meet Debbie Fuller Thomas

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Debbie Fuller Thomas writes contemporary fiction from a historic Gold Rush town in Northern California. When she’s not working on her next book or planning children’s programs for her community, she enjoys singing with Colla Voce of the Sierras with her husband and spending time catching up with her two adult children. Her debut novel, Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon was a finalist for the 2009 Christy Award and the ACFW Book of the Year, and her latest release is Raising Rain.

You can follow Debbie through Twitter, at her website: www.debbiefullerthomas.com and her blog, Novel Matters.

Raising Rain
Raised to be a 'new woman' by her mother and three college roommates in the 70's amid anti-war protests, feminist rallies, and finals, Rain Rasmussen discovers that putting her career first has left her overdrawn at the egg-bank, and her baby fever has now driven off her significant other.

When her terminally ill mother demands a Celebration of Life before she dies; they all confront ghosts from the past on a 'stormy' weekend in Monterey. Bebe, the roommate closest to Rain's heart, revisits choices that have impacted Rain the most, raising doubts about God's—and her own—willingness to forgive and to be forgiven.




Here's an excerpt of Raising Rain:

CHAPTER ONE

When Bebe heard that Jude Rasmussen didn’t have long to live, she felt a curious mixture of sadness, guilt and relief. Not exactly normal feelings for a friend of more than 35 years, though you couldn’t exactly describe their relationship as ‘normal’—more like a thinly veiled hostage situation.

“Her cancer is back,” Rain said, gently swirling her coffee. “She didn’t want sympathy, so she kept it to herself. I haven’t connected with mom in awhile, so it wasn’t hard to keep it a secret. William finally made her tell me.”

Bebe put her hand on Rain’s arm. “I’m sorry, honey. I guess the hysterectomy didn’t help much. What can we do?”

Rain glanced up at the line of people snaking around their small table and leaned in toward Bebe. “Well, actually, she had her reasons for giving in to William and agreeing to tell me. I’m here on a mission.” She winced.

Bebe leaned in as well. “Go ahead. Out with it.”

“She wants to have a Celebration of Life before she dies. Not a memorial—a send-off, she calls it. One last chance to do something significant and she wants us all there to help plan it. You, me, the old college roommates. You know Mom. It’s got to be something big. I’m not exactly sure what she has in mind, but it sounds…complicated.”
Bebe blew out a breath and sat back in her chair. “That’s putting it mildly.” Then she added, “Oh, I’m sorry, Rain.”

“Don’t worry. I know what she’s like. I’ve been her daughter for 37 years.” Rain glanced at the time on her cell phone and gathered her wallet and sunglasses. “I’ve got to go. I can’t be late again. Loren’s just looking for an excuse to replace me as the lead on this Murrieta project.”

Bebe gathered her purse and dug for her keys as they headed out the door into the heat of the morning. The blast of dry air baked her skin, absorbing the layer of SPF 30 she’d slathered on to prevent more freckles. They crossed the parking lot to where their cars sat side by side like a pair of mismatched shoes.

Bebe paused to give Rain a hug before she got in, and caught the unexpected scent of baby powder. “I’ll call you later to see how you’re doing. And of course I’ll call Toni and Mare.”

They got into their cars and Bebe cranked up the air conditioning. Immediately, her cell phone rang, and Rain’s number displayed.

“You forget something?” Bebe asked, looking through her window into Rain’s car. Rain looked back from the driver’s seat, her eyes hidden behind sunglasses.

“Mom’s timing couldn’t have been more perfect.” There was a long pause. Bebe heard the insistent ‘ding’ of an unfastened seatbelt. “Hayden and I split up.”

“Oh, Rain—”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t need him. I can have a baby by myself. Love you.”

Bebe saw Rain snap the cell phone shut and glance over her shoulder as she backed her car into the street. Then she was gone.



You can purchase a copy of Raising Rain at CBD and Amazon:


Debbie is giving away a copy of Raising Rain. To be entered in the book giveaway, you must have a US address. Leave a comment and check back on Thursday, October 1st to see if you've won. If you want to guarantee that you're notified if you win, then leave your email address in the comment, otherwise, you can just check back and email me through the button in my sidebar. OR you could sign up to have Patterings updates delivered to your inbox. If you sign up for the email notifications and confirm your new subscription, it will give you a bonus entry in the giveaway, otherwise you can enter twice--once for each post you leave a comment on. :^)

Don't forget to check out and leave a comment on Nikki Arana's book giveaway!

6 comments:

  1. That book sounds sad but it would be a good read I do believe, please enter me into the drawing for it,

    May God bless

    mamat2730@charter.net

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous1:30 PM

    This one sounds good! Sunny

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like a wonderful story,ra ther heartwrenching. Please enter me in the drawing.

    cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  4. This looks very interesting! A bit different from what I usually pick up but still looks great!

    XOXO~ Renee
    steelergirl83(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  5. JoAnn S8:36 PM

    Please enter me in the drawing. Your book sounds good. Thank you.
    joann4us at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I enjoyed Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon and look forward to reading Debbie's new book. Thank you for the giveaway, Patty.

    cjarvis [at] bellsouth [dot] net

    ReplyDelete

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