Raised in Northeast Georgia in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Debra studied Professional Acting at East Carolina University. She was the Director of Project Prepare, an after school and summer arts program for Jefferson County Schools. Her children’s picture book, Best Friend on Wheels, was published in 2008 by Albert Whitman & Company. Her poetry and other work has been included in Tar River Poetry, Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry, The Cortland Review, Decompression Poetry, Margie Review: The American Journal of Poetry, The Main Street Rag, Halfway Down the Stairs, The Adirondack Review, Untitled Country Review, Melusine, Untitled Country Review, Word Riot, Turtle Island Quarterly and Playwright's Showcase of the Western Region. She passed away, of breast cancer, in 2018.