Debby Giusti Interview

Q: Let me start with asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself. 

A. Thanks, Susan, for inviting me to The Suspense Zone.  Like you, I love suspense and am living my dream by writing stories for Love Inspired Suspense. My tagline is “Faith with an edge…cross my heart!” That’s what I try to give my readers—a love story and exciting suspense woven together with a thread of faith.

I’m an Army brat, which means my dad was career military. We moved every two to three years so I’m always eager to experience new things.  Maybe that’s why I love to write. Every story is a new adventure.

My hubby is also an army guy. My son is as well so, in additional to being an Army brat, I’m also an Army wife and Army mom.  I’m so proud of the men and women in uniform who defend our nation and equally proud of the strong military families who support them.  Hubby and I have raised three “brats” of our own—FYI, “brat” is an endearing word in the military—and we now live near Atlanta, Georgia.

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

A: Like most writers, I grew up creating stories and wrote my first “book” in the third grade—a story about seven girls that I so cleverly entitled, We Are Seven. J The following year, I catalogued my books into a home library and published a newsletter for the kids in my neighborhood.

Pretty obvious that I’ve always loved to read and write, but I also loved science. My mother encouraged me to have a profession, so when I went to college, I majored in medical technology, and following graduation from The Ohio State University, I worked in the clinical laboratory.

After my first child was born, I turned in my test tubes and Petri dishes to become a stay-at-home mom…although I didn’t REALLY stay at home.  I volunteered in my children’s schools, with the Red Cross, in my church and in various organizations that helped young military wives transition into the Army way of life. 

Early on, I published a few magazine articles and later wrote for medical publications. For over 12 years, I served on the editorial advisory board for Advance Magazine for Administrators of the Laboratory and wrote articles on emerging infectious diseases. Later, I used the information I researched for those article in the Magnolia Medical series I published with Love Inspired.

Q: Could you give us the highlights of your professional writing career including how you got your first writing break? 

A. When the senior editor for Love Inspired Suspense spoke at my local Romance Writers of America chapter, I had an opportunity to pitch a story I had targeted for a secular romance line. The editor liked the plot and asked me to add a faith element. I thought writing Christian stories might be inhibiting. Instead, I found it to be just the opposite, and almost immediately, I knew I had found my home with inspirational romantic suspense.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release, THE COLONEL’S DAUGHTER? 

A:  THE COLONEL’S DAUGHTER is my tenth release and the third book in my Military Investigations Series that features military heroes and heroines in the US Army’s Criminal Investigation Division.  Michele Logan is the daughter of an Army colonel who is redeploying his brigade home from Afghanistan. She returns to Fort Rickman, Georgia, to help her mother plan the Welcome Home ceremony for the unit, but when a woman is killed, Michele discovers the body and calls CID Agent Jamison Steele for help. To add to the conflict, Michele walked away from Jamison ten months earlier without saying goodbye. Now they’re forced together because of the murder, and when the killer strikes again, Jamison knows Michele—the girl he never stopped loving—is in danger as well.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for THE COLONEL’S DAUGHTER?

A: My son has been deployed four times and each homecoming has been an emotional event that I wanted to share with readers so I built a suspense story around a homecoming. Writing the actual scene in THE COLONEL’S DAUGHTER was extremely satisfying to me as an author.

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?

A:  Hopefully readers will have a better realization of the sacrifices our military make each and every day as well as the sacrifices their families make, especially during deployments.

Q: What is your favorite scene/chapter from the book?

A:  I love openings that immediately place the heroine—or sometimes the hero—in danger.  The climax is even more fun to write, and I was happy about how both scenes turned out in THE COLONEL’S DAUGHTER.

Q: What inspires you to write? 

A.  I write because I have characters in my head who want their story told. They represent folks who struggle to overcome mistakes in their past. Readers may not face the same dangers my hero and heroines have to overcome, but they may be holding onto something that hurt them and has kept them from living fully in the present.  Hopefully reading my stories will help readers deal with situations in their own lives and help them realize they can always turn to the Lord.

Q: How has being a published novelist differed from your expectations of the profession? 

A: Prior to selling, I wasn’t aware of the amount of time it would take to promote my work. I love meeting readers and could spend all day, every day at reader events, but then I wouldn’t get the next story written. Blogs are equally fun, yet marketing has to be balanced with writing. Sometimes I say “yes” to too many events and then have to work doubly hard to get my pages written. J

Q: What advice or tips do you have for writers who are just getting started?

A:  Start now to build an online presence. Join with other writers and create a blog. Build your Facebook community, and create a website. Once your book sells, there are so many things to do with the publishing house, such as working with the art department to create a cover and doing revisions your editor may suggest, that having the online sites established helps.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now? 

A.   I recently finished THE GENERAL’S SECRETARY, the fourth book in the Military Investigations Series, which comes out in January 2013. Right now, I’m working on the fifth story that features the Army’s Wounded Warrior Program. In my research, I’ve learned so much about how the Army helps our injured soldiers and want to spotlight the work being done in a story I hope readers will enjoy reading as much as I’ve enjoyed writing.

Q: When you’re not writing what do you like to do? 

A. I love to travel and explore new areas, especially in Georgia. There’s so much history in my state that can make a story come alive.

Q: Where can readers find you on the internet? 

A: My website is www.DebbyGiusti.com where you can leave a message or email me at debby@debbygiusti.com. I’m also a part of Seekerville, www.seekerville.blogspot.com, a great blog that helps writers on the road to publication, as well as the Craftie Ladies of Love Inspired Romance, www.craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com. I also have my own blog at www.crossmyheartprayerteam.blogspot.com.  I’m on Facebook and Twitter and hope to join Pinterest soon. More than anything, I love interacting with readers and meeting them in person and online.

Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us? 

A.  Thanks to everyone who enjoys Love Inspired books and especially to my readers who have been so supportive.  You are the reason I write, and your encouragement and friendship mean so much to me.  Thanks for your prayers too.  As you know, I pray for you and your needs each and every day.  Wishing all of you abundant blessings and much love!