Thoughtful Reflections: Debra Borys, Cancer Survivor and Author

There are lots of interesting tidbits you can find out about me and Painted Black in this interview also just posted today on Thoughtful Reflections.  Sylvia Ramsey really gave me some thought provoking questions to answer.  Sylvia is a cancer survivor herself and I felt she really understood where I was coming from.  I hope you’ll check out this interview and see who else she has written about.  Some very interesting profiles on this site.

How did you develop the character of your protagonist in this book?

Jo Sullivan was born out of my own metamorphosis of awakening to the wider world. She starts out as this flawed character just trying to get on with her life, dealing (or in reality, not dealing) with her own dark past by toughing it out. Then she has this encounter with a 15 year old prostitute and something about the girl releases this damn of awareness in Jo that she is no longer able to ignore. She starts looking outside herself, really looking at what’s out there, and turns her anger at what’s screwed up in own life into energy to try to right the injustices of others.

via Thoughtful Reflections: Debra Borys, Cancer Survivor and Author Shares Her New Book, Painted Black.

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Author Spotlight on Margaret Millmore’s blog

Every little bit of publicity helps and I have found there are many welcoming sites out there like Margaret Millmore’s blog willing to post a bit about me and Painted Black.  Thank you, Margaret.  You’ve got a great site.  I hope my readers visit and check all the other authors you’ve interviewed as well.

If there is one unifying theme to my work, it is an attempt to look the real world in the face, the good and the bad, and keep going no matter what.  Like the character in one of my short stories says, “It’s how you deal with the darkness that counts.”

via Margaret Millmore – Featured Authors

Author Spotlight no.61

Morgen Bailey did a beautiful job with the Author Spotlight she posted about Painted Black.  Her site has a lot of other interesting interviews and lots of other writer/reader goodness.

Check her out: Morgen Bailey’s Writing Blog

“The characters in Painted Black know how true that is. The victim in the novel, Lexie Green, was kicked out of her home when she was 12 because her mother caught her boyfriend molesting her and blamed the little girl instead of the drunk man. One of my main characters, Chris, ran away from home because they lived in such poverty he felt he was just a burden to his single-parent mother who was working two jobs and had two small children to care for. He calls his mother every once in a while to tell her he’s okay, but because she never asks him to come home she validates that she doesn’t care about him.

The street kids I write about are examples of what you call “throw away youth’” kids who were either kicked out or ran away because life at home was so terrible anything seems better than what they left behind. When there is no one who cares where you are or what happens to you, you end up treated like garbage someone just tossed out on the curb.”

via Author Spotlight no.61 – Debra Borys « Morgen Bailey’s Writing Blog.

Interview up at Sylvia Browder’s Blog

You would think that one author interview would be the same as another.  But each interviewer always has at least one or two questions that asks something new.  I hope you enjoy.

Sylvia:  What is your favorite scene from the book?

Debra: One of my favorite scenes is when Jo meets Lexie. When I read it, I can actually see the Chicago Street they are standing on. The image of Lexie sitting in a booth wolfing down a burrito because she’s so hungry was inspired by a similar scene I experienced one of my first nights of volunteering in Chicago.  I was with one of the Emmaus Ministries’ staff members and we bought a late night supper for a young homeless man we met.

http://sylviabrowder.com/community-news/debra-r-borys.html/

Amazon’s Confused

Amazon wants to ship paperback copies of Painted Black, but they’ve lost the cover and somehow only have six copies in stock–one of which is USED!  LOL.  I’m sure it’s just a database glitch that will be fixed soon.  Either that, or buy your copy from them soon, before they sell out!