Tell me about yourself. What inspired you to write?
I’ve been writing ever since I was small scribbling stories into notebooks at school, but I never took my writing seriously until I was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2011. I was lucky. I survived but going through cancer treatment made me realize my mortality and that if I really wanted to write and be published I needed to do it now because we never know how long we have left on this earth.
Describe your desk / writing space.
Messy! I really don’t have enough space here, so my corner is covered in books, papers, puzzle books, and pencils. Occasionally my kitties come to visit too.
Do you have a writing routine or do you write when inspired?
I try to write first thing every morning. I currently have a daily target of 1000 words and I don’t let myself do other stuff until I’m done each day.
What was the hardest scene for you to write? Which scene was your favorite to write?
The first truly dramatic scene in P.A.W.S. is the one when we first meet Alistair, the evil werewolf antagonist that is the catalyst for a lot of the action that follows in the later books. The scene where we see him feast on Josh’s father had me shaking when I first wrote it. It was the first time I’d written anything like that and yet the words flowed easily and that almost scared me.
My all-time favorite scene to write was probably the one in book 2 when we first meet Gromer the Green. He’s so much fun to write!
What are you working on next?
Currently working on book 10 of my P.A.W.S. Saga that I hope to have out this June on the tenth anniversary of when the first book was released. In it we are visiting a convention of bird shifters called Madarak which is oodles of fun to write.
What authors or books have influenced your writing?
Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and Cornelia Funke.
How do you come up with the title to your books?
They just kind of present themselves sometime during the writing process. I don’t normally have a title when I begin writing but usually by the time I’ve finished the first draft one has emerged.
What inspired your book/series?
Back in October 2012 I had a sudden flash of inspiration. I imagined a young girl being given a silver cat charm by her grandmother and knew instantly it was important. A few days later I visited the zoo with my son and started telling him the story of P.A.W.S. that formed in my head that day as we were walking around St. Louis Zoo (a location that would appear in the book).
Who is your favorite character from your book and would you get along?
Gromer the Green, my wild Welsh warlock and yes, we absolutely would get along. We’d have tea and pea soup and talk about weird stuff!
If you could live anywhere, in this world or fantasy, where would you live?
I’d love to visit Wonderland – not sure I’d want to live there the whole time though.
What is your favorite meal?
Breakfast! I adore breakfast food – eggs, waffles, pancakes, cereal – all of it. I could literally eat breakfast for every meal of the day.
Coffee or tea? Wine or beer?
Tea — gallons and gallons of strong hot tea with milk during my work day and the occasional dark beer in the evening to relax.
Describe yourself in three words.
Creative, Curious and (a little) Crazy!
About the Author
Debbie Manber Kupfer grew up in the London. She has lived in Israel, New York and North Carolina and somehow ended up in St. Louis. She lives with her family including two very opinionated felines.
She works as a writer, editor, and puzzle constructor. She is the author of the young adult fantasy series, P.A.W.S. which features a secret international organization of shapeshifters with headquarters in the Jewel Box in Forest Park.
She has also written several children’s picture books including Adana the Earth Dragon and Esmeralda Grunch and the Red Tulip. She is the editor of the Sins of Time horror series and has stories in several anthologies including Fauxpocalypse, 13 Candles, Winter Wishes, and Shades of Fear.
When not writing or editing fiction she writes puzzles for Penny Press magazines and has also published a book of puzzles, Paws 4 Logic with her son, Joey.
She believes that with enough tea and dark chocolate, you can achieve anything!
A young Jewish girl. A diabolical werewolf out for her blood. Can she survive?
When Miri receives a silver cat charm from her omama, Celia, on the night before Celia dies she has no idea that the charm holds a secret, a powerful magic that saved her omama’s life from Nazis and wolves and is about to make Miri’s life a whole lot more interesting.
Join Miri on a mysterious and supernatural journey with her new friends, members of an underground St. Louis society known as the Partnership for Animagi, Werewolves, and Shapeshifters, better known as P.A.W.S.
Each book in the Saga visits a different P.A.W.S. Institute that are dotted throughout our world.
All books are on sale on Kindle for 99 cents each through to January 3rd and are always free on Kindle Unlimited.