Deb's adventures in Africa, where she was harassed by monkeys and thrown in jail twice, inspired her to write books about spies, soccer, WW2, pesky wolves and kids in flying machines who battle sea-monsters and evil harbour lords. Her love of words led to The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee and The Most Marvellous Spelling Bee Mystery and her crankiness about climate change led to Grimsdon, New City and Final Storm. She's won awards for her books, but mostly hopes to be as brave as her characters.