Once when she a little girl and not feeling well, her mother brought her some books. A love of the written word blossomed, and after a 32-year teaching career Deb Williams sat down in front of a laptop one day and started typing. She recently finished her ninth book, “Weddings and Funerals.”
“I think what happened was when I retired and didn’t have to work anymore, you need something,” the 1977 Hillsboro High School graduate said. “I had the time on hands to do it, so I bought a laptop and sat down and started to write.”
After earning a degrees from Morehead State University and the University of Dayton, Williams spent 32 years teaching elementary students in the Lynchburg-Clay School District. When she retired in 2013 she had taught every elementary grade level at one time or another. But the subject she loved the most was the one she liked teaching the least.
“As a teacher I didn’t enjoy teaching reading because it always came so easy to me and I couldn’t relate to kids who couldn’t read,” Williams said.
Her love of reading was born about the time she was embarking on her own years as a student.
“When I was 6 or 7 I had the mumps,” Williams said. “My Mom (Judy Newby) went to the library and got me some books. I guess something clicked because I have been reading ever since.”
She said she has come a long way since her first book. In fact, after writing her sixth or seventh book, she said she went back and rewrote her first book, because she realized how far she had progressed.
Williams describes her genre as romatic suspense. She said the most recent book is set in a small town in Kentucky. One of the main characters is a teacher who starts noticing that a lot of seemingly healthy people start going to sleep and not waking up.
Also among her works is “Living and Loving in Arizona,” a four-book series spanning about 20 years in the life of a veterinarian’s family.
While selling books is always a plus, Williams said that’s not really what drives her.
“When people come up to me, or tell someone else how much they liked the books, that means the world to me,” she said. “My writing has connected me with new places, new people and new friends, and taken me places I never thought I’d go. It’s a journey, and I’m loving the journey.”
Williams will be selling her books at Saturday’s Taste of Highland County. It runs from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Governor Trimble Place and Governor Foraker Place in the center of Hillsboro. Her books are also available on Amazon and on a Debbie Williams Author Page on Facebook. She also sells her books out of her home and can be reached at [email protected] or at 937-393-3537.
“I plan to keep on writing,” Williams said. “I think I’ll know when it’s time to stop.”
Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522.
