Donna VanLiere

Get ready for an unforgettable experience, Donna VanLiere is about to take the stage. A passionate truth-teller and a woman deeply committed to the well-being of others, Donna brings courage and heart to every story she shares. With her exceptional storytelling, she is sure to captivate and inspire. Buckle up – you’re in for something truly special!

"It's predictable that God will take care of us. What's unpredictable is how He will do it."

Keynote Topics

Keynote Themes

Bio

As a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author, Donna VanLiere’s 21 titles include The Christmas Shoes and The Christmas Blessing – both of which were adapted into movies starring Rob Lowe, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Neil Patrick Harris. Both movies garnered stellar ratings for CBS, including the highest rated made-for-TV movie of the year. A thrilling hybrid of fiction and non-fiction was brought to life in the pages of a series of books including The Time of Jacob’s Trouble and Daniel’s Final Week.  The Christmas Hope starring Madeline Stowe, The Christmas Secret starring Bethany Joy Lenz, The Christmas Note starring Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and The Christmas Town starring Candace Cameron Bure were all adapted for made-for-TV movies.  Donna’s non-seasonal novel’s, The Good Dream, Angels of Morgan Hill and non-fiction works like Finding Grace and High Calling – the biography of Space Shuttle Columbia Commander Rick Husband – capture the same warmth and poignancy as her Christmas books. A series of two books will be released, beginning in 2025 with Looking for Christmas: A Search for the Joy and Hope of the Nativity and followed in 2026 with Looking for God: A Search for Real Love in an Unreal World.

Donna has won a Retailer’s Choice Award for Fiction, a Dove Award, a Silver Angel Award, two Audie Awards (seven nominations) for best inspirational fiction, has been a nominee for a Gold Medallion Book of the Year and is an inductee in the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges Hall of Excellence joining such luminaries as Coretta Scott King, Hugh Downs, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale and Senator John Glenn. She was honored by her alma mater, Cedarville University, in 2023 as Alumna of the Year. Donna has served on the board of directors for National House of Hope, a residency program that is offered in several states for abused and at-risk teens.

One of Donna’s great loves is teaching and speaking. She has appeared at countless events around the country including keynote addresses at the prestigious Patricia Adams Lecture Series at Heidelberg University, Women of Faith, Among Friends Conferences and Extraordinary Women.

Reviews

"Fasten your seat belts ladies Donna VanLiere is at the mic. She is a truth-teller, and a woman committed to the well-being of others. She's brave, a storyteller of the finest ilk, and I'm grateful to say, she is my friend."
Patsy Clairmont
Women of Faith speaker, Author of Twirl... a Fresh Spin at Life
“Donna VanLiere served as a Patricia Adams Lecture Series speaker at Heidelberg University. This premier speaker series brings highly accomplished and distinctive women from all professional fields to our campus. Ms. VanLiere has made our world better through her professional contributions, career achievements, personal values, and community leadership. Donna interacted in class settings, panel discussions, and formal presentations. She also delivered a wonderful keynote dinner address to campus guests. I admire Donna's commitment to the craft of writing meaningful stories about important beliefs, issues and concerns in our lives. We are grateful that Donna became part of our great university.”
Robert H. Huntington, Ed.D.
Heidelberg University President, Associate Professor of Business
"I have shared the platform with Donna numerous times and am always amazed at how multi-faceted she is. Through her poignant delivery of the word of God coupled with her own life stories, I am often belly laughing or moved to tears. After the 'experience' of Donna's many gifts I always find myself in the presence of God and reminded of his great love and redemption."
Kathy Troccoli
Singer, Speaker, Author

Featured Videos

Featured Books

Already a Christmas classic, The Christmas Shoes is an extraordinary tale based on the remarkably popular song of the same name and adapted to a made-for-TV movie. The story follows the paths of a man and a boy through one fateful, snowy Christmas. Beautifully rendered and poignantly touching The Christmas Shoes tells a tale of hope, love and faith.

In this full-length novel from the New York Times Bestselling author of The Christmas Hope series Donna VanLiere has written a beautifully rendered and poignant story about one woman's unlikely path to motherhood and the healing power of love.

This page-turning story will take you on a riveting journey from New York City to Israel, and in the final chapters, Donna turns to the pages of the Bible, where you’ll learn that God has made known to us “the end from the beginning,” and that things aren’t spiraling downward but are actually looking up.

Finding Grace is the powerful, often humorous, and deeply moving story of one woman's journey of broken dreams. It is the story of how a painful legacy of the past is confronted and met with peace. This book is for anyone who has struggled to understand why our desires- even the simplest ones-are sometimes denied or who has questioned where God is when we need him most.

Looking for Christmas (Releasing September 2025).
If you’re longing to go beyond the usual holiday traditions and activities, Looking for Christmas invites you to a richer, more meaningful connection with what Christmas is truly about. Experience renewed hope and discover how this story can bring more peace and joy into your home at Christmas and beyond!

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