Deborah Heal's Blog, page 26

The History Behind Unclaimed Legacy

 Revealing the Research In Unclaimed Legacy, Abby and John do most of their “time-surfing” in an old house that was once a stagecoach stop known as Shake Rag Corner. Although I took the liberty of fictionally relocating it for their convenience, Shake Rag Corner was an actual stagecoach stop not far from Woodburn, Illinois where [...]

Unclaimed Legacy Dedicated to my Mom

Sharing the Same Love for Books I’ve wanted to be a writer for a long time, but I don’t believe I could have become one if I wasn’t also an avid reader. Reading and writing are two sides of the same coin, which is why when people ask, I say, if you want to be [...]

Unclaimed Legacy, book two in the Time and Again trilogy, is hereby now officially launched!

      Unclaimed Legacy is the second book in my trilogy for young adults (and the young at heart.) It doesn’t easily fit into a pigeon hole. It’s part mystery (there’s a murder to solve) part sci-fi (a mysterious computer program allow virtual time travel) part historical (they follow the lives of Reuben and Frances who [...]

The Merchant’s Daughter by Melanie Dickerson

I always love a good Beauty and the Beast story! How much better the beauty and the beast theme is than that of the ugly duckling! I hated The Ugly Duckling so much that I banned it from my kids’ bookshelf. That’s right, I’m a book censor. In The Ugly Duckling, the little so-called duck’s [...]

Past Events

November 27, 2011. Book Signing at Waterloo Christmas Walk                     December 10, 2011. Book Launch Party in Bunker Hill, my hometown.                     December 13, 2011. Author visit to Bunker Hill High School           [...]

Time and Again’s Connections to Historic Alton, Illinois

Connections, Connections All Day Long I only sold a few books at my signing at The Second Reading Shop in Alton a while back, but the trip was well worth the effort and time. For one thing, the building at 16 East Broadway is so charming and historic. It was built in 1831 and became a stop [...]

The History of Miles Station

Miles Station, Illinois    I grew up not far from the setting of Time and Again but for most of those years had no idea that just down the road from me there had once been a little town called Miles Station. I didn’t hear the name until the 1980s when the county put up a new [...]

A Special Offer to Celebrate the Release of the Sequel

To celebrate the release of Unclaimed Legacy, I’m offering the first book at half price! I’d love to get Time and Again out of my closet and into your hands before its sequel comes out September 1st. If you order  directly from me, I’ll discount it 50%. With $2.50 for shipping  the total comes to [...]

A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner

The delicious brooding quality of Susan Meissner’s A Sound Among the Trees reminds me of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.  Marielle, like the narrator of Rebecca, is a new bride who comes to live in her predecessor’s ancient family home. And like Maximilian de Winter, Marielle’s husband Carson seems oblivious to the emotional toll she pays [...]

Jenny B. Jones: Definitely Happening

Thank you, Jenny B. Jones, for Bella, a realistic, three-dimensional character who also happens to be a great role model. Bella, like real people, has faults, and like real people, she is mostly blind to them. The reader feels a little like God must when we see her fumbling her way through the obstacles of [...]