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Debbie Jordan is a pretty common name, for anyone from a charter boat skipper, to alien abductee to porn star. Tell us about Debbie Jordan the author.

Debbie Jordan, the author, was always an iconoclast. When someone in authority would say “black” was “white,” I would naively stand up and explain that it was really “black.” Of course, I learned very early on that people in authority don’t like to be contradicted. They especially don’t like for someone to produce proof of their error. Besides writing about what is, I now enjoy writing about a time when reason will prevail and people don’t have to worry about all those errant authority figures. So, this Debbie Jordan is also a dreamer.

And I’m a wife, grandmother, adopted mother to the many cats who’ve loved us over the years, and devoted fan of the Arizona Diamondbacks!

Tell us about your latest, Lion’s Pride.

I was nine when I read about the federal raid on Short Creek, the polygamous Arizona commune that became Colorado City, AZ, and Hildale, UT. I realized that the religious hold polygamous men hold over their flock is no different from that used in other religions. More than 30 years later, I couched these observations in a fictional murder mystery set in 1911 Arizona, with renegade Mormon polygamists, an Hispanic sheriff, his wife, and many different kinds of townspeople. Because the subject and my approach didn’t follow standard guidelines, it took more years to publish, but people tell me I made an interesting point in an entertaining way, so I’m happy with it.

I read this book was banned at your local library. What happened?

When I first donated “Lion’s Pride” to the library, I was directed to a woman who, I was told, would review the book and decide if it was right for the library. I asked that she let me know if it wasn’t right, for whatever reason, so I could have it back, since writers have to pay for these things. She didn’t have the courtesy to contact me before she donated it to the Friends of the Library to sell for a quarter! I decided not to give any more books to that library—until a friend suggested I donate my book to the library.

When I explained the problem, my friend told me to contact the library manager, whom she knows well. He was shocked at my story and immediately accepted another copy of “Lion’s Pride,” assuring me that the woman doesn’t work there anymore. I don’t know if that’s true, because I’d never seen her anyway. I’d been directed to bring the book in and leave it at the front desk. She was never “in” when I came in or called after our initial contact by phone.

That was a strange way to have my book “banned,” and it’s odd that she didn’t have the courage to tell me her reasons for doing what she did. In the end, I’ve been able to track the library’s current copy of “Lion’s Pride” via the website catalog, and I find it to be a popular book, as it’s often out on loan, as is my second book, “The World I Imagine: A creative manual for ending poverty and building peace.” Apparently, a lot of people enjoy reading my “banned” book!

You’ve been writing columns for the Arizona City Independent Edition since 2000. What do you like about penning a column over fiction?

That’s like asking which of my children I like best! They’re both fun, and they use different skills for different audiences, often with similar effects. Columns have a certain structure and require fact-checking, while fiction gives rise to one’s creative “muscle.” Just as people keep their body in shape by exercising different muscles, writers keep their creative tools in shape by exercising their skills in different ways.

How do your nonfiction efforts play a role in creating fictitious worlds?

Nonfiction writing feeds into one’s fiction. It’s often easier to tell the “truth” by couching it in the “lie” of an interesting story. Besides that, fiction writers often serve society by educating readers looking for entertainment when they stumble across useful facts, or at least an idea that makes them think more deeply.

Since the 1980s, you’ve been very active in fiction writing, from penning books with other authors, to hosting seminars on the business. What did you learn from those formative years that carries over into your fiction writing today?

I was well trained at an early age by nuns in the basics of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. In high school, I learned more about speech writing and presentation and critical thinking, especially by a few teachers who weren’t afraid to help us develop skills that weren’t in the curriculum. When I became serious about writing, I discovered I had better skills than most other people, and I’m a quick learner. Though I’ve worked with other people, I finally realized that it’s vital for me to make my own voice heard.

Peace is a strong message throughout your nonfiction efforts. Why is it so important to you?

Peace is not merely the absence of armed conflict. The history of humans on this planet has been marked by great conflicts, called “wars,” interspersed with periods we erroneously call “peace,” because underlying conflicts inevitably lead to the next war. Besides, war is a wasteful practice and humans will not survive if we don’t learn to live together in a positive and truly peaceful way.

Why do you believe that eradicating poverty will create peace?

Wars, whether they’re local or international, depend upon a breeding ground of disaffected poor people who view death as a way out of hopelessness and the only path to “glory.” And the existence of a poverty class provides a useful tool for those in power to control members of the middle and upper classes, who fear if they make a mistake, they’ll descend into poverty themselves.

Peace depends on everyone accepting personal responsibility for themselves and others. Our society is sorely strained by the actions of people who are too willing to take from others without giving back while calling themselves “independent.” And too many are made to be “dependent” without having an opportunity to share their best skills with others. We must encourage “interdependence,” so that everyone has the means to contribute what they can and everyone has the means to purchase everything they need, and more, depending on one’s abilities and ambitions—as long as they don’t harm anyone else.

You dream of a time in society when anyone with a disability can truly be productive and contribute more than they can today. What is your disability and how have you worked around it?

The simple answer is lupus with complications. It’s the “complications” that make things . . . well . . . complicated. The story of how I had to fight to get the help too late that could have saved my health, at least to some extent, if I’d received it years earlier will one day be a book. For now, I prefer to concentrate on being a writer who happens to be disabled, rather than a disabled person who writes.

Writing is the perfect occupation for someone with both a brain and a disability. I might not be able to do a thousand other things, but I can write about people who do those things. And I can dream—and write about—a world in which people with disabilities, as well as people of a certain age, are treated with respect and given all the tools they need to be productive citizens.

What will it take for disabled folks in our society to be everything they want to be - and more?

Like the younger and the older members of society, people with disabilities just want balance: a chance to be contributing citizens while having all their basic needs met without a lot of red tape. They do not deserve to be penalized because they want to work, to be useful!

Who are you reading?

Not enough of what I’d like and too much that feeds my muse—or perhaps, my many muses. When I can read just for fun, I love the Apache-Hopi mysteries of Tony Hillerman and the Roman mysteries of Lindsey Davis, among others. My husband, Jim, is really into Lillian Jackson Braun, and I’d love to read more of her The Cat Who . . .  series. I read reviews of so many other mystery authors that I’d really enjoy but don’t have time to just wallow—which I will do when I get into a good book! Jim and I are big Harry Potter fans, but we haven’t read the seventh, as I just discovered that the paperback was only published in England, so I’ll order that soon. Jo Rowling’s hardbacks are too heavy for a couple of senior citizens to hold for very long, and hers are the kind of books you don’t want to put down!

What’s next for you?

I’m working on several things. I don’t know if I’m trying to prevent boredom, or just can’t say “no” to that voice that keeps screaming inside me, but I’ve got to keep writing. I’m continuing with my column, with plans to syndicate when that works out, and I plan to publish my next essay collection next year, “Keep on Imagining: Spreading the wings of peace.” I’m working on my first children’s book, The Princess and the Frog, and I’ve outlined a fantasy that will dramatize the conflicts between the peaceful world I imagine in my nonfiction musings and the real world we live in today. I also have several contemporary mysteries in various stages of production, so I’m not bored, by any means!

Where can we find you on the Web?

My website is: www.imaginetheworldatpeace.com. I can also be found in a growing number of other places, such as the Amazon blog, so Google me every once in a while to keep up with me. And don’t worry about my namesakes, with their aliens or skimpy duds! All the Debbie Jordans just try to be interesting!