“Every day we are alive is a beautiful day.” – Debra Parmley

ADVENTUROUS AUTHOR: That would describe me, as I live with my husband in a 43 foot motorhome full time, as we travel the United States of America, while I write my books. This will not be the typical bio. But it will be all me, the real Debra.

In 2020 after 23 years in the Memphis, TN area, we sold our house and our rental house in Bartlett, closed his pressure cleaning business, and moved into a motorhome full time. We had just bought our first motorhome/RV. We have been on the road ever since and had some amazing experiences.

In the summer of 2022 we lived for five months in Rodanthe, on Hatteras Island, which is on a sandbar in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Our workamping jobs at Camp Hatteras placed our motorhome within a five minute walk to the beach. We explored all the islands of the Outer Banks on our days off, had adventures, and my favorite thing, beach time. After a N’oreaster came through, which shut down route 12 (the only road on or off the island), we went exploring and found this shipwreck which the storm had uncovered. What an adventure! What a find!

In the winter of 2023, we worked in Texas, ten miles from the border of Mexico, as gate guards for oil rigs. We were off GPS on a private ranch. Someone must man the gate 24/7 to sign trucks in and out. I had the night shift. When my husband was on day shift, a roadrunner would visit. An empty INS van come through once but it was otherwise quiet. I got to sit watching through the front window of our RV many nights as a coyote hunted.

For the summer season of 2023, from April til Oct., we lived and worked in Cody, Wyoming, where there is a rodeo every night during the summer. I enjoyed renting cabins and driving the guests around in a golf cart, and my hubby worked grounds maintenance for the hotels.

In June, 2023, my workamping was cut short when I became very ill and after July 4th, ended up spending 18 days in Billings Cilinic, Montana. I dropped 31 lbs in less than two weeks, being unable to keep food down and had what they thought was Bells Palsy on the left side of my face. The Billings specialists discovered I have a blood clot in my brain, in the balance section. My body was making too many red blood cells which then turned into clots. I am very fortunate that they found this out before somethign worse happened. And I’m happy to report that the Bells Palsy symptoms that others can see, have faded. I’m on blood thinners now and we hope that the blood clot will eventually be absorbed by my body. While I wait for that, I am determined to live a full life. To really live. Even though I can’t drive right now and have to use a walker. My adventurous nature has not changed. It’s who I am.

Did I mention that “I climb lighthouses because I am afraid of heights”

It’s something I started after we moved into the motorhome. That determination and what I have learned from climbing lighthouses is what will get me through these current health challenges. You see, I’ve had a bit of practice with pushing on through.

The above is a current, real life glimpse into who Debra Parmley is. Like I said, not your typical bio.

There are of course other things I can share with you. I am a Gemini, and have always had many interests, and as a result have done many things beyond the body of work which is my short stories, poems, novellas, and novels. I am a multi-genre author so there is a lot to keep up with when it comes to my books. I need a list to keep up with all of them, so I figured my readers would need one too. You will find that here on my website in downloadable form.

What are some other things I can tell you?

I asked my husband out on a five dollar bet when we were in high school. We have been married since 1981. We have two grown sons and three grandchildren.

Day jobs: I’ve worked in banking as customer service rep and a head teller; as recycling center co-ordinator for the City of Bartlett, TN; sold advertising for two weekly newspapers; and sold travel. I once escorted a bus full of clients through Scotland, walked the plank of a pirate ship off the island of Grand Cayman, swum with dolphins in Moorea French Polynesia, and have set foot in over thirteen countries.

I was the host of Book Lights Radio for Readers Entertainment on Blog Talk Radio for a year and a half. After I retired from teaching and performing bellydance, I was the founder of Shimmy Mob Memphis, a chapter of the international organization which raises awareness and funding for local domestic abuse shelters. One of my books, Saving the Bellydancer, features a Shimmy Mob team leader and her assistant.

If you visit my YouTube channel you will find travel videos, interviews I’ve done, and I read the first chapters from my books when there is time. I am currently at work on more military romantic suspense stories, and a book about our first year of life on the road living in an RV.

I write under Debra Parmley, my real name, for adult fiction which usually has romance in it. The travel book will also come out under Debra Parmley.

And I also write as Debra Bishop, my maiden name, for children’s books, YA, and fantasy.

You can find more about my books as you browse this website. Official bios can also be obtained on my website. I also have a shop coming soon for you!

My first book came out in print in 2009 and my first signing was at Burke’s Books in Memphis, TN. Here is a pic of that signing.