Debbie Brown- An Interview

Since I began my Indie author interviews back in February, I have been watching this next woman's Facebook posts. One of her books, Amethyst Eyes, was entered into a cover contest and was the best cover, I think.

According to her website, Debbie Brown is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature, and has completed their advanced novel writing course for select graduates as well. She lives in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec and is an officer in the Canadian Forces.

Read below to find out what Mrs. Brown had to say in answer to my questions.

Me: What's the craziest place you've gotten an idea for a book from?

DB: In a lean-to shelter made of Christmas tree branches, lying on the cold ground in the dead of night...

Me: Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just seeing where an idea takes you?

DB: I usually get a flash of a scene or image and go from there. Every time I try to influence the direction my story is heading or try to decide what my character should do, I get stuck. Sigh....I am but the reporter, conveying the unfolding of events as I watch them come to life before my eyes...(Which is actually beyond awesome.) I have found myself writing a scene going 'Oh wow! That is so cool! Never having suspected what was about to transpire. It is really fun.

Me: I did a blog post recently about how certain characters have changed throughout my story. Has this ever happened to you?

DB: As I said, My characters have a mind of their own. And the whole story is alive and evolving before me. I remember writing a scene when some new character walked in and began interacting with my MC...I had to wait until someone said his name to know WHO it was. Lol. It is the best experience ever.

Me: Do you write full-time or do you have a day job?

DB: I am a full-time mommy, my youngest is 2. 3 of my 5 kids still live at home. I homeschool. I work part time for the military. I am a Captain and second-in-command of my unit. I cook everything from scratch, always working on new vegan recipes. I try to write whenever I can, work on my blog and study languages...to name a few.

Me: Do you write in only one genre or do you branch out?

DB: I THOUGHT I was a YA Sci-Fi author...until I wrote the story of Tommy's parents (MC from Amethyst Eyes), which brought me to a kind of adult, romance, sci-fi, and then after finishing my 2nd book in the Amethyst Eyes trilogy, I wrote Snow Job, which, surprise to me, is considered to be a mystery/thriller...still have a hard time with that lol.

Me: Describe the path to publishing your last book.

DB: I have the absolute best publisher. Kitty, from Ravenswood Publishing, is awesome! We teamed up for my 2nd book after she accepted my submission, and we've gone on since then. She reprinted Amethyst Eyes when I moved it from its original publisher and now has all my books under her wing.

Me: How can readers discover more about you and you work?