Could You Tell Us About Yourself?

Here’s my bio: THOUGH DEBORAH L. KING has been a writer and storyteller her whole life, publishing her first short story at seven years old, she took only 32 years to complete the story of Glory Bishop. The novels were published in 2019 and 2021 as Glory Bishop and Glory Unbound. The two-part story tells the coming-of-age of a Chicago teenager growing up in the 1980s. Glory Unbound is a finalist for the CWA 2022 book of the year. Deborah’s third novel, Mary Not Broken, is the prequel to Glory Bishop and tells the story of Glory’s mother. Mary Not Broken is published on Amazon’s Kindle Vella, one episode at a time, and is due out in paperback in 2023.

Deborah loves storms, champagne, Old Time Radio, and 70s Blues and Soul. As a fiction writer, she loves the work of Octavia Butler, classic Stephen King, Peter David, and the illustrations of Dan DeCarlo. Thanks to an interesting childhood, she’s afraid of escalators, bill collectors, and sometimes fresh produce.

Along with being a Vulcan and a bread-bender, Deborah enjoys cartoons, baking, photography, and Star Trek. Born and raised in Chicago, she has managed to achieve all of her childhood dreams—artist, teacher, baker, photographer, model, writer— and still lives in the area with her husband and two youngest children. According to her daughter, she has “literally aced her life!”

What made you write your book (s)? 

My first published novel started out as a 5-minute writing sprint in a women’s writing class in 1992. It then expanded into a whole scene, and eventually the characters wouldn’t stop talking to me so I had to write the whole story.

What is the first book you remember reading?

“No Fighting, No Biting” Else Holmelund Minarik (Author), Maurice Sendak (Illustrator). I was probably 3 or 4 years old.

What’s your favourite book?

Wow! This is a tough one. There are several books that I’ve loved, each for different reasons. “Wild Seed” by Octavia Butler. “Imzadi” by Peter David. “The Return” by William Shatner, “The Magician’s Nephew” by C.S. Lewis. And I think, though, my absolute favorite is “The Monster at the End of This Book” By Jon Stone and Michael Smollin.

Who is your favourite author and why?

I think it’s a tie between Peter David and Mark Twain and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Peter David is a master at world building and tying seemingly unrelated stories together. Mark Twain is a mesmerizing storyteller. And Laura Ingalls Wilder held my 4th grade attention and made me want to live in a meadow.

How many hours a day do you write?

I probably write ten hours a day on weekdays, and sixteen hours on weekends. Not all of that time is physically writing…I count research time as writing too.

What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

TIME. I give up a lot of time at writer’s retreats and conferences, classes and critique groups. I think all of those make me a better writer. 

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

For me, the most difficult part is pulling the story out of my head. Sometimes, my characters stop speaking to me and I’m left to practically write gibberish until something makes sense, or until my characters start telling me their stories again.

If you could spend a day with another popular author, whom would you choose and why?

I’m ashamed to admit, I don’t know the names of any popular authors. I know of good books/stories, but I don’t know how popular the authors are. I think I would like to spend time with N.K. Jemison. She’s a brilliant spec-fic writer. I watched her master class and learned a lot about world-building.

What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?

The usual, I guess… theme music, smelly candles, wine, and a deadline. I get a lot done under the pressure of a good deadline.

What’s your favourite writing snack or drink?

I absolutely love Doritos! And I will enjoy unsweetened iced tea or lemonade with strawberries. I also like coolers made from sparkling wine and frozen fruit.

How do you celebrate when you finish your book?

The last book I finished, I went out with my sisters to celebrate. We had a great dinner in a Mexican restaurant in the neighborhood. Usually, though… I breathe a sigh of relief and sometimes cry a little.

Do you listen to music while you wrote your book (s)?

Each of my characters has a theme song that I play non-stop when I’m writing their scenes. I listened to “A Case of You” as sung by Prince and “Holdin’ On” by Citizen Cope twenty-four hours a day for three days straight—even when I slept— while writing Glory Bishop. For Glory Unbound, it was “Try” by P!nk; and for Mary Not Broken, it was “To Be Loved” by Jackie Wilson.

Where do you get your idea(s) for your book(s)?

Some events in my stories are told from my lived experiences, and others are things I’ve heard about. I guess I get them from life around me…except when I totally make things up.

What is / was your writing process like?

Let’s see…depending on where I am and what time it is, I will sit down at my desk or dining room table. I’ll spend some time agonizing over what the character is doing and how long they’ve been doing it…I once had a character stuck in a phonebooth for 6 months. I’ll get up and prepare myself a drink and a snack…maybe tweak the thermostat a bit. Sit back down and agonize some more. Start to post about my agony on social media, but reconsider because that’s silly and attention seeking. THEN I’ll decide to move on to a different scene and get to writing.

Do you try more to be original or rather give readers what they want?

Neither. I just tell the stories as my characters tell them to me. If it’s something original, cool! If it’s something commercial, that’s cool too.

How did publishing your (first) book?

I started querying agents in 2016 and after 99 rejections, I signed a publishing contract with Red Adept Publishing, LLC in 2017. I didn’t take any of the rejections seriously because my book was 130,000 words, and most agents won’t even consider looking at a book that large from a new author. Out of the 99, only 7 actually read the book, and those who turned it down did so because of the length.

What kind of research do you do and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

I don’t do any research before I start writing. I do the research as the story is coming together. For me it’s difficult to know how or what to research until I get to the part of the story that needs something specific. In one story, I needed to know prices and customs in Chicago in 1955. Since I usually don’t know where the stories are going, I didn’t know until I got to that chapter that the character would need that information.

How do you develop your plot and characters?

I develop my characters first. Well… I can’t say I develop them… it’s more like they just come to me. Glory Bishop came to me as a repressed young woman wearing a winter coat in August and carrying a pair of red high heeled shoes. She was talking out loud to her mother’s imaginary voice in her head. The plot came as I started asking questions about what was going on.

What’s your favourite and least favourite part of publishing your book(s)?

Of the publishing processes, I think my least favorite was/is content editing. This is the part when an editor makes “suggestions” for what to change, and you either take it or leave it; and if you protest too much, you are “invited” to publish elsewhere. My favorite parts were line editing (when an editor helps to refine the text without affecting the story), and receiving my proof copies, which had me giddy for days!

What part of the book was the most fun to write?

In Glory Bishop, I loved writing Herschel’s scenes; and in Glory Unbound, anything with Anita was fun. In Mary Not Broken, I really liked writing Ruthie. She was the sane sister.

How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?

A long time ago, I got my first computer and chose AOL for internet. I had a main screen name and email for professional use, and I chose the name Glory for a personal screen name. When I named my character, I chose the last name Bishop because there was a corner store on Bishop Street that my mother never let me go to. It’s gone now, but I really wanted to go to that store. ☹ The other book titles kind of evolved from that one.

Would you and your main character get along?

I think so. I get along with everybody. I think I’d spend a lot of time biting my tongue so as not to sound too judgmental, but yeah… I think Glory is kind of young to be my friend, and I don’t think I’d be friends with Mary, but we’d certainly get along just fine.

If you could meet your characters, what would you say to them?

I’d say STOP! Just stop! Stop being passive, stop being gullible, stop being crazy.

Which of the characters in your book(s) do you relate to the most and why?

Believe it or not, I relate most to Glory. Not that her life is anything like mine was, but I relate to her desire for normalcy and independence.

What is a significant way your book has changed since the first draft?

Here’s a funny thing… I don’t write in drafts. I edit every word as I go, sometimes three or four times before going on to the next line. This way, when I finish, the story says exactly what I want it to say. In Glory Bishop, though, there was a significant change to the ending. I can’t explain it without giving too much away, but the change was my editors idea.

How would you describe your book’s ideal reader?

I don’t have an ideal reader. My books are marketed as Women’s Fiction, Literary Fiction, and Historical Fiction. Readers tend to be women aged 30+, but I’ve been read by teenagers and men in their 70s. 

What did you edit out of your book(s)?

In Glory Bishop, I took out the last 30,000 words and made it the beginning of Glory Unbound. In Glory Unbound, I took out a scene where Glory goes on a date and learns to drive. Mary Not Broken was a special case. I was writing and publishing it at the same time, so there was no time to remove anything.

What was your hardest scene to write?

Hmmm… I’ll try to answer without spoilers. In Glory Bishop, the hardest scene to write was when Herschel saw Glory’s injuries. That scene made me cry. In Glory Unbound… well… let’s just say the scene I’m thinking of will be just as hard to read as it was to right. And in Mary Not Broken, I think the funeral scene. Not because it was a funeral, but because of the main character’s attitude.

How long did it take for you to write a book?

It took me 25 years to write Glory Bishop, a year to write Glory Unbound, and 18 months to write Mary Not Broken.

What do you hope your readers take away from your book(s)?

Honestly, I just hope they’re entertained and that they don’t hate me, and that they don’t think my stories are autobiographical. Because my books tend to have quite a few misguided characters, I hope that maybe readers consider having empathy and reserving judgement.

What was the hardest part of writing your book(s)?

This is gonna sound weird, but for me, the hardest part was reigning in my imagination. There are some scenes that didn’t make it into the books because they were just too much— to silly, to violent, too long, unnecessary, etc. Sometimes I wrote whole pages and had to let them go because there was no place for them in the story. Sometimes, I had to dump characters. Editors call it “Killing Your Darlings.” It’s basically deleting parts and passages you love, no matter how good they are, if they don’t serve the story.

Did you get some negative feedback on your book? and if so how do you deal with that?

Yes, I got a bit of negative feedback because of the ending of the first book. I went a few rounds with the publisher because she and the editor felt my original ending would anger readers. They eventually won but I didn’t have to throw the ending away. I just moved it around a bit.

How did you feel when you first published your book(s)? Scared? Excited? Nervous?

All of the above. I was nervous because I had no idea what to do next. I was excited that I had actually published a book. And I was scared that people would hate me if they didn’t like the story. I was also GRATEFUL that somebody believed in my writing enough to make my story available to the world.

Where can people who are interested in your book, buy your book?

My books can be purchased or ordered wherever books are sold. Amazon, B&N, Google, Kobo, Apple, Bookshop, etc.

Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?

I’m currently working on a somewhat contemporary story, set some 10 to 15 years in the future. That’s all I can say. 😉

After writing your book(s) what is your advice to people who want to become writers?

I’m sure this sounds like a cliché but read a whole lot and don’t stop writing. And even if you think it’s not good, write for yourself.

What are common traps for aspiring writers and have you faced any of them? Publication and contest scams. The publication scams are the worst. A writer will get an email or even a phone call form XYZ publishing, singing the praises of their book and offering them publishing. It sounds great until they get to the part that says they require a small investment of $$$$ for author copies. They promise to get a book into bookstores or maybe turn it into a screenplay and show it to Hollywood producers. Here’s the deal. PUBLISHERS PAY AUTHORS, not the other way around. If somebody is offering to publish your book and you have to pay them, run. The same with contests. If the prize requires you to purchase a trophy and gold stickers and offers a free downloadable certificate, do not waste your money. I just won a prize a few weeks ago that wanted $500 for a trophy and stickers and a screenplay workshop. I politely declined.

Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

Yes, I read the reviews…every single day. I know I shouldn’t, but I have to. I handle good ones and bad ones pretty much the same way. I’m not allowed to respond directly to reviews so I whisper in my head thanks for the good ones and blow raspberries at the bad ones. I have received a couple of very nice letters from readers. Those I can and do amswer.

Is it something more you want to tell us which I forgot to ask about?

Wow… I think you asked all the questions. I tried to answer everything. Please let me know if anything is not clear. Thank you so much for your time.