Queen Sllabruos ~ The Mirror World "Fan Art" page

Debbee Skinner Releases first novel

Reviewer:

Beth D'Ovidio

Marketing Director

NHWP

Debbee Skinner recently released her first novel that is a tapestry woven from her life experiences and served up in a delightful story based in fantasy: Queen Sllabruos The Mirror World. While this is her first novel, Skinner has been writing since childhood. “I started writing when I was ten years old,” she said. “My Aunt gave me a diary with a lock and key which seemed quite magical to me.”

According to Skinner, this book began as a story of “rounds” on Christmas Eve as she drove with her two boys, John and Nate and her best friend Carolyn and Carolyn’s daughter Carlee. “Each time it was Carlee’s turn to add to the story, she would have the characters perish in some horrific way so as to end the story…like burning up inside the sun,” Skinner said. “Carolyn and I kept the story going by creating magical solutions to keep the characters alive, like fireproof metallic suits…” Some of these solutions became important components of her book.

Skinner’s father was a scientist who played a large role in the first moon landing. As a child she learned a great deal from him about molecular beams and G-forces which lead to a fascination with gravity. Hence, she came up with the idea of a room where gravity is reversed so a swimming pool on the ceiling is feasible in her novel. Another gem from her dad that made its way to the book was his expression, “You are a good egg.” “By that he meant, I was a good kid,” said Skinner. In her novel, the bypass system for the good eggs vs. the bad eggs came from taking that idea literally.

Other inspirations came from the author’s experiences, such as the fictitious “B.U.G. Base Under Ground,” which was based on her growing up near the last stop on the Underground Railroad before the crossing of the Niagara River into Canada. The “eye-dentification” idea came from her childhood theory that dragon flies (as they hovered in front of your eyes) were actually aliens scanning and decoding your brain; and the language of “Op” was a childhood rite of passage in her real life neighborhood. “It was a way to talk privately in front of adults and they had no idea what you were saying,” said Skinner. “Sign language was also a popular pass time and later became useful to me because my daughter is profoundly deaf.”

As a young girl, Skinner spent summers in Scotland with her grandfather. He lived about two and a half hours away from the river Ness where the infamous Loch Ness monster lives. The serpent in the subterranean lake at her book’s Aragain Falls is loosely based on “Nessie” the Loch Ness monster.

“I have always been fascinated by the idea of time travel and parallel universes,” she said. She admits to an obsession with loose ends lining up correctly at the end of a story. “I hope readers find the surprise ending in Queen Sllabruos The Mirror World as satisfying as I intended.”

As “the world sleeps,” Skinner writes late into the night. “I know my thoughts will not be interrupted then,” said Sknner. “I hand write my first draft, read it aloud, then type and edit it until I am satisfied with the final draft. I think each chapter should read like a short story that is fulfilling and makes you want to turn the page,” she said. She hit the mark with Queen Sllabruos The Mirror World. If you like the TV series Stranger Things, you will love this book and not be able to put it down.

When not writing, Skinner pursues other fine arts: drawing, painting, playing guitar, singing and composes lyrics. She also enjoys the NH outdoors sports such as boating, swimming and walking in the forest with her black lab.

Skinner has an interesting family history. Her mother was born in Ottawa and was First Nation, Algonquin. Her father was born in Aberdeen, Scotland and immigrated to the US after WWII. He was a fighter pilot who trained in Terrell Texas and fell in love with the United States and Canada during his training. The author has four grown children and four grandchildren along with many nieces and nephews.

Skinner is first generation American, with dual citizenship to Canada. She is also a member of the New Hampshire Writers’ Project.