writer

Deborah Trahan

Author, Blogger, Beachcomber

Welcome to my world! I'm blessed to call paradise my home: Mississippi's Gulf Coast, where miles of sugar-white sand meet coastal birds like pelicans, least terns, and, naturally, seagulls. Within these web pages, I'll write about beach life and share new short stories. Plus updates on my writing/publishing journey, which is never dull. Connect by providing your e-mail address, and you'll never miss a thing. A quarterly newsletter for indie authors is coming soon.

A little bit about me

I’m a Southerner, born in the bourbon-belt of Louisville, Kentucky. I love the South: writing about her people, all wrapped up in their foibles and idiosyncrasies, their legacies stemming from deeply guarded secrets. Here in the South, ghosts and spirits hold the keys to the kingdom, protecting the secrets of yesteryear. Most families have at least one, often worth dying to safeguard. These are the gems I spend hours exploring through character development. Creating characters motivated by past transgressions, characters haunted by their pasts, well, it’s reason enough to get up early and stay up late writing. For me, the intoxicating key is haunted because I’m a paranormal/mystical realism author.

I’ve waited a long time for my seat at the table. Make no mistake, though, I’ve been writing for a lifetime, everything from local feature stories to contributing to a New Orleans-based hospital’s publications. I squeezed in nearly 20 years of teaching English and composition to secondary education students and loved every minute, from introducing teens to the joys of reading Ray Bradbury to guiding their construction of an argumentative essay. I’ve been in the trenches.

Words live deep in my soul; they are everything to me. I’m so excited to share my debut novel, A Southern Enchantress, which will be published by Atmosphere Press in 2023. Come along . . . join me on my journey.

A little bit about my book

“Make him pay, daughter dear.”

When Suzanne—a clairsentient enchantress—meets Max—an irresistible rogue—at a Garden District soirée, destiny is at play. As their relationship sizzles, Suzanne experiences an uptick in supernatural encounters, each demanding that an evil deed from yesteryear be avenged.

As Suzanne navigates these hauntings, she must confront her past and acknowledge her heritage. Raised by a hoodoo conjurer, Suzanne had rejected her mother’s expectations to practice folk magic but eluding her role as a spellcaster no longer remains an option. Instead, Suzanne must embrace her legacy to survive. Set in New Orleans and along Mississippi’s sparkling Gulf Coast, Suzanne rediscovers the power of the tarot and learns that bonding with a beloved specter, trapped since the 1940s, will change everything.

Told in dual timelines and stretching the bounds of realism, A Southern Enchantress celebrates the generational love of women bound even beyond death.