In 1992 Janette Oke was recognized by the Evangelical Christian Publisher's Association for her contribution to Christian writing and leadership in creating Christian fiction as well as the outstanding achievement of selling more than 10 million copies of her books.
Janette Oke was born in Champion, Alta., to a Canadian prairie farmer and his wife. She grew up in the Depression years, the sixth child in a family of two sons and seven daughters. She graduated from Mountain View Bible College in Didsbury, Alta. Janette met her husband Edward while they both attended college. They were married in 1957 and have pastored churches in Indiana, and Calgary and Edmonton, Canada.
The Okes have three sons and one daughter and have several grandchildren who have their own special room when they come to stay with Grandma and Grandpa.
Janette and her husband are still busy serving in various capacities in the church and as Sunday School teachers. Their home is in Calgary, Alta.
As a child, Janette read everything she could get her hands on about pioneer life. When she discovered that many pioneers had a deep personal faith in God, she thought they should be credited for what their faith helped them to accomplish and she decided to write about it.
Even though Janette was married, working and raising their four teenagers, she wrote her Love Comes Softly in just three weeks. This book appeared on the publishers bestsellers list shortly after publication. "When the publisher asked for a sequel," she recalls, "I got scared!"
Janet believes that everyone will experience tough times and they need to be prepared to face them and to allow God to help us grow through these tough times.
She tries to communicate this principle through her stories and she strives to address problems most people face in life. The plot of each story is based on this prinicple of God's presence in the lives of the characters.
Janette's writing schedule is uniquely planned. In January she writes a children's book and then she writes a book for adults. She has both finished by May. In fall she begins a second adult book and completes it by December. She devotes her summers to her family.
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Sue Reichard's Writing for Children topic, please visit the Discussions page.