Goodness Gracie!
“...serving one another with the various colors of God’s grace.”
1 Peter 4:10
 For the first eighteen years of my life I did not like, no I really hated my name. I couldn’t understand for the life of me why my mother named me Gracie when
our last name was Allen. Of course, Mother had no idea that at the same time I was growing into a gregarious teen, George Burns and Gracie Allen would
become a famous duo in vaudeville. And, how could she have known the sheer angst our identical names would cause me? I often thought, If only Gracie
Allen (the original) had been a dignified lady with a touch of class instead of a ditzy blonde who couldn’t say a complete sentence without sounding dumb.
So, I was delighted when, at the tender age of almost nineteen, Joe Malone asked me to marry him. My first thought, well maybe my second thought, was
I wouldn’t be Gracie Allen any more.
After a few years of enjoying the sound of Gracie Malone, I finally started appreciating my mother’s choice of names for me. This change of heart came
about when I began to comprehend the grace of God. My name, Gracie, would be a constant reminder of how much I need Him and how amazing His grace really is.
I’m not sure exactly what motivated me to become a writer. Maybe it was that desire to escape the ditzy Gracie Allen image. But, I’d like to think it came
from a Higher Calling. I know for certain, the urge came early in my life. I can’t even remember a time when I didn’t like the rustle of paper, the smell of
crayons and ink, the satisfaction of recording my thoughts in a diary or journal, and the great joy of knowing, at least to me
and my friends, that my writings made sense. Even though I started early, it wasn’t until after Joe and I had packed up our
last kid and sent him off to college that I mailed something I’d written to a magazine. I wondered if, just maybe, they’d be interested in publishing it. They were! (There’s life after kids!).
My first article came out in Moody Magazine in 1994. Since then, my work’s been published several times in Moody, and in
other well-known magazines including Discipleship Journal, Decision, Live, Women Alive, Christian Parenting Today, Home Life, Celebrate Life, and The Virtuous Woman. One of my articles won the “Best Article” award at the 1997 Florida Christian
Writer’s Conference. Remember what I said about God’s grace?
“Courage for the Chicken-Hearted,” my first book project, co-authored with four friends, a group affectionately dubbed ”Hens
With Pens,” quickly became a best seller. The success of our first book encouraged us to write it’s sequel the next year:
“Eggstra Courage for the Chicken-Hearted” (Honor Books, 1998, 1999). We’ve been amazed how God has blessed those two
books. They were reprinted by Guidepost into a hardbound two-volume set, and later published in the Korean language. After
that I just couldn’t stop writing. Today I’m the author of several books including “LifeOvers,” (Check the links on my home
page.) I’ve also had the privilege of contributing to several humorous books including “Humor for a Woman’s Heart,” “Humor
for a Mom’s Heart,” “Help I Can’t Stop Laughing,” “Just Call Them Laugh Lines” and the Women of Faith compilation, “She
Who Laughs, Lasts.” In addition, I was blessed to be featured in “Real Magnolias-Stories of Women Finding Hope, Love and
Laughter.” Considering all the things I’ve been called in my life it has been nice to be labeled something as beautiful and sweet as a magnolia blossom.
In addition to my writing, I am a Precept Leader and frequent speaker for women’s conferences and retreats. I enjoy teaching
Bible study groups, mentoring women, training leadership and helping to establish small group ministries in churches.
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