Born in Missouri, Dr. Deborah Craton grew up in Bedford, Indiana. After graduating in the last class of the original Bedford High School, she went on to earn her Bachelor’s degree from David Lipscomb College (now Lipscomb University) in Nashville, Tennessee, and her M.D. from the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. After completing a post-doctoral residency in Gadsden, Alabama, she returned to her hometown where she practiced family medicine for 38 years, retiring in 2022. Together with her college sweetheart (and husband for the past 40-odd years) she has shepherded a household of three sons, four foreign-exchange daughters, multiple cats, and a host of other assorted critters throughout the years, all while healing the halt and maim of the area. She also has remained active by being involved with her local church, leading Zumba classes for the community, studying ballroom dancing, and serving for a time on the local school board. Since retiring she has continued in most of these activities while adding volunteer work and creative writing to the list. Although her writing talents were largely put on hold after high school, she has resumed her creative efforts in earnest since retiring from medicine. Her first published novel, The Marquis’s Healing, will be released in April 2023, the first of a planned trilogy of period romances. Other novels, plus some non-fiction works, also are on the drawing board.