Author Q&A with Deborah Klée

Deborah Klée is an award-winning author of page-turning, uplifting stories about friendship, community, and emotional courage. After a career in health and social care: an occupational therapist, health service manager, freelance journalist, and management consultant, she now enjoys writing happy endings for her protagonists. Deborah lives on the Essex coast, where she loves to walk by the sea or the surrounding countryside filling her pockets with shells, and acorns, and her head with stories.

Tells us about your writing/ published book(s)

 My debut The Borrowed Boy was published August 2020. Two novels followed: Just Bea, and The Forever Cruise. The Last Act, my 4th novel, will be published August 2023.

Where’s your favourite place to write?

My little office. An upstairs room in our house. It’s a bit small for a bedroom but the sloping eaves make it a cozy, quiet place to write.

How do you approach starting a new book?

I allow my ideas to ferment. A new story is always calling me, even as I write and edit another. I get to know the characters by writing in long hand their back-stories as if they were telling me. When I have a place, characters and premise I use a roll of paper and post-it notes to plot the key scenes.

What’s your favourite genre to read?

Up-market fiction. I have been told by agents and publishers that I write ‘book-club’ fiction. There is always an element of romance.

Have you always wanted to write?

I have always written. I made books when I was a child. Wrote poetry in my teens and 20s. In my 30s I subscribed to The Writing Bureau but as the family wage-earner, I did not have time to write stories. I worked as a freelance journalist and management consultant writing national reports on health and social care, investigations and enquiries.

What do you do when you have writer’s block?

If I experience a block when writing I believe it is because I haven’t worked out what I want to say. So I go for a walk, or have a bath. When I relax the answers come.

Tell us about a scene that you loved but had to edit out of your book

I wrote a chapter where, Angie Winkle, in The Borrowed Boy found a bag stuffed with bank notes under the floorboards of her neighbour, an elderly (retired) gangster’s chalet. It was great fun to write and made me giggle. But my agent & editor both said it wasn’t key to the story and had to come out. I used it later as a short story.

Do you like reading the same books you write?

Yes. I enjoy women’s fiction, historical, dual-timeline, and romcom.

Do you write under a pen name? If so, tell us about how you chose it

No. But I am considering using one for the dual timeline novel I am writing now.

How do you choose your book’s title(s)?

The Forever Cruise and Just Bea were easy. They seemed obvious. But I had great difficulty with The Borrowed Boy and The Last Act. Talking it over with author friends helped.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to write their first book?

Just do it! Don’t overthink it. It won’t be perfect. It may not even be good. But writing is how we learn. It takes practice and years of commitment to learn the craft but it has to be fun. And you have to start somewhere.

Do you do research for your books? If so, what kind of research?

Lots! I visit the place and explore. Read non-fiction books about the topic, place or era. Listen to people speaking about a place or time they have experienced. Google maps. Lots of checks with Google whilst I’m writing.

How do you fit writing into your everyday life?

I have retired from my ‘day-job’ and no longer have children living at home so I can plan my days to suit myself. I usually write from 7-9am each morning and spend a couple of hours pm doing other writerly things such as admin, hosting podcasts, writing my blog etc.

How do you approach ‘world building’?

I draw maps, and keep detailed notes.

How do you handle criticism?

I listen and learn. I am always grateful for feedback and am fortunate to have several author friends who kindly provide honest critiques of my work.

Describe your perfect character to me

An imperfect character! Because no-one is perfect.

Tell me about your current work

I am excited to share The Last Act with readers. I wrote the original version of this novel 10 years ago. It is set in London in 1980 and is about a magician’s assistant. I loved writing about the world of theatrical magic and the challenges and opportunities for young women living in that era of change.

Tell me about your main character

Jojo Evans is a colourful whirlwind of energy. She has a dressing-up box of vintage clothes. A comic book fan. She was living in a squat and working as a street performer – juggling, unicycle, and acrobat, when she met Nico, a magician who transforms her world.

Would you want your book made into a film?

I think it would be more suited to a TV series but who wouldn’t love to see their story made into a film?

How many books do you own?

Too many to count!