Monthly Archives: April 2026

April 25, 2026 · 10:00 am

Let’s Make a Movie!

Yes, please! Somebody really should make my novels into movies or miniseries. One of the first editors to ever lay eyes on my Waterspell fantasy saga called it cinematic. A later reader won my everlasting gratitude when he posted this review: “This is up there with the great books of wonder! Would love to see this as a movie. Have spent three days reading each book with hardly any sleep. It’s so enthralling that I would say I was bespelled by each word!” Wow! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. 😍

I agree about the movie. My Waterspell books have a dark, dangerous, mysterious leading man and a brave, headstrong, determined young woman protagonist. The story starts in an isolated manor house in a cursed forest. From there, the quest takes the two main characters across bandit-infested plains, high into snow-capped mountains, and then to the distant shore of another world. It would make a gripping miniseries or even a quartet of movies. There are four Waterspell books, so—logically—four movies.

My newest novel, the standalone Adverse Reactions, is a post-apocalyptic, paranormal, gritty modern Western fantasy. There’s plenty of danger and suspense, with the super-power element of psychokinesis (mental ability to move objects). The characters are complex, refusing to immediately reveal their motives. Are they friend, or are they foe?

The book’s settings will be familiar to filmmakers and moviegoers, but all have a twist. The town on the dusty prairie is called Purity, but it’s built on a river that carries an ominous name: Contagion. The so-called ranch is more of a commune for outcasts. The place has got cowboys, cattle, and horses, but the whole outfit hides deep in rugged mountains, far from town. In another remote part of those mountains, a pseudo-psychiatric facility is a true hellhole, a buried chamber of horrors.

A filmmaker could have a field day (or a franchise) with Adverse Reactions. The book has a Hunger Games vibe. Too bad I don’t know any directors or producers.

If you’ve got Hollywood connections, please drop a few strong hints. There’ll be a finder’s fee in it for you. 🤗

(This piece first appeared as a guest post at Bedazzled by Books.)

“Where Do You Get Your Ideas?”

Every writer gets asked: Where do the ideas come from?

For many of us, the question is so unanswerable, we can only smile gently and deflect. Have you heard about the warehouse in Poughkeepsie where ideas can be had wholesale, a dime a dozen? (Wink, wink)

Seriously, most writers have no real idea where the ideas come from. Ideas well up from the subconscious, far below the level of awareness. More than once, as I’ve come awake in the morning, I’ve had the entire plot of a book running through my head. It’s a mad dash to the keyboard then, stopping only to grab a cup of coffee before feverishly pounding out the main points of the plot before the whole thing evaporates back into the ether from which it came.

ADVERSE REACTIONS: A Novel of the Paranormal by Deborah J. Lightfoot

That was not the process, however, for Adverse Reactions, my newest book. I have no memory of where the original idea might have come from. It was too long ago: I actually started the book in 2005. I managed 24,000 words of it before I hit a wall. I’d reached the first “plot point”—pivotal moment; major turning point—and I had no clue where things went from there.

So I shelved the manuscript (plopped it into a file cabinet, actually) and went back to writing the epic fantasy that eventually became Waterspell, a saga that grew by three books in 2022–24 to end up as a six-book series—altogether, more than 680,000 words.

Waterspell epic fantasy by Deborah J. Lightfoot

But I never forgot that partial manuscript. I’m not a person who leaves things undone. I’m determined to finish what I start (even if it takes six books and 680,000 words to do it). In 2025, therefore, I pulled that manuscript out of the file cabinet and sat down to read what I’d written 20 years earlier.

What I found in those rough-draft pages—the compelling urgency of it—surprised even me. The story gripped me. I found myself caring deeply about the protagonist and the awful situation she’s in as the story opens.

What was even better, though, was the way my mind leapt ahead when I reached the end of that 24,000-word partial. A score of years earlier, I hadn’t known where the story went. Now I did. The logical and dramatic next steps in the quest for justice were clear.

During those 20 years, I’d done a lot of writing and a lot of living (some of it hard). I’d gained experience, deepened my understanding of people and their motivations, and observed the good and the evil of which humans are capable. All of that living had equipped me to finish the story—to finish what I’d started, and to do it in a way that has been personally fulfilling.

Thank you for reading, and for spreading the word about my cross-genre, post-apocalyptic, paranormal, gritty modern “Western.”

In a world that demands mindless conformity, be your own exceptional self.

(This piece first appeared as a guest post at K.M. Jenkins’ Book Nook.)

New In Books: Interview with Deborah J. Lightfoot, Author of Adverse Reactions

by NewInBooks
in Author Interviews, Fantasy & Science Fiction, News
15 April 2026

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book?

I don’t remember and can’t even guess where the original idea came from. I actually started the book in 2005, but managed only 24,000 words before hitting a wall. I got stuck at the first plot point. So I shoved the manuscript into a file cabinet and returned to writing the epic fantasy that eventually became my six-book Waterspell series. But I never forgot that partial manuscript. Last summer, I unearthed it and read what I’d written 20 years before. What I found in those rough-draft pages—the compelling urgency of it—surprised me.

The awful situation the protagonist is in, as the story opens, grabbed and held me. And more than that: my mind leapt ahead when I reached the first plot point. A score of years earlier, I hadn’t known where the story went from there. But now I did. The logical and dramatic next steps in the quest for justice were clear. During the book’s 20-year incubation, I’d done a lot of writing and a lot of living. I’d gained experience, deepened my understanding of people and their motivations, and observed the good and the evil of which humans are capable. All of that equipped me to finish the story, and to do it in a way that has been personally fulfilling.

Pick theme songs for the main characters of your book.
Adverse Reactions is a post-apocalyptic, paranormal, suspense-thriller, Western fantasy. It crosses genres! The Great Plains setting evokes the theme song from the movie, Once Upon a Time in the West. Another classic film score that would fit is The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
I mainly read and write fantasy, with a fair amount of science fiction on the side. As a kid, the first book I bought with my own money was Daybreak—2250 A.D., post-apocalyptic science fiction by the great Andre Norton. I fell in love with Norton’s books and her writing style. Currently, I’m catching up on her Witch World fantasy novels that I somehow missed in my adolescence.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?
So many! Too many! Besides the Witch World books, which are numerous, I’m into the Sally Lockhart mysteries by Philip Pullman, published between 1985 and 1994. The final book of that series came out just a year before The Golden Compass. I recently listened to the audiobooks of The Book of Dust sequels, and as a fantasy writer I was interested in Pullman’s transition from mystery to fantasy. I’m enjoying the Sally Lockhart books, but honestly, I wouldn’t have thought they were written by the same man who would go on to write the incomparable His Dark Materials. Pullman made an inspired leap with Lyra Belacqua’s story, his masterpiece.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
I’d have to say it’s when my protagonist, Devin, meets Mike Sutter, a complicated man who is the definition of “morally gray.” Sometimes he’s kind and generous. Other times, he’s ruthless to the point of cruelty. He’s got his own agenda, as Devin soon discovers.

Do you have any quirky writing habits?
I sit down at the computer, and in strict and unvarying order, I arrange these:

Web browser, taskbar bottom-left, ready to look up synonyms and make sure a word really means what I think it means
Word processing program center-screen—plain old Word, nothing fancy
Dictionary, taskbar bottom-right, my trusty Merriam-Webster
On the writing desk nearby, a hardback copy of the Oxford Thesaurus (American Edition)

I cannot proceed without those things at my fingertips, and in that order. I also require a cup of coffee, a mug of water, and the hum of the air conditioner. Those will keep me pounding the keyboard for hours, until the coffee and water dictate a break. 😊

Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?

“The soul that has no fixed goal loses itself; for as they say, to be everywhere is to be nowhere.” —Michel de Montaigne

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
In a world that demands mindless conformity, be your true, exceptional self.

Monthly Archives: April 2026

Let’s Make a Movie!

“Where Do You Get Your Ideas?”

New In Books: Interview with Deborah J. Lightfoot, Author of Adverse Reactions

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