An Interview with Debra Doggett!

Please welcome Debra Doggett to my blog today!

Alisha: Can you tell us a little bit about your childhood? Favorite memories?

Debra: Being raised by a mother who was a true, dyed-in-the-wool loner, my brother, sister and I spent most of our time playing with each other. In the old house we lived in, we had a huge side yard that was lined with azalea bushes that were so big, we created playhouses underneath them. There were tunnels for all of them that we could move through. There was also my 5th grade trip to New Orleans. It was tradition at my elementary school that the 5th grade got to take a day trip to New Orleans so my class went. I don't know if they canceled the tradition after us but we seemed to be a walking disaster, breaking something everywhere we went. Some kid broke a candle at the cathedral, a couple of plates got broken at the French market. Then there was the wax museum. There was a huge diorama in wax of Marie Leveaux, the Voodoo queen, holding slaves prisoner in her attic so she could torture them. It both fascinated and horrified me. Maybe that's why I enjoy writing paranormal stuff so much, lol.

Alisha: I'm sure that made an impression on you! I know it would have on me as a child! What a fun trip! Tell us about the hero and heroine in your latest release.

Debra: Stellan is such a fun character. He's a total barbarian, totally primitive and he likes it that way. Of course, he would like to fly off to the stars, but he can still be happy with a handbuilt fire and a rough cabin. And poking at a woman like Cardis is especially fun for him. He can't help teasing her when she talks so seriously about how his home planet needs to shape up and move ahead technologically nor can he help surprising her with how much beauty there is in his world. He's had to fight for everything he's gotten and he's proud of it, even if it doesn't live up to others' standards. And Cardis just can't help wondering how this totally unacceptable male slipped by her guard and snuck into her heart. They are a fun couple to play around with.

Alisha: They sound like a ton of fun! If you were granted three wishes by a genie, what would they be?

Debra: To find a soul mate to share the rest of my life with.
To be able to afford to pursue my writing for a living.
To stay healthy and able well into my nineties.

Alisha: Wonderful wishes! I hope you get all three. If you could go anywhere to tomorrow, where would you go?

Debra: I wouldn't go tomorrow because I have this beautiful new grandson to get to know and I don't want to leave him yet, but I really want to go to Ireland.

Alisha: Congrats on the birth of your grandson! Enjoy this special time together and maybe one day you can take him to Ireland. Wouldn't that be wonderful? If you could see anyone tomorrow (dead or alive), who would it be?

Debra: My mother.

Alisah: If you could choose six people to spend one week on a desert island, who would it be and why?

Debra: My friends Kristen and Raquel, because they would keep me laughing and make sure the week was fun. I'd let them bring their husbands along too so they could have fun.
Ty Pennington cause he could build me an amazing shelter to spend the week in.
Viggo Mortensen because I'm sure in a week I could convince him I'm the one for him.

Alisha: Viggo is SO hot! That man is just too yummy. What word or phrase tingles in all the right places for you?

Debra: Home. Home means so many things to me. I've moved around a lot (and I mean a lot!) so home to me is not so much a place as the spot where I've stopped and, most importantly of all, where my family is. If they're there, it's home.

Alisha: What a beautiful thing to say. And so true. If you had one day to spoil yourself, what would you do?

Debra: Wander. I absolutely love the chance to just wander through places, especially new places. I like to walk up and down the sidewalks and look in all the stores and have no set agenda so I can spend as much or as little time as I want. I wander through little towns, nature trails, even malls. It's fun to people watch at all these places.

Alisha: I enjoy wandering too. It calms the soul I think. If you could change one incident in your life, what would it be and how would you change it?

Debra: I would have started treating my writing as a career sooner. I've always written stories, even as a kid, but the serious aspect of sending them off for publication didn't come along until later and I regret the time I lost not pushing them out there.

Alisha: I think many writers feel this way. I know I do. What’s the sexiest thing a man has ever done for you or said to you or both?

Debra: Let me touch him. I'm a big touch person and being able to put my hands on him and sort of get to know him that way, without words necessarily, I found extremely sexy.

Alisha: Goodness gracious...just reading that made me fan myself! Woooo! Very sexy!


Excerpt from The Prize

None of the others had ever gotten this close, but
she’d never tell him that. If he knew how truly virgin she
was, she’d be toast. Stellan pulled back with a lingering
tug at her lips then grinned at her.
“None of them got that close, huh?”
She scowled at him. “Pawing each other wasn’t part
of the typical courtship.”
“Things must be really different on Adena.”
“I doubt it. Men appear to be the same all over from
my experience.”
“From your vast experience?”
“From my travels, I mean.” She snarled at him,
knowing he mocked her. “Your gender isn’t hard to read.
And as far as my suitors went, I knew what they wanted.”
“Which was?”
“What you want. The whole reason you’re willing to
put your life on the line to make this challenge. Virgin or
not, I’m not so dumb as to think it’s my body all of you are
after.”
“You really are a virgin, aren’t you?”
“No. I mean, yes, I am really a virgin and yes, I know
men like sex.”
“I’ve known a few women who liked it too.”
Cardis blushed. “What I’m trying to say is sex is
available without making a challenge for it. So a man only
has one reason to go through this outrageous ritual.”
“Which is?”
“Wealth, status, whatever it is they think to gain
from marrying into a powerful family. All the goodies they
want plus the knowledge of having a sure thing at home
waiting for them. Someone to be a brood mare to carry on
their name for the next generation of cretins to
perpetuate this archaic ritual.”
“You’re pretty jaded for someone so young, princess.
Of course,” he grinned at her. “I’m not exactly sure how
old you are.”