Welcome — or welcome back — to another Author Spotlight! If you’re new and want to know more about how the series got started, go check out the introduction post.
Today the spotlight is on word and logic puzzle constructor and prolific author, Debbie Manber Kupfer.
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Let’s start with the most important. What’s your most recent/next book, and where can we go to learn more about it and you?
I have two recent releases. In March, Umbrae, the third part of my P.A.W.S. Saga came out (and now I’m working on number four, Londinium). Also I just released my first ever picture book, Esmeralda Grunch and the Red Tulip. I wrote the story originally for a contest and everyone who read it said it needed to be a picture book. Then I was fortunate to meet a talented artist from Sri Lanka, Tina Wijesiri, online and she helped bring my little fairy to life.
You can pick up all my books from my Amazon page and follow me on my blog, Facebook page, Twitter or sign up for my newsletter, P.A.W.S. Post.
Do you have a favorite book/story among the ones you’ve written? Why is it so special to you?
It has to be P.A.W.S. because it’s where it all started. I’d been writing stories all my life and always knew I wanted someday to write a book, but I thought I had all the time in the world. Then in 2011 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I went through treatment and today thankfully I’m cancer free, but my bout with cancer made me realize my mortality, that maybe I don’t have all the time in the world and that if I really wanted to write that book I had to do it now. So in November 2012 I decided to try NaNoWriMo and in that month I wrote the first draft of P.A.W.S. And the following June after many rounds of edits it was published. Holding that book in my hands for the first time was an amazing experience.
What one person would you most like to get your book(s) noticed by?
Neil Gaiman would be nice. I have this fantasy that I get to meet him one day and he tells me how much he liked one of my books!
Do you drink coffee/tea? Do you find you drink more coffee/tea when you’re working on a book?
Tea – I drink about a gallon of tea a day and even more when I’m working on a book. I’m originally from England and like my tea like most Brits do strong with milk added. I also strongly believe that with enough tea and dark chocolate you can do anything.
Do you write in a linear or non-linear fashion?
I’m a non-linear gal. I cannot write a story in order as most folks who have read my books know. I have been known to put flashbacks in my flashbacks! Because of that and because I’m writing a long series I keep a running timeline that I add to whenever my story includes a new significant event. Without that I’d never keep it all straight.
What is one question you’ve always wanted to be asked in an interview?
My favorite dinosaur! – It’s a stegosaurus by the way.
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Thank you, Ms. Kupfer for taking the time to answer a few questions for me. If you’d like to know more about Debbie Manber Kupfer, you can check out her blog, Facebook page, and Twitter. Her books are on Amazon.
