| Interview with Debbie Federici |
First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My
name is Jen, and I’ll be your server today…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out
of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.
Thanks for having me, Jen!
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
From the time I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to be an author. I used to dream about creating worlds that
readers could get lost in, just like I would get lost in a good book.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I started writing in Jan. 2000 and worked really hard to learn the craft of writing. I read lots of books on
writing, read lots of books for teens, found other people that wrote whom I could critique with, wrote and
rewrote and rewrote.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
SIGN OF THE CRESCENT is about a teenager who lives in Tucson, Arizona. Other than a hearing problem,
she lives a normal life—until teenagers start disappearing from Tucson, and she meets a guy from another
world. She finds herself swept away to the other world where she learns she isn’t who she thought she was
all these years. She finds out that her dead father isn’t dead…and he’s not the kind person she’d always
dreamed he was. There are a lot of twists and turns that make for a fascinating read.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
My first two books came from dreams that I had and I remembered vividly. My third book, L.O.S.T. that I co-
authored with Susan Vaught, started out with an experience that I had when traveling to San Diego—only in
the book, Bren finds himself kidnapped into a world of witches and a Path through time.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My mom and dad are very proud of me. They never doubted from the time I was a little girl that I would one
day reach my goal of being a published author. My three sons, Tony, Kyle, and Matthew, are proud of their
mom, too, as is my husband Frank.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Mexican food!
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Check e-mail; blog; get my sons off to school.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
Hot pink luggage?
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Fuchsia! I love the color pink, especially fuchsia.
Who is your favorite cartoon character?
I love Dexter from Dexter’s Laboratory.
Which cartoon character is most like you?
Schroeder from “Peanuts” since he’s an artistic character, and can surprise you with his spunk.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history,
where and when would it be—and why?
Probably the future because I’d love to know what our futures hold.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to?
Depends on my mood and what I’m writing. I like alternative rock, country music, and movie soundtracks.
Favorite musical artists?
Alternative rock: Linkin Park, Greenday, Staind, System of a Down, Yellowcard, Foo Fighters, Depeche
Mode, Matchbox 20
Country: Toby Keith, Allan Jackson, Josh Turner, Tim McGraw, George Strait, Trace Atkins
Soundtracks: Gladiator, Mists of Avalon, The Mummy, The Mummy 2, all the Lord of the Rings Soundtracks
Do you listen to music while you’re writing?
Yes! The type of music I listen to depends on what I’m writing. When I’m writing fantasy I listen to the above
soundtracks and more; when I’m writing contemporary, it depends on the type of book it is as to whether I
listen to country or rock.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows?
I don’t watch T.V. I’d rather read.
Movies you watch over and over again?
Gladiator, all of the Lord of the Rings movies, The Mummy, all of the Harry Potter movies.
What was the last movie you saw at the theater?
Munich
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Read whenever you have a chance. It expands your mind and your world to all kinds of possibilities
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
WITCH CIRCLE, the third book in the L.O.S.T. series will be out in the spring. I would like to write a sequel to
SIGN OF THE CRESCENT as well.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Thanks for having me!
name is Jen, and I’ll be your server today…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out
of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.
Thanks for having me, Jen!
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
From the time I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to be an author. I used to dream about creating worlds that
readers could get lost in, just like I would get lost in a good book.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I started writing in Jan. 2000 and worked really hard to learn the craft of writing. I read lots of books on
writing, read lots of books for teens, found other people that wrote whom I could critique with, wrote and
rewrote and rewrote.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
SIGN OF THE CRESCENT is about a teenager who lives in Tucson, Arizona. Other than a hearing problem,
she lives a normal life—until teenagers start disappearing from Tucson, and she meets a guy from another
world. She finds herself swept away to the other world where she learns she isn’t who she thought she was
all these years. She finds out that her dead father isn’t dead…and he’s not the kind person she’d always
dreamed he was. There are a lot of twists and turns that make for a fascinating read.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
My first two books came from dreams that I had and I remembered vividly. My third book, L.O.S.T. that I co-
authored with Susan Vaught, started out with an experience that I had when traveling to San Diego—only in
the book, Bren finds himself kidnapped into a world of witches and a Path through time.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My mom and dad are very proud of me. They never doubted from the time I was a little girl that I would one
day reach my goal of being a published author. My three sons, Tony, Kyle, and Matthew, are proud of their
mom, too, as is my husband Frank.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Mexican food!
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Check e-mail; blog; get my sons off to school.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
Hot pink luggage?
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Fuchsia! I love the color pink, especially fuchsia.
Who is your favorite cartoon character?
I love Dexter from Dexter’s Laboratory.
Which cartoon character is most like you?
Schroeder from “Peanuts” since he’s an artistic character, and can surprise you with his spunk.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history,
where and when would it be—and why?
Probably the future because I’d love to know what our futures hold.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to?
Depends on my mood and what I’m writing. I like alternative rock, country music, and movie soundtracks.
Favorite musical artists?
Alternative rock: Linkin Park, Greenday, Staind, System of a Down, Yellowcard, Foo Fighters, Depeche
Mode, Matchbox 20
Country: Toby Keith, Allan Jackson, Josh Turner, Tim McGraw, George Strait, Trace Atkins
Soundtracks: Gladiator, Mists of Avalon, The Mummy, The Mummy 2, all the Lord of the Rings Soundtracks
Do you listen to music while you’re writing?
Yes! The type of music I listen to depends on what I’m writing. When I’m writing fantasy I listen to the above
soundtracks and more; when I’m writing contemporary, it depends on the type of book it is as to whether I
listen to country or rock.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows?
I don’t watch T.V. I’d rather read.
Movies you watch over and over again?
Gladiator, all of the Lord of the Rings movies, The Mummy, all of the Harry Potter movies.
What was the last movie you saw at the theater?
Munich
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Read whenever you have a chance. It expands your mind and your world to all kinds of possibilities
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
WITCH CIRCLE, the third book in the L.O.S.T. series will be out in the spring. I would like to write a sequel to
SIGN OF THE CRESCENT as well.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Thanks for having me!