This is Me

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My Official Bio

(After reading this, scroll down for something a little less formal!)

Three-time Award-winning writer Jan Hemby is a native North Carolinian who is proud of her small-town heritage. Her first novel, The Gates Manor Band, was published in 2016, with the sequel, Secrets and Surrender, debuting in February 2019. 

Burnt Toast: Devotions for Imperfect People  launched in February 2018 and ranked number six in Amazon's top 100 new devotional releases. In 2019, it earned an Illumination Book Awards silver medal in the Enduring Light Devotional Category.  In 2020, Jan's first novel, The Gates Manor Band, received an Illumination Book Awards silver medal in the Enduring Light Christian Fiction Category. 

 
Her second devotional book, Spilt Milk: Devotions for Imperfect People, was published in 2022 and placed at number eleven in Amazon's top 100 new devotional releases. It received an Illumination Book Awards bronze medal in the Inspirational Category.

 
Jan is also a speaker featured at book clubs, libraries, churches, and civic organizations. She lives in Wilson, North Carolina, with her husband, Billy. They 

have two grown daughters, Hope and Cara, and one grandson named Ezra. 

 
Something A Little Less Formal

 
Whew! Glad we got that out of the way. Now we can just talk!

 
I've always wanted to be a writer. I started penning poetry and short stories as early 

as the first grade. When I was six years old, I wrote a poem (with one of those fat beginner pencils, no less!) that my teacher published in our weekly class newsletter. 

She printed it on one of those old mimeograph machines that would turn your fingers purple if you touched the paper before the ink was completely dry.  I still have a copy of it somewhere in my attic! 

 
Fast-forward ten years. At sixteen, I encountered something that changed my life in more ways than I could ever communicate with mere words, although that is my goal. That something was the love of God. The purpose of my writing is to share the truth and richness of that love through material that is fresh and relevant.

One of the reasons I can confidently say that my readers will enjoy my books is because I can't take all of the credit! My publisher, Blue Ink Press,  has an incredibly talented group of editors. The success of my books is always a team effort. 

That said, awards or book sales aren't the only way to measure success. Real success is when a  life is changed because of something I've written. It's when readers tell me my devotional book helped them get through a difficult season. It's when a friend approaches me at a book signing to tell me that she, like the character Margaret in 

my fiction books, had been a victim of abuse. The message of healing spoke directly 

to her. 

 
This is why I do what I do. I hope my writing will introduce you - perhaps for the first time - to a love that doesn't just specialize in the difficult but the impossible. There's only one thing it can't do, and that is fail.

 
Thank you for allowing me to share a little about me. To stay in touch, please click on the "Contact Us" page and provide your email so I can inform you about book releases and upcoming events. 

Special Announcement!

I'm excited to announce that the third installment - and suspenseful conclusion to the Gates Manor Series - is available for preorder! The title is Keepsakes, and it officially debuts November 2nd. For the entire list of my books, click "Let's Shop!"