Debbie Macomber is a class act. Having dyslexia, which is an impairment of reading ability, she has had numerous challenges throughout her life. She always writes with warmth, compassion, humor and emotion. It's not surprising that there are over sixty million copies of her books in print worldwide. Today, she tells it like it is as the mother of four and an avid romance reader.

Unlike most authors, Debbie has an office outside her home. It's a real office with a secretary, complete with staff. She's the original farmer's granddaughter, getting up at four a.m., doing an hour and a half of reading and Bible study and going swimming, before she goes into the office at eight a.m. to start her work day. When she arrives at the office, she reads the mail and reviews what she wrote the day before.

Asking Debbie if she's ever had any rejections, she gets a big laugh! "I hate to say this, but they were hitting me in the head at the post office as I was sending them out. One time I sent off a manuscript, and the only way it could've come back that quick was they had to open it and put it right back in the return envelope without reading it."

Debbie's darkest hour was right before the dawn. She got started selling articles and earned enough money to attend her first writer's conference. Three hundred women attended. Of those three hundred, two Harlequin editors picked ten manuscripts to be reviewed. Hers was one of them. She was thrilled. "Oh, man, I was so excited. I mean, this was great."

One of the editors got up and said one manuscript showed promise. Debbie was sure it was hers, but when the editor started talking, her heart fell. It belonged to someone else. Then the editor had everybody in the room laughing about another manuscript. "That one was mine. They were laughing at my manuscript. I felt terrible. I'll never forget this. I was humiliated."

Afterward, she went up and talked to the editor. She asked her if she rewrote the manuscript, would she be willing to look at it again. The editor got this pitying look in her eyes. She leaned forward and said, "Throw it away." Debbie sighs. "I was crushed. You can imagine."

It was a tough time for Debbie. Her husband was out of work. He was in Alaska, sharing one room with eight guys who slept in shifts, trying to get work on the Alaskan pipeline, eating one meal a day. Debbie and the kids lived on his unemployment check. "It was awful - just awful."

Debbie walked away from that editor with her head held high, saying to herself, Harlequin has lost out on a great writer.

After this crushing blow, she sent a query letter to Silhouette. Every day after that when she sat down to write, the shadows on the wall seemed to say, "So you want to be a writer. You think you're going to sell a book?" Debbie's eyes sparkle and her voice sounds like the wicked witch from the 'Wizard of Oz' as she relates this part of her story.

She had reached the point where it drove her crazy. She couldn't take it anymore. At that time and place in her life, Debbie didn't care if Silhouette wanted to see it or not. Before she could change her mind, she marched right down to the post office and mailed her manuscript.

It cost ten dollars and that was a lot of money, very precious at the time. She came home and the mail had been delivered. There was a letter from Silhouette and inside it said, Do not send us your manuscript. We're not buying at this time.

Debbie says, "If I've ever seen God's hand in my life, it was that day. That was the book that sold.” The editor called her on September 29th. It was exactly one month to the day that she had gotten rejected so brutally from Harlequin.

Heart Song was that book. She was pictured in Newsweek magazine with it and was the first Silhouette author to ever be reviewed in Publishers Weekly.

The advice Debbie gives an unpublished author just starting out today is to "Dream big. Work hard. Believe in yourself and don't ever give up. Be flexible and send it out there."

Debbie shared an interesting story about one of her favorite booksellers, Beth Anne Steckiel, independent bookstore owner of Beth Anne's Book Corner in Colorado Springs, CO. "In the summer of 2002, I was doing signings throughout Colorado. A lady in a wheelchair came up to me when I was signing in Ft. Collins. She told me an amazing story about Beth Anne.

"Apparently, Beth Anne's husband, Al, had a five-way open heart surgery in the fall of 2001. The lady in the wheelchair's son was a diabetic and had to have open heart surgery as well. It turns out Beth Anne and the woman ended up spending the night together in the intensive care waiting room. During the course of the long night they got to talking about books. The lady mentioned to Beth Anne that I was her favorite author.

"The next day, Beth Anne brought the lady four of my books as a gift. I'm thrilled Beth Anne would give her my books. That was such a nice thing for her to do with everything else going on in her life, but knowing Beth Anne, not unexpected. You see, Beth Anne was honored with the Romance Writers of America's Steffie Walker Bookseller of the Year Award in Washington, DC, in July, 2000. She is a wonderful person and I'm happy to report that both are home and doing fine.”

Debbie feels e-publishing is a door wide open for aspiring authors, but thinks people will always want to read a book and hold it. However, that doesn't mean that people coming up, kids who are learning to read on the Internet, aren't going to make the transition. Those of us who grew up with books will have a harder time, but it's a real opportunity to consider.

One of the first things Debbie does each morning in her office is go through mail from her readers and print out the forwarded guestbook entries from her website. Over the years, she's found reader feedback to be invaluable. She tries to be the kind of author who gives a reader what business people call Value Added.

First and foremost, she wants to make sure her books touch her readers' emotions. She wants them to identify with her characters and feel, as she does, that each book is a treasured friend.

Debbie Macomber can be reached on her webpage debbiemacomber.com Those who sign up on her webpage guestbook on the Internet are eligible for free autographed books, promotional items and other goodies. Those without Internet access can write her at PO Box 1458, Port Orchard, WA 98366.

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