The
Borrowed Boy
A borrowed boy, a borrowed name and living on
borrowed time.
What do you put on a bucket list when you haven’t
done anything with your life? No interesting job, no lovers, no family, no
friends. Believing she has only weeks left to live, Angie Winkle vows to make
the most of every minute.
Going back to Jaywick Sands, is top of her bucket
list. Experiencing life as a grandmother is not, but the universe has other
plans and when four-year-old Danny is separated from his mum on the tube, Angie
goes to his rescue. She tries to return him to his mum but things do not go
exactly as planned and the two of them embark on a life-changing journey.
Set in Jaywick Sands, once an idyllic Essex holiday
village in the 70s, but now a shantytown of displaced Londoners, this is a
story about hidden communities and our need to belong.
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Author Q&A
What would you
consider to be your Kryptonite as an author?
Not believing that the writing that comes easily to me is my
best writing. I had to learn not to try and be a writer – I already was one.
If you could tell
your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Read and understand all of the rules of writing, but then
throw the book away and just write.
What book do you feel
is under-appreciated?
Daphne Du Maurier’s House on the Strand. I think that this
is one of her best novels but it doesn’t get the same exposure as Rebecca and
Jamaica Inn. I love Rebecca, but have never really appreciated Jamaica Inn.
Favorite childhood
memory involving books?
Every Saturday morning my dad took me and my sister to the
library. We chose two or three books and then we crossed the road to Woolworths
to buy sucky sweets. A whole weekend of reading with a paper bag of sticky
boiled sweets (beachballs, peanuts and sherbet pips), lay ahead of me. Heaven.
What fantastical
fictional world would you want to live in (if any) given the chance?
Middle-earth, the fantasy land of Lord of the Rings. I
haven’t read the book for many years, although I loved it in my teens. It is a
magical place and although there are some dark places, there are many beautiful
ones, and also some mystical creatures I would like to meet.
Did you want to be an
author when you grew up?
I wrote stories and made books from a very young age but I
didn’t even dream that I could be an author. I wanted to teach disabled
children, because my teacher when I was eight, told us that she once taught
deaf and dumb children. I thought that very worthy. I also wanted to be a nun
or a ballerina.
If you had to
describe yourself in three words, what would they be?
Determined. Disciplined. Imaginative.
What is your most
unusual writing quirk?
I am quirky in many ways, but not so much in writing. I do
have to write with my special pen and cannot settle to start work at my
computer unless I have my pen in its red leather case at my side for notes.
What’s one movie you
like recommending to others?
Walt Before Mickey. I think it’s a Netflix film. I recommend
this to people, as it inspires me to persevere and never give up.
What is the first book that made you cry?A Little Princess, by
Frances Hodgson-Burnett
How long, on average, does it take you to write a book?Ideas for a book can
be with me for a long time, percolating until the story is almost fully formed.
It takes about four months to write the first draft, and then up to a year of
rewrites and editing until it is ready to publish.
What is your favorite genre to read?Women’s fiction and
literary fiction. I love stories that introduce me to a different place or time
in history so that I can learn whilst enjoying a story.
Author Bio
– Deborah has worked as an occupational therapist, a health service
manager, a freelance journalist, and management consultant in health and social
care.
Her protagonists are often people who exist on
the edges of society. Despite the very real, but dark, subject matter her
stories are uplifting, combining pathos with humour. They are about
self-discovery and the power of friendships and community.
The Borrowed Boy, her debut, was shortlisted
for the Deviant Minds Award 2019. Just Bea, her second novel will be published
in 2021.
Deborah lives on the Essex coast. When she is
not writing she combines her love of baking with trying to burn off the extra
calories.
Social
Media Links – http://abrakdeborah.wordpress.com
Twitter @deborahKlee
Great interview. Having worked with Deborah in my professional life in health and social care I so enjoyed her calming personality. She was a great mentor and always helped us to think beyond the obvious. That imaginative style has resulted in her being a published writer. So excited and can't wait to read her first publication.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. It is lovely to meet colleagues from my life in health and social care here in the world of writing.
DeleteThank you Jasmine, for inviting me to your blog and posing these interesting questions.
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome! :)
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