Deborah has worked as an occupational therapist, a health service manager, a freelance journalist, and management consultant in health and social care. Her protagonists are often people who exist on the edges of society. Despite the very real, but dark, subject matter her stories are uplifting, combining pathos with humour. They are about self-discovery and the power of friendships and community. The Borrowed Boy, her debut was awarded a B.R.A.G. Medallion, and voted book of the month by Chill with a Book awards. Just Bea is her second novel. Deborah lives on the Essex coast, where she loves to walk by the sea and in the countryside filling her pockets with shells and acorns and her head with stories.