Deborah Lake
 Agent: Imrie & Dervis
7 Carlton Mansions, Holmleigh Road
London, United Kingdom Email: Deborahlake@pilot.pprune.com DEBORAH LAKE grew up in Cornwall and Cambridge. After a traditional education at a boarding school in the Home Counties, she joined the Forces, serving, amongst other places, in what she prefers to call the Levant, a phrase that disguises the fact that her postings were usually hot, often dusty and occasionally unfriendly.
After seventeen years with the Royal Air Force, which included spells at major headquarters, she resisted the opportunity to go to Whitehall and shout at people. She started her own business, combining it with hopes of vast riches acquired as a freelance writer, radio presenter and part-time flying instructor although not all at the same time.
An expanding business eventually moved her to Europe with her partner where chance gave her a minor television career. Highlights included shampoo and lottery advertisements and a film role in which she was the only character not to appear nude, a fortunate circumstance that avoided severe trauma amongst the audience.
Her short stories and non-fiction articles have been published in many magazines and newspapers under a variety of names as have her books. A lavish use of pseudonyms - often male - in a response to Dark Age editors who did not accept that women writers could tackle anything other than flowers, fairy-cakes and furnishings, occasionally led to fierce confusion. A penchant for combining forenames and surnames of second cousins sometimes produced a combination honestly used by a real person. Apologies therefore go to, amongst others, Max Boughton, Vanessa Shaw, David Lomas, Jason Winter, Dale Langham, Yvonne Hadley, John Day and Jane Saville Shaw. Her own given name also creates some confusion amongst those with a penchant for internet search engines. Deborah does not own any Ferngully Tonks cats although her life is complicated by a large and enthusiastic Turkish tomcat who believes he is the alpha male to end all alpha males. Neither is she a minister of religion nor a make-up artist. Dental surgery she knows only from the receiving end and she emphatically denies assaulting a police officer in the American mid-West. She is now contemplating the possible existence of a Lawksamussy Hammurabi. If every check known to mankind proves negative, it may become her definitive nom-de-plume.
Her historical work deals essentially with the First World War which she finds rather more interesting than Anglo-Saxon taxation systems or the effects of the Corn Laws upon remote villages.
Amongst her latest books. 'Smoke and Mirrors', published by Sutton in December 2006, deals with the First Battle of the Atlantic 1915-18. 'Tartan Air Force', for Birlinn, covers a century of military flying in Scotland. This appeared in November 2007. A novel, under a careful pseudonym, is scheduled for an appearance in 2008 although she is also committed to three non-fiction titles. In her idle moments, she toys with 50,000 word works of cheap and cheerful writing.
A member of the Society of Authors as well as several other professional and historical societies, she currently lives in Northumberland with her partner and several helpful cats (not Ferngully Tonks).
Interests: Military history; aviation (Pre- & WW1); travel; theatre; cycling;
Published writer: Yes
Freelance: Yes |
