Debbie Young (born 1960) is a British writer of

cozy mystery Cozy mysteries, also referred to as "cozies", are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur off stage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community. Cozies thu ...

novels, UK ambassador for

ALLi Alli is a surname and a unisex given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Antero Alli (born 1952), astrologer * Darogha Ubbas Alli (19th century), Indian engineer and photographer * Dele Alli (born 1996), professional footballer ...

the (

Alliance of Independent Authors The Alliance of Independent Authors (often abbreviated to ALLi, pronounced "ally") is a non-profit organisation of independent (or self-published) authors. The organisation was founded at the London Book Fair in 2012, by Orna Ross and Philip Lync ...

), and founder in 2015 of the now annual Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival. Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, ''Best Murder in Show'', was published in 2017 as the first part in a series of seven novels that spans the course of a village year. In 2015, Young commissioned

T E Shepherd T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

illustrate An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...

the fictional ''Hector's House Bookshop and Tea Room'' that features in her ''Sophie Sayers Village Mysteries'' series of

novels. In 2018 Debbie was invited by John Holland to co-judge the Stroud Short Stories competition.

Biography

Young was born in

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. Before ...

, Kent, England, and was schooled first at Days Lane Primary, and then after passing the

11+ Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''El ...

Beaverwood School for Girls Chislehurst School for Girls is a secondary school in Chislehurst, in outer South East London, England. It caters for girls in academic years 7-11 and offers a co-educational sixth form education. History Chilslehurst school was founded in 189 ...

. Her family relocated to Germany when Debbie was aged 14, and she spent four years at

Frankfurt International School The Frankfurt International School e.V. (FIS) is an English-language day school founded in 1961 in Frankfurt, but located in Oberursel Oberursel (Taunus) () is a town in Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It is located ...

where she gained the then brand new

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

. Young came back to the UK to study English and Related Literature at the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

, before living and working for a while in London and the West of England as a journalist and

PR consultant Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

. Young now lives in a small Cotswold village with her husband and daughter.

Works and Appearances

Sophie Sayers Village Mystery Novels

* Best Murder in Show (Sophie Sayers Village Mystery #1), Hawkesbury Press, 2017 * Trick or Murder? (Sophie Sayers Village Mystery #2), Hawkesbury Press, 2017 * Murder in the Manger (Sophie Sayers Village Mystery #3), Hawkesbury Press, 2017 * Murder by the Book (Sophie Sayers Village Mystery #4), Hawkesbury Press, 2018 * Springtime for Murder (Sophie Sayers Village Mystery #5), Hawkesbury Press, 2018

Staffroom at St Bride's

* Secrets at St Bride's (Staffroom at St Bride's #1), Hawkesbury Press, 2019

Books for Authors

* How To Get Your Self-Published Book into Bookstores: Volume 4 (with

Orna Ross Orna Ross is the pen name of Aine McCarthy, born 1960. She is an Irish author, former literary agent, blogger and an advocate for creativism. She is the founder of the Alliance for Independent Authors, a professional association for authors who ...

), Font Publications, 2017 * How to Work More Effectively with the Book Trade with Dan Holloway, Font Publications

Books about Type 1 Diabetes

* Coming to Terms with Type 1 Diabetes: One Family's Story of Life After Diagnosis (Foreword by

Justin Webb Justin Oliver Webb (born Justin Oliver Prouse, 3 January 1961 in Portsmouth, Hampshire) is a British journalist who has worked for the BBC since 1984. He is a former BBC North America Editor and the main co-presenter of BBC One's '' Breakfast ...

), Hawkesbury Press, 2014

Collected Columns and Essays

Since 2010 Young has written monthly columns for two local magazines, the multiple award-winning "Tetbury Advertiser" and the "Hawkesbury Parish News". These articles and columns have since been republished in two books. * All Part of the Charm: A Modern Memoir of English Village Life: Volume 1 (Collected Essays), Hawkesbury Press, 2016 * Young By Name: Whimsical Columns from the Tetbury Advertiser (Collected Essays), Hawkesbury Press, 2016

Articles and Interviews

* Young By Name: monthly contribution to the Tetbury Advertiser. Page 4 of the October edition * Cozy Mystery Writer Debbie Young Gives Back to the Indie Community, Inspirational Indie Authors podcast with Howard Lovy, 8 September 2019 * Getting Your Self-Published Book Into Bookstores And Libraries With Debbie Young, interview with Joanna Penn * Writing 1000 Words a Day: Finding Better Ways to Measure Productivity & Finish Your Book * Are You A Plotter vs Pantser? With Debbie Young and David Penny * Interview on Stratford Words with Nick le Mesurier

Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival

Young has for many years been involved in the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

-led World Book Night as one of thousands of volunteer "book givers". In 2015, she set up a small local event on the evening of 23 April (World Book Night) in The Fox Inn in

Hawkesbury Upton Hawkesbury Upton is a village in South Gloucestershire, England, east of the much smaller Hawkesbury. It lies north of Horton, east of Dunkirk and south of Alderley and Hillesley. Hawkesbury Upton is close to the A46 road. The village lies on ...

. What started as a few author friends and village locals soon led to an invitation to the general public to join a full evening event with over 20 authors, poets and illustrators, celebrating the joy of reading with a series of panel discussions and public readings. In 2016, the festival returned, this time for a full day's programme in multiple venues, and it has grown year on year since then. The fifth festival on Saturday 27 April 2019, once again coincided with World Book Night

References

External links

Official Web Page of Debbie Young

Debbie Young on Twitter

Debbie Young Author at Facebook

Debbie Young at Goodreads

Debbie Young at Amazon

Profile on Hawkesbury Press website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Debbie 1961 births People from Sidcup Living people 20th-century British women writers 21st-century English novelists 21st-century British women writers Alumni of the University of York