Debbie Harpham
from author’s website
Deborah Goodrich Royce’s first psychological thriller, Finding Mrs. Ford, was published in 2019 to rave reviews. Her second, Ruby Falls, was published in 2021.
Deborah graduated Summa Cum Laude from Lake Erie College in 1980 with a BA in modern foreign languages (French and Italian) and a minor in dance. In 2008, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the same institution.
Deborah was an actress in film and television for ten years. Her big break came with the leading role of Silver Kane, sister of the legendary Erica Kane, on the long running ABC soap opera, All My Children. Deborah went on to star in feature films such as Remote Control, April Fool’s Day, and Just One of the Guys, television movies such as Return to Peyton Place, The Deliberate Stranger with Mark Harmon, and Liberace, and television series such as St. Elsewhere, Beverly Hills 90210, and 21 Jump Street.
After the birth of her daughters, Deborah moved to Paris in 1992 and worked as a reader for Le Studio Canal Plus. On her return to the US, she transitioned to Miramax Films as their story editor. At Miramax, she worked on the development of such films as Emma, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain, Walking and Talking by Nicole Holofcener, and early versions of Chicago and A Wrinkle in Time. With writing partner, Mitch Giannunzio, she won a grant from the Massachusetts Arts Council in 2002 to develop and workshop their original screenplay, Susan Taft Has Run Amok.
In 2004, Deborah and her husband, Chuck Royce (small cap investment pioneer), restored and reopened the Avon Theatre Film Center, a 1939 landmark in Stamford, CT. The not-for-profit Avon is dedicated to independent, classic, foreign, and documentary films, and hosts an ongoing series of visiting film luminaries. Directors and writers such as Robert Altman, Peter Bogdonavich and Nora Ephron, and actors such as Jane Fonda, Chloe Sevigny, Emma Roberts, and Richard Gere, have all come to the Avon to show their films and talk about their work. The late Gene Wilder, who frequently appeared at the Avon, was an early and avid encourager of Deborah’s writing.
Deborah serves on the governing boards of New York Botanical Garden, the Greenwich Historical Society, and the PRASAD Project, and the advisory boards of the American Film Institute, the Greenwich International Film Festival, the Preservation Society of Newport, and the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach.
Deborah and Chuck have restored several hotels (Ocean House—one of only 13 triple Forbes five-star properties in the world—the Weekapaug Inn, and the Deer Mountain Inn), a bookstore (The Savoy in Westerly, RI), and have completed numerous Main Street revitalization projects in Tannersville, New York and Westerly, Rhode Island. They are currently about to break ground on the renovation of the United Theatre arts complex in Westerly.
She and her husband have a tribe of children, stepchildren, grandchildren, and animals.
ABOUT RUBY FALLS:
When a little girl is abandoned by her father in a cave, can she grow up to be healthy and whole? Eleanor Russell is an actress at the top of her game when scars from a childhood wound begin to unravel the threads of her life. Fired from her show, she bolts to Europe and marries Orlando Montague, a man she has only just met.
Back in Los Angeles, desperate to create the perfect life—new husband, new house, and a starring role in a Hitchcock movie remake—Eleanor believes it is all coming together. But her stability is threatened when Orlando reveals a sinister side, secrets from the past are unearthed, and the specter of the cave becomes unavoidable.
Available now in paperback. Purchase your copy.
PRAISE AND RECOGNITION FOR RUBY FALLS:
“Royce’s prose is taut and propulsive. Ruby Falls inhabits a hallucinatory Hollywood where fact and fiction mingle freely and even the smallest acts can feel ominous..an enjoyable pastiche with plenty of twists and turns.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Deborah Goodrich Royce does an outstanding job of creating a contemporary parallel story that connects Rebecca and Ruby Falls. This is highly recommended reading for those who like gothic stories infused with psychological tension and introspection. The tale exposes the fine paradox between magic, family ties, and the boundaries of what is real and what is not.” —Midwest Book Review
“Imaginative, unique, spine-tingling, and just the right amount of eerie, Ruby Falls is what a reader wants a psychological thriller to be.” —Sandra Brown, New York Times bestselling author
“Ruby Falls will sweep you headfirst into the life of Eleanor Russell, an actress setting up house in the glamorous Hollywood Hills with her handsome new husband, Orlando. Secrets abound in this bang of a book, a haunting tale sure to give readers chills. A stunner with some serious Gothic vibes.” —Kimberly Belle, internationally bestselling author of “Dear Wife” and “Stranger in the Lake”
“Ruby Falls takes the reader on a Ferrari ride through the twists and turns of the Hollywood hills, moving so fast your hands are clammy and you can’t catch your breath. But you must! I was up until two am in the grip of this fast-paced modern twister of a gothic novel.” —Jane Ubell-Meyer, Bedside Reading, Founder
“A tribute to Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, this unnerving story about a Hollywood starlet haunted by her past will captivate you right up until the shocking ending. A must-read for anyone who loves an expertly plotted thriller with multidimensional characters.” —Emily Liebert, USA Today bestselling author of “Perfectly Famous”
“In 1968, young Ruby Russell loses her father while touring an underground cave. She recalls the moment his hand left hers, and nearly twenty years later, his disappearance remains a mystery. Ruby has reinvented herself as Eleanor Russell, married the man of her dreams, and is acting in a feature film. But as her new life begins to go awry, the mystery surrounding her past and present collide in a well-crafted and head spinning twist that I did not see coming. Ruby Falls is a skillfully plotted page turner!” —Wendy Walker, national bestselling author of “Don’t Look for Me”
“What a lovely ride! With fun twists and whip-smart language, clever Deborah Goodrich Royce leads readers down a familiar path—until she doesn’t. Lyrical and filled with page-turning suspense, I gulped every word and enjoyed every bite. I promise Ruby Falls will become your next favorite book!” —Maureen Joyce Connolly, author of “Little Lovely Things”
“Ruby Falls is a fantastic combination of a sweeping Hollywood story folded into a twisty thriller. Fans of Rebecca will be enthralled with how the classic story is woven into the masterful plot of Ruby Falls.” —Vanessa Lillie, Amazon bestselling author of “Little Voices” and “For the Best”
“Brimming with Hollywood nostalgia, this mesmerizing and thrilling page-turner is impossible to put down. Deborah Goodrich Royce’s second novel, Ruby Falls, has all the elements of an addictive read: fascinating characters, quick pace, and an intriguing story full of suspense. Masterfully plotted, the story of Eleanor Russell, a young impressionable actress, plagued by a childhood trauma, unfolds against the backdrop of a film production remake of Rebecca, in which she stars. A haunting, unforgettable thriller.” —Daniela Petrova, author of “Her Daughter’s Mother”
“Mix a dark childhood trauma, a fragile young actress, and a hasty, ill-advised marriage. Add old Hollywood glamor, dashes of enchantment, and lashings of noir suspense. Now shake—and prepare to be shaken. Much more than a mystery, Ruby Falls is about stories—the ones we tell ourselves, the ones we tell others, and the dark gaps in between.” —Elka Ray, author of the Toby Wong Vancouver Island mystery series
“Ruby Falls is a psychological tour-de-force that grabs you on page one and doesn’t let you go until the end. A compelling, engrossing, and truly suspenseful thriller that takes place in the mind of one woman struggling to overcome her demons.” —Kris Frieswick, author of “The Ghost Manuscript”
AUTHOR VISITS:
Author visits with Deborah Goodrich Royce are available via NovelNetwork.com.