A warm welcome to Debra Brown!

I was delighted when Ruby asked me to share my ten favourite authors on her new blog.  I settled down with a large glass of wine to think long and hard, back to where it all began – over thirty years ago. Books weren’t an every day part of my childhood like they are now.  I didn’t ‘find’ them until my teenage years. Actually I more ‘borrowed’ them off other people’s bookshelves to start with. But once I’d found them I was smitten. And in between reading the many books I enjoyed (and others I didn’t) I realised I actually fell a little bit in love with certain authors and their words. Because of the way they made me feel. And here they are…

 

  1. Jilly Cooper

Riders, Rivals and Polo. What a trilogy! The characters, the plot, the pace. Her words were full of excitement.  My heart raced its way through them. I didn’t want them to end. Of course they had to, but when they did I was changed. I needed more.

 

  1. Danielle Steel

I can’t recall the first of her books I read but I know I ended up hurtling through another twenty-six straight after that one before the heart-swelling gradually began to fade. I needed to move on.

 

  1. Rosamunde Pilcher

Again I can’t think of the first title of hers I read, but I know the one that made me fall in love with her words – The Shell Seekers. I wanted to live in that book, in that place, with those characters. I wanted to be part of her wonderful world of words.

 

  1. Hannah Beckerman

Hannah’s debut, The Dead Wife’s Handbook had me instantly transfixed. I loved the whole concept, albeit a very tragic one. A young mother dies, leaving her husband to look after their child, while she watches from heaven. Oh my heart! I cannot wait for Hannah’s new words to be released into the world.

 

  1. Stephen King

It would be impossible not to include this great author. For me, On Writing has to be his best. It’s a book I often refer to for my own writing.

 

  1. Iona Grey

Another debut – Letters to the Lost made my heart beat the hardest and fastest ever! I devoured Iona’s words until there were none left and then I sobbed my heart out. My biggest book hangover ever (lasting several very long months) followed the ending of this book.

 

  1. Markus Zusak

The Book Thief is full of the most incredible words. With death narrating a story so full of passion and sorrow, it was impossible not to fall under its spell. I swear I could hear his voice reading aloud in my head as I tore through the pages. My second biggest book hangover followed.

 

  1. Jess Kidd

Magical Realism wasn’t something I’d really come across before I opened Jess’s debut – Himself. Swiftly followed by The Hoarder. I was mesmerised by her magical words. Again, I felt as though she were reading to me herself.

 

  1. Mitch Albom

 I started with The Five People You Meet in Heaven on a friend’s recommendation and then quickly sailed through another six of his books before feeling able to move on. His words soothed my heart just when I needed it.

  

  1. Fiona Cummins

First came her debut, Rattle and then its sequel, The Collector. Both I read in two galloping, heart-thundering sessions simply because I couldn’t put them down. There’s something about Fiona’s words that make them feel incredibly real.

 

Biography:

Debra lives with her husband and daughter in the beautiful Sussex Countryside. When she isn’t lost in a book she’s at her laptop, trying extremely hard to write her own words. You can follow her on Twitter: @debrabrown_ and her blog.