Introduce yourself; who are you, and what types of books do you write?
My name is Deborah, but I write as D. Lambert, so I get called “Dee” among authors. I’ve been writing young adult and adult fantasy, both Sword and Sorcery style and Epic, since I was in high school. I first published in 2019, but I am thoroughly addicted to writing, so I’ll continue to put out new and fun books!
What are your books about?
I’d get a shorter answer if I wrote what they are NOT about. The best thing about fantasy writing is that you can tackle any topic, no matter how far out there, and explore it! In the YA novels, I’m telling stories about finding one’s place in the world and how the right thing is not necessarily the easy thing. With the adult novels, it’s more about accepting who you are and being willing to change your mind, or even change who you are. Of course, the books are also about dragons, swords, war, and magic! And in the Epic series, we see sexism, drug abuse, and everything in between.
What was the inspiration behind writing your first book?
My first completed book hasn’t been published, and might never be! It was inspired by classic fairy tales and started as a Cinderella story, where a farm girl met a prince. I was about 14 when I finished it, but as I grew up, it did too. With each edit, it found its place as something unique and far more complex than the original fairy tale. The prince turned out to be a dink, then a dragon got involved, and now it’s a story about a prophecy gone wrong that raises questions about whether having something exceptional, like magic, is truly in the best interest of the general populace or if everyone being ‘normal’ is somehow better.
Tragically, it has been fraught with technical troubles and isn’t even complete in its most recent incarnation. The computer on which it was stored became corrupted and refused to transfer the file to any other medium (disk or internet), so I had to print it. However, the quality (and the technology - I’m showing my age a bit) was so poor that I couldn’t scan it in. So, the original had to be rewritten. Then both the file and the backup USB died one time, so I had to start again… whereupon the hard drive crashed and lost 20,000 words. I have nicknamed it ‘the story that refuses to be written’. I have plans to return to it, but it’s not in the works right now, although the original printout is gathering dust in my cabinet.
What did you learn while writing your second book?
The second book I wrote was Dragon’s Talon, and it also underwent several incarnations as it evolved from a simple “take back the kingdom” YA adventure. While rewriting it, I realized I had been raised in a world dominated by certain fantasy tropes. I tended to emulate what I had read, so I had fairly stereotypical male heroes in a stereotypical pseudo-Western European medieval world. It took me a bit to find my brand within it, but even then, I quickly moved to branch outside of the typical after the two books in that series.
What we read strongly influences what we write. I had to read well outside of my genre and my comfort zone to grow as a writer. I ended up picking up romances, Sci-Fi novels, and a lot of Historical Fiction to flesh out the books I was working on. And I still read non-fiction to make the world more realistic and immersive! Reading changed me as a writer for the better.
What is the most rewarding part of being an author?
I love seeing stories come together in unexpected ways. I’m a pantster; I write as I go, without an outline. But that’s what makes it great. I love writing things I haven’t planned and just seeing where the story and the characters can take me. Then there’s this incredible moment where things come together, and I don’t know if I could have achieved it even if I had planned every scene. It’s such a huge high when it suddenly makes sense, and I have to wonder if I had subconsciously planned it all along or if the story drove itself to this point organically!
What elements do you think make for a good story?
The most important thing for any story is good characters. If you don’t have characters with depth and distinct voices, then you don’t have a connection for readers to gravitate towards, and the reader won’t stay because of a neat world. Characters don’t have to be over the top or even special at all, but they have to feel like real people for me. Else, for all the world building and plot, I’m not invested.
What is the hardest part of being an author for you?
Marketing. Ugh. I dread trying to figure out what’s trending and how to be heard through the myriad of voices now online. I want my writing to stand out, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get a good book in front of readers when not just other good books are bombarding them, but also books that maybe weren’t edited as well as they should have been before being published, and books that are AI generated scams. It’s such a mess out there, it’s intimidating. And while I try to be myself and just keep plugging away at it, it’s rough to bare your soul and say, “Look what I did!” when, by nature, I’m an introvert.
What is your current writing project?
For writing projects, I usually have three on the go at a time. As a result, I don’t get writer’s block; I bounce to another project and keep going. Right now, I’m editing the last of Beyond the Southern Dunes (Book 2 of Sands of Nanterac) which should be delivered to the editor by June 1st. I have another standalone novel in the World of the Tainted, which sits between the Son of No Man Series and Dragon’s Voice, and it’s about 20,000 words in. I have also been slowly working on a middle-grade Pick Your Path story, where readers can choose different options and get different narratives, but it’s still in its early stages. Lastly, as a passion project, I wrote a children’s story for ages 3-5 and have just gotten the illustrations in so I’m hoping to have that up for Christmas this year.
Meanwhile, To Walk into the Sands (Book 1 of Sands of Nanterac) is complete and will be released on September 25, 2025!
What is the best writing advice you’ve ever received?
I think the best is: “You can’t edit a blank page.” It’s a good reminder not to be held back by trying to make a first draft perfect. It’s ok to write poorly, especially at first. Once the ideas are flowing and words are on the page, you can turn them into something. But if you let yourself be too strict on what you write, you have nothing to edit and so nowhere to go. When I’m asked for advice to give other authors, it’s always “Just write.” Keep writing and you’ll improve.
Where can readers discover more about you and your books?
My website has it all at https://www.dlambertauthor.com/, but you can also find me (and a bunch of other great authors) over at the 4 Horsemen Publishing website at https://4horsemenpublications.com. I also love follows on Facebook or Instagram!