Debra Murphy

I grew up in Champaign, Illinois, and received my B.A. in History from the University of Illinois in 1976. I live in Ashland OR with my husband and (most of) six kids.

WRITING AND PUBLISHING: I've published articles on faith, culture and family life in the U.S. and U.K. Catholic press. My short story, “Yardsticks,” won the 1998 Kay Snow award sponsored by Willamette Writers, and was published in the Winter issue (no. 37) of Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion.

My debut novel, THE MYSTERY OF THINGS, a mystery-thriller with Catholic and literary (Shakespearean) themes, was published in December 2004 by Idylls Press, the small press I founded with the mission of “publishing the Catholic imagination,” particularly novels with Catholic themes or with a Catholic sensibility. I'm also interested in the possibility of publishing books of local/regional interest: Ashland, Rogue Valley, and the "mythical State of Jefferson".

I am also a contributing editor for GodSpy,com, where I publish reviews and op-ed pieces on contemporary faith and culture. An avid reader, moviegoer and Shakespeare fan, I am also a frequent reviewer on Bardolatry.com a website devoted to Shakespeare-on-film; CatholicFiction.net, and ThisIsAshland.net.

My current "big" project is a "cozy" mystery set in Ashland and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

NETWORK: I am a member of Willamette Writers, Oregon Writers Colony and Sisters-in-Crime. My parish is Our Lady of the Mountain in Ashland.