Interview with Author Debby Lee and a Giveaway!

Welcome to Readers Write to Know! I asked you, my readers, what questions they would ask their favorite authors if given the chance. This week, I’m so pleased to introduce you to Debby Lee. Debby hails from Toledo, Washington, a city I spent a good portion of my childhood driving passed as my family traveled between our home in Ft. Lewis, Washington, and my parents’ hometown in Oregon. I LOVE the Pacific Northwest. It is truly, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on earth. Debby also had a crush on Shaun Cassidy, so she and I are in the same club there was well. 🙂 I am so exited to welcome her here and hope that you enjoy her interview as much as I did. Debby is giving away an ebook of Butterflies are Free for one reader, so check out the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win!

DebbyLeepicforBarbour[1]Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Debby Lee was raised in the cozy little town of Toledo, Washington. She has been writing since she was a small child and has written several novels, but never forgets home.

The Northwest Christian Writers Association and Romance Writers of America are two organizations Debby enjoys being a part of. Publications, thus far, include a series of short stories titled The Butterfly Fairytales Collection, and a novella with Barbour Publishing.

As a self-professed nature lover, and an avid listener to 1960s folk music, Debby can’t help but feel like a hippie child who wasn’t born soon enough to attend Woodstock. She wishes she could run barefoot all year long, but often does anyway in grass and on beaches in her hamlet that is the cold and rainy southwest Washington.

During the football season, Debby cheers on the Seattle Seahawks along with legions of other devoted fans. She’s also filled with wanderlust and dreams of visiting Denmark, Italy, and Morocco some day.

Tell us about your current release.
Take a journey back to the days of Volkswagen Beetles, bell-bottom jeans, and running barefoot through the summer grass, and find romance in these four sweet hippie-themed novelettes.
ButterflyFairytales_Lee[1]Butterflies are Free
Lena Thumble hopes to sing at Woodstock, but her parents’ venomous disapproval stands in the way, and then her boyfriend gets drafted.

Butterflies are Beautiful
Gabby Keller is eager to go with her new boyfriend to a classmate’s wedding, but the cruelty she experiences due to her physical disabilities threatens her plans.

Christmas Butterflies
Misty Spain joins forces with a local police officer to help a young child in need, but danger lurks close behind.

Butterflies of Valor
Anna Michaels spent a tense thirteen months waiting for her fiance to come home from Vietnam, but she never anticipated how much he would change while serving his country.

 

Undaunted by the challenges they face, these free spirited women risk everything to make their dreams come true, but will they find love along the way, or lose everything they hold dear?

 

Whats the first major news headline that you can remember and what do you remember? I was a freshman in high school the day President Reagan was shot. I remember the day well. A somber mood permeated the atmosphere. My peers held little hope for his survival. That possibility frightened me. I never thought I’d see a president die in office. My heart ached for the other victims of the terrible butterfliesordeal, but I breathed a sigh of relief when the President recovered.

Who was your first Screen/Musical Crush?  Shaun Cassidy. What can I say, I’ve always thought blonds were cute.

Have you always wanted to write a book? I wrote my first book because I wanted to say, while on my death bed, that I wrote a book. At that point it wasn’t all about getting published. Whether it be the next greatest American novel, unpublishable trash or somewhere in between, I simply wanted to accomplish the feat of writing a book. Writing my first novel was such a learning experience. It took me four years of tenacious and sometimes frustrating work, but I grew as a person. I enjoyed it so much, I decided to keep writing.

Do you have your plotline and character development already laid out before you begin writing a book, or do they develop as you write? I’ve always been more of a panster, but I’m learning the hard way, that there’s less revisions to do if I actually take some time to think about where my characters are going before I grab them by the hand and leap off the deep end. Simple plotting methods that allow for some flexibility work best for me.

Which of your characters most reflects your personality? There’s a little bit of me in each female character I’ve written. I think my favorite one tends to be Gabby Keller in Butterflies are Beautiful, one of the novelettes in this anthology. I believe everyone, at one time or another has felt inferior and like they didn’t measure up. I’ve certainly had moments like that. The character, Gabby, suffers from physical disabilities. I felt it would be too trite to heal her handicap and have her live happily ever after. Instead I gave her the courage to accept her scars and find beauty, in her uniqueness. And I gave her the middle name Theresa, after Mother Theresa. This was so I would remember, while writing the story, that one doesn’t have to look like a super model to be beautiful. It was a challenging, but emotionally rewarding, story to write.

You can find Debby Lee at her website :  www.booksbydebbylee.com

Find Debby’s book on Amazon here:

Debby is giving away a copy of Butterflies are Free to one of my readers! Enter below for your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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12 comments

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  1. I LOVE the book design! I’m a bit of a hippie at heart, and my husband drives a VW Beetle. 🙂
    Becca C recently posted…UberSmart Math Facts~A Schoolhouse Crew ReviewMy Profile

    1. Hi Becca, thanks for the sweet comment abut my book cover. I’m also I hippie at heart, obviously. 🙂

    • Lisa Howard Colpo on August 27, 2014 at 17:09
    • Reply

    I would love to win this book and would be a great book to read

    1. Hi Lisa, thanks for the comment, good luck in the contest. 🙂

    • Kathy O'Hanlon on August 27, 2014 at 19:48
    • Reply

    Sounds like a great book. I would love to win one.

    1. Thanks Kathy, for being interested in my book. Good luck in the contest. 🙂

  2. What an interesting set of storylines. Thank you for sharing. I love Oregon. It definitely feels peaceful to me also.
    Heather M recently posted…Food Should Taste Good, One Chip at a TimeMy Profile

    1. Hi Heather, thank you for the kind sweet comments about my book. Yes, Oregon is really pretty. 🙂

    • Anita Rodgers on August 28, 2014 at 08:16
    • Reply

    It sounds like it would be a great book to read.

  3. Thank you, Anita, for the kind words about my book. 🙂

    • Phronsie on August 29, 2014 at 03:03
    • Reply

    Go Seahawks!

    In other news: It does sound like an interesting book!

    1. Yeah, what you said, Phronsie, Go Seahawks! Thanks for the comments, 🙂

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