Renee Gray-Wilburn began writing in 1997 when she founded A Way With Words Writing and Editorial Services Company after a short career as a high-tech recruiter in Silicon Valley. Her company was formed to provide resume design services and various writing and editing help for those in the “Valley.”
She moved to Colorado Springs in 2001, and by 2005 she had begun writing for publication. Since that time she has amassed over 200 published pieces, including dozens of magazine articles, contributions to over ten compilation books, including the Cup of Comfort series and Life Savors for Women, and over a dozen children’s curriculum books, including projects for David C. Cook and Group Publishing.
She fell in love with the challenge and reward of writing for children, and teamed up with Capstone Press to author two children’s books—Volcanoes! and Earthquakes!, which were published in 2012.
Renee is now celebrating the release of her first non-fiction book for the inspirational market, Grandparenting Through Obstacles: Overcoming Family Challenges to Reach Your Grandchildren for Christ. Although not a grandparent herself, Renee recognized the need for a book that would encourage Christian grandparents on their sometimes challenging spiritual journey with their grandkids. She enlisted the help of fellow writer, Dianne Butts, to join her in trying to reach this vital generation with a helpful resource and tool.
In addition to her writing, Renee has sought to mentor other writers by developing workshops to teach at writers’ conferences, providing teleclass coaching services for children’s writers, and maintaining a blog for writers at: www.AWayWithWordsWriting.wordpress.com
and www.facebook.com/AWayWithWordsWritingServices
Renee still writes from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in breathtaking Colorado Springs, where she lives with her husband, Derrick, and their three children, Conner, Cayla, and Chandler.
Dianne E. Butts is a freelance writer, author, and screenwriter. After more than twenty years as a magazine writer, she has more than 300 articles in printed magazines including Enrichment Journal, Encounter, the Salvation Army’s national magazine, Lookout, Light & Life, and On Mission. On the internet she has written for CBN.com and currently she writes regularly for www.FindingGodDaily.com, www.TheChristianPulse.com, and www.ThinkingAboutSuicide.com.
She has contributed to 19 books. Chicken Soup for the Soul books with her stories include Say Good-bye to Stress, Devotional Stories for Tough Times, and 101 Best Stories of Faith. She wrote for two A Cup of Comfort Devotionals: for Women and for Mothers. She also contributed to Zondervan’s New Women’s Devotional Bible.
Grandparenting through Obstacles: Overcoming Family Challenges to Reach Your Grandchildren for Christ is her third book.
Her first book, Dear America: A Letter of Comfort and Hope to a Grieving Nation, written after 9/11, is still in print and was released on Kindle for its tenth anniversary.
Her second book is Deliver Me: Hope, Help, & Healing through True Stories of Unplanned Pregnancy contains more than 50 true stories and is for anyone who needs delivered from shame or guilt of an unplanned pregnancy, whether in her or his present or past. Deliver Me
- won Nonfiction “Book of the Year” from Christian Small Publishers Association (Family/Relationships)
- was a finalists for the Golden Scroll Nonfiction Book of the Year awarded by Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA)
A story in Deliver Me inspired the first film Dianne wrote, produced, and directed for the 168 Film Project in February 2012. View her 10-minute movie, “The Choice,” on YouTube at: http://bit.ly/TheChoiceFilm. Dianne is planning and writing more films to produce.
Dianne has more books on the horizon with Pix-N-Pens publishing, including Prophecies Fulfilled in the Birth of Jesus, planned to release for Christmas 2012, and 50 Days of Hope from the New Testament expected in 2013.
Dianne has long mentored beginning and intermediate writers through a monthly electronic magazine, which she converted to a blog in June 2012 at www.ButtsAboutWriting.blogspot.com
Dianne lives in southern Colorado. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys gardening with her cat P.C. and riding her motorcycle with her husband, Hal. They are members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association.
For more information or to schedule an interview with Dianne and Renee, please contact them through Tracy Ruckman at: editor [at] writeintegrity.com.
Or contact Renee at waywords [at] earthlink.net and Dianne at dbwrites [at] juno.com
Grandparenting Through Obstacles:
Overcoming Family Challenges to Reach Your Grandchildren for Christ
by Renee Gray-Wilburn and Dianne E. Butts
Being a grandparent is supposed to be a joyous, fun-filled adventure. But what happens when, because of family challenges—such as parents who are no longer walking with God, grandchildren who live hundreds or thousands of miles away, families that have been ravaged by divorce or otherwise torn apart, or simply learning the grandparent’s role as it relates to the parents—your life as a grandparent is now full of anxiety and despair as you desperately try to impart your Christian faith to your grandkids?
Through the true stories, discussion questions, Scripture, prayers, tips, and resources of Grandparenting Through Obstacles, Christian grandparents everywhere will find the hope and encouragement they need to be intentional and successful at reaching their grandchildren for the Lord.
Learn more at: www.grandparentingthruobstacles.wordpress.com
PRESS RELEASE
Grandparenting Through Obstacles Brings Hope and Encouragement for Christian Grandparents Struggling with Family Challenges
Colorado Springs and Pueblo, CO, August 7, 2012—Renee Gray-Wilburn and Dianne E. Butts have teamed up to help Christian grandparents struggling to reach their grandchildren for the Lord due to family obstacles and challenges. Grandparenting Through Obstacles’ compilation of true stories from everyday grandparents, along with discussion questions, Scripture verses, prayers, and fun ideas will warm your heart, spurn your creativity, and strengthen your resolve to dive head first into the divine role of grandparenting.
With nearly 70 million grandparents in America, and 1.7 million new grandparents being added every year, grandparents now make up one-third of our population! Additionally, about 75 percent of grandparents take care of their grandchildren on a regular basis—a trend that shows no signs of slowing in the near future.
Combine these statistics with the fact that only 4 percent of our current generation born since 1984 claim to be church-attending, Bible-believing Christians, and it’s easy to see that today’s grandparents have a unique—and challenging—opportunity to play a crucial role in building God’s kingdom. The ideas, information, and inspiration that Grandparenting Through Obstacles provides offers grandparents the potential to help turn a generation back to Christ.
Cavin Harper, Executive Director for the Christian Grandparenting Network, states, “[Grandparenting Through Obstacles’] stories will fill your grandparenting toolbox with some exciting new tools for impacting your own grandchildren and families with the reality of the Gospel.”
Grandparenting Through Obstacles is available at www.Amazon.com, www.BarnesandNoble.com, and through www.PixNPens.com. It be may purchased in paperback, Kindle, or Nook versions.
About the Authors:
Renee Gray-Wilburn is the author of over 200 published pieces, including dozens of magazine articles, two children’s books (Volcanoes! and Earthquakes!—Capstone Press), contributions to over ten compilation books, and over a dozen children’s curriculum books. She has also provided ghostwriting services for many ministries and authors and has taught at national writers’ conferences and through teleclasses. Renee founded A Way With Words Writing and Editorial Services, which provides editing, proofreading, critiquing, and instructional services.
Dianne E. Butts has more than 300 published print articles, including contributions to 19 books, and writes frequently for online sites. She is a screenwriter and recently produced her first short film, “The Choice.” She is the author of two other books, Deliver Me and Dear America. Dianne is a member of Advance Writers and Speakers Association and offers help to writers at www.ButtsAboutWriting.blogspot.com. Find her at www.DianneEButts.com, www.DeliverMeBook.com and www.DeliverMeBook.blogspot.com.
Grandparenting through Obstacles 