Debbie Viguie: Always Been a Writer

Debbie Viguié has been writing for most of her life and holds a degree in creative writing from U.C. Davis. She has had numerous appearances on the New York Times Bestseller list for the Wicked series as well as cracking the yearly top 10 Christian book list for Booklist with the Psalm 23 series.

I met Debbie at Stellar Con not long ago, and I thought she was pretty awesome, so I figured you needed to meet her too. 

Tell us a bit about your most recent work.

I just released Celtic Charms, book 2 in the Twin Destinies series, featuring the world-famous Harp Twins. I depict fictionalized versions of the ladies as the heroes in the stories, fighting the forces of darkness. They create albums of original music to go with each book. We have all three been pushing each other creatively and it has been great fun!

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

The struggle between light and darkness, people being able to accomplish more than they ever dreamed, family is who you choose

What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer? 

I’ve always been a writer. I started writing poetry and short stories about my toys when I was very, very young. Then my third-grade teacher pushed creative writing a lot in her class. She told my parents that they should encourage me to be a writer, which I was already thinking about.

What inspires you to write? 

Everything I see and hear inspires me. An interesting song lyric, a weird conversation, a “what if” sort of daydream. I find inspiration everywhere I turn. As for the actual exercise of writing itself, it’s a compulsion. I can’t NOT write. Even when I’m on vacation, it just comes out of me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve taken home napkins from restaurants with a paragraph or notes for a book scrawled on them.

What of your works has meant the most to you?

That’s like asking someone to choose between their children! If I had to, though, I’d say the Kiss trilogy (Kiss of Night, Kiss of Death, Kiss of Revenge). I love vampire fiction (I’m a big Dracula fan), but a lot of it is too graphic for my taste. In college I got super frustrated and said “Why can’t there be a Christian vampire series which deals with issues of good and evil, redemption, dark and light, and has intense passion but isn’t R-rated?” I started writing Kiss. When I first told my one literary agent that I wanted to sell the book (originally only a historical novel), she laughed hysterically. Three months later she called me and told me she found an editor as crazy as me and she wanted me to turn the book into a trilogy set in both the past and present. It took 20 years to get that story published and it felt so good when I had accomplished it. It felt even better when people started telling me how much the story meant to them.

If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?

Oooh, tough question. They say a book is never finished, it is merely abandoned. I believe that to be true on many levels. I’d have to probably say I’d rework my first fairy tale Midnight Pearls. I’ve grown so much as a writer since then and I’d love to tie it more closely into my other fairy tales. However, that book is much loved so I don’t think I’d probably change it even if given the opportunity.

What writers have influenced your style and technique?

Zane Grey made me want to be a professional writer and to make people feel strong emotions. I loved how he would tell the same scene from both main characters’ point of view. He also made everything he did a love story. It might be between two people, or a farmer and his land, or a young boy and the game of baseball, but there was always this sense of passion and intensity to what he wrote.

Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why?

Fifty-fifty.

A story has a beginning, a middle, a climax, and, ideally, a dénouement. There is a protagonist, an antagonist (even if an unconventional one). There is a progression, even in stories that are told out of order. If you want to do the hero’s journey, there’s a template. If you want to do a romantic comedy, there is also a template. Every genre has its tropes and expectations for the story. You must follow certain steps to get the thing written.

However, everything else is subject to the writer’s whim. The story doesn’t even have to make sense to anyone but the writer. That’s where the art comes in. The broad strokes are the science, the color and movement are the art.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process? 

Choosing which book to work on next! I’ve always got a dozen demanding my attention and it can be hard to choose and prioritize.

How do your writer friends help you become a better writer? Or do they not? 

I learn from other writers when I work with them. I adopt the parts of their process and style that I like and blend it into mine.

What does literary success look like to you? 

When people tell me that a book of mine has changed their life. That is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?  

I’m wrapping up my long-running Psalm 23 Mysteries series this year with the last three books. To celebrate I’m throwing a convention in October which is going to feature live action interactive murder mysteries all weekend along with scavenger hunts, a treasure hunt, an escape room, performances by the Harp Twins, writing and acting workshops, and so much more! I’m very excited about it and details are on my website.

For more information, visit: 

www.debbieviguie.com