Author Interview: Debra K. Dunlap, Author of Fallon O'Reilly and The Ice Queen's Lair

Joining us today is Debra K. Dunlap, author of Fallon O'Reilly and the Ice Queen's Lair. Debra holds a B.S. in Physics and a second B.S. in Paralegal Studies. In her first novel for young adults, she weaves together her education, love of Alaska and experience as a Children’s Librarian to create a hidden world of magic in the far north.
Welcome Debra. It's wonderful to have you with us. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Hmm, let’s see. I am the mother of five wonderful children-one lives in Japan, one in Texas and three in Wyoming. Currently, I work full-time as a Deputy Clerk of District Court and have two Bachelor of Science degrees, one in physics, the other in Paralegal Studies.

Where did you grow up?

My parents moved to Alaska when I was an infant, so I grew up running barefoot in the Alaska wilderness.

What is your fondest childhood memory?

My 6th birthday. We lived in Ferry, Alaska and at that time, there were no roads, no electricity or water and no access to stores. Only a few people lived nearby, but they all came to our little cabin (a railroad caboose that had been remodeled into a cabin) and brought gifts of their own belongings. I received a battery-powered radio and several records, and a package of dried salmon from our neighbors. Even at age 6, I was touched that people would part with their treasures on my behalf. My parents gave me a set of child’s cookware and a ukulele. To this day, I don’t know how they managed to get them.

Do you write during the day, at night or whenever you can sneak a few moments?

Because I work full-time, I squeeze in writing as I can. I get up at 5 a.m. to write before work and write again after I come home. Weekends are writing heaven!

What is this book about?

Fallon O’Reilly and the Ice Queen’s Lair is the first book in the Magic in the Americas series. Set in the Alaskan wilderness, the book tells the tale of a young girl’s first year of magical education. Together with her wheelchair-bound cousin and new friend from Wyoming, she seeks the identity of a great evil in Alaska and fights to protect her school and friends.

Fallon is currently available at museituppublishing.com in various e-formats and available for Kindle at Amazon.com. MIU Publishing plans to release Fallon in print form in 2011.

What inspired you to write it?

Someone asked J.K. Rowling if she planned to put Americans or other nationalities in her books. She said...if anyone wants to write about American wizards they are of course free to write their own book! That made me wonder what differences we’d see in an American school of magic and I started plotting the book. Then, my oldest son referred to my living room, which I keep very cool in the hot Wyoming summers, as the ‘Ice Queen’s Lair.’ Instant title!

Who is your favorite author?

Tough question for an author! I read some of everything, fiction and non-fiction, but my favorite is sci-fi/fantasy. Isaac Asimov and Anne McCaffrey tie for first place. Asimov’s classic Foundation series is wonderful. However, the world of Pern created by Anne McCaffrey is my all-time favorite fantasy world. I re-read every one of the books at least once a year.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

Readers can purchase a copy of my book from the publisher at museituppublishing.com as well as other sites, such as the Amazon Kindle store.

Do you have a website and/or blog where readers can find out more?
 I have a blog here: http://debrakdunlap.blogspot.com/

My website is here: http://debrakdunlap.com/  

I am working on updating both.

What is up next for you?

I recently completed a novel and am busily editing it. I’ve also begun the second book in the Magic in the America series.

Why did you choose to send your manuscript to MuseItUp Publishing?

I chose to send my manuscript to MuseItUp Publishing because Lea Schizas founded the company. I met her first through the Muse Online Writers Conference and was so impressed by her dedication to helping authors that I thought if I ever wrote a manuscript I would want to send it to her. When I saw she had founded MIU Publishing, I wrote a query letter and submitted it to her the same day.

What has been the best part about working with them?

Fallon O’Reilly and the Ice Queen’s Lair is my first submission, so I do not have any experience with other publishers to compare with being an MIU author . However, Lea’s respect and consideration for authors shines through everything she does. MIU fosters a team spirit amongst the authors, artists, editors and staff. It’s like belonging to an author-ly family. So I guess I would say the best part of working with MIU is that people are kind to one another!

Thanks for spending time with us today, Debra. We wish you great success.

In Pursuit of an Idea by Kim Smith, Author of A Will to Love

We welcome Kim Smith back to The Book Connection today. Her new book is a romance novel titled, A Will to Love.



Benton Jessup wants his bed and breakfast to be successful. He will go to no lengths to insure that it does. But when Kitty Beebe, a famous romance author, arrives at The Inn, his desire for success becomes a struggle of wills with love.






In the Pursuit of an Idea by Kim Smith

Recently, I was out of town on a business trip. No great thing but for the fact that I had horrible trouble with the airlines that was supposed to move me from point A to point B. The long wait times (two different days!) gave me plenty of opportunities to think about situations and writing and what worked and what didn’t.


For most beginning writers, the pursuit of an idea wide enough to carry an entire book is a big deal because many agents and publishers say “make the story universal, make it something that is timeless”. Most beginners (some who are not as well) take this advice seriously. They want to do everything right straight out of the gate.

I know many established, multi-published authors who take the idea that flashes through their mind and keep building on it “off the paper” for extended periods of time. Some have even developed their characters, their settings, or their plot for years in their pre-planning. But, for some of us, this simply won’t work. I happen to be one of these other writers, the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants sorts. This post is not for the writer who can create for extended periods before writing their first word, but rather the ones who cannot.

As I sat in the airport contemplating writing something (anything!) because my heart felt that I had put it off too long trying to make it into something useful not wasted, I remembered William Faulkner.

He is quoted as saying, "Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a fool to follow a theory. Teach yourself by your own mistakes; people learn only by error. The good artist believes that nobody is good enough to give him advice. He has supreme vanity. No matter how much he admires the old writer, he wants to beat him"

So I am here to tout the news that it is okay to write out the idea on paper, not carry it around in our heads, go forward, dive right into the story by writing a few thousand words. It is okay to turn those few thousand into a few thousand more in an attempt to see if it will go anywhere, only to discover that you do not have a story. Yes, I am an advocate of broken beginnings, saggy middles, and books with no hope.

Why, you ask, would I do such a thing? Why would I encourage writers to write anything less than their best, and most well-thought out work? Waste paper, muddle a mind?

Because writers write. That’s what we do, that’s who we are!

Beginning writers (especially) need to keep poking the muse to see what she has to offer up. When we censor our writing mind, and toss out ideas before they have a chance to be developed (because someone says “that won’t work” or “that’s been done before”), we get into a mind-set that hobbles our creativity.

Let that weak idea flow! You may have a short story, not a novel. You may have a character sketch, or a mood piece, not necessarily a short story, but that is perfectly fine. You still have something to write. Something that moves your writing life forward a little bit more than yesterday. Along the way, you will know when it is right, when it is something that can be stretched, or developed, when it will go into a bigger piece of the puzzle, and who better to know such as that? It is your story to tell, your character to develop, your plot to pursue.

After returning from my business trip, I walked the grounds of Rowan Oak, Faulkner’s home in Oxford, Mississippi. I smiled when I felt the urge to write hit me. I didn’t tarry either. Maybe ole Will was standing somewhere under one of those huge, old trees in the avenue, waving at me—(laughing, probably) telling me to go, go, go at my fierce determination to wrestle something out in the name of writing. Telling me to be free in my methods, my failures. I had a small amount of success, churning out one small story. Thanks, Will.

Kim Smith is the hostess for the popular radio show, Introducing WRITERS! radio show on Blog Talk Radio. She is also the author of the zany, Shannon Wallace mystery series available now from Red Rose Publishing and also the new romance novel, A Will to Love. You can visit Kim’s website at www.mkimsmith.com.