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Debbie

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first registered 07.05.08

last online 21 hours ago

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about me

In no particular order: writer, small-press editor & publisher, interior designer, events organiser, wife & mother. In my career so far, I've investigated heroin smuggling, been a government debt collector and controlled all the Thames Valley breweries for beer duty. I'm currently a business intelligence analyst / IT designer for the police.

I hand-wrote my first complete novel aged 14 (still have it somewhere). I've had short stories published in women's magazines & small press and won several competitions. I've even got an e-novel out there, but I'm still trying to break into traditional publishing.

My claim to fame - I once asked Stephen King to dance!

*****

A bit about the fiction I've uploaded onto authonomy:

1) Hamelin's Child was long-listed (top 25) for the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Award. Gritty and graphic adult stuff, this is not for the faint-hearted. The novel made the Editor's Desk here on authonomy in 2008 and received a fantastic HC critique. It's a complete novel and is looking for a permanent home.

2) The Blue Flamingo is another thriller. This has more of a horror edge, but is less graphically-adult than Hamelin's' Child. It's still a work-in-progress so a little rough around the edges, maybe.

3) Edge of Dreams is a young adult contemporary fantasy which has also won prizes. This novel is also complete and would love to be on a bookshop shelf somewhere.

4) Flashpoint is another completed YA fantasy novel, which continues the adventures of the characters first met in Edge of Dreams.

5) Blood Ties is an attempt at traditional fantasy (but no elves or dragons!). I was working on this with an editor at Orion many years ago, before real life got in the way. This is still a work-in-progress.

6) Cherry Picks is a collection of my short (and not so short) stories. These have been published in small press and larger independent anthologies and also women's magazines. Some have won awards and competitions and one was "highly commended" by American Goddess of fantasy fiction Ellen Datlow.

favourite books

Oooh - some fantasy, anything by Mark Chadbourn, Storm Constantine, Louise Cooper, Tom Deitz, Stephen Baxter, Jodi Picoult, Stephen King, Matthew Reilly, Greg Bear. And I love all the conspiracy-theory stuff that's around at the moment. All-time favourites include Alan Garner's 'Owl Service' and Susan Cooper's 'Dark Is Rising' sequence.

my websites

http://www.debbiebennett.co.uk     http://debbie-bennett.blogspot.com/

HarperCollins is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Self-publish with CreateSpace

my books

Hamelin's Child

DJ Bennett

Thriller set in the seedy world of London's drug rings. How much does it cost to survive? Are some prices just too high to pay?


Michael Redford died on his seventeenth birthday – the night Eddie picked him up off the street, shot him full of heroin and assaulted him.

Now he’s Mikey and he works for Joss. With streaked blond hair and a cute smile, he sleeps by day and services clients at night. Sometimes he remembers his old life, but with what he’s become now, he knows there is no return to his comfortable middle-class background.

Then he makes a friend in Lee. A child of the streets, Lee demands more from friendship than Mikey is prepared to give. But the police are closing in on them now and Mikey’s not sure anymore who he really is – streetwise Mikey or plain Michael Redford.

Time’s running out and Michael has to find some answers …

Cover design by Michael Cooper
(Novel completed - 85,000 words)

 

Edge of Dreams

Debbie Bennett

What do you do when you realise that the bad guys might care more about you than the good ones?


Ricky’s on the edge of a life of crime. Skipping college to steal cars in the aftermath of his father’s death in action, it’s not surprising that his dreams are vivid and seem almost real.

Calith’s just on the edge of a life. Snatched from Ricky’s world to another place altogether, shaped and taught by a man who meant everything to him, Calith’s found out that when you’ve grown up with the enemy, it’s hard to make friends.

Then Ricky dreams of Calith and nobody comes more real than the boy from another world, with his multi-coloured hair and temper to match. But are Calith’s motivations all they seem? Ricky’s not sure. Calith’s dark past is coming back to haunt him big time, and when you’re jumping worlds to escape the good guys, something must be wrong somewhere, mustn’t it?

Cover design by Ben Gott
(Novel completed - 72,000 words)

 

Blood Ties

Debbie Bennett

When an entire race is fighting for survival, it may be the enemy within that can do the most damage.


What holds a city together - shared history or a mixed gene pool?

Alesha thinks she has all the answers. But she's about to discover that she hasn't even been asking the right questions.

(Novel not yet completed - 69,000 words so far, 80-90k anticipated in total)

 

Flashpoint

Debbie Bennett

When a relationship turns sour, there's more at stake than just pride, as worlds may start falling apart …


Calith and Louise's relationship was never destined to last. After all - she was only sixteen and he came from another world. But even Ricky didn't suspect what would happen when they went their separate ways, or that his sister would be quite so indiscreet in the pub one evening ...

So when Calith goes missing, Louise is the only one with the key to his whereabouts. Ricky is forced to call on old promises to help him search, but old promises come with new prices. And now other people know about them and they're running out of time before their secret is out for good.

(This is a sequel to Edge of Dreams and is complete at 85,000 words)

 

The Blue Flamingo

DJ Bennett

What happens when you’re looking for someone who doesn’t want to be found?


The Blue Flamingo has been sold. It’s not a particularly salubrious place, admittedly, but it makes money and the dancers seem happy enough. Matt is reasonably content working there; as technical advisor, office manager and general dogsbody, he often ends up sorting out boss Christian’s love life as well as running the place. So when Matt finds out what his new boss Carl has in store for the small London club, he’s not at all sure he wants to stay on the payroll. But getting out could be harder than he thinks.

Louise spends her days as a bike courier, searching the capital’s streets for any trace of her younger sister who’s been missing from home for over a year now. She delivers a package to the Blue Flamingo and what she sees on the tv monitor there will change her life forever.

Drawn into something neither of them understand, Matt and Louise enlist the help of Christian’s ex-lover – arcade supremo and teenage runaway Kit. And when Kit disappears, Matt realises that Carl is trying to buy their silence, but it’s going to cost more than either of them could ever imagine.

(work in progress)

 

Cherry Picks

Debbie Bennett

Some of my published short stories.


1 Daughter of Lir. A love story that defies the ancient Celtic Gods.
2 Masquerade. In a post-apocalyptic world, are ethics more important than survival?
3 The Dreamseller. What if your dreams came true?
4 Carousel. Ray Bradbury’s fairground has nothing on this one. It’s the ride of your life.
5 Beyond Rescue. Can true love survive death?
6 The Fourth Dimension. Where the things down the back of your sofa cushions really come from.
7 Sarah. Can you ever get over the death of a child?
8 Maniac. He’s escaped from prison, but where is he heading?
9 20-20 Vision. A chance for a new start in life - or is it?
10 Lacuna. A trip to Hell - but love really can conquer all.
11 Hunt. Joe will need more than luck to survive when the Hounds of Hell are after him on Beltain eve.

Previously published fantasy, sf and horror short (and not so short) stories, some of which have won prizes. One was 'highly commended' by the American Goddess of fantasy fiction Ellen Datlow.

 

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latest

Sarah King wrote 1 day ago

Thanks for backing and commenting on Regression. I have added your bo....

Sandra Davidson wrote 4 days ago

Debbie, Thank you so much for backing COLD MOON RISING. And thanks f....

Sheena Ignatia - Andre wrote 4 days ago

It's here now :)

Sheena Ignatia - Andre wrote 4 days ago

Oh thanks Debbie- I have nver heard of them! I haven;t really got eno....

Andrew Burans wrote 8 days ago

Hi Debbie, The reason for this message is that unfortunately, and ....

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my comments

latest

I wrote 1 day ago

Read four chapters of this - which is always a good sign. I like your writing - you involve the reader and it's an interesting read but I did have a couple of problems: in chapter 1, Laura has an odd experience but "the same woman"? The same as who? It confused me which made me wonder how the teleph... view book

I wrote 4 days ago

FUNNY! My daughter wrote to the shampoo people - the one where the actress in the ad has an orgasm on tv - and asked how come when she used that shampoo, she didn't rise up into the air and turn into a plant or whatever. It was meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek but the grumpy bastards simply said th... view book

I wrote 4 days ago

Fabulous pitch - hooked me straight away. Wasn't sure about the prologue to be honest - nothing wrong with it, it just didn't seem to have any connection to the pitch and I wasn't sure if I was reading the same novel. Chapter 1 was great though - you have the dialogue spot-on and you are right insid... view book

I wrote 13 days ago

Literary sf? Different. But I love the pitch and the first chapter. Immediate empathy with the family and I coudl so see you were setting us up for an accident only to pull back at the last minute - which is great foreshadowing of what is to come. This has PTQ (or unputdownability) because you make ... view book

I wrote 13 days ago

First line confused me a little - "track" in the singular suggested the verb to me and so the sentence didn't make sense. Don't know which is more accepted and UK may be different than US, but you use "tracks" later on. You might want to check it out. Eight inches of snow, but it's all melted and ye... view book

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