How Does Deb Brammer Title Her Books?
For more than 40 years, Deb Brammer has written for Christian publication and served as a full-time missionary in Taiwan and New Zealand. In her books, you’ll find realistic characters who deal with cross-cultural experiences and care about ministry. Her most recent series is the Art Spotlight Mysteries.
How do you come up with titles for your books?
Deb: I often like to find a play on words. The title for Broken Windows, book one in the Art Spotlight Mysteries, comes from a police theory about crime. It states that visual evidence of crime, like broken windows and graffiti, encourages more crime. When a graffiti artist cleverly uses a broken window as his canvas, Jordan tries to find and expose him while Jordan also examines broken windows in his own faith. Deja Who?, book two, deals with art forgery as well as identity crisis. An unsolved art mystery makes Jordan ask “Who am I?” all over again. In book three, I Scream, Destiny Champion is a child art prodigy who challenges the validity of contemporary art. She reveals her inner anxiety from a too-rapid rise to fame by copying ideas from Edvard Munch’s painting, “The Scream.” In her painting, however, the scream face is eating ice cream. I launched this book with an “I Scream Social.”
How do you connect with your characters?
Deb: I understand Jordan because, though he has a different personality to mine, he grew up as a missionary kid in Taiwan and has a hard time understanding certain aspects of American culture. I’ve had to adapt to different cultures, so I get that. Zophie has the heart of my daughter. Each book has some minor characters, flawed and gentle, who pull at the heart strings and ask tough questions that can’t be passed over. I have to love these characters and hurt with them before I can write their stories.
What did you want to be as a child (and did that dream come true)?
Deb: From the time I was an early teen, I determined to follow God’s will for my life. Along with that, I always wanted to be in ministry (like a pastor’s wife) and I’ve always wanted to write. God has given me 40 years of ministry as a missionary pastor’s wife in which I continue to minister to people from many different cultural backgrounds. I’ve also been able to author nine books, more than 125 published articles, and many resources for people in ministry. I used the various Christmas and Mum-Daughter programs, puppet scripts, ESL Bible studies, blogs, and other resources in my own ministry first. From there these resources have reached out to ministries around the world. God truly “gives the very best to those who leave the choice to Him.”
Current Book: I Scream
A child’s simple painting enters the world of contemporary art, challenging Jordan to re-examine his principles and market art he can’t understand.
Connect w/Deb
Website: http://www.DebBrammer.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DebBrammerAuthor
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.nz/debbrammer/
Pinterest for I Scream: https://www.pinterest.nz/debbrammer/art-spotlight-mystery-3-i-scream/
