Dear Friends and Followers,

Welcome to My Book Buffet, a (sometimes) monthly newsletter featuring updates on my publishing adventure, including my novels When Things Go Missing and This Sea Within. I also share reviews of books I’m reading and news about the literary and Indie publishing world in general.

Here’s what’s on the menu this month:

• August Author Talk: The Long & Winding Road to Publication
• What’s New & Upcoming: Author Talk, Interview, Summer Sale, Freshly Pressed, AI, Sea Within Trilogy, and The Dream.
• My review of Dawn Pisturino’s Poems About Ancient Egypt
• Recent Reviews of This Sea Within and When Things Go Missing

I was excited to be a guest speaker for the Coastal Dunes Writing Group at the Nipomo Public Library on August 1. We had a lively full house in the small room and it was so much fun meeting everyone and talking about my publishing journey. I hadn’t created a PowerPoint slideshow presentation in a long time, but it turned out to be easier than I expected.

I feel I learned as much from these seasoned writers as they did from me during an animated Q&A. They graciously invited me to their luncheon afterward and presented me with a small speaker fee. I sold several books and added a dozen+ subscribers to my website blog. Then a participant invited me to speak at her club next month. This is how networking works! All-in-all, it was truly a delightful and satisfying event. I look forward to doing more in the future.

What’s New and Upcoming?

A lot, actually! Here are a few things I’m excited about.

GUEST SPEAKER: I’ll be a guest speaker at the San Luis Obispo NightWriter’s meeting on September 8, sharing my slide-show presentation about my publishing journey.

FEATURED AUTHOR: Last week I was interviewed by Brian Schwartz for a “Featured Author” article that will be published in San Luis Obispo’s SLO Life Magazine, “sharing the stories of the people who live here, work here, and make this place so beautiful.”

END OF SUMMER SALE: Both of my novels are available (free!) on Kindle Unlimited now, and on sale for $2.99 for those who aren’t enrolled in KU. Buy your copies now at the following links, if you haven’t already! This Sea Within, When Things Go Missing. (And leave reviews on Amazon, please!)

FRESHLY PRESSED: Last week WordPress featured one of my posts on their “Freshly Pressed” page, making it fourth time they’ve done so in the past 14 years I’ve been blogging. This time I’m happy to report it was my review of Elizabeth Gauffreau’s book The Weight of Snow and Regret and Bo Hopkin’s Blues that was featured. I hope it gets Liz lots of new readers and reviews, and Bo’s blues lots of new fans.

AI OPTIMIZATION: Like so many authors I’ve been exploring how to make my novels more searchable by AI, since so many readers, including me, use it to search for books to read. I was amazed by all the great suggestions that came up when I turned to AI to help me. I’ve been implementing those suggestions for This Sea Within, including updating my Amazon description, metadata, and author bio. I even added modules I created on Canva to the A+ content. I’ll be doing it soon for When Things Go Missing, as well. I’ll have another post about all of this soon.

THE SEA WITHIN SERIES: I’ve bitten the bullet and decided to go public with my series. I changed my This Sea Within page to The Sea Within Trilogy page. Check it out!

THE DREAM, NEW BANNER FOR MY WEBSITE: I exchanged the banner that was a portion of one of my paintings for Henri Rousseau’s painting The Dream. It’s the banner I used when I first created this website and titled it “Writing from the Edge of the Wild.” It depicts that wild, dreamlike state from which we draw our stories. We see a naked woman (vulnerable and yet commanding) lying on a bed in the jungle. Half-hidden in the foliage are wild and beautiful animals (lions and snakes, tufted elephant and cockatoo) lying in wait. She holds out her hand to them. Come to me, she says.

This is where our stories are drawn from the half-hidden world of our dreams and subconscious. To access them, we must bare our naked soul, allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough and brave enough to draw them out. I don’t know if this symbolism will be lost on the casual viewer of this site, but I think on a deeper level, they will feel what I am about and why I used it. If nothing else, it alludes to my dream of bringing my stories out of the darkness into the light and readers’ hands.

This Sea Within, Recent Reviews

It’s always exciting to get new reviews of your novels. I mean, after all, that’s what all this novel writing is about, getting our books into the hands of readers who end up loving reading them as much as we did writing the. And when they let us know why they loved them, that’s the extra thick icing on the cake we love so much. Many thanks to Gail, Dale, and Marsha!!!

Revolutionary Lovers, Amazon 5-Star Review, August 26, 2026

Absolutely loved this book. The character development and storyline were captivating. Deborah draws you in to their lives in such a way that it leaves you wanting more. The love making between the two both mentally and physically is so sensually written that I couldn’t put it down. But the story goes way beyond that. It’s exciting in both a happy and adrenaline rush way. Well done. –Gail Usilton

Goodreads 5-Star Review, July 26, 2026

What a delicious book. I could classify it as a historical romance but that would do it a disservice. It is way more than that. While this takes place in a fictional Central American country, Deborah brings it to life so clearly, you are hard-pressed to not want to go visit this place, even if it is in political turmoil – think Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba. This San Balanque could be any one of these, including freedom fighters, corrupt politicians and beautiful vistas next to shanty towns.

How could Lena (Malenque) resist the warrior Raoul? While the ending leaves you wanting more, I would understand if it ended there and am quite all right with that. However, knowing this is potentially the first in a trilogy has me tickled. I truly enjoyed this book. — Dale Rogertson

When Things Go Missing, Recent Review

Exploring Human Nature, Amazon 5-Star Review, August 26, 2026

What would make a devoted wife and mother get into her car, intending to buy groceries for her family, and simply keep driving?

In When Things Go Missing, Deborah J. Brasket answers that question in a gripping 353-page novel about a family held together by one strong, capable woman. As the story unfolds, readers meet the people she leaves behind: a quiet husband whose violent temper erupts without warning, a son trapped in drug addiction, and a college-educated daughter determined to escape the family’s turmoil.

As the woman drives south, she sends cryptic messages to her family, leaving them struggling to understand her disappearance while their lives continue to unravel. Her decision places two lives in immediate danger—her own and her son’s—and forces everyone she loves to confront truths they have long avoided.

Each of the main characters reaches a pivotal moment when an unexpected decision changes the course of their lives. The opening reminded me of The Weight of Snow and Regret by Liz Gauffreau, another novel that begins with a woman leaving her family in search of herself. From there, however, Brasket takes the story in an entirely different direction.

One of my favorite passages comes near the end of the novel: “Kay looks at her, her lips trembling. ‘My mother used to tell me that. But I never believed her, Ivey. I never believed her.’ Then, the fear and despair she kept balled up in the pit of her stomach breaks loose in broken sobs.”

Another passage resonated with me because it reflects something I have learned in my own family: “What is needed now, she feels strongly now, isn’t hope or worry, but trust. Trust that Cal has what’s needed to pull himself through this. Trust in his strength, his courage, his love, his passion.”

When Things Go Missing also includes a thoughtful set of fifteen book club discussion questions. It is a compelling exploration of family, resilience, forgiveness, and the complicated ways people find their way back to themselves.

I loved it and recommend it for any individual or group of readers looking to increase their understanding of human nature. —Marsha Ingrao (She also published this on her website Over a Cuppa. Thank you, Marsha!)

Ancient Voices: Poems about Ancient Egypt, by Dawn Pisturino

Reading Dawn’s book of poetry was like time-traveling back to an ancient civilization full of strange gods, rituals, and customs, and yet filled with people who sound very much like you and me, with our dreams, hopes, and fears.

Nearly every poem tells a story, whether of a tired Dwarf dancing for a king who treats him like a little pet or puppet, or a princess sailing on a barge through a magical night.

A husband’s prayer for wife who died giving birth. A laborer’s affectionate tribute to the faithful donkey that makes his hard life so much easier. A young woman daydreaming about her lover’s return from war. Praise for a beloved cat. Soldiers marching in the desert. A woman crying for her child dragged away by a crocodile.

Here’s few snippets I loved:

From To a Beloved Cat: I stroked your silky fur and patted your head, Listening to the soft roar in your throat / You sucked camel milk from my finger.

From The Name (A young woman to her absent lover):O come, my love, to the river at night / . . . Gently, gently stroke my skin with expensive oil,/ And comb my hair with the golden comb / you brought back for me from the war / . . . Your calloused hands arouse the fire in my heart, / Your black eyes burn a hole in my soul, / I am nothing without you.

Perhaps my favorite was one of the very first, On a Royal Barge at Night. It was like I was there with her travelling down the Nile, drowsing as she did, dreaming her dreams, waking to the wonders around her, hearing a splash and feeling the terror of a nearby crocodile. A few verses to entice you:

I fell asleep on the Royal Barge
As it drifted down the Nile.
Boatmen dipped their oars into the water,
Creating supple waves that lapped gently
At the river's banks,
Lulling me to sleep . . . 
Beneath a canopy of stars
Embedded in an ebony sky.
Soft breezes sang my lullaby,
Sweetened with fresh incense from Lebanon.
The river curved at the plateau of Giza.
How boldly the Great Pyramid of Khufu
Rose from the sand!
It startled me awake
Forcing me to gaze
with awe-struck eyes . . .

The final section of the book is about Ra’s Night Journey, Ra being the name of the Egyptian sun god whom they worshipped. Dawn writes: “Keen observers of nature, they focused their attention on the revolving cycles of life: the changing seasons; the rise and fall of the Nile River; and the blossoming of new life after death.” This section tells more about the various gods, and includes a glossary. It is followed by twelve beautiful poems following Ra’s travels through the dark night, from dusk as he dies until daybreak when he is reborn.

If you enjoy mythology, learning about ancient worlds, and beautiful story-telling through poetry, you will love Dawn’s book as I did. Get your copy here.

Thank you for taking the time to read My Book Buffet. Please leave a like to let me know you read this far, and share your thoughts in the comments.