Author Bio
About Deborah J. Hughes
I am the author of the Tess Schafer-Medium series and several other books in the paranormal and romance genre. My stories often include spirit communication and ghostly specters, with the exception of Tangled Up Hearts, which is a contemporary romance. Although I thoroughly enjoy a good spooky read, I also enjoy the trials and tribulations of a budding romance (with happy endings of course!).
My interests are quite varied. For one, I’ve been a palm reader since I was sixteen years old. At first I dabbled with it for fun and then began to realiz it was much, much more than a form of amusement for friends and family. I came to respect this age-old art of “fortune telling” and have found it to be accurate, helpful and very insightful. Eventually my interests led me to numerology (which I also dabble in), astrology (which I love but can’t do myself) and then many years later I became involved with Tarot cards.
I have participated in and practice different forms of spirit communication to include the Ouija board (yes, it CAN be bad but when handled PROPERLY it’s a very easy form of spirit communication … and I am happy to report that I have never encountered anything bad in any of my communications), channeling (through a spirit guide), table tipping (a fun, non-threatening form of spirit communication that still must be done properly) and automatic writing (takes more preparation but the information coming through is similar to channeling). I have a deep respect for all forms of communication with the spirit world. Our loved ones, when they cross over, truly continue to care and love us and they really do visit us often! Their biggest challenge is getting us (loved ones here in the physical world) to realize they are “alive”, well and thriving. There are so many who are eager to come through and show their love, give a message of support and encouragement, and there just are too few with the means to do it. Yes, I am saying we need more mediums in the world! Ideally, however, it would be better if people learned how to communicate with their loved ones themselves!
As for how this interest was formed … well it began at the age of seven when our family (my parents, three brothers and a sister) moved into a haunted old farmhouse. What took place during the seven years we lived in that house has influenced the things I believe about God, religion and all matters spiritual. Seriously, one cannot live for seven years with very active dead people (ghosts!) and not see life from a whole different perspective. Our life experiences influence our views and opinions and beliefs and though I lived in fear for most of those years, I am grateful for the experience.
Young as I was, and having no understanding about the workings of the paranormal world, I was often terrified, sometimes curious and never dismissive about such things. It helped having a mother who was not afraid of ghosts and actually rather enjoyed sharing our home with them. Her fearlessness did help lesson some of my own fears, especially as I grew older. An avid reader, I was forever checking books out of the library (we didn’t have the internet back then darn it) that helped to explain paranormal phenomenon and I even got to a point of trying to make contact with our spectral residents.
The more I read, the more I learned, and the more eager I became to learn more! Thus began my never-ending interest in all things spiritual. The material I read exposed me to all manner of subjects involving the paranormal and spiritual aspects of existence. Later, when I began channeling and automatic writing, I learned even more.
Reading, however, wasn’t my only passion. I started writing about the same time I started reading and it was hard to divide my time between the two. I felt driven to write and it was almost an obsession. I couldn’t stand having a blank piece of paper in front of me, I just HAD to write a story. To this day I still have most of those notebooks and pages of partially written stories (before I could finish one story, another was begging to be told!). As I got older, I knew what I wanted to do with my life … I wanted to be an author. To my way of thinking, there was nothing better to do in life than write stories. I still feel that way, but life keeps pulling me in many directions, capturing my time and attention.
After graduating high school, the reality of the “real” world kicked in. I had to figure out a way to support myself. All that reading had exposed me to the world at large and I wanted to see it. So I went to travel school in Pittsburg, PA, thinking the best way to see the world was to work in the industry that helped to take us there. But after graduating from their course, I ended up back home, where I remained jobless because I had no car, thus no way to get to work. It was a dismal situation because I saw few prospects open to me. And that is how I ended up in the United States military.
At the age of 20, I raised my hand and pledged four years of my life to the United States Air Force. Although my plan was to serve those four years and separate, I ended up staying for 20 years, five months and seventeen days (yes, folks, every day counts!). Those years led me through the experiences of so many things. The days were challenging, amazing, exciting, boring and oftentimes darn right frustrating, but wow what a ride! The toughest thing I did was go through family separations, the first one happening just after serving a little over a year. I was sent to Korea six months after my son was born and since he couldn’t go with me, I didn’t see him again until he was eighteen months old! Oh my was that hard. And the challenges continued. I endured considerable strife with difficult bosses (I was often a lone female in the company of many men), the horrors of war, marital messes, financial hardships, family stresses, life messes … the list goes on! But, to be fair, I also got to meet many people (good and not so good), see a lot of places (good and not so good), experience other cultures (mostly good!) and be exposed to many interesting situations and circumstances. My career ended well, with a great husband, great kids, great friends and a great last assignment.
Inevitably, being the writer that I am, all the stuff mentioned above, a good deal of it anyway, has ended up (or will eventually end up) in a blog post. Some of it has, or will, find ways into my stories.
As for my current beliefs, well there’s so much more than my childhood experiences that have influenced the things I hold as my truth. The bible, which I read often during my teen years, is full of supernatural elements: angels, demons, prophetic dreams, omens, etc. I was most fascinated with the story of Jesus and his teachings. The one utterance of his teachings that most captured my attention (paraphrasing here) is: “These things I do, you can do AND MORE!” Wow, what a thought!! Religion is a very broad, fascinating study on its own and I wish I had more time to study them all, but I don’t! As for my standing in that department, I hold many Christian beliefs as part of my truth, but I do not restrict myself to just Christian dogma. For the most part, Spiritualist ideals also align quite strongly with my beliefs.
My life experiences, the things I’ve been exposed to in one way or another, has inspired stories and, once my stint with the Air Force was done, I finally became an author! Honestly, it would be impossible for me NOT to write! Sometimes I am so motivated to get a story written that it drives me crazy. I find no peace until it’s written. This, I believe, is a good sign that writing is my calling.
Stories come to me so fast sometimes that I barely can keep up. I often feel as if my brain is dictating (or something is dictating to my brain) and my only role is to record it! When I am in the throes of writing a story, there’s a thought in the back of my head that wonders where its all coming from. Fact is, I don’t outline or plan the plot, it just comes to me, flowing from my brain to my fingers to the keyboard. I’m the first reader of my story and I find that to be quite a privilege.
So, that’s just a little bit “About” me. Hey, it could have been longer … I AM a writer after all! (smile)
I’ve included here (highlighted below) a few links to posts that further explain a little about my experiences, so if you are curious, go ahead and give them a look
Since I grew up in Maine, it goes without saying that I was a Stephen King fan. He actually had a pretty strong impact on my life (back then) in ways I never would have guessed. To read all about it, go ahead and click on Stephen King’s Impact
As I said earlier, I was the US Air Force for twenty years and it taught me that I can do anything … as can you! Military Lessons: Yes I can and so Can You!
What’s So Fascinating About the Paranormal? In this post, I explain why I am interested in the paranormal. Life leads us down many roads, and I’ve traveled a few doozies!
My “Living With Ghosts” Series explains in detail some of the fascinating paranormal experiences that I’ve encountered!
In my blog posts The Mysteries of Death and Living Through Death, I explain my thoughts on that one thing many of us consider scary and oh so hard to deal with (when it happens to someone we love) … death.
And here is yet another post that explains my fascination with the paranormal, Ghosts Exist and I Love Writing About Them.
As I mentioned earlier, I started reading palms when I was sixteen and I think it has to be one of the most fascinating things I do! Truly, your life really is in the palm of your hand and the following two posts explain why I believe that! Palmistry -your life is in your hands! and What’s Written in Your Palms? Only Everything!
Being interested in the paranormal, it goes without saying that contacting the spirit world interests me! I wrote “5 Steps to Spirit Contact” to explain how I go about the process and you can too if you feel so inclined! This post might interest you as well “The Care and Handling of Spirit Contact“
Who can believe in the paranormal and not do a little ghost hunting? Not me! Ghost Hunting 101
It isn’t just ghosts that are unexplainable phenomena! I’ve experienced dark periods in my life that brought about the brightest light! God truly is good to us and the universe truly is in our corner (so to speak) … we have only to believe. Here I share a few profound experiences that really changed my life! God, Money, Faith
Please feel free to contact me with questions or to share a story or just to say hi! Connecting with REAL people is as important to me as connecting with “dead” ones! (smile)
Blessings to all of you.