Debi Alper

Tomorrow the penultimate leg of my virtual book tour, Around the Edges of the World, goes to the stand-out blog of Debi Alper. For those of you who don't already know, Debi is currently blogging about her experience of being in Grenada in the early eighties, after the revolution and then during the coup and the US invasion. It's an eye-opening read, a brave project which explodes myths which have grown up about the period, and was prompted largely when Debi was contacted by a documentary filmmaker who is delving into the truth of the revolution and invasion. Debi is one of those bloggers who have become real-life friends, and I am not at all surprised to read her brave part in this history, since I know her as hugely warm-hearted and staunchly committed to whatever she decides matters. I am extremely honoured that she will break from her account to host my little ol' tour.

Debi is also of course the author of striking crime thrillers distinguished by a very original angle: the amateur sleuths of Nirvana Bites and Trading Tatiana belong to the alternative sub-cultures more often seen as 'other' in crime thrillers. The vivid occupants of the Nirvana Housing Co-op include a drugs counsellor as well as an ex-drug addict, a New Ager and a refugee from the S & M scene, and as they tackle head-on the fascist elements of our society, Debi exposes from inside the harsh realities of subjects such as sex trafficking and child abuse - all with the trademark verbal fireworks which also characterize her blog.