With every new story, I cross an unfamiliar threshold or look through a dusty window into the unknown.
Biography
Janie DeVos, a native of Coral Gables, Florida, began her career in the advertising industry. After more than a decade in that field, she focused her time and attention on her love of writing. DeVos began her freelance writing company, Rainy Day Creations, in 2000, and began composing verses for several greeting card companies. In 2001, How High Can You Fly?, DeVos’ first hardcover picture book, was published through River Road Press, followed on its heels with The Path Winds Home, in 2002.
Both books grabbed the attention of a New York publisher, East End Publishing, and in 2007, Ms. DeVos’ third book, Barthello’s Wing, made its debut. Scholastic Books was interested in including Barthello’s Wing in their North American school book fairs, and asked that it be produced in soft-cover. It was, and to date it has sold over 90,000 copies. In the spring of 2012, DeVos once again teamed up with seasoned publisher Pat Avery to release her fourth children’s book, The Shopkeeper’s Bear. It was released in November of that year, and has become a fan favorite.
In 2015, DeVos’ first adult historical fiction novel, Beneath a Thousand Apple Trees, found a home with prestigious Kensington Publishing, and was released in the fall of 2016. Its sequel, The Art of Breathing, followed in February, 2017. Kensington then signed DeVos to a three-book series about Old Florida, beginning in the 1870’s. The first book in the Glory Land series, A Corner in Glory Land, was released in December, 2017, followed by The Rising of Glory Land, and the final book in the trilogy, The River to Glory Land, was released in 2019.
Ms. DeVos has made numerous appearances in schools, libraries and bookstores. She has been a keynote speaker for Miami, Florida’s Title One Program, as well as the authors’ liaison for the Reading Across Broward Festival, and was one of three authors selected by Border’s Books in coordination with Children Services of Broward County, and Broward County Libraries, in their after-school programming, targeting at-risk children.
She lives with her husband and two Basset Hounds, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, and is presently working on a new series about train hopping during the Great Depression. DeVos is also a regular blogger with the WordWranglers, where she contributes pieces on a wide range of subjects.
