HELLO FRIENDS: YOU KNOW BY NOW THAT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE I GET IDEAS AND RUN WITH THEM, WELL THIS IS THE LATEST IDEA! EVERY WEEK I AM GOING TO DO A SNAPSHOT (AUTHOR BIO, SOCIAL LINKS, AND A SMALL POST) ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVE AUTHORS AND I DECIDED TO START WITH THE LOVELY DEBBIE McGOWAN, OR MY DEB AS I LIKE TO CALL HER! DEB IS A SWEETHEART AND A TRUE TALENT, AND NOW SHE IS AN AWARD WINNING AUTHOR! LOOK BELOW FOR THAT STORY AND MORE!
BELOW IS A BIO OF DEB, THE MOST IN DEPTH ONE I HAVE EVER READ AND I LOVE IT! (I MUST LOVE IT I 'BORROWED IT FROM HER WEBSITE :D) ENJOY:
Before I begin, I must confess that my academic training has left me feeling somewhat uncomfortable with this whole first person malarkey, but I'm going to give it a go nonetheless, as I'm told it's less formal, more friendly and approachable...
I'm Deb and it's been a real fight to keep hold of my original surname of McGowan, but I'm insistent, because I like it and, well, it's my name! I was well into my twenties before I felt I could look back at my life and feel proud of what I'd achieved: two beautiful daughters (now young women), a first class degree in social science and a GCSE grade B in mathematics. Yes folks, it took me three attempts to pass maths and if I'd remembered to collect my certificate, it would take pride of place smack-bang in the middle of my living room wall!
Currently I'm living in West Lancashire, in the not so little village of Burscough. I'm not particularly fond of the place, as I grew up in Southport and moved to London when I was 17. However, Burscough does have some great places for walking dogs - the other great loves of my life - so I'm happy to remain here until such time as the call of Watergate Bay becomes impossible to resist.
As far as writing is concerned, I've done it all my life. I learnt to read when I was too young to commit to memory exactly when that was, and grew up in a house where poetry (of the rhyming couplet variety) tripped off the tongue more easily than our names (I still answer to S-Tr-Deb - it was pretty much guaranteed that whichever of us three sisters was being hollered, our name would come to the mind of the hollerer last - this in spite of my being the eldest).
One particular poetic occasion I recall (not very accurately, it turns out) happened thus: my mum has never been especially fond of tinned carrots, so you can imagine her dismay, when opening a can clearly labelled 'Garden Peas' revealed the tiny orange cones that are new carrots. Of course, it goes without saying that a complaint was in order, which I always presumed to have been penned by my gran (on account of her being a big fan of Pam Ayres and with an accent to match). In fact it was my mum who cleverly crafted her grievance in four line stanzas and sent it off first-class to Cross and Blackwell. Their response: a gift voucher in recompense for the inconvenience and a letter of apology - written in verse!
In high school, I drove my English teacher to distraction with my propensity for twisting an essay title into what I wanted it to be. He bet me a fiver I'd fail. I passed (a result which constitutes 50% of my total high school exam success). I never did get that fiver. And I was still at it when, years later, I returned to education and one of my university lecturers felt the quality of my work necessitated the following constructive commentary: 'Do not substitute style for content'.
In short, I've been reading and writing for a very long time, but it wasn't until I was in my early thirties that I really started to do it for real. At some point I set myself the goal of being published before I reached 40 and I achieved exactly that. Looking back on it now, I think I imagined that once I had published something I'd be 'at peace', although clearly this was not to be. After a four year break and a near breakdown, I realised that whatever happens and regardless of what other people think of it, I must write.
And that is where you find me. I set up Beaten Track Publishing in 2011, essentially as an excuse to write. (Un)fortunately, it backfired terribly, for as I type, we have at least 10 publications in progress and I truly am loving every minute. What isn't there to love about working with incredibly talented authors? My role in all of this is perhaps most accurately referred to as backseat editing, for from that viewpoint I can clearly see the road ahead, direct around potential potholes and spot the best parking spots. Later I might help out with a wax and polish, but you won't find me taking the wheel.
Apart from lapsing into metaphor at the drop of a hat (ahem), writing when I'm not editing and walking the dogs, I also have a day job, or indeed, three. If time allows, I might occasionally manage to muster up a family meal. Sometimes I even make the coffee (although I have a kettle wallah for that... I mean husband).
I TOLD YOU MY DEB WAS DELIGHTFUL!!! BELOW IS SOME INFO ON HER PUBLISHING COMPANY, BEATEN TRACK (WHICH I HAVE SPOTLIGHTED AND REVIEWED SEVERAL OF THE AMAZING AUTHORS THERE) BELOW ARE MY SPOTLIGHT LINKS AND LINKS TO THE WEBSITE!
BELOW IS THE ABOUT LINK OF THE BEATEN TRACK WEBSITE SO YOU CAN SEE JUST HOW WONDERFUL 'THIS LITTLE PUBLISHING HOUSE THAT COULD' IS!
BEATEN TRACK PUBLISHING ABOUT LINK
NEXT WE HAVE THE MAIN WEBSITE PAGE: DON'T MISS THESE PUBLICATIONS!
BEATEN TRACK PUBLISHING MAIN LINK
NOW HERE ARE THE SPOTLIGHTS I HAVE DONE OF BEATEN TRACK, CLICK BELOW AND ENJOY!
BEATEN TRACK SPOTLIGHT BY BEC
BEATEN TRACK AUTHOR EVENT SPOTLIGHT BY BEC
NOW FOR THE MANY MANY REVIEWS I HAVE DONE OF MY DEB'S BOOKS!
BEC'S CRYING IN THE RAIN REVIEW
BEC'S RUMANITIONS REVIEW
BEC'S CHERRY POP VALENTINE REVIEW
BEC'S TWO BY TWO REVIEW
BEC'S LEAVING FLOWERS REVIEW
BEC'S TAKING HIM ON REVIEW
BEC'S WHERE THE GRASS IS GREENER REVIEW
BEC'S HOLIDAY BOOK BONANZA
BEC'S CHECKING IN REVIEW
CHRISTMAS CRAIC AND MISTLETOE REVIEW
BEC'S LOVE UNLOCKED ANTHOLOGY REVIEW
BEC'S WHEN SKIES HAVE FALLEN REVIEW
TOLD YOU THERE WERE A TON OF REVIEWS I DID OF DEB'S BOOKS, AND EVERY BOOK IS WORTH A READ BELIEVE ME, BUT THERE IS A REASON I SAVED WHEN SKIES HAVE FALLEN FOR LAST, DEB ACTUALLY WON THE LAMMY (LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD ) FOR THAT ONE NOT TO LONG AGO! WHAT AN AWESOME FEAT THAT IS! CONGRATS MY DEB, AND IT WAS SO WELL DESERVED! BELOW IS THE COVER OF THE BOOK WITH THE AWARD TAG AND THE AWARD ITSELF!
WOO HOO SO PROUD OF DEB AND YOU GUYS HAVE TO READ THAT BOOK! I CAN SAY SO MUCH ABOUT DEB, BUT I WILL KEEP IT TO THE SMALL POST BELOW:
Every once in a while an author comes along that you know you will love their work no matter what, and Deb is one of those authors for me! She has a writing style that just resonates with me, and I love that she isn't afraid to write what she feels, no matter what!
Deb is a hell of a gal too, and she lets me rope her into crazy blog ideas all the time, and she always says yes! So if you don't know Deb as an author or personally, look her up, you will be very glad you did!
Debbie McGowan is a force to be reckoned with in the literary world and she runs a publishing company to boot, not to mention having a family and still finds time for her fans and small time bloggers like me. That is why she will always be my deb to me!
THANKS FOR JOINING ME FOR THE KICKOFF OF THE AUTHOR SNAPSHOT SERIES, I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO SEE WHO IS NEXT WEEKS GUEST OF HONOR!
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