Category Archives: On Writing

June 5, 2026 · 11:06 am

The “Alice” Books and Waterspell: How They Connect

Writers are often told to write what we know. Thus, it is not surprising that many authors choose to write about books and the people who love them.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak tells of a girl who steals the things she can’t resist—books. The hero of Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story becomes a character in the mysterious book he is reading. In When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, the protagonist relies upon her favorite book, Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, as a kind of “life compass.”

Following in that tradition, Lewis Carroll’s Alice books appear “as themselves” in my Waterspell books. My heroine, Carin, first encounters Through the Looking-Glass (TTLG) and discovers that the book holds within it a powerful weapon that only she can wield. Later, Carin gets her hands on a copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (AAIW) and continues to find veiled connections between the Carrollian world and her own perilous situation.

As an enthusiastic fan of Martin Gardner’s The Annotated Alice, I like to imagine how the late Mr. Gardner might annotate the Waterspell series as he picked up on my novels’ subtle homages to the Alice books. I think he would remark on the reversed order in which Carin encounters the books. Lewis Carroll wrote AAIW first, then TTLG some years later. Throughout TTLG, things “go the other way,” so it is appropriate (as well as necessary to the plot of Waterspell) that Carin reads the books “the other way”—second book first.

Another play on the “other way” can be seen in the spelling of the names of the two leading ladies. “Alice” is vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel, while “Carin” (also five letters) is consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant.

The names of things are important in the Waterspell books. In AAIW, the dormouse speaks of drawing all manner of things that begin with the letter M. I don’t doubt that Martin Gardner would notice the characters in Waterspell whose names start, like his, with M: among them Myra, Megella, and Merriam.

And on it goes. In Waterspell Book 3: The Wisewoman, Carin is required to travel under an alias. What name does she choose for herself? Alice, of course.

In no way, however, are the Waterspell novels a retelling of the Alice books. Though there are analogies—Carin’s reflective “mirror pool” recalls Alice’s looking-glass—my story follows its own unique trajectory. To capture the gist of Waterspell, one might say it’s “Jane Eyre meets a sorcerer.” The relationship between my main characters is reminiscent of the stormy sparring between Jane and Rochester. Waterspell is a story that young adults can enjoy, but it’s really aimed at an older audience. Though an Alice motif runs deep in my series, Waterspell is no more a “children’s book” than is The Hunger Games or Philip Pullman’s epic trilogy of fantasy novels, His Dark Materials. My characters encounter great danger, violence, murder, and betrayal.

~~~~~

Waterspell fantasy series by Deborah J. Lightfoot

“One of my all-time favourites. The Waterspell series shines in its character development. Readers are introduced to a diverse cast of deeply human, flawed individuals shaped by their pasts—whether through jealousy, grief, or a yearning for freedom. These aren’t flaws added for drama’s sake, but natural consequences of their lived experiences. The changes they undergo are gradual and organic, evolving over the course of the series. If you enjoy slow-burn narratives and meaningful arcs, you’ll appreciate how the story handles growth and transformation. I’d even consider this an ʻenemies-to-lovers’ romance, though it takes three books for that dynamic to fully develop. Patience is key—but it’s worth the wait. —Ariel The Tempest

“In this four-book saga, the author has created an epic fantasy world full of magic, danger, romance, and travel through time and space. The characters are vivid and complex, including a young woman on a hero’s quest, and a powerful warlock who isn’t sure whether to kill her or embrace her. This is a most enjoyable read for fans of fantasy and fine writing.” —Shirley, NetGalley

“A must-read for fantasy enthusiasts who enjoy immersive world-building, well-developed characters, and a storyline that seamlessly blends magic and human emotion.” —Dalton S, NetGalley

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Filed under Alice in Wonderland, On Writing, Waterspell fantasy trilogy

Tagged as Alice books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, fantasy, Lewis Carroll Society of North America

June 1, 2026 · 1:13 pm

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

It’s all changing, right before our eyes. Not just publishing, but the writing life itself, our ability to make a living from authorship. Even in the best of times, which these are not, most writers have to supplement their writing incomes by teaching, or throwing up sheet-rock, or cage fighting. It wasn’t always so, but for the last two decades I’ve lived the life most writers dream of: I write novels and stories, as well as the occasional screenplay, and every now and then I hit the road for a week or two and give talks. In short, I’m one of the blessed, and not just in terms of my occupation. My health is good, my children grown, their educations paid for. I’m sixty-four, which sucks, but it also means that nothing that happens in publishing—for good or ill—is going to affect me nearly as much as it affects younger writers, especially those who haven’t made their names yet. Even if the e-price of my next novel is $1.99, I won’t have to go back to cage fighting.

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.

I know, I know. Some insist that there’s never been a better time to be an author. Self-publishing has democratized the process, they argue, and authors can now earn royalties of up to seventy percent, where once we had to settle for what traditional publishers told us was our share. Anecdotal evidence is marshaled in support of this view (statistical evidence to follow). Those of us who are alarmed, we’re told, are, well, alarmists. Time will tell who’s right, but surely it can’t be a good idea for writers to stand on the sidelines while our collective fate is decided by others. Especially when we consider who those others are. Entities like Google and Apple and Amazon are rich and powerful enough to influence governments, and every day they demonstrate their willingness to wield that enormous power. Books and authors are a tiny but not insignificant part of the larger battle being waged between these companies, a battleground that includes the movie, music, and newspaper industries. I think it’s fair to say that to a greater or lesser degree, those other industries have all gotten their asses kicked, just as we’re getting ours kicked now. And not just in the courts. Somehow, we’re even losing the war for hearts and minds. When we defend copyright, we’re seen as greedy. When we justly sue, we’re seen as litigious. When we attempt to defend the physical book and stores that sell them, we’re seen as Luddites. Our altruism, when we’re able to summon it, is too often seen as self-serving.

But here’s the thing. What the Apples and Googles and Amazons and Netflixes of the world all have in common (in addition to their quest for world domination), is that they’re all starved for content, and for that they need us. Which means we have a say in all this. Everything in the digital age may feel new and may seem to operate under new rules, but the conversation about the relationship between art and commerce is age-old, and artists must be part of it. To that end we’d do well to speak with one voice, though it’s here we demonstrate our greatest weakness. Writers are notoriously independent cusses, hard to wrangle. We spend our mostly solitary days filling up blank pieces of paper with words. We must like it that way, or we wouldn’t do it. But while it’s pretty to think that our odd way of life will endure, there’s no guarantee. The writing life is ours to defend. Protecting it also happens to be the mission of the Authors Guild, which I myself did not join until last year, when the light switch in my cave finally got tripped. Are you a member? If not, please consider becoming one. We’re badly outgunned and in need of reinforcements. If the writing life has done well by you, as it has by me, here’s your chance to return the favor. Do it now, because there’s such a thing as being too late.

Richard Russo
December 2013

Richard Russo’s 2001 novel Empire Falls received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

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April 24, 2026 · 11:49 am

“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.)

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Filed under Adverse Reactions: A Novel of the Paranormal, Books and Readers, On Writing, Waterspell fantasy trilogy, Writers

Tagged as fantasy, writing advice, writing process

April 17, 2026 · 10:42 am

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.

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Filed under Adverse Reactions: A Novel of the Paranormal, Books and Readers, Discoverability, On Writing, Waterspell fantasy trilogy, Writers

Tagged as book discovery, book reviews, marketing, social media, writing advice

March 25, 2026 · 3:15 pm

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 Purchase

Deborah 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. 🎉

~~~

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

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Filed under Books and Readers, Discoverability, On Writing

Tagged as book discovery, book reviews, five-star books

October 26, 2024 · 12:53 pm

Online Identity Housekeeping

Regularly updating one’s author bio is an entirely tedious but necessary part of the interconnected online world. Every time I have a new book coming out (and I do! November 19!) I chase down all of the sites where my little biography appears. I’ve now spent the better part of a week doing this mind-numbing task.

In hopes of simplifying the process for any necessary future updates, I’ve created a list. Google finds most of these, but not all. Some of the more obscure locations were sporting badly outdated info. With this list to remind me, perhaps I’ll more easily catch them all, the next time I must refresh my online presences. (“What has it got in its presences?”)

Also my distributors, Draft2Digital and Lightning Source, so that booksellers who use their databases will pick up the most recent author info.

Also Google Play Books (the catalog of which, like Lightning Source, must be updated individually <sigh> since the Google Partner Center does not have one universal Author Profile option that applies to every book in an author’s catalog):

With this many individual places to update, you would think that I’d be absolutely certain of the wording I want in my “official author bio.” But after a week of updating myself everywhere, I’m already wondering if I’ve included too many details, and will the info be stale before my coffee gets cold? <sigh>

Author Bio: Deborah J. Lightfoot

Castles in the cornfield provided the setting for Deborah J. Lightfoot’s earliest flights of fancy. On her father’s farm in Texas, she grew up reading tales of adventure and reenacting them behind ramparts of sun-drenched grain. She left the farm to earn a degree in journalism and write award-winning books of history and biography. High on her bucket list was the desire to try her hand at the genre she most admired. The result is Waterspell, a complex, intricately detailed fantasy comprising the original four-book series (Warlock, Wysard, Wisewoman, Witch). In the “Nina sequels” to that earlier quartet — The Karenina Chronicles and The Fires of Farsinchia — new generations of powerful wysards carry the saga into the magical future of an ancient world. Having discovered the Waterspell universe, the author finds it difficult to leave.

Lightfoot is a professional member of the Authors Guild. She still lives in rural Texas. Find her on Instagram @booksofwaterspell and explore her overflowing, catch-all website at waterspell.net.

"What to do with too much information is the great riddle of our time." Theodore Zeldin — “What to do with too much information is the great riddle of our time.” Theodore Zeldin

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Filed under Discoverability, On Writing, Writers

Tagged as author bio, author brands, book marketing, social media

July 9, 2024 · 11:21 am

Snipped Scenes: The Fires of Farsinchia Outtakes

As I work back through my old notes for my novel-in-progress—notes scribbled on scraps of paper, some dating back a year—I find bits that I’m not sure can be incorporated sensibly into the Fires manuscript, but I’m reluctant to trash these bits. Therefore, I’m saving them here, just in case I’m inspired to use them in my final editing passes. “Kill your darlings,” they say. Eliminate any part of your writing—scenes, sentences, descriptions—that you love, but which don’t serve your story. I’m not ready to decapitate the following, so they’ll stay here for now, awaiting their fate.

On the Void’s Time-Warping

In reality, all of her siblings were now older than Nina. She had lived most of her life in a world where time passed far more slowly than on Ladrehdin. She was now, practically speaking, the baby of the family. But she’d never admit that, for Nina would never cease to take pride in being the eldest daughter of House Verek.

On Nina’s Permanent Departure from the Island World

… what Willow had said about Legary’s children from his first marriages to mortal women, how his offspring had grown to resent him for never growing old or leaving them an inheritance. Nina’s own descendants on the island world were now many generations removed from their matriarch. They had the family house on the bay and the magian vigor of their inheritance, and they needed her no longer.

Where Is Nina’s Sword?

Nina’s rapier figured prominently in The Karenina Chronicles (Waterspell Book 5). But in The Fires of Farsinchia (Book 6), it’s nowhere to be seen. That’s because, at the end of KC, Nina had left it at home in Ruain. Thus, she doesn’t have it with her when she makes the leap back through the void to the Ore Hills, at the beginning of Fires.

Her rapier was at home in Ruain. Nina had not worn the blade when she crossed from Weyrrock to the islands beyond the void. Her other weapons—bow, sling, and throwing knife—had had their uses in that distant world, but her rapier would always have been out of place, too different from any weaponry that was commonly known in the archipelago. But here in the desert of Ladrehdin, she missed it. Perhaps Dalton could eventually collect the weapon from Weyrrock, bring it to the port city of Seawood, and send it by messenger to Legary at Granger. Nina could then retrieve it from Legary, the next time she visited her brother at his home in the southern grasslands.

On Wolfram as Courier

Wolfe is only the second courier ever admitted into Ruain on behalf of Galen. Remember that Galen sent a messenger many years ago, bearing a bracelet for Carin and a cloak pin for Verek. That rider (in Book 4) had been a wandering wysard from the mountains, known to Galen’s master, Orton the Smith.

A novel is like an iceberg. Much of the story is out of the reader's sight, known to the author but hidden in the depths. — A novel is like an iceberg. Much of the story is out of the reader’s sight, known to the author but hidden in the depths.

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Tagged as deleted scenes, saved notes, writing process

June 17, 2024 · 3:20 pm

What’s New in the Waterspell Universe

I haven’t blogged in months because I’ve been traveling the world. The world of Waterspell, that is. The place keeps me busy. Here’s some of what’s happening:

The Karenina Chronicles
A Waterspell Novel
by
Deborah J. Lightfoot

Audiobook narrated by
Hannah Eggleton

Fall 2024

The Karenina Chronicles audiobook is nearly finished! Narrator Hannah Eggleton has done a beautiful job. Hannah has captured Nina’s voice, attitudes, and personality so perfectly that I must keep reminding myself that Hannah is Hannah, not Nina. 😁 We’re aiming for a Fall 2024 release. The audiobook will be available everywhere: Audible, Chirp, Hoopla, Barnes & Noble, Spotify, etc.

Here’s a 2-minute sample to whet your appetite. I love the strong self-confidence of Hannah’s voice.

The Sequel: Fires of Farsinchia

Yes, there’s a sequel in the works. The Karenina Chronicles is itself a stand-alone sequel to the original Waterspell quartet. To follow Nina’s story, you don’t need to have read the first four books. KC takes the saga into a new generation with new characters and conflicts.

But just as Nina demanded that I tell her full story in a chronicle of her very own, several characters from KC have also clamored for more time on the page. The result is turning into yet another Waterspell novel, to be called The Fires of Farsinchia. I’ve been handing out business cards with Fires listed alongside KC, which is putting the cart before the horse since Fires is still months away from publication. It won’t be listed yet by any bookseller.

To give googlers a search result, however, in case any recipient of my card googles the title, here’s the blurb, along with a sneak peek at the cover:

The Fires of Farsinchia
A Waterspell Novel
by
Deborah J. Lightfoot

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?

Will It All End in Flames?

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?

Waterspell: The Nina Sequels by Deborah J. Lightfoot. "The Karenina Chronicles" and "The Fires of Farsinchia."

You map lovers out there will be happy to know that Fires includes a map, this one drawn professionally by Tiffany Munro, cartographer for Feed the Multiverse Studio. This lovely and detailed map will be a great help to readers in following the new story through a complex landscape. I’m thrilled with it! 💙

Map of the Ore Hills and vicinity, detail by Tiffany Munro, cartographer, from The Fires of Farsinchia: A Waterspell Novel by Deborah J. Lightfoot (c) 2024. All Rights Reserved.

Will There Be a Waterspell Book 7?

Possibly. I’m making notes for a book that could take the saga into the third generation. Two young adepts from The Fires of Farsinchia got married, and I’m sure their children will be unusually magically gifted. I may have to tag along on their further adventures, for I’m sure they’ll have many.

I need a break from this world, however. Since 2020, I’ve lived in the Waterspell universe. It has dominated my life. Which isn’t a bad thing at all, except I’m at the stage of life where I really should devote time to clearing out the clutter. My writing room is bursting with old projects, old notes, and files that need to be tossed. My late husband left a garage full of tools and bolts and fasteners of all kinds. It needs going through and boxing up for donation to Habitat for Humanity. Maybe I’ll take a year to declutter before tackling the story of the third generation in this fantasy family saga. Stay tuned!

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Filed under Audiobooks, Books and Readers, Magic, On Writing

Tagged as Audiobooks, fantasy, fantasy family saga, fantasy maps

October 31, 2023 · 5:23 pm

New! The Karenina Chronicles

I’ve neglected my blog for months, for good reason. I’ve been totally absorbed with final edits to my new book, The Karenina Chronicles. Everything’s done now. Whee! The edits are finished, the cover is finished, the PDF of the cover and the book block have gone to Lightning Source for the print edition, and the ebook is loaded up at Amazon, Google Play Books, and (for distribution everywhere else) at Draft2Digital.

I’m pretty proud of this installment in the Waterspell fantasy series. I’ve worked on it for a year and a half. It’s a journey tale that covers a lot of ground. We get to know the children of Lord Verek and Lady Carin. The couple’s five offspring were introduced in Book 4 of the series, The Witch. Now we follow the eldest daughter, Nina, on her “grand tour” through the South Country of her homeworld. Much is revealed about her adult life, and the lives of her brothers: Dalton the weather-mage, Legary the wizard of stone, and Galen the firedrake. Nina simply would not leave me alone until I’d consented to tell the story of her journey. She insisted that I tuck myself into her saddlebags and make the trip with her. I’m glad I did. It’s been a journey of self-discovery for myself as well as for Nina.

The book blurb:

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.

I invite you to continue the family saga that began in the WATERSPELL fantasy quartet (Warlock, Wysard, Wisewoman, Witch). In the 400 pages of The Karenina Chronicles, you’ll follow the further adventures of Nina the firstborn, and discover that not all has been sunshine and roses, for either herself or her brothers.

While I won’t go so far as to claim that this installment in the series is a true standalone novel, I will say that I believe readers can connect with the characters and follow their stories even without having read the original quartet. There’s enough backstory scattered judiciously through this book to give readers the necessary background.

If you’ve been thinking about dipping your toe into the Waterspell ocean, The Karenina Chronicles is the book to start you off. I hope and trust that, when you’ve finished it, you’ll want to go back and pick up the previous books in the series.

Thank you so much for your interest and your support. These books mean a lot to me, and this newest one has a special hold on my heart. There’s a strong streak of a woman’s rage in this book.

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Filed under Books and Readers, On Writing, Waterspell fantasy trilogy

Tagged as family saga, new book, writing a sequel

May 3, 2023 · 5:48 pm

The Joy of Book Signings

Readers who have followed my writerly journey will remember that I hit a dry spell between 2012 and 2020. I wasn’t writing during those years. Promoting my work was the last thing on my mind. I was emotionally, mentally, and physically unavailable for any kind of bookish event.

Which is why I was both excited and nervous about participating in an author event sponsored by the local public library. It wasn’t just a book-signing opportunity. The 10 participating authors also presented a mini-workshop on Getting Started Writing, Overcoming Writer’s Block, Avoiding Common Errors, and Getting Published.

Nerves and eagerness led me to over-prepare, as I do. I had new posters printed for my book table. I obsessed over what I should wear. I actually practiced—in front of a mirror—my five-minute talks on two of those topics.

It all went fine, of course. Book-signings and writing workshops are like riding a bicycle: once you learn, you don’t forget. I fell back into it like the old pro I am. Prior to 2012, I’d done a bunch of author events and writing conferences.

Here are a few pictures from my “comeback.” It was fun, and I’m glad to go back on the circuit.