DEBORAH FOX

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your hobbies and interests.

I love going to the cinema, walking, knitting and I am a keen gardener.

When and why did you start writing books?

I started writing my first book Second Hand Rose in 2019 as a dedication to my late dog Jake and to deal with the grief of losing him. I wrote this book with him as one of the main characters so i could share his quirky personality with my readers. I have since included Jake in my 2nd book Where is all the Grass Going? alongside a friend's late dog Sammy with them both the main characters in a children's mystery adventure.

What made you decide to tackle writing as a career?

Unfortunately it is not a career yet anyway, I have a full time job working in the returns department in a warehouse for an electrical wholesaler in Doncaster, a city in Northern England. I have now completed my second book and as much as i love writing it is still very much a labour of love.

Which one of your books or characters is your favourite?

Jake of course is my favourite character in both books and hopefully my readers will also make him one of their favourites.

Which one of your books was the hardest to write and stretched you the most as a writer?

I wouldn't say the hardest but the 2nd book is the one that took a little longer as i took on board some of the comments and reviews for Second Hand Rose so i could improve and evolve my writing style into the 2nd book. I wanted to provide more character detail and dialogue in particular as there are so many different animals and personalities in Where is all the Grass going?

Who is your favourite author and book?

A A Milne - Winnie the Pooh.

What book are you reading right now?

I'm very much actively promoting both books at the moment so a lot of my spare time is concentrating on this.

Where do you get your inspiration for your books?

Day to day living, and working in a warehouse gives me so much inspiration. I decided to use some of my work colleagues and friends names as some of the characters in my 2nd book. I thought it would be fun to bring some of their personalities into the story especially as most of my characters i introduced into Where is all the Grass going? are animals.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Walking, going to the cinema and gardening take up my time when i'm not working or writing.

Do you have any new books in the works?

i have now written a horror and children's book. I haven't started the next yet but i do have many ideas in my head and it looks like a crime thriller is next up so i am going to change genre again. Can't wait to get started and also decide whether Jake can play a part in some way. I do also have plans to evolve the stories and characters in both my other books so plenty of ideas to keep me busy for the foreseeable future.