Raine Thomas

It’s such a pleasure being a part of The Writer’s Voice. What an amazing gathering of writers with whom to keep company! This is where I’m meant to tell you a bit about me. I’ll be honest that I find it much easier to dwell in fantasy…but here goes.

I live just outside of Orlando, Florida with my Canadian husband of ten years, my five-year-old daughter, a 90-pound mutt and a 15-pound feline goddess. We watch Disney’s Magic Kingdom fireworks from our back porch whenever the mood strikes us. I was born in Chicago, Illinois and have lots of family there, and also lived in the Atlanta area for twelve years. My husband and I decided that big cities have lots to offer, but we’re quite happy here.

My career background ranges from working at a law firm to being an administrator for a nonprofit organization serving children and adolescents with severe emotional disturbances. Somewhere along the way I became a human resources manager for an IT-based company, and for the last three years, I’ve been a wedding planner. As of this past July, I’m now also a published author. Quite the range, no?

Along every step in my career path, my bachelor’s degree in English proved invaluable. Legal documents require extreme precision of the written word. The nonprofit organization I worked for had to borrow copy paper from other offices until I wrote its first million-dollar grant. My wedding planning career has included co-authoring a book for wedding vendors and writing blogs and articles for national online wedding resources.

But it was through my master’s degree program in Humanities that I was exposed to many different ways of thinking. My writing expanded beyond the technical aspects (which, mind you, are incredibly important) and grew more creative and free-flowing. If it hadn’t been for the subjects introduced through my master’s program, in fact, I don’t know that the Daughters of Saraqael would have come to life in my books.

Fortunately, each experience along the way led me to publish Becoming, Central and Foretold, my Daughters of Saraqael YA fantasy/romance trilogy. The books begin with 18-year-old Amber Hopkins, a heroine who experienced an upbringing similar to many of the youth I once served. Telling her story really brought me full circle in my career. My next Estilorian books (the Firstborn trilogy) will be ready to launch in the coming few months (with Estilorian short story releases in between). In the meantime, I blog about writing-related (and other) topics and love interacting with people via my website, Facebook and Twitter. Please find me and start up a conversation!

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rainethomas
Twitter: http://twitter/Raine_Thomas
Website: http://RaineThomas.com
Blog: http://RaineThomas.com/blog/