I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s when parents still told their kids to go outside and play. My friends and I would spend all day in the yard and when we got hot and sweaty enough we’d run to the back patio, open the water spigot on the side of the house and get down on our hands and knees so we could get low enough to turn our mouths up for a drink of water that splashed all over our faces and down our necks. In the evenings I remember seeing my parents shaking their heads as they watched the oil crises in the 1970’s unfold on the nightly news. Gas prices skyrocketed to 73 cents a gallon! “Turn it off,” my mother would say to my dad. “Good grief! The wheel’s are coming off but they make it sound like the world’s ending.” Read More...
"AND THE WINNERS ARE..." - CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Over $500 in prizes Awarded to Fans of Donna's Books
In December, we ran a contest for those signed-up to receive Donna's e-mail updates. We gave away over $500 in great prizes.
•Three $50 Amazon Gift Cards - Derricka Hawout, Tracy Trusler and Angela Faucett
•Three complete autographed sets of the Christmas Blessing Series - $75 value (includes The Christmas Shoes, The Christmas Blessing, The Christmas Hope, The Christmas Promise and The Christmas Secret) - Lori Phillips, Deborah Dumm and Ariel Tyson •One complete autographed set of Donna's entire library of books and both DVD movies - over $175 value! - Jayne Varghese
Congratulations and Thanks to everyone who participated - you are truly the greatest fans and friends an author could have!
THE CHRISTMAS SECRET - A USA TODAY, "TWELVE BOOKS OF CHRISTMAS" PICK
Miami Herald says, "The Christmas Secret is a charming tale filled with miracles and inspiration."
Stellar reviews continue to pour in on Donna's latest (and fifth) installment in the The Christmas Hope Series. The December 3rd issue of USA Today chose The Christmas Secret as one of their top picks for Christmas books. The December 1st Miami Herald calls the book "...a charming tale filled with miracles and inspiration" while December 14th's Boston Globe says, "It's a sweet story that celebrates love and generosity of spirit."
Donna and the stars of the LMN original movie "The Christmas Hope" offer their insights about the film's lessons and their characters' emotional journeys.
LIFETIME RINGS IN THE HOLIDAYS ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13 with three Christmas movies based on Donna VanLiere Bestselling novels
Lifetime Movie Network is devoting an entire block of programming to the three holiday films, which begins with the airing of The Christmas Shoes at 4pm(ET/PT), followed by The Christmas Blessing at 6pm(ET/PT) and leading up to the world premiere of The Christmas Hope at 8pm (ET/PT). The premiere will be followed by an encore presentation of The Christmas Blessing and The Christmas Hope.
Visit Lifetime's The Christmas Hope page by clicking here. After the movie airs, please let them know how much you appreciate the family friendly programming (...and especially Donna's stories) and post some comments on their community board. This could go a long way toward getting our next movie made!!!
Movie Summaries...
The Christmas Shoes – Starring Rob Lowe and Kimberly Williams-Paisley - 4 pm ET - The Christmas Shoes follows a young boy, Nathan Andrews, whose Christmas wish is to buy a pair of shoes for his dying mother (Williams-Paisley). On Christmas Eve, his path crosses with a stranger, Robert Layton (Lowe), an attorney who had been drifting away from his family until the recent death of his own mother. With the help of the generous stranger, Nathan is able to give his mother one last precious gift.
The Christmas Blessing – Starring Neil Patrick Harris and Rebecca Gayheart - 6 pm ET - In The Christmas Blessing, Nathan Andrews (Harris) has grown up and is a medical resident. After losing a teenage boy on the operating table, he returns home and faces the memories of his mother’s passing. Nathan takes a position as a local coach and becomes taken with a beautiful teacher, Megan Sullivan (Gayheart). He forms a special bond with her student Charlie, who has also lost his mother, and together they both hope for a Christmas miracle. Rob Lowe makes a special appearance, reprising the role as Robert Layton.
The Christmas Hope – Starring Madeleine Stowe (The Last of the Mohicans), James Remar (Sex in the City) and Ian Ziering (Beverly Hills 90210) - 8 pm ET - a Lifetime Movie Network Original Movie World Premiere - The third film in the trilogy follows Patricia (Stowe) and Mark Addison (Remar), a couple in a troubled marriage. When Patricia, a social worker, brings home a foster child who has no place to go on Christmas, they set aside their differences to give the young girl a special holiday. Beloved character Nathan Andrews (Ziering) returns in The Christmas Hope, bringing the stories full circle.
"VanLiere makes getting into the Christmas spirit easy with the fifth installment in her Christmas Hope series." (Publisher's Weekly)
When a struggling young single mother saves the life of an elderly woman, she sets into motion a series of events that will test her strength, loyalty, and determination, all the while setting her on the path to finding true love.
Christine Eisley is the mother of seven-year-old Zach and five-year-old Haley. Her ex-husband provides little, if any, child support and makes life difficult for Christine by using the children as pawns. She works long hours as a waitress to make ends meet, but her job is in jeopardy because she’s often late to work due to the unreliable teenaged sitters she’s forced to use. When Christine saves the life of a woman who works in Wilson’s department store, the owner of Wilson’s wants to find her, to thank her, but Christine has disappeared, losing another job once again. He sets his grandson, Jason, to the task of finding the mysterious “Christy.” Jason, an accountant by trade who has lost his job to downsizing, thinks he is “above” working at Wilson’s. Soon, he discovers that this new task gives him more than he bargains for.
The Christmas Secret is a novel for anyone who wants to see how love is a gift that keeps giving back; that hope is a treasure that never runs dry, and that faith is a miracle that is reborn with each new day.
FINDING GRACE WOMEN'S CONFERENCE OFFERS HOPE AND INSPIRATION IN TROUBLED TIMES
Donna joins national bestselling author and conference speaker Dannah Gresh and national recording artist Tammy Trent for Franklin, TN Women's Conference
Ask any number of people what the word "grace" means and you’re likely to get as many different answers. Some define grace as a short prayer before a meal. Others would say it’s a disposition of kindness and compassion, or an inner beauty. Clearly, grace may be one of the most misunderstood concepts in the world today. Yet, according to New York Times bestselling author and Williamson County resident, Donna VanLiere, grace is the one gift that can change your life forever.
“For most of us, life hasn’t turned out the way we planned, but despite our past or current circumstances we can’t be disqualified from God’s grace. Even in the midst of our pain, our struggles or our despair, God desires to birth in us greater dreams than we could ever have imagined or hoped for,” says VanLiere, whose latest book, “Finding Grace” is the inspiration behind the upcoming Finding Grace Women’s Conference, to be held in Franklin on October 2nd and 3rd.
The conference, also featuring bestselling Christian author and popular radio speaker, Dannah Gresh, as well as award-winning Christian recording artist, author and speaker, Tammy Trent, promises a deeper awareness of the gift of grace and its power to transform lives.
“I can speak from firsthand experience of the hopelessness women encounter when they lose their way - their dreams are shattered and they feel trapped by the chaotic and sometimes mundane routine of life,” adds VanLiere. “No matter what your experience – divorce, death of a loved one, sexual abuse, infertility, job loss - this event will encourage you that through grace you can know renewed laughter and pursue the dreams God plants deep in your heart.”
For more information on the Finding Grace Women’s Conference, go to www.findinggraceonline.org, or call (615) 512-7701.
WHAT: Finding Grace Women’s Conference WHEN: Friday, October 2nd, 7-9PM; Saturday, October 3rd, 8AM-12:30PM (includes continental breakfast) WHERE: The Orchard Ministry Center, 109 Rand Place, Franklin, TN HOW MUCH: $25 advance, $30 at the door FEATURING: NY Times bestselling author, Donna VanLiere, bestselling Christian author and popular radio speaker, Dannah Gresh, award-winning Christian recording artist, author and speaker, Tammy Trent. INFO & REGISTER: www.FindingGraceOnline.org PHONE: (615) 512-7701 EMAIL: info@FindingGraceOnline.org
PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY REVIEWS DONNA'S UPCOMING CHRISTMAS NOVELLA, "THE CHRISTMAS SECRET"
"VanLiere makes getting into the Christmas spirit easy with the fifth installment in her Christmas Hope series."
"Single mom Angela Christine Eisley’s struggling to care for her young children, Zach and Haley: her waitress job isn’t bringing in a ton of dough; and Brad, her disgruntled ex, refuses to pay child support and is bent on taking custody. Soon, she’s lost her job and her landlord’s threatening eviction, but salvation comes in the form of another job and a handsome bachelor named Jason Haybert, who’s trying to locate the anonymous good Samaritan who saved a family friend’s life. The holiday cheerleading doesn’t stray too far afield as VanLiere tidily wraps up this reminder of the magic of giving. (Releasing Oct.)"
DONNA VANLIERE INDUCTED INTO THE OHIO FOUNDATION OF INDEPENDENT COLLEGES HALL OF EXCELLENCE
Joins such luminaries as Coretta Scott King, Hugh Downs, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, and Senator John Glenn.
On April 21, Cedarville alum Donna VanLiere ’89 was inducted into the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges Hall of Excellence. The honor was based on her years of exemplary writing and speaking skills. Besides Cedarville’s own Dr. David Jeremiah and Dr. Joseph Stowell, Donna joins such luminaries as Coretta Scott King, Hugh Downs, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, and Senator John Glenn.
“It was very humbling to be inducted alongside so many men and women of integrity,” Donna said. “I look at the list and think, ‘Which one of these is not like the others?!’ Still, I’m grateful for the honor.”
The Hall of Excellence was established in 1987 to honor alumni of member institutions of The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges whose lifetime achievements exemplify the traditions, ideals, strengths, and values of private higher education. Hall of Excellence members strongly reflect the historic ability of independent colleges, through academic excellence and personalized educational concepts, to prepare graduates for global opportunities and challenges in business and industry and the arts and sciences and for service to society, community and nation. The accomplishments and contributions of these alumni demonstrate the measurable returns from continuing investments in the education of today’s students and future leaders, many of whom, in time, will take their honored and deserved places in the OFIC Hall of Excellence.
A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Donna’s publications include The Christmas Shoes and The Christmas Blessing, both of which were adapted into movies by CBS television. Her latest book, a memoir titled Finding Grace, was released in April, and her next novel, The Christmas Secret, is due out this fall. The film adaptation of her book The Christmas Hope will air on Lifetime during the upcoming holiday season. Regarding her memoir, Donna said, “It took me a lot of years to discover what grace is, and my time at Cedarville was part of that discovery. The book is a journey for anyone who has experienced broken or unfulfilled dreams. I know from experience that God has a bigger dream for you.”
Donna and her husband, Troy, live with their three adopted children — two little girls from China and a boy from Guatemala — in Franklin, Tennessee. Find out more at www.donnavanliere.com and www.ofic.org/hall.
GREAT REVIEWS CONTINUE TO POUR IN ON FINDING GRACE
BellaOnline: The Voice of Women Reviews Finding Grace
Many adoption books on the market have several things in common. They provide information on different types of adoptions, home studies, paperwork, and follow up reports. Rarely do you find a book that shares the thoughts, feelings, and realities of confronting infertility and embracing adoption.
Finding Grace is a touching memoir written by Donna VanLiere. It’s about faith and life, and what happens when things don’t go according to your schedule or timeline. VanLiere really opens up about her search for grace throughout her life. Readers will be able to relate to VanLiere on many levels, such as being stuck in a job that you hate, to moving out of state for a job opportunity, all while trying to create family.
VanLiere talks about her struggles, her joys, and how her faith was always there, even when she still had many unanswered questions. She writes eloquently about many aspects of her life, and gives her honest thoughts at the time as well as her reflections looking back...
One part of her life that VanLiere wrote so candidly about was her struggle through infertility treatments. As with the rest of the book, she offers a truthful and candid view at what it was like, along with the less than helpful comments from people. Anyone who has been on the same journey will relate to struggling between infertility treatments and pursing adoption.
The more she copes with this struggle, the more you can see her contemplating adoption. You can almost see her faith growing by each turn of the page. Her words are so powerful, that you feel her excitement and joy when she writes, “From that instance on I never viewed adoption as our Plan B or a last ditch effort to have children. I never saw it as second rate or that I was somehow less of a woman because I couldn’t carry children. I saw it then as I see it today…as my destiny of grace.”
Donna VanLiere has done an extraordinary job of taking us on her personal journey to find grace. Her reflections on infertility and adoption are much needed, as not many books will cover both of these subjects so powerfully and passionately.
My only request is to see a follow up book on her experiences as a Mom, written with the same honesty, humor, and grace.
The gold standard among review journals for more than 100 years, Booklist Magazine's April issue will feature the following review of Finding Grace:
Although many books are called “inspirational memoirs,” too few live up to their label. VanLiere’s is one of the finest. Her life journey got off to a rocky start. Molested twice at a very early age, VanLiere was to face other soul-ripping experiences, including miscarriage and multiple failures with fertility efforts. Somehow, through the steadfast observation of small, everyday things, VanLiere experienced life-altering epiphanies, and she shares these in an open, honest fashion. Her folksy, familiar style makes readers feel as though they’re communing with a close friend. At turns poignant and humorous, her memoir is impossible to put down. Laced with thought-provoking quotations from philosophers and other great minds as well as from the Bible, Finding Grace is never preachy or didactic. It has the same appeal as Rabbi Harold S. Kushner’s excellent book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People (1983). Author of the best-selling Christmas Hope series, VanLiere expresses wonder as she finds joy in the mundane and jubilation in life’s little extras.
NEW MEMOIR BY BESTSELLING NOVELIST DONNA VANLIERE WILL INSPIRE READERS TO PERSEVERE, THROUGH LIFE’S DARKEST MOMENTS
In FINDING GRACE, VanLiere Discovers That The Gift Of Grace Can Change Our Lives
Donna VanLiere has touched the hearts of millions with her bestselling Christmas Hope novels, and the two television movies made from them. In her inspiring new memoir, FINDING GRACE (St. Martin’s Press, April 2009), VanLiere shares her personal journey, trying to make sense of the ups and downs, the joys and disappointments that mark the path that we all must follow. As New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber says FINDING GRACE “is an absolutely lovely book, so heartfelt and… well just plain wonderful.”
Beginning with her childhood in small-town Ohio and continuing through her schooling, career, and marriage, VanLiere describes her struggles to understand life and to persevere. She reveals her pain, and her eventual journey to a state of grace —something deeper and more substantial than happiness. She confronts the sexual abuse she endured as a child, as well as the despair she felt when she could not conceive. She questions God and life’s purpose. As everything seems to be falling apart, VanLiere learns to face her past, and make peace with it. She reveals the serendipitous way her writing career evolved, and she discovers the joy of motherhood when she and her husband travel to China and Guatemala to adopt their children.
Smart, candid, and deeply moving, FINDING GRACE is a book that will inspire readers with a message of hope. “I didn't set out to write a book about myself, but to use my experiences as mile markers on my journey of discovering what grace is and being able to find that better dream,” she says. “My book is about hope . . .how do we find it today when the wheels of our lives are coming off all around us? It's about grace . . . what in the world is grace? It's about dreams . . . how do we maintain them when our lives are failing apart? These are the true messages of FINDING GRACE,” she explains.
For anyone who has struggled to understand why life can be so difficult, why bad things happen to even the most innocent child, why our dreams – even the simplest ones – are often denied, FINDING GRACE is a source of comfort and contemplation. The wheels may come off, the rug may get pulled out from underneath us, but there is still hope and a state of grace. VanLiere’s message is an inspiration for us all.
"All goes well, we are in our second week of production. It has been –33 C [note from Donna - for those of you like me who haven't brushed up on their metric to standard conversions...that's -27 F! Or as I like to say..."burrrrr!"] . and we continue to have winter, but we will get a nice Christmas look for the movie, even though it is sooooooo cold. Our cast is good and we are loving what we are shooting, so keep your fingers crossed."
Hope to have you pictures and more information soon! Picture above is (L to R) Beth Grossbard, producer, Craig Anderson, producer and me.
"Friends & Fans of Donna VanLiere" recently debuted on the popular social network, Facebook. The newly formed group is a gathering place for those who enjoy the stories and syle of Donna VanLiere. Fans can post messages and stay up-to-date on the latest news from Donna. Join the group by clicking here... http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=116975100150
Donna writes Op-Ed Piece
Lifetime Movie Network is devoting an entire block of programming to the three holiday films, which begins with the airing of The Christmas Shoes at 4pm(ET/PT), followed by The Christmas Blessing at 6pm(ET/PT) and leading up to the world premiere of The Christmas Hope at 8pm (ET/PT). The premiere will be followed by an encore presentation of The Christmas Blessing and The Christmas Hope.
"VanLiere makes getting into the Christmas spirit easy with the fifth installment in her Christmas Hope series." (Publisher's Weekly) 
Donna joins national bestselling author and conference speaker Dannah Gresh and national recording artist Tammy Trent for Franklin, TN Women's Conference
The conference, also featuring bestselling Christian author and popular radio speaker, Dannah Gresh, as well as award-winning Christian recording artist, author and speaker, Tammy Trent, promises a deeper awareness of the gift of grace and its power to transform lives.
WHAT
"VanLiere makes getting into the Christmas spirit easy with the fifth installment in her Christmas Hope series."
BellaOnline: The Voice of Women Reviews Finding Grace
The gold standard among review journals for more than 100 years, Booklist Magazine's April issue will feature the following review of Finding Grace:
In FINDING GRACE, VanLiere Discovers That The Gift Of Grace Can Change Our Lives
Here's a note from the movie's producer...
"Friends & Fans of Donna VanLiere" recently debuted on the popular social network, Facebook. The newly formed group is a gathering place for those who enjoy the stories and syle of Donna VanLiere. Fans can post messages and stay up-to-date on the latest news from Donna. Join the group by clicking here... 