  9. ^ Neal, Jeri (December 2004). "Author of the Month: Debbie Macomber". The Romance Reader's Connection. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927215155/http://www.theromancereadersconnection.com/aotm/authorofthemonthmacomberdebbiedec04.html. Retrieved 2007-04-16. 

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