Deborah J. Lightfoot   Author and Editor 

Making a place for yourself in a world where you don't belong takes courage. So does moving in with a warlock. Especially one who is a cauldron of seething anger on his worst days … half mad on his best … who is thinking, perhaps, of killing you. And you can almost understand why he would do it. But you'll fight to stay alive. Because maybe—just maybe—you've found the place where you belong: On his world, in his magic, saving the warlock from himself.

WATERSPELL (Books 1–4) tells the story of the lost traveler Carin, who is drawn into the schemes of a hot-tempered, emotionally damaged wizard. Does he view her as nothing more than an expendable weapon in his fight to save his world from lethal alien plagues? Or will Lord Verek find himself wavering, when it comes time to dispose of his fiery water-sylph?

"A marvelously complex and captivating fantasy series." —The Published Page

"The story just keeps getting bigger and bigger." —Book Briefs

A Fantasy Quartet—click for details.

In the grip of a grief-fueled wanderlust after the death of her Earthly husband, Lady Karenina of Ruain—Nina to family and friends—escapes into unfamiliar lands, a harsh and distant country peopled with enigmatic characters: the Leviathan, the Nomad, the Outcast, and the Wolf. In their company she finds adventure, danger, champions, and rogues—some of the latter worth killing, but at least one worth loving.

Continue the family saga that began in the Waterspell fantasy quartet (Warlock, Wysard, Wisewoman, Witch). Follow the further adventures of eldest daughter Nina in The Karenina Chronicles.

Will it all end in flames?

With the revival of magic in the world of Ladrehdin, an ancient foe reawakens. Lady Karenina is called home to wield her wizardry against a power far older and deadlier. Will she survive? Who will hear her call for help?

In this second sequel to the original Waterspell quartet, Nina returns to the Ore Hills, summoned from across the void to face peril alongside her brother Galen and niece Jacca. This time, the threat is existential. Nina will discover that her great Gift of water-magic does, in fact, have its limits. Love, however, is eternal, and true friendship is boundless.

The Fires of Farsinchia concludes the further adventures of Lady Karenina of Ruain, eldest daughter of House Verek. It's a tale of loyalty, humility, and selflessness in the face of overwhelming odds. Who can you count on to always be there to save you from drowning when you're in over your head?

Anguish, joy, anger, relief, regret, sadness, numbness, fear, guilt, greed, indifference—so many ways to feel about a death. Maybe you reach for a touch of humor to lighten your heart. Whatever your response to the end of a life, know that you are not alone. Four Star Funerals is a collection drawn from the personal experiences of the Four Star Writers. Death has not merely touched our group, it has hammered us in recent years. We’ve lost children, husbands, parents, siblings, close friends. We’ve lost one of our own, a beloved member of our close-knit group. Our individual responses to our bereavements show a universe of emotions. You never know how you’ll react until you’ve been there. If you’ve been there, if you’ve lost someone important to you, maybe you’ve been surprised—even shocked—by your reaction. Perhaps you have felt that your emotions are inappropriate. Maybe it will help you to know that one of us, in our small but diverse writers’ group, has felt much as you have. eISBN 978-0-9728768-2-7

"The fascinating and informative true story of a cattle ranch that has operated since 1907 and the venerable family who owned it. Energetic and aptly researched, The LH7 Ranch is a most compelling and highly recommended slice of Texan-American regional history." ISBN 1-57441-111-X —Midwest Book Review

George W. Saunders rode in his first cattle drive at the age of five and got caught in his first stampede when he was ten. A Texas trail driver, he survived it all—freezing rains, lightning storms, desert dust, Kiowa and Comanche raiders, bandits, days and nights of herding without rest. In later life he compiled a unique historical record of the trail-driving era. Here's the story of this important figure of the American West. ISBN 0-9728768-0-4

A centennial history of the consulting engineering firm opened by John B. Hawley in 1894. Winner of the History and Heritage Award, Texas Section, American Society of Civil Engineers. ISBN 0-89096-561-7

My article "Water Woes and Water Ways: Tales of Texas Engineer John B. Hawley," which is taken from A Century in the Works, appeared in the Texas Folklore Society publication, Folklore: In All of Us, In All We Do, UNT Press. ISBN 1-57441-223-X

Yak Canutt's work took him out of the Old West into the Middle Ages, a path much like the one my writing has followed. Persimmon Hill

Some other articles and short works that I've written are also available online:

Reflections on Frances Mayes's Under the Tuscan Sun and what the book meant to my personal transnational adventure when I began a nine-year residency in Mexico.

Stephen Hawking's Black Holes and Baby Universes—you'll get the jokes even if you don't grasp the science.