Goodreads Book Giveaway
Adverse Reactions
by Deborah J. Lightfoot
Giveaway ends June 28, 2026.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Category Archives: Books and Readers
Giveaway: Win a Copy of Adverse Reactions
Richard Russo: “The writing life is ours to defend.”
Note: Richard Russo wrote this Open Letter in December 2013. Everything he warned about, then, has come to pass. The writing life is endangered by the downward pressure of e-book pricing, by the ongoing erosion of copyright protection, by the scorched-earth capitalism of Google and Amazon, by those who believe art should be cheap or free, and by internet search engines that direct people to sites selling pirated books. Even the single glimmer of hope that Mr. Russo offered in 2013—that Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix, et al., need writers to provide them with content—is no longer the case. Mega-corporations now use artificial intelligence to churn out “content” for free or cheap. Mr. Russo’s conclusion, however, remains as valid now as when he wrote this letter:
The imaginative lives of us all will be diminished if authorship becomes untenable as a profession.
From Richard Russo:
An Open Letter to My Fellow Authors
Still, if it turns out that I’ve enjoyed the best the writing life has to offer, that those who follow, even the most brilliant, will have to settle for less, that won’t make me happy and I suspect it won’t cheer other writers who’ve been as fortunate as I. It’s these writers, in particular, that I’m addressing here. Not everyone believes, as I do, that the writing life is endangered by the downward pressure of e-book pricing, by the relentless, ongoing erosion of copyright protection, by the scorched-earth capitalism of companies like Google and Amazon, by spineless publishers who won’t stand up to them, by the “information wants to be free” crowd who believe that art should be cheap or free and treated as a commodity, by internet search engines who are all too happy to direct people to on-line sites that sell pirated (read “stolen”) books, and even by militant librarians who see no reason why they shouldn’t be able to “lend” our e-books without restriction. But those of us who are alarmed by these trends have a duty, I think, to defend and protect the writing life that’s been good to us, not just on behalf of younger writers who will not have our advantages if we don’t, but also on behalf of readers, whose imaginative lives will be diminished if authorship becomes untenable as a profession.
Richard Russo
December 2013
Richard Russo’s 2001 novel Empire Falls received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Filed under Books and Readers, On Writing, Writers
Heralds in Fantasy Literature
Heralds, in their original and simplest form, were messengers. In fantasy literature, a herald often brings the message or in some other way triggers the events, sets the events in motion.
In The Hobbit, for example, Gandalf is the herald, or the trigger, that sends Bilbo Baggins off on his grand adventure.
In my Waterspell series, Carin is the herald. Her showing up on the property of the wizard named Verek sets the story action into motion. In effect, she will send Verek off on a quest—and she will participate fully with him on the quest, similar to how Gandalf sets Bilbo into motion and also plays his great role in the events of that story.
But behind Carin in my story, there’s another herald: the character who sets Carin into motion. The events actually begin with that original herald, who is described in Books 1 and 2 as simply “the wisewoman.” Readers won’t know the wisewoman’s whole story until they get to Waterspell Book 3. Immediately at the start of Book 1, however, even before we formally meet Carin in Chapter 1, we see evidence that she’s not acting entirely of her own free will. We learn that the wisewoman has sent her to the wizard Verek.
One thing that complicated the writing of Book 1, Chapter 1, is that I needed to at least hint that Carin isn’t really sure what her goal is, why she’s come north, or what she’s supposed to do when she gets there. She only knows—or she feels, deep in her gut—that she has to be there.
In effect, she’s under a spell—a spell of compulsion. She thinks she’s acting of her own free will, but if she were pressed to explain her motives, she would be hard put to do it. This becomes clearer in Chapter 3, when Verek presses her about her reasons for trespassing on his property. Her explanations don’t satisfy him, and they will—I hope—deepen the sense of mystery that surrounds Carin.
My challenge with Chapter 1 is that many “mainstream” readers expect the main character’s goals and motivations to be clearly laid out right at the start. That’s what they have been taught to expect.
Experienced readers of fantasy, however, will understand that motives and circumstances are often quite murky as the story opens. In Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, for instance, the main character, Lyra, has no problem whatsoever as the story opens. She’s having fun. She’s exploring a forbidden part of the college where she lives, and she’s enjoying herself. The big problem that she will face does not become clear for a very long time, as the trilogy unfolds.
So what I’ve tried to accomplish with Chapter 1 of my fantasy series is to present Carin as a strong, active, decisive character, but I have also had to hint that she’s been set on this course, this particular path, by forces beyond her control and by circumstances she did not create. She’s being used, quite frankly, but she’s not a pawn.
In a sense, she’s like King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur. He used the sword—only Arthur as the rightful king could wield it—but Excalibur had magical powers of its own. It allowed itself to be used only by the rightful king.
My girl, Carin, very definitely has a say in how she’s being “used” by the original herald, the wisewoman in the south, and then by the wizard Verek once she follows the wisewoman’s instructions and finds him, up north.
The Book 1 Prologue helps to clarify what’s driving Carin, what her goal is, what problem she must overcome. Here’s an excerpt:
Prologue
The Path Ahead
The wisewoman never asked directly, never demanded of Carin: “Where do you come from, you strange, surprising child? Who are you?” But she breathed her questions in an undertone when she thought Carin couldn’t hear.
Time passed, and the woman watched with shrewd regard, ever wondering. What’s going on, girl, behind those cool green eyes that view the world with such detachment? You’ve borne up patiently these five years, with your gaze cast groundward to hide your thoughts from those who think you have none. Oh, you’re a self-contained little wight, as guarded in your speech as in your glances. You pretend to be indifferent to your past and resigned to your present. But I have seen you puzzling beside the millpond, gazing into its waters, wondering: ‘What brought me here? Where did this journey start, and where do I go now?’
The seasons turned, and at last the wisewoman drew Carin aside. “I have considered carefully. Indeed, child, I have thought of little else. Still I cannot fathom where your journey began. But I clearly see the path that lies before you now.”
The woman did not point. She would not risk drawing anyone’s eye to the pair standing apart. She merely tipped her head, keeping her hand hidden in the folds of her shawls, tightly gripping the amulet she had fashioned against this moment.
“Go north, girl,” she ordered, her gaze locked with Carin’s. “Run from here. You have no home in this village. Granger is much too hidebound and suspicious for the likes of you. Your place is in the North. If you belong anywhere, child, you belong there.”
Filed under Books and Readers, Magic, Waterspell fantasy trilogy, Writers
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.
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.
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.
April 2026 Fantasy Novel Super Sale
Super Spring Sale! 🎉 The Waterspell fantasy series is bargain-priced, the whole month of April 2026.
Series-starter Book 1: The Warlock is perma-free every day, but your best buy in April is the four-book boxed set for $3.99. Add the two sequels — Karenina and Farsinchia — for $0.99 each, and you’ll have the entire, finished, highly rated, six-book series for under $6. Available wherever ebooks are sold.
Waterspell: The literary, portal fantasy, epic, heroic quest, coming-of-age, gothic slow-burn romance (give it time!) adventure you’ve been looking for.
The series follows Carin, a lost traveler who embarks on a journey to discover her true identity and learn where she belongs. When she falls captive to a hot-tempered, secretive wizard, he draws her into schemes of magical power and possible murder. There’s a world to save, even if it costs Carin her life. The relationship between Carin and the wizard grows increasingly complex, balancing in a tense power struggle as, together, they navigate a world of dangers while yearning for redemption, a sense of belonging, and maybe a little unconventional romance.
Waterspell springs from the realm of epic fantasy (with an environmental fantasy twist). It’s got ancient and mysterious magic, a passage from one world to the otherworld, a (reluctant) Chosen One, and a Hero/Heroine’s Quest. It’s a portal fantasy with complex characters who become embroiled in mystery, murder, and a little slow-burning romance. Think “Jane Eyre meets a sorcerer.”
“A marvelously complex and captivating fantasy series.” —The Published Page
“The story just keeps getting bigger and bigger.” —Book Briefs
For quick links to retailers, see Where to Buy.
WATERSPELL Super Spring SALE!
Not an April Fool’s joke! 😊 My entire Waterspell fantasy series is on super-sale for the whole month of April 2026. Available wherever ebooks are sold.
Waterspell: The literary, portal fantasy, epic, heroic quest, coming-of-age, gothic slow-burn romance (give it time!) adventure you’ve been looking for.
Four-Book Boxed Set $3.99
The original quartet follows Carin, a lost traveler who embarks on a journey to discover her true identity and learn where she belongs. When she falls captive to a hot-tempered, secretive wizard, he draws her into schemes of magical power and possible murder. There’s a world to save, even if it costs Carin her life. The relationship between Carin and the wizard grows increasingly complex, balancing in a tense power struggle as, together, they navigate a world of dangers while yearning for redemption, a sense of belonging, and maybe a little unconventional romance.
Waterspell springs from the realm of epic fantasy (with an environmental fantasy twist). It’s got ancient and mysterious magic, a passage from one world to the otherworld, a (reluctant) Chosen One, and a Hero/Heroine’s Quest. It’s a portal fantasy with complex characters who become embroiled in mystery, murder, and a little slow-burning romance. Think “Jane Eyre meets a sorcerer.”
“A marvelously complex and captivating fantasy series.” —The Published Page
“The story just keeps getting bigger and bigger.” —Book Briefs
The Karenina Chronicles $0.99
House Verek lives on!
Continue the family saga that began in the Waterspell fantasy quartet (Warlock, Wysard, Wisewoman, Witch). Follow the further adventures of eldest daughter Nina in The Karenina Chronicles (Waterspell Book 5).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the grip of a grief-fueled wanderlust after the death of her Earthly husband, Lady Karenina of Ruain—Nina to family and friends—escapes into unfamiliar lands, a harsh and distant country peopled with enigmatic characters: the Leviathan, the Nomad, the Outcast, and the Wolf. In their company she finds adventure, danger, champions, and rogues—some of the latter worth killing, but at least one worth loving.
Chronologically fifth in the Waterspell series, The Karenina Chronicles is a standalone story which is fully accessible to readers who have no knowledge of the previous four books. This entry in the series can be approached as an introduction to the Waterspell universe.
The Fires of Farsinchia $0.99
Will it all end in flames?
The final book in the Waterspell series is The Fires of Farsinchia (Book 6).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With the revival of magic in the world of Ladrehdin, an ancient foe reawakens. Lady Karenina is called home to wield her wizardry against a power far older and deadlier. Will she survive? Who will hear her call for help?
In this second sequel to the original Waterspell quartet, Nina returns to the Ore Hills, summoned from across the void to face peril alongside her brother Galen and niece Jacca. This time, the threat is existential. Nina will discover that her great Gift of water-magic does, in fact, have its limits. Love, however, is eternal, and true friendship is boundless.
The Fires of Farsinchia concludes the further adventures of Lady Karenina of Ruain, eldest daughter of House Verek. It’s a tale of loyalty, humility, and selflessness in the face of overwhelming odds. Who can you count on to always be there to save you from drowning when you’re in over your head?
Sale Ends April 30, 2026!
This is the lowest price ever for all six ebooks in the Waterspell series. Get the full series for only $5.97.
Read more reviews at Reviews and Linked Sequels.
Amazon A-Plus Content for Authors
Authors, have you added A+ Content to your book pages at Amazon?
When Amazon first introduced that feature, I didn’t do it because I thought it made my book pages look junky. But recently I read a newsletter article, The Amazon A10 Update: 3 Things Every Indie Author Needs to Know, by Ferol Vernon at Written Word Media. Among the topics discussed, “Why A+ content and dwell time are suddenly critical ranking factors” caught my attention.
To quote from the raw transcript of the podcast (with some editorial cleanup for readability):
A-plus content is becoming more important because Amazon is wanting their readers or their consumers on the platform to dwell on a page longer. So this metric of dwell time, how long does somebody actually spend on a page, being engaged by the page? That is more important now.
A-plus content is a really great tool for you to be able to do that because if you don’t have it, somebody looks at the description, they scroll to the reviews … maybe they’re on the page for five seconds. If you’ve got the A-plus content, there’s more to read. You maybe extend that dwell time by two or four times as long.
Long is cool again, right? So short and snappy used to be what we would recommend for that description. And that still applies to some extent, but for this A-plus content, [you want] long. Lots of content, lots of images, lots of things that hit on the book’s themes, protagonist, and characters, to keep the reader or potential reader scrolling and dwelling. The dwell time and the scroll time are going to help your book.
Long, eh, Ferol? I like long. 😃
Enthused, I went to KDP and clicked on the Marketing tab, and then on “Manage A+ Content.” My enthusiasm grew when I saw all of the new layouts (what Amazon calls “modules”). Many of the new templates are well suited to my books and to my temperament. I chose three different modules to present A-plus content on my book pages. In them, I included review excerpts along with cover images and brief descriptions. Below are screenshots of each module. (In real life, the A-plus content looks sharper on the actual book pages at Amazon. These screenshots are a tad fuzzy. Clicking on each image will take you to the actual book page, where you can scroll down to see what shoppers see.)
Adverse Reactions: A Novel of the Paranormal
The Original Waterspell Quartet
The Waterspell Linked Sequels
Showcasing a Series
I seldom find any reason to praise Amazon, but I do like the new modules that authors can customize for our books’ A-Plus Content. The ability to assign multiple ASINs to each module is extremely valuable for showcasing a series. The four-book image, WATERSPELL Fantasy Series, shows up on each of those four individual book pages and also on the related page for the boxed set. The two-book image shows up on The Karenina Chronicles page and again on The Fires of Farsinchia page. Grouping the books in this way gives the reader a visual summary of the quartet (which is really one long story told in four volumes), and then the two-book image ties together the linked sequels that tell of Nina’s homecoming and her further adventures.
I don’t know whether this new A-plus content will make the books more visible at Amazon, or affect their ratings, but I like how the modules look on the individual book pages. Over time, I may further refine the content. As a product of a couple hours’ work, however, these three modules present my books in a way that satisfactorily makes the connections among them more obvious to the casual book-shopper. That’s a plus, indeed.
A New Review for My New Book!
The first review is in for my latest, ADVERSE REACTIONS: A Novel of the Paranormal, and it’s a five-star gem! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ UK reader Alex Longbow shared this on Amazon:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another brilliant book from Deborah J Lightfoot!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2026
Format: Kindle
Verified PurchaseDeborah J Lightfoot’s work is always a must read for me, and I have hugely enjoyed every one of her previous books. These have all taken place in her world of Ladhredin, a world that has become very real to me through the pages of her books. This new work, Adverse Reactions is a new departure for her, and an entirely new world is introduced to the reader. I was at once excited and intrigued by this, keen to see where Lightfoot would take me next. It’s fair to say that the world she creates is very different to Ladhredin, with magic playing no explicit part. Instead, paranormal ability takes the place of magic and lies at the core of the book. World building is skilfully managed, with the history, the land and the people introduced on a ‘need to know’ basis, so that the world is brought to us incrementally as the pages turn. I found this to be a very satisfying approach, and one which certainly engaged my interest throughout.
Our main protagonist, Devin, is herself in a process of self-discovery, which proceeds alongside this gradual revelation of the world she lives in. I found her story to be fascinating, her discovery of her own abilities and the revelation of her life history most engaging. In order to discover her true self she negotiates a precarious and engrossing path amongst characters who will variously support or challenge her as the story progresses. Devin has suffered terrible injustices and the manner in which she addresses these through the use of her developing paranormal powers is highly satisfying to the reader.
There is an exceptionally strong cast of characters in Adverse Reactions. The wholesome purity of some key relationships is balanced by Devin’s dealings with some very complex individuals, ones whom the reader is kept wondering whether they truly represent enemy or ally. In summary, Adverse Reactions is a thoroughly engrossing read, that offers some hints that there may be more to come from this context. I hope there is!
Thank you so much, Alex! 💙 I’m enormously grateful for your kind words and fabulous review. 🎉
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To Learn More
Pre-publication reviews are excerpted here:
New Release: ADVERSE REACTIONS
A Bookish Striptease: Cover Reveal
ADVERSE REACTIONS: “Immediately immersive and thematically rich”
My Goodreads “Review” of ADVERSE REACTIONS
Book Launch To-Do List
Filed under Books and Readers, Discoverability, On Writing
“Immediately immersive” 
