Debbie and I met online and have become friends. It’s exciting the authors we find who write many books, are committed to creating stories for entertainment and are, like the rest of us, looking to increase our reader base.
Introduce yourself. Tell us about your personal life, family, education. My name is Debbie De Louise. I’m a reference librarian at a public library on Long Island and the author of 8 novels, a novella, and several short stories of various genres. I have a B.A. in English and a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science. I’m married and have a daughter in high school. I love cats and usually include them in my writing.
What do you like doing in your spare time? Between working full time and writing, I don’t have much spare time, but I enjoy exercising and dancing. I like to walk. I love reading and have a huge list of to-be-read books. I also find playing with my young cats to be relaxing. I watch one TV show a night with my husband on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
If you are active in career fields other than writing, what do you hope for the future of that business? Describe your work or business activities in which you are presently active. As a librarian, I order the fiction and mystery books for our collection and answer information-related questions. I’ve been in this field for a long time and have seen major changes, a shift from physical books to eBooks and patrons requiring less reference help and more technical computer assistance. With the recent outbreak of COVID-19, the “digital shift” has accelerated. I hope that libraries can continue to function as a place of learning and that books in all formats can be enjoyed.
Debbie’s Latest Release
Memory Makers Synopsis
Twenty-five years ago, Lauren Phelps and her sister Patty were kidnapped from their backyard on Long Island. Lauren escaped her captor, but Patty was killed.
Ever since, Lauren has suffered from nightmares of the “Shadow Man.” Trying to recall his face and avenge her sister’s murder, Lauren, now a kidnapping investigator, enrolls in a clinical trial for a new memory drug.
At the offices of Memory Makers in California, she receives the injections of the Memory Makers’ serum, and begins to experience flashbacks of repressed memories. Along with the flashbacks, she receives threats from an anonymous source that point back to her childhood trauma.
Soon, Lauren becomes involved with a fellow trial participant who seeks to recall his own traumatic past. But can Lauren discover the identity of the “Shadow Man” before history repeats itself?
Memory Makers eBook: http://mybook.to/memorymakers
Memory Makers Paperback: http://mybook.to/MMpbk
Memory Makers pocket book: http://mybook.to/MMpocket
Memory Makers Large Type edition: http://mybook.to/MMLT
Memory Makers Clear Print edition: : http://mybook.to/MMpaper
More From Debbie
If you are a writer, are you an avid reader? Yes, but I wish I had more time to read. Besides my work as a librarian which allows me exposure to a wide variety of books, I’m also a reviewer for Booklist, a popular ordering journal. Since I write mysteries, I also enjoy reading them, but I like to try other genres and new as well as popular authors.
What is your ultimate writing goal as you see it today? I’ve been writing books for Indie publishers steadily since 2015 and, for the past two years, have been querying literary agents off and on hoping to land a book deal with a large publisher. I currently had a response from one who requested my full manuscript, so I’m trying to stay positive that she will be interested in representing me. I know that doesn’t guarantee a large publisher accepting my work, but it’s very difficult to sell a book without an agent behind you today.
What inspired you to write your first book? My first published book, Cloudy Rainbow, was actually written in 2008. I wrote it after my 15-year-old cat, Floppy died. It was a paranormal romance that featured Floppy as the main character’s cat. In this book, I also fictionalized many of my experiences including that of working on my college newspaper. It was published by a self-publishing company, and I later reprinted it with one of my current publishers.
How much of your books is realistic and experiences based on someone you know, or events in your life? I’d say about 10 to 20 per cent of my books, depending on the book, feature my experiences, but they are fictionalized. I change them so that they fit the story, are different and yet retain the same event or feelings and are interesting to the reader who may also identify with the circumstances or situations described. I feel that true experiences make a story more realistic and that there’s always a part of me and my life in everything I write.
My first book, as I mentioned earlier, featured many of my experiences in college. I also had a scene with the main character who couldn’t find her cat, and she ended up finding him hiding in the bedsprings of her mattress. This actually happened with my Floppy.
I don’t include many of my experiences in my current book, Memory Makers, but there is a subplot involving two of the main character’s cats who are named after my own Harry and Hermione. There’s also a character suffering from dementia who, in the clinical trials, believes she is in a classroom. That’s based on my dear mother whose memory I dedicate the book to and who suffered from dementia and often thought she was back in school.
How do you want others to see you or remember you? Is it important to you? I’d like to be remembered as someone who wrote books that gave people enjoyment, surprised them, and made them think and feel. It is very important to me that my writing is shared with others so that I can give them my own special gift of words and return the favor that I’ve received from other authors. It would be an honor to be remembered this way by having touched the lives of readers whether they are in my hometown or in another country.
Other Books by Debbie
Do you have a blog or website viewers can visit for updates, events and special offers? Include links to any and all of your sites. I have two blogs, a newsletter, and a Facebook group. My main website/blog is https://debbiedelouise.com.
My author newsletter can be subscribed to through that site. My character’s blog is located at https://sneakylibrarycat.wordpress.com. My Facebook group is hosted monthly by a character from one of my novels. The link to that group is https://www.facebook.com/groups/748912598599469/
Readers can also connect with me on the following social media sites:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debbie.delouise.author/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Deblibrarian
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2750133.Debbie_De_Louise
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2bIHdaQ
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debbie_writer/
Enjoyed reading about the ambitious lady. Tweeted.
Thanks so much, Mari!