Debbie Macomber

Debbie Macomber (born October 22, 1948) is an American author of romance novels and contemporary women's fiction. Six of her novels have become made-for-TV movies and her Cedar Cove series of novels was adapted into a television series of the same name. Macomber was the inaugural winner of the fan-voted Quill Award for romance in 2005

She also works as executive producer on the television adaptations of her books.

Career

Early career Macomber is dyslexic and had a high school education. Determined to be a writer, After five years and many rejections from publishers, she turned to freelance magazine work.

Macomber attended a romance writers' conference, where one of her manuscripts was selected to be publicly critiqued by an editor from Harlequin. The editor tore apart her novel and recommended that she throw it away. Undaunted, Macomber spent $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. Macomber continued to write 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 releasing two or three titles per year. By 1994, Macomber began releasing single-title novels. Her first hardcover was released in 2001.

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." Because of her Christian beliefs, Macomber does not include explicit sexual details in her books, although they do contain sensuality.

Over 170 million copies of her books are in print throughout the world. This Matter of Marriage became a made-for-TV-movie in 1998.

In July 2013, the Hallmark Channel began airing its first-ever original, scripted series based on her Cedar Cove book series. Macomber is the series developer and executive producer. The Cedar Cove television series ran for 3 seasons and ended in 2015. The show received 2 nominations for LEO awards, Best Costume Design in a Dramatic Series and Best Supporting Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series (2014), and one nomination for a Prism award, Drama Episode - Mental Health (2015).

Awards and reception 2003 - Romance Writers of America RITA Award, Traditional Romance – The Christmas Basket

Macomber is also a three-time winner of the B. Dalton Award, She has been awarded the Romantic Times Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award.

She threw out the first pitch in a Seattle Mariners game at Safeco Field in 2007.

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 a national board member for Warm-Up America, and was appointed an ambassador for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America national office in 1997.

Macomber and her husband, Wayne, raised four children and have grandchildren. They live in Port Orchard, Washington.

Published works