Debey’s parents believed in the importance of education and always encouraged her to read everything she could get her hands on. Perhaps it was because they saw how hard life could be without an education; Debey’s Czech grandfather didn’t speak any English, and although her mother graduated high school, her father was pulled out of school in the sixth grade to work on the family farm.
Eventually, Debey graduated from Idaho State University with a B.A. in English and a minor in Dance. That same year, she wrote an article for Dance Teacher Magazine called “How Copyright Protects Your Choreography” before going on to work in the television industry.
While working a “real” job to pay the bills, Debey returned to writing in her spare time, eventually self-publishing a trio of fairy tales before moving into middle-grade and young adult fiction. While writing and revising her first middle-grade novel, she joined both the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and the Idaho Writers Guild (IWG). Through both organizations plus her local library network, she found resources to help hone her craft.
Later Debey went back to school, this time graduating with an MLIS degree from the University of Alabama. A couple years later, circumstances took her to Utah, where she joined the League of Utah Writers (LUW) but then crazy life occurrences brought her back to Idaho right before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Now, she finally has an excuse to sit at home working on the stories floating around in her head!
debeysklenar 