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What Has Debra Leigh Been Up To?

....a professional writer, playwright, singer, film-maker, educator, dramaturg, editor, publisher, arts administrator, public speaker and activist, often all at the same time. 

In addition to her own creative work, Debra Leigh is passionate about working with other artists.  She founded Hidden River Arts way back in 1995, and grew the organization to include gallery events, an independent small press, yearly writing competitions, outreach and educational activities.  Wanting to be a "creative catalyst" for other artists, Debra is dedicated to helping other creative people to grow and develop their own art. In addition to Hidden River's activities, Debra also works individually with fellow writers, with manuscript consultation, all levels of editing, and developmental support at all stages, from concept through to publication and on to promotion.  It's all about creative growth and discovery.  

One of her recent projects is a documentary film and companion book, both called 'Junct: The Trashing of Higher Ed. in America, which addresses the corporate colonization of academic culture in the U.S. - and now increasingly happening around the world.  She continues with her fiction and dramatic writing; there are always many projects in development at the same time. 

As if that isn't enough, Debra Leigh also provides an expansive list of communication, writing and editing services for a select group of clients in various business sectors, with her company, DLS Communications. She has worked widely with corporate clients for whom English is a second language, helping with their personal and specific communication needs. 

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Blue Roses

 

 

 

 

Pam Miller-Townsend, an introverted adjunct theatre professor and only moderately successful playwright, experiences a mid-life meltdown triggered by the sudden and unexpected death of her famous mother, Laura Miller, a musical theatre star. An adopted multi-racial child, Pam has struggled her whole life with identity issues, living always in the shadow of her celebrity parents (her late father, Rafe Townsend, was a famous composer and lyricist). Through a series of events that include not only the loss of her parents, but a break-up with her live-in boyfriend, the loss of her precarious adjunct university teaching job, and her 40th birthday, Pam is forced to confront her own self-sabotage and refusal to thrive. As she deals with the heart-breaking death of her mother, she has to learn to shoulder the responsibility of handling the estates of two enormously famous parents. Pam slowly comes to terms with the ways in which her life choices were born of intimidation caused by their success and her own identity issues. Facing her 40th birthday, she finally acknowledges her own desire to live a successful and fulfilled creative and intellectual life. With the help of her best friend Cindi, a successful theatrical costume designer, her spirited New England aunt Betsy, an accomplished visual artist, and the (at first undesired) promise of new love, Pam goes about the business of moving herself and her life into a more joyous place. 

The story moves between the elite theatre world of Manhattan and the quaint seaside village of Stonington, CT, where her mother’s family has kept a home for many generations, and where her Aunt Betsy lives full-time. In fits and starts, with some unwelcome surprises along the way, Pamela finally discovers her own strengths and talents just in time to make her dreams come true. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Likely Stories

"In these vivid, Southern-laced stories, the author has created characters both believable and moving, as she follows them through their harsh, secretive and passionate lives against the backdrop of the soldier-families fighting the Vietnam War."  Caroline Seebohm, The Last Romantics and The Innocents: A Novel.  

In this collection of inter-related stories, two sisters, Rachael and Midgy Meade - military brats during the anti-war Vietnam era - struggle toward adulthood living in and around military pots in the Deep South.  Their bi-racial cousin, Marlena Galloway, misspends much of her youth searching for a runaway mother.  Set largely in the 1960s, during times of great political and cultural rupture, these stories explore how the chaose of social change impacts the fragile interior lives of the young.  Against this setting, dark family troubles - incest, addiction, violence, mental illness, are woven through with the incandescent hope for happiness and love.  

 

Readers’ Praise for Other Likely Stories:
“I read almost exclusively linked-story collections and novels structured and stories, and I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur, and I give this collection my highest, humblest recommendation. The stories in OTHER LIKELY STORIES are haunting, shocking, intricately and delicately linked. Right up there with the Elizabeth Strout's Pulitzer Prize-winning OLIVE KITTERIDGE. It's a pity that Debra Leigh Scott hasn't received such acclaim.”  (“Red Radiator,” Morgantown, WV)
“I cannot remember a collection of short stories with greater emotional intensity than Debra Leigh Scott's Other Likely Stories. The title is misleading, for these are most unlikely stories, original while at the same time fiercely believable.”  (W. Kuenstler, PA)
“Other Likely Stories is a wonderful collection of powerfully written stories. The three young women whose lives we watch unfold discover not only who they are and their place in the world, but that they are stronger than they may have thought possible. Tackling such serious topics as incest, rape, and mental illness, author Debra Leigh Scott has nevertheless managed to infuse each story with an underlying sense of strength of character and hope for a better tomorrow. “ (Elizabeth White) Read whole review here.
“Debra typically packs more drama in a few paragraphs than I could manage in an entire novel,”  The News From Gridleyville.  Read whole review here.  
“In her debut collection of short stories, Other Likely Stories, author Debra Leigh Scott comes off, in many ways, like a latter-day William Faulkner.”  Small Press Reviews  Read whole review here.   

 

Would you like to buy the book?  That's great! Here are some of the online sites. While we appreciate your purchase from any site, we would like to encourage support of local, independent bookstores through Bookshop. Our eBook is currently available exclusively through Kindle/Amazon.

Bookshop

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Powell's

 

Debra Leigh is always really happy to be invited for readings, school visits, and book signings.  For book clubs or teachers who are interested in having a set of questions or discussion points, please contact Debra Leigh.