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The story behind the story: How an evening of service inspired Deborah Raney
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Christian fiction author Deborah Raney
Photo credit: Deborah Raney
Deborah Raney is at work on her 19th novel. Her books have won the RITA Award, HOLT Medallion, National Readers' Choice Award, Silver Angel, and have twice been Christy Award finalists. Her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Her newest books, the Clayburn Novels, are from Howard/Simon & Schuster. Deb and her husband, Ken Raney, enjoy small-town life in Kansas. They are new inductees into the empty nest with four grown children and two precious grandsons––all of whom live much too far away.
I asked Deb to share the story behind one of her stories. Here is her reply.
The Story Behind the Story
Almost Forever ~ a Hanover Falls Novel
Almost Forever, first in the Hanover Falls Novels series opens in a homeless shelter in fictional Hanover Falls, Missouri. I did not think it a coincidence that our church began a ministry to a local homeless shelter a few months before I began working in earnest on my novel. But I admit the very thought of volunteering at a homeless shelter took me far out of my comfort zone. Still, I felt it was a God-given opportunity to research my novel up close and personal. After making it clear to the training team what my "ulterior" motive for volunteering was, I went through the training with their blessing and dutifully showed up for my first stint, a 5-11 p.m. Sunday night shift. I'd been told to bring something to read since usually the hours were uneventful, and once residents were in bed around 9 or 10, there would be little to do.
I'd been told I'd be working with several other people from our congregation and I thought it strange when I arrived that no one else from my church was there yet. But I introduced myself to the volunteers from another church, and we began our evening serving supper to about 20 residents who had checked in to the overnight-only shelter. Except not once the entire night was there so much as a minute to sit and read. No one else from our church ever showed up, but according to the other volunteers, this was the craziest and most eventful night they had ever experienced at the shelter.
Indeed, it was quite an eye-opening night for me, with a suicide watch, a new fresh-out-of-jail admittance who turned out to be on the no-admit list, a bottle of Vodka discovered hidden in the hallway that meant administering a (thankfully negative) Breathalyzer test on the main suspect, a mild altercation between a resident and a volunteer (not me!), and a phone that rang virtually the entire 5-11 shift. Before the evening was over, I'd had some fascinating conversations with residents, and had the privilege of praying with a suicidal man.
I went home with a head swimming with material for my novel, and a new appreciation of how God often turns research into ministry. Only after I arrived home at 11:05 did I glance at my calendar and do a double-take. I had looked at my schedule wrong and realized I wasn't supposed to show up for my shift until the NEXT Sunday night! I showed up for that shift––along with all the people from our church that I'd expected to be there the previous week––and was not the least surprised when the evening was completely without incident, and we spent most of the night in the office reading!
Almost Forever by Deborah Raney releases May 2010.
Visit Deborah Raney's website
Visit Deb's blog, The Plot Thickens – Novelists and their Garden Spots
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