W R I T E R
WELCOME TO MY AUTHOR WEBSITE!
If you love beautifully-written and critically-acclaimed historical fiction based on true events, you've come to the right place! I dreamt all of my life of becoming a novelist. I finally did at age 70 years old! (See BIO.) After struggling for years with kidney failure, then a related heart attack, my husband Evan was able to donate his kidney. He saved my life and my life dream! I hope you enjoy my books. Thank you for stopping by. I'd love to hear from you! You can reach me on my CONTACT page.
My Two Historical Novels
2024 2026
Press the cover image to learn more about each book or go to the main menu
New in 2026!
From the Amazon #1 national bestseller and Book of the Year author of BLOOD TO RUBIES, Deborah Hufford, comes her second novel, THE FIRE BORN. Just published on October 6, 2026, it is already a bestseller and has topped the charts in 19th Century Historical Fiction and Gilded Age Historical Romance. Read more about this "stunning" novel, based on true events, The Great Chicago Fire and the Peshtigo fire the same night, ten times more deadly but forgotten in history!
Early Praise for The Fire Born
Back Cover Synopsis of
The Fire Born
Coming Soon!
Book Club Discussion Guide
Ten book club discussion questions can be found at the back of The Fire Born books and Kindle. A more extensive downloadable Guide is coming soon!
Now an Amazon #1 National Bestseller
and Book of the Year!
Hardcover • Softcover • Kindle • Audiobook
(PURCHASING LINKS BELOW)
BLOOD TO RUBIES SHORT VIDEO
CLICK NOTES ICON FOR SOUND LOWER RIGHT.
Special thanks to Peter Buffett for use of this track from Kevin Costner's 500 Nations
BLOOD TO RUBIES LONG VIDEO
Available at Book Stores & on Amazon
PRESS AN ICON BELOW TO PURCHASE
Thank you Chicago radio station, WRLR-FM & "Word of Mouth" host, Jim Wunderlich, for a great one-hour interview about Blood to Rubies!Listen to the Feb. 1, 2024 interview at this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep_57YuWd1o&pp=ygUPYmxvb2QgdG8gcnViaWVz
Book Clubs are the heart and soul of Blood to Rubies' readers❤️
Thank you so much for your wonderful comments and feedback.
I've created a fun Book Club Guide to help you all enjoy my book even more. Press here to download: BTRBookClubGuide.pdf
I offer in-person or ZOOM author events for book clubs and special groups. Please contact me at dhufford@wi.rr.com to schedule an event. And book clubs get other perks, including signed book plates and bling! My Book Guide includes a delicious Native-inspired menu (Including cocktails/mocktails) and other activities. I'd love to share pictures of your club under. New Novel/Book Clubs
Blood to Rubies is the scorching saga of injustice, love, and redemption in the western wilderness. A young frontier photographer goes West to escape the Civil War draft and settles in the Bitterroot Mountains, ancestral home of the Nez Perce Indians. There he becomes obsessed with a young Irish pioneer woman he spies swimming nude in a mountain lake. He comes to admire the Nez Perce and photographs the young leader, Chief Joseph, and a Nez Perce woman warrior (based on a real historical person). Their stories tangle in a ruthless convergence of fates. As he chronicles Chief Joseph’s desperate struggle to save his people and their harrowing 1,500-mile exodus to the Canadian border—the medicine line—to join Sitting Bull in freedom, he feels complicit in their demise. Blood to Rubies has already garnered early praise from New York Times bestselling authors, calling the book "brilliant," "heartbreakingly beautiful," "unforgettable," "a riveting debut," "phenomenal," and "destined to be a classic."
About Blood to Rubies
LITERARY PRAISE FOR BLOOD TO RUBIES
FROM NYT-BESTSELLING NOVELISTS
NOVEL APPROACH TO HISTORICAL FICTION
And here is extra perk for readers: Because my main character is a frontier photographer, each chapter opens with a spectacular archival photograph that mirrors Frederick’s adventures. Many of these photographs have been unearthed from deep long hidden archives and have never been seen by the public.
A SAMPLE OF IMAGES IN BLOOD TO RUBIES
JOIN ME FOR A WILD RIDE
DRUM ROLL: BIG NEWS!
After querying many literary agents, I got a HUGE break. I signed with one of the top literary agencies in the country: Trident Media. Trident represents Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award and Booker Award winners. AND, they are a leading agency for books-to-film!! My lifelong dream to become a novelist got a big step closer.
