Deborah Cullins Smith is a poet, a fiction writer, and hopes to be a novelist when (and if) she
grows up. Her first love has always been historical fiction and Biblical fiction, and she loves the
challenges of research. She insists, "a writer reads!" Since the age of ten, when her active-duty
Army father was posted in Heidelberg, Germany, Deborah consumed books by the dozen every
week. She maintains that it was the absence of English television in Germany that cemented her
love of literature. She carried home 10-12 books at a time from the Post Library, and could give a
verbal report on each and every one of them, which amused and thrilled the librarian no end!
When she wasn't engrossed in a book, she wrote her own stories about her imaginary adventures
with pirates, climbing mountains, crossing high seas.
Married to a high school sweetheart in 1976, Deborah proceeded to give birth to three children.
When her husband gave up police work and entered the Air Force as an officer in 1982, she
dedicated herself to promoting his career and raising their children during his many absences. At
their first base in Alexandria, Louisiana, Deborah found herself in the world of writing once again
when the editor of the Officer's Wives Magazine asked her to create an "Erma Bombeck style
column". Thus, Debbie's Diary was born, and became the most popular article in the monthly
publication, avidly read by the officers as well as their wives. Broken appliances, the joys and
tears of motherhood, and the frequent moves that are the hallmark of military life became grist
for her acerbic wit.
When orders came for the move to Denver, Colorado, Deborah found the magnificent scenery to
be an inspiration for her poetry. She attended a conference aimed at Sunday School teachers and
lay ministry, and felt compelled to sign up for a course on Christian creative writing. Of all the
information she learned that day, the most profound was her introduction to the annual Writer's
Market. Using her love for research, she quickly learned which markets accepted inspirational
work and began sending out submissions. It wasn’t long before her poetry received publication in
several magazines such as Pentecostal Evangel, Standard, Take Five, and the Evangel.
In 1989, duty called once again and the Smith family moved to Anchorage, Alaska. And once again,
Deborah found inspiration in the rugged nature that surrounded their home. Her writing took
another turn, and she began composing short inspirational non-fiction pieces, which found
publication in the same magazines, and added a few more: Daily Meditation, Woman's Touch, and
HiCall.
Then for many years, Deborah found herself overloaded with those troublesome teen-age years
and her own sewing business, during which time her writing slacked off significantly. She did find
the time, however, to pen a dramatic play, performed for her church called The Rapture. Told in
a series of skits, Deborah showed the Rapture from the perspective of those left behind: a
woman complaining to a husband who has suddenly vanished in mid-conversation, leaving behind
a humming razor; a teen-ager coming in from partying and finding Grandma's wheelchair empty,
her Bible open on the seat; a military tent in the Gulf where some of the "radical" soldiers could
not be found for their patrols; a hysterical mother trying to find her son in a crowded airport, and
newscasters reporting the havoc between scenes.
Two more moves, the loss of her father, her father-in-law, and several dear aunts and uncles took
their toll, as did the end of Deborah's 22-year marriage. She found herself working outside the
home for the first time since the 70's, and all else took a back seat to her newfound career. But a
work-related injury to her left shoulder knocked her out of the work place in 2003. Unable to sit
still and recuperate without going stir-crazy, Deborah picked up pen and paper once again, her
preferred mode of writing. "God never closes a door without opening a window," she insists.
"Isaiah 42:3 is my verse: A bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not
extinguish. I have been bruised and my light has been dim, but the Lord will not allow me to be
broken beyond all redemption. My life is in His hands."
In 2004, life-long friend and author James K. Bowers roped Deborah into a writers' group called
The Herscher Project, a tribute to the high school she and Mr. Bowers graduated from in 1974.
Since then, Deborah has shown a consummate hunger for the science-fiction and fantasy genre.
She continues to write for The Herscher Project and is now one of the moderators for the group,
as well as moderating its off-shoot for the younger crowd, The Young Artisans. She maintains a
library on Elfwood, the largest sci-fi and fantasy website in the world, and delights in encouraging
talent among these fine writers and artists. Deborah has also joined forces with authors James K.
Bowers and H. Lynn Rummel in a collaborative novel called The Song of the Grey Lady, a story of
high fantasy that follows the journey of a medieval healer, her young apprentice and a
cantankerous centaur who is destined to free her people from slavery.
In January, 2006, Deborah met author Larry N. Morris for the first time. They had been
corresponding for several months, having met through Elfwood. Their love was short-lived
though, when Larry was killed in a car accident in April of the same year. His first book, published
posthumously, Tales for the Thrifty Barbarian, carries Deborah's first bittersweet book
contribution: Larry's Dedication Page and her poem No More Tomorrows, a tribute to their love.
It was Larry's son, Scott "Frank Creed" Morris who invited Deborah to contribute her stories to
Light at the Edge of Darkness. She maintains close ties to Larry's family to this day.
Deborah insists that the only "men" in her life for now will be her black Lab, Vegas, and her blond
Pomeranian, Beau, though she says that they own her instead of the reverse! When she isn't
writing, she enjoys needlework and loom weaving, and is avid about scrapbooks. She lives in
southern Illinois, close to her two daughters, son, son-in-law, and three grandsons, who are the
lights in her life. Her current projects, aside from The Song of the Grey Lady, include another
anthology highlighting the best of The Herscher Project stories and a novel called The Last of the
Long-Haired Hippies, a story about a woman trying to reconcile her past as a flower child of the
60's with her present life and the man who loves her in spite of her haunting memories.
Although she loves the world of fantasy writing, Deborah still hopes to blend that world with
history and return to her first love, historical fiction, all the while remaining true to her faith in
God, pointing others to His abundant grace, which she herself has been blessed with all her life.
grows up. Her first love has always been historical fiction and Biblical fiction, and she loves the
challenges of research. She insists, "a writer reads!" Since the age of ten, when her active-duty
Army father was posted in Heidelberg, Germany, Deborah consumed books by the dozen every
week. She maintains that it was the absence of English television in Germany that cemented her
love of literature. She carried home 10-12 books at a time from the Post Library, and could give a
verbal report on each and every one of them, which amused and thrilled the librarian no end!
When she wasn't engrossed in a book, she wrote her own stories about her imaginary adventures
with pirates, climbing mountains, crossing high seas.
Married to a high school sweetheart in 1976, Deborah proceeded to give birth to three children.
When her husband gave up police work and entered the Air Force as an officer in 1982, she
dedicated herself to promoting his career and raising their children during his many absences. At
their first base in Alexandria, Louisiana, Deborah found herself in the world of writing once again
when the editor of the Officer's Wives Magazine asked her to create an "Erma Bombeck style
column". Thus, Debbie's Diary was born, and became the most popular article in the monthly
publication, avidly read by the officers as well as their wives. Broken appliances, the joys and
tears of motherhood, and the frequent moves that are the hallmark of military life became grist
for her acerbic wit.
When orders came for the move to Denver, Colorado, Deborah found the magnificent scenery to
be an inspiration for her poetry. She attended a conference aimed at Sunday School teachers and
lay ministry, and felt compelled to sign up for a course on Christian creative writing. Of all the
information she learned that day, the most profound was her introduction to the annual Writer's
Market. Using her love for research, she quickly learned which markets accepted inspirational
work and began sending out submissions. It wasn’t long before her poetry received publication in
several magazines such as Pentecostal Evangel, Standard, Take Five, and the Evangel.
In 1989, duty called once again and the Smith family moved to Anchorage, Alaska. And once again,
Deborah found inspiration in the rugged nature that surrounded their home. Her writing took
another turn, and she began composing short inspirational non-fiction pieces, which found
publication in the same magazines, and added a few more: Daily Meditation, Woman's Touch, and
HiCall.
Then for many years, Deborah found herself overloaded with those troublesome teen-age years
and her own sewing business, during which time her writing slacked off significantly. She did find
the time, however, to pen a dramatic play, performed for her church called The Rapture. Told in
a series of skits, Deborah showed the Rapture from the perspective of those left behind: a
woman complaining to a husband who has suddenly vanished in mid-conversation, leaving behind
a humming razor; a teen-ager coming in from partying and finding Grandma's wheelchair empty,
her Bible open on the seat; a military tent in the Gulf where some of the "radical" soldiers could
not be found for their patrols; a hysterical mother trying to find her son in a crowded airport, and
newscasters reporting the havoc between scenes.
Two more moves, the loss of her father, her father-in-law, and several dear aunts and uncles took
their toll, as did the end of Deborah's 22-year marriage. She found herself working outside the
home for the first time since the 70's, and all else took a back seat to her newfound career. But a
work-related injury to her left shoulder knocked her out of the work place in 2003. Unable to sit
still and recuperate without going stir-crazy, Deborah picked up pen and paper once again, her
preferred mode of writing. "God never closes a door without opening a window," she insists.
"Isaiah 42:3 is my verse: A bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not
extinguish. I have been bruised and my light has been dim, but the Lord will not allow me to be
broken beyond all redemption. My life is in His hands."
In 2004, life-long friend and author James K. Bowers roped Deborah into a writers' group called
The Herscher Project, a tribute to the high school she and Mr. Bowers graduated from in 1974.
Since then, Deborah has shown a consummate hunger for the science-fiction and fantasy genre.
She continues to write for The Herscher Project and is now one of the moderators for the group,
as well as moderating its off-shoot for the younger crowd, The Young Artisans. She maintains a
library on Elfwood, the largest sci-fi and fantasy website in the world, and delights in encouraging
talent among these fine writers and artists. Deborah has also joined forces with authors James K.
Bowers and H. Lynn Rummel in a collaborative novel called The Song of the Grey Lady, a story of
high fantasy that follows the journey of a medieval healer, her young apprentice and a
cantankerous centaur who is destined to free her people from slavery.
In January, 2006, Deborah met author Larry N. Morris for the first time. They had been
corresponding for several months, having met through Elfwood. Their love was short-lived
though, when Larry was killed in a car accident in April of the same year. His first book, published
posthumously, Tales for the Thrifty Barbarian, carries Deborah's first bittersweet book
contribution: Larry's Dedication Page and her poem No More Tomorrows, a tribute to their love.
It was Larry's son, Scott "Frank Creed" Morris who invited Deborah to contribute her stories to
Light at the Edge of Darkness. She maintains close ties to Larry's family to this day.
Deborah insists that the only "men" in her life for now will be her black Lab, Vegas, and her blond
Pomeranian, Beau, though she says that they own her instead of the reverse! When she isn't
writing, she enjoys needlework and loom weaving, and is avid about scrapbooks. She lives in
southern Illinois, close to her two daughters, son, son-in-law, and three grandsons, who are the
lights in her life. Her current projects, aside from The Song of the Grey Lady, include another
anthology highlighting the best of The Herscher Project stories and a novel called The Last of the
Long-Haired Hippies, a story about a woman trying to reconcile her past as a flower child of the
60's with her present life and the man who loves her in spite of her haunting memories.
Although she loves the world of fantasy writing, Deborah still hopes to blend that world with
history and return to her first love, historical fiction, all the while remaining true to her faith in
God, pointing others to His abundant grace, which she herself has been blessed with all her life.
| Deborah Cullins-Smith |
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| The Lost Genre Guild's mission is to promote quality works of Biblical Speculative Fiction (spec-fic) through its authors, fans; to endorse new releases that fit this criteria; and of course, to glorify Him. |
Deborah Cullins Smith is a poet, fiction writer, and hopes to be a novelist when she grows up! Her first love has always been historical fiction, and she loves research. Deborah's poetry and non-fiction inspirational pieces have been published in such magazines as Pentecostal Evangel, Woman's Touch, HiCall, Take Five, Standard, The Evangel, and Daily Meditation. She is a member and moderator of The Herscher Project, a group of science-fiction/fantasy writers, and holds a library on Elfwood, the largest sci-fi/fantasy website in the world. Her poem No More Tomorrows appears in the anthology Tales for the Thrifty Barbarian, as does her dedication to the founder of the Fantasy Writers International and author, Larry N. Morris. Currently she is working on a novel called The Last of the Long-Haired Hippies, a story about a woman trying to reconcile her past as a flower child of the 60's with her present life and the man who loves her in spite of her haunting memories. She is also co-writing The Song of the Grey Lady with authors James K. Bowers and H. Lynn Rummel. It is a story of high fantasy that follows the journey of a medieval healer, her young apprentice and a cantankerous centaur, destined to free her people from slavery. Deborah lives in southern Illinois with her black Lab, Vegas, and her Pomeranian, Beau. |
Deborah's short bio
OTHER LINKS:
| Read excerpts from Deborah Cullins-Smith's short stories: FUMBLEBLOT'S TASK ALLISON THE RIDER |