I have been a member of SCBWI since about 2003. The best thing about SCBWI has been making writer friends in Orange County.
The genre of all my books except a YA romance trilogy (called The Band) have been humorous. I have published chapter books, middle grade novels, and YA novels, and just signed a contract for four easy reader books.
When I started writing my first novel, my children were three and five and I was pregnant with my third child, so I learned to write whenever and wherever I got the chance. My kids are grown now, but I can still write anywhere and don't need special candles, music, etc. I've always been a morning person, so I do a lot of writing in the morning.
As a child, I wrote a lot of poems. As a teen and twentysomething, I wrote short stories. I didn't start my first novel until I was in my late thirties. I started that novel after leaving my job as a lawyer to spend more time with my children. I wanted to keep my brain busy and I'd always wanted to write a novel, so I enrolled in a critique class in which we brought eight pages of a manuscript for critique every other week. I didn't think the novel I wrote for the class would be published, so I chose for my "practice novel" a YA novel because they're typically shorter than adult novels and because I wanted to use the teen character from a short story I'd written. That novel, Storky: How I Lost My Nickname and Won the Girl, eventually got published. Four more YA novels, four middle grade novels, and 25 chapter books later, I'm very happy writing for children.
I majored in economics, but took two creative writing classes at Brandeis University. One of the professors ended up heading the MFA program at University of Iowa. The other ended up heading the MFA program at UC Irvine. I was lucky to have them as teachers. If I'd known they'd become such big shots, I would have paid more attention to them!
When I lived in San Diego, I was in a critique class for several years with Judy Reeves. Now I'm in a critique class with Louella Nelson. Bev Plass is in the class also. I found both classes very helpful. These women (including Bev) are smart and nurturing.
I'm lucky to have an office in my house. When I was working, I often wrote at the amazing Cerritos Library during my lunch hour. I've also written in bed, on couches, in coffee shops, cars, and--when I got up early and didn't want to wake my husband while we were on vacation--in a hotel bathtub.
My dream books are my five manuscripts that I worked really hard on but got rejected by publishers. I'd love to find a publisher for some of them. Fun projects I'm working on now are a series of Easy Reader books and a humorous middle grade novel. As far as illustrating. I have zero talent in that area, so absolutely not.
My tip to writers starting out is joining a critique group or class. I learned a lot from having other people critique my manuscript and also from critiquing other manuscripts. Also, it's very motivating to have to read your work out loud every week or every other week. I tend to write a lot the day before and the day of the critique class and polish my draft so I don't embarrass myself when I read it out loud to the class.
I've had agents from Andrea Brown Literary and Greenhouse Literary. I got them by cold querying them. My last agent retired a couple of years ago, so I would like to find a new agent.
I've traditionally published over thirty books for children and teens, including the Zeke Meeks and Silver Pony Ranch chapter book series and the middle grade novel Violet and the Pie of Life. My middle grade novel, Rules for Liars, will be published in 2026. I write under Debra Garfinkle, Debra Green, D.L. Garfinkle, and D.L. Green.
You can connect with me online at my website: www.DebraLGreen.com