Name This Author – Win a Novel (Round 16)

Here we are again. I'm so glad so many of my blog readers are enjoying this series. It's been fun for me, too.

This round's award-winning author of more than twenty novels was a debate champion in high school, winning several top speaker awards, even though she didn't go out for debate until her senior year. Growing up a farm girl, she could drive a tractor or wheat truck and saddle and ride a horse. She showed prize pigs at the county fair (and cried her eyes out when she turned traitor on her piggie at the 4-H auction). Though she now flies commercial 6-7 times a year—and loves it—she'd never been on any kind of airplane until she turned 30. Can you guess who she is? (Click photo to see larger size.) Update Wednesday night: No guesses yet, so I'm adding another photo to see if it helps anyone.

The Rules:

• Entrant must put their guess in a comment on the Write Thinking blog. Commenting on Facebook or Twitter doesn't count toward a chance to win. (At present, commenters are not required to sign in, making it easier for more folks to play.)
• Entrant must have a USA mailing address to be eligible to win a book. (Sorry. Cost of postage outside the US is too prohibitive.)
• The first person to name the featured author correctly wins a Robin Lee Hatcher novel (of Robin's choice). If no one has guessed correctly by Friday morning, there will be no winner for this round.
• If there is a winner, he or she will be announced in an update at the bottom of this post. If the winner fails to contact Robin at her Write Thinking email address (see left sidebar) with his/her mailing address, no prize will be awarded to a runner-up.
• No one who has won a book within one month is eligible to win.

Be sure to check back to this post on Friday to see the answer and to see if you've won.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Julie Nadaud correctly identified this round's author. Congratulations. Please contact me at the email address listed in the left sidebar with your mailing address so I can get a book out to you. As a bonus, Deborah Raney has agreed to send the winner one of her books as well.

This week's featured author, as noted above, is Deborah Raney. She has written more than twenty books. Her newest series is The Hanover Falls Novels, published by Howard/Simon & Schuster. Publishers Weekly said of her 2004 novel, A NEST OF SPARROWS (WaterBrook Press/Random House), "In this thoughtful novel by Raney…multifaceted characters and a fresh story line keep the pages turning. Raney intertwines poignant moments with genuine humor… This is one of Raney's best novels…" Please visit her web site to learn more about Deborah and her books.

Check back again next Wednesday for another round of Name This Author.

~robin