The Story Behind Writing Alan Osmond's Autobiography "One Way Ticket" - Debbie Ihler Rasmussen

How does a fantasy author end up writing the autobiography of a music legend?

In this inspiring episode, author Debbie Ihler Rasmussen shares her remarkable journey from writing stories as a young girl to becoming a published author, editor, writing instructor, and eventually the ghostwriter behind Alan Osmond's life story.

Along the way, she discovers how a teacher's encouragement, unexpected mentors, and a series of divinely guided opportunities helped shape a career she never could have planned for herself.

Debbie opens up about self-publishing her first novels, learning from bestselling author Richard Paul Evans, and the unforgettable experience of working closely with Alan and Suzanne Osmond to tell their story.

Through every chapter of her journey, Debbie shares powerful reminders about faith, persistence, and trusting God's timing—even when the path ahead isn't clear.

*** Please SHARE Debbie's story and help us spread hope and light to others. ***

To WATCH this episode on YouTube, visit: https://youtu.be/CBkhgJj02mI

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To READ Debbie’s Mystic Trilogy series and other books, visit: https://www.authordebbieihlerrasmussen.com/

To READ Alan Osmond's Autobiography "One Way Ticket", visit: https://a.co/d/0gXvaOid

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To READ Scott’s new book “Faith to Stay” for free, visit: https://www.faithtostay.com/

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Also, if you have a faith-promoting or inspiring story, or know someone who does, please let us know by going to https://www.latterdaylights.com and reaching out to us.

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Transcript

A Gift And The Big Idea

Scott Brandley 0:00

Hey there, as a Latter Day Lights listener, I want to give you a very special gift today. My brand new book, Faith to Stay. This book is filled with inspiring stories, powerful discoveries, and even fresh insights to help strengthen your faith during the storms of life. So if you're looking to be inspired, uplifted, and spiritually recharged, just visit faith2.com. Now, let's get back to the show. Hey everyone, I'm Scott Brandley.

Darla Brandley 0:31

And I'm Darla Brandley. Every member of the church has a story to share, one that can instill faith, invite hope, and inspire others.

Scott Brandley 0:39

On today's episode, we're going to hear how one writer went from writing a fantasy about President and Jackie Kennedy at 12 years old to later writing a real nonfiction story for celebrity Ellen Osmond. Welcome to Latter Day Lights. Really excited to introduce our special guest, Debbie Eyler Rasmussen, to the show. Welcome, Debbie. Hi, thank you. Thanks for having me today. Yeah, we're really excited to have you. I'm excited to get into your story. It sounds really interesting. Um, especially the whole thing with Alan Osman. That's that's a pretty cool experience. Yes. So before before we jump into that, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Speaker 2 1:34

Okay. Um, thank you. So I'm I'm Debbie Ada Rasmussen, and I did start writing at 12. I started writing before that, but before all of that, I taught dance for 44 years. I started teaching dance when I was 17, and I own studios in Southern California and in Utah a couple different times, but my big studio is in Southern California. I have six children, 17 grandchildren, and all their spouses and all the things that go along with that. And at this point, and I've um been a member of the church my entire life, and at this point in my life, I'm writing and um content editing and teaching self-publishing.

Debbie’s Life Before Publishing

Speaker 2 2:08

And I live in Arizona now.

Scott Brandley 2:10

So you're not busy at all. Lots of spare time.

Speaker 2 2:15

That's a good point.

unknown 2:16

Yeah.

Speaker 2 2:17

Not a lot of spare time going on. But I'd soon be busy than bored. So it's so true.

Scott Brandley 2:24

Yeah. Wow. That's yeah, that sounds amazing. So do any of your kids live close to you?

Speaker 2 2:31

One, um, my youngest son lives down here, and then I have three kids in California, one in Utah and one in Florida. So they're all over the place.

Scott Brandley 2:40

Well, that gives you an excuse to travel, right?

Speaker 2 2:42

It does, yeah. We live together in California that I went to Salt Lake to take care of my mom in 2009, and it just everything went crazy. So they're all over the place now.

Scott Brandley 2:50

Yeah. My family's really close. Like we all live within an hour from each other. And that includes my extended family. Yeah. Wow. But Darla, yeah, her family lives all over the place too. She's got family in Hawaii and Canada and Colorado and all over.

Speaker 2 3:07

So crazy. How did you guys all end up in one spot?

Scott Brandley 3:11

It's just we love each other. I don't know.

Darla Brandley 3:14

I got married and we we moved here to his family.

Speaker 2 3:18

We moved to his family. My brothers and my sister are both in Utah, and I I was the one that left. I did it both times. I left, went to California, then I left, went from California back to Utah. So I'm the only one that's moved out of Utah with my own siblings. So yeah.

Scott Brandley 3:33

It might be a little unhealthy actually to have family that close, but I don't know. So it works. So awesome. Well, we're we're super excited to get into your story. So why don't we turn the time over to you and tell us where your story begins?

Speaker 2 3:47

All right. Thank you. I appreciate it. So um I started writing when I was actually when I was 12. Apparently, I started writing before that, though, because um one of my sister's little friends contacted me a while ago on Facebook. She said, Remember when you used to read those, when you used to write little stories and read to us outside? I hadn't remember doing that, but now that she mentions it, I do. I used to write little stories and I don't know, we were playing school or something, and I'd read them to my I got my the captive audience was my little sister's friends. But um when President Kennedy died, I was in seventh grade, I was 12, and I don't know why it had such an impact on me, but it did. And I I remember just just feeling so sad about this happening. And of course, we were in school, I was in my seventh grade science class when this happened. So for some reason, I don't know, I just decided to write a story about it. And of course, it's about a 12-year-old girl named Debbie who wins a trip to the White House, and it's all so when I look back on it, it's so crazy. But but I was passing the papers around to all my friends, and they were all sharing it and reading it. And we just, I was just doing it for fun. And then, and I never let my parents read it or anybody in my family, just my friends. Well, that was seventh grade, and in ninth grade, I was walking down the hall at lunch, and over the intercom, um, it said, Debbie Eiler, please come to Miss Harlan's class. She was my English teacher. And I was like, What do I do? What did I do? I had to go to her class. So I went up there and she said, You got an A plus on your book report. And I'm like, and you called me from lunch to tell me this. I couldn't believe it. She said, Well, actually, that's not a college up here. She said, Five people turned in a book report on a book I've never heard of. I just still didn't know what she's talking about. And I said, Okay. She said something about the White House, and I wanted to die on the spot. I felt so stupid. I thought, oh my gosh. And she said, I'd like to read that book. And I said, No, I'm not gonna read the book. She said, I'd really like to read that book. And she kind of insisted. So that was on Friday, or on Thursday. I brought it to her on Friday. She had me come back to her class on Monday, and this is what she said to me, and I've never forgotten it. She said, Debbie, if I don't see something in print before I die from you, I'll be very sad because you're a very gifted writer. And that honestly is what started me to write because she had that faith in me. And I had written poems and all kinds of stuff and shared it with everybody, but nobody, and I I guess she's my English teacher, so I gave her that was a lot of credibility for me to have her tell me that. So I just kept writing, but I didn't do anything with it. In fact, my little sister, when I moved to Salt Lake, I lived with her for four months where we were taking care of my mom, and she said, Yeah, I used to wake up at night and my Debbie's writing again because I would go to bed because mom would get mad if I didn't. And then I would get up, we had a little desk in the corner, I'd turn the light on. I thought it was being really secretive, but apparently every night I woke her up. But I would just write and write. So by the time um I I did talk to an agent in Big Sur, I can't remember when it was, in somewhere in the 90s. And she told me she didn't have anything for me right then for my genre, but she said, keep writing, you're you're really a good writer. So

Early Writing And A Defining Teacher

Speaker 2 6:47

I just kept writing. So when my mom got sick in 2009, I left California to come to you to go to Utah to help. And my kids were so funny. They're like, Mom, what is in your trunk? And all I had was my files and my writing. I to this day I don't know why I did that, but I left in a week. I mean, I was like, it's time to go, and I just packed up and left. So I had my clothes in the backseat and my filing cabinets. I know that's nobody does that anymore, but they were in my in my car. And when I got to Salt Lake, I took and put it in my sister's closet. And then because I took care of my mom during the day, I would go back to Denise at night so I had time to write. So I attended um twice. I attended, well, I attended um, what's it called? Storymakers, and I submitted five one chapter things, and I got really good grades, I guess you call them, really good marks on them. And so I thought, and the one that came to the top was um, it was called Mystic Angel. And so I that's the one I started with. And I wrote it and I didn't really tell people I was writing. I wasn't broadcasting it, I was just writing the book. And this story had been in my head, and I'll tell you, this is interesting because in the 80s we lived in Farmington and my kids were little, and I had a dream, and I always had dreams, I still do. And I jumped out of bed and went in my office, which is Bob and I had a company together, and I went out to my office and I picked one, you know, those eight and a half by 11 sheets of kind of yellow type paper we used to use. That's the olden days. So I pulled that out and I made a bunch of notes on it. I stuck them in a file, and I never looked at it again until 2009. And that came out. I pulled it out and I thought, oh, so that's the one I submitted. That's the one that got the best rating. So I wrote it. I started into a writer's group up there um in West Jordan, just a group of writers that were in the neighborhood, and we had fun with it. I remember um one thing that was kind of funny is I wrote this line. I said, and his head fell to the floor. And the guy across from me goes, So is his head rolling across the floor or what's going on right now? And I'm like, Oh no, he looked down and he goes, Well, then say that. So it was just so funny. There were so many things looking back, but just so many different experiences I had. And I finally published that book in the middle of the night in 2014, and it was I put on Create Space on Amazon like everybody else, because that's all there was at the time. I didn't know there was anything else, let's put it that way. And when I remember pushing submit, my heart was just dying. I thought, oh now it's out there for the world to see, and oh, this is gonna be so embarrassing. But I loved my story. I love my book, me personally. So I got up in the middle of the night, and at that time they came out pretty fast. And I went to my computer and it said, Your story is live. And I was like, yay, me, in the middle of the night, all by myself. Nobody cheered with me, just me. But and I still kind of kept it quiet. I ordered some books and then I started handing them out to people, and I was getting such rave reviews, honestly. They were like, This is so fun, I don't want to put it down. So I wrote the second book. My mother, when I got to her house, she had all these books on her shelf. I'm like, who is Richard Paul Evans? I have a clue. She goes, We wrote the Christmas box. I'm like, oh, well, I've seen the movie. And she said, and I said, Does he live here? She goes, Yeah, he lives in Utah. And she had every one of his books. I'd never read anything of his. And and I read all the time, but I just I didn't know this author. So anyway, she kept these cards kept coming to her house to, you know, come to she was one of his fans. And I was getting annoyed. I'm like, I who is he? And so finally my mom passed away. And in 2018, I was supposed to be going lagoon with my grandkids, and I got an email out of nowhere, and it said that he was having a one-day seminar. It was over in Murray, and it was $99. I thought, I'm gonna go with that. So I canceled Lagoon, they were going without me, and I learned more in that day. I couldn't believe it. So I and I'm like, oh, this is Richard Paul Williams. So I introduced myself and said, told him, I've been to lots of conferences over the years. And I said, I've learned more in one day than I had in three days at other conferences. He goes, Would you like to come to another one? So I went to Zermot, which was a three-day conference in January, and then he invited us to go to the ranch retreats. And so I went to there with 30 authors, we were all new. And um, down there he told me, I well, I'll tell you what happened is Zermot. I had my book and I was so proud of it. You know, I've got, I mean, I sold like 500 copies of that first book, so I was really happy. And I showed it to him. And he goes, Well, the cover needs some help. And he's looking at it like this. And then he said, I don't know, Debbie, he said, You're obviously a good writer, but we've got to do something. And he handed it back to me. And the kid next to me, or the man, he goes, Well, that was harsh. Like, yeah, I'm trying not to cry here with all these people. It's horrible. But we got down there and he said, Debbie, um, he told me that he really uh liked my writing, but we need to change your covers. And so that was such a big deal to me because we switched the covers. I found a cover designer, a graphic artist in Greece. And she um who does my covers to this day. I got an interior designer and she redid the interior. And I and then Rick gave me a challenge. He said, When you fan that was in June, he goes, Fan X is in September, rent a booth and launch your books there. You have no idea. I had to finish Mixle Mansion, the three books I had to get done by September to be it. And I bought the booth that day. I went and it was such a great experience. I sold out both days on my books. Yeah, I really did. It was I had to order some really fast to get there, which cost me a fortune. I don't know if he made money on the books because shipping cost me so much money to get them there in time. But and I had a friend, I'll tell you something really interesting. Um, we had some uh inner city missionaries that worked for with us up in in Kearns, and they had been there for years, and I uh they helped me a lot. I was really society president, and I was at the temple with them, and they said, Do you um are you excited about going to the ranch? I go, you know, I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to do it. I had to, I was refinancing my house for something else, and I said I don't have I'm gonna have the money. And he said, Well, that'd be a shame. I said, I know, but I don't think I'm going to. So I went and got in the car, and he walked up and knocked to my window and goes, Hey, we have a proposition. And I said, What a business proposition. I said, Okay. And he said, We want to pay for you to go. And I said, No. I said, 'Agued him. Finally goes, 'Well, I got an idea. Why don't you miss the greatest opportunity ever? Because you're so stubborn. And I was like, 'Oh, well, and so his wife walked up and she said, 'Debbie, just let us do this.' Well, they did, and I was able to pay him right back, but I went and took the money. That's how I got to the ranch the first time. And I was able to pay him back. So by the time I got back, the money was in my account. But it was, I wouldn't have gone had that conversation

Self-Publishing And Finding Mentors

Speaker 2 13:05

not happened. I would have missed that whole opportunity because I wouldn't have gone. I didn't did not have the money. And I wasn't about to call and say, Can I pay you later? So I just didn't have, I just didn't want to do that. Anyway, so that changed everything in my writing, everything. And so um I published, I did those books, and then I I wrote, um, I have another, it's a series. It's it's called Legend of the Crow. And what happened with that one is in 2014, I wanted to give my grandkids something for Christmas besides toys and money. I thought, I'll just write them each little story. So I called him and asked him if they could be a superhero, what would you choose? And they each chose to be a superhero. So I wrote 17 little stories about them becoming superheroes. And the way it is is that my great-grandfather really is from Norway. And I made this story that he they all had superpowers in Norway. And I decided that my dad, which is not my dad, but in the story, he didn't want his kids to have superpowers. So he moves to America. Well, this is my grandpa, which is true. He came to America, he's the only one. So we lost, my my generation lost all the superpowers. But my great-grandfather decided that he wanted all the grandkids to have them, so he came as a crow and he introduced the superpowers to each kid. So that's how they got the superpowers back. And it's it was just really fun. And I handed it to the kids, and then my friends at work read it, and they're like, Well, why don't you why don't you make this into a story? And so I did. And the second one is called Imminent Seven Years Later. But now we have an island in Belize and we work with the FBI, and it's just way fun. We do all kinds of things. But it's been that's been really fun, and that done, that's done really well too. So, and I will tell you something else that was interesting. When I was writing Mystic Angel, I was working at a customer service place, and my boss said, What are you writing? And I told her, and I said, I need to find some beta readers, and she said, I'll do it. Well, first of all, I was terrified that my boss was going to read it, just like I was in the seventh grade or the ninth grade. And then I found out she was an editor, so then I was even having more of a heart attack. Like, okay, take it. So I just handed it to her and prayed. And she left, she was going to Australia and her daughter sent me a picture and she said, So it begins. And Marie was sitting on the plane with my book it open and she was writing. And I was she was gone for I think two weeks. I can't remember. Anyway, she came back. My heart was just dying. And she came back and she said, Debbie, you have to keep writing. I could not put this book down. So I credit my writing continuing to Miss Harlan and Marie because for me to write and then to get into the business to Richard Paul Evans and my friends Ken and Mary. Because I couldn't, all those things came together. I couldn't have done it without all those things, all those people. I wouldn't have done it. So there's so many things to be thankful for. Well, I started to work with Richard Paul Evans as a content editor. I run the Authority um Facebook page, and then he hired me as a content editor, and I have studied and worked so hard to learn how to do that properly. And I think I've edited close to 100 books probably by now. That's been about four years. But in the meantime, I, for some weird reason, I just randomly saw this ghostwriting class, so I took it. And it was just an online thing about four weeks. Literally, probably a week after that, Richard called me and said, Hey, would you be interested in writing a book for somebody else? And I'm like, for how does that work? It was all ghostwriting. I'm like, all right. So I did. And that particular book, I knew I wasn't getting any direct credit for it. I knew that because it was him and her, the girl I wrote it for. But I got some credit inside the book. And you don't when you ghostwrite, you're not supposed to get credit, you're supposed to get paid. So anyway, that was a tough experience for me because it's a true story. Now I've only written fantasy, which is way fun. You can do whatever you want. I remember um Susan Osman or Suzanne Osman read my book. She goes, Can you really breathe underwater? I go, No, that's fantasy. I can do whatever I want in my book. She goes, Oh, okay. So had those conversations. But anyway, so then um, after I finished that book, it was probably right soon after I finished it, he called me again. He goes, Do you want, do you have enough brain bandwidth to do another book? And I said, Yes. Who for what? And he said, Alan Osman. I'm like, Alan Osman. And he said, Yeah. And I was like, Oh my gosh. I can tell you right where I was sitting, I was in the parking lot at Kinkos because I just printed some stuff and I was just shaking all over. And I go, Well, what am I supposed to do? He goes, Well, here's his number. Call him like, call him? Aren't you gonna call him for me? He said, No, I was seriously dying. They will never know. My heart was beating so hard when I called them. And I'm like, and I said, I'm and in my mind, I'm just gonna drive home and then I'll call him. And I thought, why am I gonna drive home? My mind's calling right here. I'm sitting in the car. So I called him. And I swear, in when I wrote the forward or the my stuff in his book, I wrote the forward, I said, Alan Osmond is an exclamation point because everything he says is an exclamation point. We had to take so many out of that book because everything he told me was exclamation. He goes, Debbie Rasmussen, oh my, I mean, I'm like, hi, I was blown away. And Suzanne was in the background. She goes, Hi, Debbie. I'm like, hi, you know, I said, uh, Richard Paul Levice, yeah, we just got off the phone with him. We knew you were calling. We're so happy to meet you. When can you come over? I'm like, well, actually, I'm in Arizona, but I'm coming and I was going up to Utah soon. So I met them in October. I was terrified. I drove down to Target to go to the restroom before I went to their house because I didn't want to driven from South Lake. So I got in their house and I mean, within minutes, I was so comfortable. I just, they're the sweetest, nice people I have ever met. I mean, uh honestly, they're just so genuine and so kind. And I did not expect I didn't know what to expect. I never, and I had to say, you know, I never was a fan or a groupie. I'm the same age as them. I mean, I'm between them. So I had to, I thought I should be honest. And I said, but I can't write, so let's do this. So it was weird because we just had a really nice meeting and they just wanted to get to know me and meet me. And so I came home and I told him this is a really back and forth conversation because I have to give you, I've got to give you what I write, and you've got to it's Alan and I worked nonstop on this book, and so did Suzanne. Well, I get home. Now remind you, I knew Donnie Marie. I had used Osmond's music in my dance career several times, but I just because of the music, I didn't pay attention to who was singing it, quite frankly. And um, I was sitting at my computer and I was very frustrated about something. I can't remember what it was that day. Had nothing to do with Osmonds, I hadn't started writing yet. And I remember it was a Thursday, and I thought, I'm just gonna see what's on YouTube. So I came around and sat on the couch and I turned on YouTube and popped up was the Osmonds. I'm like, okay, I don't even have Alexa, and I don't know how that I do not know how that happened. And I watched for two hours I watched Osman videos. I didn't even know they were on there, but I felt like I needed to get to know Alan as a child because I was writing this from writing this from for six decades of his life. And I I think over that, I bet I watched 130 videos because I was trying to understand everything about them and I wanted it to be genuine and right. And when you write, when you ghostwrite somebody's story, it has to be correct. And what was interesting about them working with them is well, Alan he would send me back things. I'm like, okay, it's still not right. I'll write it again. And it's still not right. We went back and forth and back and forth. And the first time I met with them on a Zoom call, and I decided that was not the right way to do it. So still we talked on the phone because he could have it was hard to communicate on on Zoom and edit. You know, it was just really hard. But hours and hours and hours, and I went to their house many, many times, and we talked things over, and he told me so many stories. And I will tell you that I've always had a testimony of the gospel, always. I think I was born with that. I think that's one of my gifts because I've just never had a problem with the gospel. But Alan Osman is one of the most spiritual people I've ever met in my life, and so Suzanne. But and we we would end half our conversation with gospel conversation. He would always say something like, The last 10 minutes has been the best conversation, because it was always about the gospel. But um, as I wrote this book, we decided to publish it with a local publisher, and this particular publisher did not want a lot of the Mormon stuff in it. He didn't think it would sell. And I said, uh, that's there's no way. That's that's who they are. There's no way to take that out. I mean, that's who they are. That's just who they are. And I, you know what? I didn't realize, I just learned so much about them, but just about like they have charities all over the world. I didn't know all this stuff. I I didn't, I mean, why would I? You know, I just didn't. And I I can't even begin to tell you all the I was so blown away at their reach. World reach because they've been everywhere. And they have 11 at the time we wrote this book, 11 fan clubs in the UK and Japan. I mean, it's and their fans are the most diehard people I have ever seen in my life. When we, I mean, I know so many of them now because they still communicate with me. We did this fun thing where I suggested that we have the people that have known Osmonds and been to all their concerts and all that. I suggested that they write something about when they first met them. And so we sent out this blast on oh my gosh, we got so many back. And they mailed them to Alan's email, then he sent them to me, and I chose the ones that go in. And the way our interior designer, she's the one that does all my books, she did the coolest thing. She put little notes about them, just little notes on the side page. It was it's clever how she did it. It was so great because I just had them in there, but I I sporadic, you know, put them sporadically throughout the book. I didn't meet all the other Osmonds at all. I didn't meet any of them. The only one I met was Donnie, other than um Alan and Suzanne. But I did meet most of their kids and I got to

Covers, Launches, And Reader Momentum

Speaker 2 23:05

interview all of them. And I remember when I called Donnie, he didn't answer right away. And I thought, okay, I don't know how to I got a hold of everybody else easily, but I never did talk to Marie. But um I couldn't get a hold of Donnie, and finally he texted me and he goes, Hey, this is the number and I'll answer. And so, and I still I couldn't get through. And he goes, So he said, I'll call you. So he called me and I couldn't answer. And when I finally got through, he goes, Geez, I thought you were just blowing me off. And I'm like, Yeah, that's what I was doing. All right, don't want to talk to Donnie Osmond. He Donnie has so much respect. And even again, I found out with Alan that he said I wouldn't have a career without Alan. I wouldn't even have it. He said he and Alan was the leader. When you read Alan, the leader of the Osmonds, there is no question about that. He was in charge of everything. And the story about when he um, if you haven't read the book, you should read this part. When he was going to go on a mission and he planned his whole life to go on a mission, and he got organized for it, and the Lord told him he wasn't supposed to go on a mission. And the but it is so profound. This story is so profound. I was like, whoa, just so many things in his life because Alan does nothing without the Lord's guidance. Nothing. And I'm not that I always thought I did too, but I'm thinking, no, I got I'm way short. Oh, geez, I better get with it. Because he just he has such a strong belief, and everything if you look at their career and the way things went, it's all guided. And I know when they went through um, so somebody else, two other people had started their books 25 years ago, I think, and they weren't happy with either of the writers. And so when I first started, I did three chapters and sent it to them. And I said, Um, I need to know if I'm okay on the right track. And they called me and said, This is perfect. And Alan's told me so many times, and it's such so tender to my heart, he said, God gave us you. He said, We met Richard to find you. And I feel the same way because of the the connection has been so wonderful and they're still such good friends. But um when he talks about these things and the different directions he could have gone and how he was, he's such a brave person at 18. He wrote this letter to their to the big guy in LA and said, I don't know why we're not doing better things. I don't know why we aren't famous. And I'm like, 18. And it's basically you should be doing us better better for us. I'm like, oh my gosh. And then the story when they did when they sang um for President Reagan, his inauguration. So that was crazy because that it cost him two million dollars to bring the tabernacle choir out there. Wow, yeah, the guy doing the parade said this float does not stop. No, and they because I can't even got word it was going to, and they're like, okay. So Merrill went to the driver of the float and said, Hey, I'll give you 500 bucks if you'll stop right in front of President Reagan while they sing Battle Hymn Republic. And if you do, I'll give you 500 bucks at the end. Sweet. That's the only reason that float stopped there. The only reason. And if you see that, it's amazing. I mean, I remember watching the inauguration and watching that parade. So I, you know, I had no idea Donnie Osmond was up there and I had no idea. But um, and then they the and the kid goes, Oh, I got it fixed, and gets back and drives along. And they didn't say one word to him, but that was one of President Reagan's highlights. And here's another thing when I was interviewing him and trying to get to know him better, I had to call I called Pat Boone for crying out loud. I had to call so many people and and um Chuck Norris. Oh my god.

Scott Brandley 26:37

Oh, it's Chuck Norris. Oh, yeah, okay.

Speaker 2 26:39

Oh my gosh, sorry. They were really, really good friends because Chuck taught them when they were younger how to do karate and because they want to do um all this stuff on stage and they want it to be real. So he um wrote the most beautiful endorsement for his book. We have so many endorsements in that book, and every single person I taught to said the same thing. He's one of the nicest men I've ever worked with, one of the most genuine men. And this guy in Salt Lake, I forget which one I taught to so many people. He said, if I couldn't get through, I just said, I'll have Alan call. And Alan always got through. He was so highly respected in the music world. And um, I mean, it was a real testament to me because you know, we don't know what's going on in the background. They went through a lot. When they lost all their money, they were advised by their attorneys to take out bankruptcy, and their dad said no. And they they sold everything, they sold all their or almond orchards, and so all this time I'm listening to him and learning, and I'm my testimony's getting stronger and stronger about faith because they literally live on faith the whole time. They did. And if something happened, I know their manager, he said to them, You should just, you know, you these people need to be punished. And and the this guy said he wouldn't even say a cuss word about them. Nothing. He said, That's not what we do. He said, This is our responsibility, we're gonna fix it. And so they and it was tough for them. This was not an easy thing for them to do. So that was the most incredible privilege to write that book. I will always consider that a privilege, but here's the funny thing: 60 years of music, I couldn't fit all the stuff of the church in the book. It had been, I mean, of their life in the gospel. There's they had some, I don't remember the converts they had. They met with prophets, they, I mean, they had their patriarchal blessings done, they were all young. And I just had no idea as the outside fan of these people. Well, I wasn't a fan, but the outside looking in that the Osmonds came from Utah, that's all I knew, you know?

Darla Brandley 28:41

And then I watched I just didn't know.

Speaker 2 28:44

But um because I couldn't fit it all in, we're doing a second book. And I told him, I said, Alan, we're gonna have to do another book. And I I'm just doing it because I want to, because there's so much uh he need this stuff needs to be out there too. Yes, his life story about their career and they're having their kids and wonderful Suzanne. I mean, they have the most incredible story, and they're just the same people today. In fact, when I let them know that they were um being honored for the life achievement award, they get awards all the time. And she goes, Oh my goodness, this is such an honor. And they're just so genuine about it. Just incredible. And their kids are all the ones I've met, I've taught to all of them, and they're they taught just like their dad. They've got lots of their mind. And I mean, I don't know. It was such a blessing, and that took a year. I met him in October. We published in September, and when we had the um, I was gonna tell you when I talked to Donnie, he goes, Debbie, I can't come. We had it scheduled for October, I believe. And he goes, I'm I don't think I can get there because of my performance schedule. So I got off the phone and I found his performance schedule, and I'm like, hmm, he's off this weekend. So I emailed him, I go, hey, what if we do it? And that pushed my book up a month by doing that. And I said, What if we do it this egg? I'll be there. And he came and he's the only one of the siblings that came. He came in the back door and snuck in. He said, I'm gonna go straight to my brother. I don't want to sign autographs, nothing. He stood by Alan the whole time and he was there 30 minutes back out the back door. His whole concern was he didn't want the attention to go to him. That was his whole concern. He wanted to, he said, This is Alan's night. And we had a huge um book launch down at the tribal house or something like that in Pleasant Grove, where David uh works down there. We had a huge, but in fact, I got there at noon to set up, and there were people in line since nine o'clock that morning. Like, and you guys are nuts, but they just it's incredible. In fact, when we the published, we finally got the book. It took me a while to get it published in um outside the United States because it was a local publisher in the United States. But all the people in

Ghostwriting And The Alan Osmond Yes

Speaker 2 30:55

the UK want the book, obviously, and they were paying $49 a book to ship that thing over there. That's more than the book cost. So we got that worked out anyway. That was a huge blessing and and and such a boost to my career because I went to a summit that Nathan Osmond put on. I wasn't even gonna go. I just um Alan and Alan and Suzanne were signing books up there, and Alan always asked me to come when they do book signings. And I thought, oh, I've got a Utah, blah, blah. And one day I just thought I should just go. So I just signed up for it and I went. And as it turned out, Alan Suzanne couldn't go because Alan ended up in the hospital. So I was there, and believe me, I had some major disappointed fans like, where's Alan? Well, you got me, sorry. And so anyway, at that summit, they introduced me and I got two more ghostwriting jobs out of that. And the the guy that introduced me said, if you're thinking about having a ghostwriter, if it's she's good enough for Alan Osmond, she's good enough for you. And so I got two more jobs out of that. So I was supposed to be there, and I just I'm I just remember feeling I need to go. Just like the day I went to Richard Paul Evans one day, I need to go. I don't know why I'm just gonna go. So I've had um, I've been very blessed, let's put it that way. I just really have, they they brought so much riches to my life, all my writing. I have tons of people that whatever I write, they buy. And Rick calls them fans, I call them friends. They're readers. I don't think they're not fans. That's silly, but it's so fun. And and I self-publish everything. I don't, um, I done to a traditional publisher once, and she said, I can get your book out, it's gonna be three to five years. I'm like, well, geez, I could be dead. I'm just gonna go ahead and do it myself. So I did. And it was a lot of learning curve too, because I had the girl that um my when I first wrote my books, the girl that does my interior design, they're the one that introduced me to the publishing company, which is Ingrid Sparks. You need to be there. I've been blessed to do book signings and Barnes and Noble's, and it's just it's I I don't know how to explain it. I think for my life, I went from a 44-year-old dance, which is my first love, to writing. And I've been, I mean, that doesn't happen very often. And so am I wealthy? Absolutely not, but I'm having way fun. People kind of think you are, especially ghostwriting. Yeah, no, but it's such a fun career, and I've learned so much. And be blessed. The people I'm working with now in a book. Do you guys remember TOPS? You probably don't, I'm probably way older than you, but it was takeoff pounds substantially. It was before um Weight Watchers.

Scott Brandley 33:27

Okay.

Speaker 2 33:28

I'm writing her life story. Their headquarters is back in Wisconsin. So that's and it's another, I mean, it's just she's an entrepreneur before her time. She was born in 1938. So I've learned so much, and it's hard, you guys. Ghostwriting is different. Fantasy, you just let it go wherever it wants to go, and it's so fun. But um this kind of writing is work, but it's still it's still so great, it really is. And I released my first children's book um two years ago, and it's called I Think My Grandma's a Witch, and that just came out of nowhere. It was just a fun thing I did one afternoon. I wrote this story for some friends. They're like, we love the story. So I found an artist, cost me a fortune to get the artwork done in the UK, but it's such a fun book, and so I'm gonna do a couple more children's books, and my series is eight books, and then I'm doing another trilogy because people like the characters in Mystic Trilogy, and they keep saying, you know, fourth book. I'm like, so I'm doing another, it's called Mystic Passage. That book will be out this year, and I'm gonna get them on audiobook too because I get asked all the time to get them on audiobooks. Yeah, big time. And my kids haven't even read them. I mean, really. My grandkids have some of my grandkids have, but my dot my kids are like, put them on audio, mom. We're always driving, working. And my one daughter goes, I'm just waiting for the movie to come out. And I'm like, Well, good luck with that. Listen to it. She has a lot of faith in me. But anyway, I've been so blessed. And then LES PMA, what a blessing. I the I was actually called by another friend to teach self-publishing there two years ago, and that pushed me because I teach it in with Author Ready all the time, but I had never done a class. So now I've created an entire course and and on it, and it's just been such a blessing. So that's me. That's pretty much my story.

Darla Brandley 35:11

That's awesome. It all sounds so good. And there's no coincidences. I think you know, Hemling Father puts people in our path and inspires us to go and do things because that's where we need to be, you know?

Speaker 2 35:24

Yeah, it's true. It is so true. Because I mean, even the decision to go to Salt Lake and take care of my mom was a tough decision because I just left my family. I just went because I they said she'd be there a year. And of course that was to take care of my mom. I get that, but I didn't know Richard Paul Evans, and that's he kicked my career in gear by kicking me, basically, to do it. And so there's just been so many things, and I look back on that path, and I I'm supposed to be a writer, I know that, and being blessed to write Alan Osman's story. You know, just and here's another thing, just to tell you, Alan, I said, so he goes, How does this work? And I said, Well, you're the author, and I said, Um, my name just you don't even have to give me credit. And he goes, Okay. Then he called me one day and he goes, This is ridiculous. You're writing the book. And I said, Yeah, but you can just give me credit. And he goes, No, I want your name on the book. That was Alan's decision that my name is on the front of that book. That's not typic, that's not necessarily normal for ghostwriters. But what um credibility that's given me when people see that, then I get calls about it. So it's like a it's like a business card, so to speak. So yeah, there's no coincidence. I agree with that.

Darla Brandley 36:34

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And that's so kind of him to like, you know, give you that opportunity to advance as well, right?

Speaker 2 36:45

He really has, he really has. I I'm gonna see them in March. I've got to go back up because I I've got to send him a bunch of pages on the new book, and it won't be as long. But they've done so many things with their kids as far as the gospel goes, that other families could use that stuff. They, I mean, they could use this stuff that they've done with their kids all these years. And I just they have this really cool game. I don't know how we do that. In fact, I did find out something, I've got to tell them that, but they've just done so many things and they're such a solid family. And and their families had problems like everybody else. It's not like it's been a smooth ride for them, their kids and them. But honest to Pete, the stories and the way they've gotten through things and the loyalty that they have to each other, Alan and Suzanne. I I I I've been divorced for 30 years. I didn't have a marriage like that. I wouldn't even know how to how do you do that? But to watch them, and it's it's so I I don't know what to call it, amazing, I guess, just to watch them. And I'll I gotta tell you something really funny, just to give you Suzanne. So the first day I met him, so Alan was excited that I taught dance because we had a not like I wasn't the big stage, but I knew stage and lighting and you know production. So he he liked that, and we had an instant connection. So Suzanne said to me, So tell me about your story. Tell me about um, do you have a family? And I said, Yeah, that I was divorced. And and I said, I didn't tell anybody that forever till as I live in California, I didn't tell my family in Salt Lake. And Alan, and we were talking about MS, because Alan has MS. And he goes, I said, it's so embarrassing. He goes, Yeah, it is, it's just embarrassing. And she goes, she looks at him, she turns back, she goes, and about her story, it was hysterical. The first day I met him and I was cracking up. She goes, She goes, No, Alan. I mean, they're just so and he'll laugh and he'll kind of go like that. I don't know. It's that was such a blessing. I feel so honored to write that book. And then I when they did the praiseworthy awards, I thought, you know what? I didn't know anything about praiseworthy awards. I'm just I well, the guy, one of the guys in my classes won the Spark Award the year before, but I didn't understand all that. I'd never been to that conference, and so I thought I'll just submit it. And I was thrilled to get that honor. So and then so were they.

Darla Brandley 38:59

That's so awesome.

Scott Brandley 39:02

To to hear how close they are and how how they've kept the gospel in their lives. I

Research, Revisions, And Gospel Center

Scott Brandley 39:10

mean, that's hard for just a regular person to keep their family, you know, regular couple to keep their family together without having all the fame with all those outside influences, yeah. Like the pressure of being famous and just having your name attached to it. It's not just the fame, it's the name behind it. Like you've got you've got to live up to that name and in every situation, you know.

Speaker 2 39:37

And and and they do. I mean, I like I said, the only one I know personally is Alan, that I know this well. I, you know, I know Donnie and I've taught to to Meryl. And I didn't ever talk, did I talk to Jay? No, we did things through email, but I've I I've taught to them. But Alan and Suzanne I know really well. And I, you know, he they were set up a lot of times too, those guys in different places, different um patzerati, is that how you say it?

Scott Brandley 40:02

Paparazzi. Thank you.

Speaker 2 40:04

That's that word. Yeah, they would set them up to get and they would have pictures, and they did this really funny thing. I think it's in the book, I'm pretty sure it is. There's so many stories I couldn't fit everything in, but they were being followed everywhere. These fans would stand on the corner and then they would let the next corner know they were coming. I was insane, insane, and so they led them to the visitor center at the temple.

Darla Brandley 40:28

That's where they ended up. I love that.

Speaker 2 40:32

I know it was so funny. So now they have pictures of all of them sitting there. I think I don't know what they were doing, but anyway, they'll all these people were at the temple at the visitor center, and and another time they got their name really dragged through the mud. And so they went over, and for seven weeks, I believe it was in the summer, they gave free concerts through the BBC and explained that that wasn't true, all these things, all these stories about them, and all free. They just had said let people know that they weren't that the the Beatles Ringo was upset about them coming in the UK, but Paul said, Well, I like them. He said, I think they're good. So just and and then I don't know, it was it's been an amazing experience. I was sad to see it end. I was glad to see it end, though, because Suzanne and Fran, who's our interior designer, we were up for three nights in a row till 4 a.m. trying to make this deadline because you think you've got it all perfect, then you find these stupid little errors. It's like, oh my gosh. And Suzanne was good. She's like, okay, we got to fix that. So we finally got it. And to see that book finally published, I was like, but at the same time, it was kind of sad for me to not be able to talk to him all day. I talk to him every single day for a year, so that was hard. Just like when I finished my first trilogy and I cried about the characters, I've known them for 10 years. They're not even real people, but it's just get attached, you know. My daughter said one time, Mom doesn't need friends, she's got a lot of invisible make-believe people in her house. She doesn't even need friends. But I do need friends, anyway. So it's been a ride. I've been very blessed. It's been a big ride for me.

Darla Brandley 42:06

That's been that sounds so cool.

Scott Brandley 42:08

Well, and you might not be wealthy financially, but you're wealthy in just experience. I am and you know, I think that's what more can you ask for?

Speaker 2 42:20

That's right. Uh it's really true. I mean, I'm I'm not poor, but I mean, people just assume when you've done those kind of things that you're not just you know, you know, a Lamborghini or something.

Scott Brandley 42:29

That's not living on a man in a mansion in Maui or something, right?

Speaker 2 42:32

I have a little tiny house there in Arizona, it's a little bitty one, but I have been so blessed, and you're right. I have so many friends in the author world now and have met so many connections through Richard Paul Evans, and I'll I'll be eternally grateful for him for that day saying, Yeah, you need something with this book, you need to do something with it. And that just changed everything for me. And then for him to bring me on as a content editor out of nowhere. I said, uh he goes, Daddy, you've been editing your entire life, because true, but I didn't realize it, you know what I mean? Yeah, so just so many opportunities. I have so many people in my life to be thankful for. It's like anything that you do, you look back and see all these things that happen to bring you to where you are. So yeah.

Darla Brandley 43:13

Isn't that wonderful? I love being able to look back and that and do that, be like, oh my goodness, I am so glad they had that influence in my life that I, you know, made these decisions. And yeah, that makes it rich.

Speaker 2 43:26

It does. And I still think about Mary and Ken. They just got back from their um a mission in Cambodia, they sort of there to build the temple. And um, I just still remember that day. And he just looked at me, put his hands on his hips, and told me how stubborn I was. And I was like, maybe I should. I knew the money was coming, I just didn't want to borrow it, but I knew it was coming. And had they not done, had I not had that conversation, we were eating in the Jordan River Temple that night, I would not have gone. So again, you know, just all these little blessings. Yeah, but I hope my kids listen to my books when I get them on. Audio. Yeah.

Darla Brandley 44:04

I get it. My husband reads books, and well, he's only written a couple, but they're mostly business books, so I'm not going to read them. I'm like, I like free.

Speaker 2 44:17

I know, but I was like, these are fun, you guys. I mean, my grandkids enjoy them. And my oh, I should sell my I was gonna say my sibling, my sister and my little brother, but my older brother, he's hysterical. I went to his house when I gave him all a copy of my first book. This be when I did the first covers. And I I was in um going to California and I stopped by their house in St. George. It was open, and I go, Oh, really? Really? You stay totally staged that. And he goes, Well, do people actually read this stuff? And his wife goes, Yes, of course they do. It was really funny.

Darla Brandley 44:49

That's funny. He came to a book signing in St.

Speaker 2 44:52

George, though, and he goes, Oh my gosh, Debbie, I had no idea. I mean, he he was an executive at Chevron. What does he care about writing? You know?

Darla Brandley 44:59

I'm excited. I think I want to read them. I'm a I'm a huge reader. I love to read. So I'm excited to read your series. That would be great.

Speaker 2 45:07

They're really fun, if I do say so myself. I know the author did a really good job. Good, perfect.

Darla Brandley 45:13

I have a good recommendation. Yeah.

Scott Brandley 45:16

So tell us the names of the books you've written.

Speaker 2 45:19

Okay, so the trilogy is Mystic Trilogy, and it's Mystic Uh, Mystic Angel, and then Mystic Lake, and then Mystic Mansion. And there's two backstories to that book. So I get so many people that want to know more about the character. So I wrote a backstory. Krista's backstory is called Um Best Friends Don't Leave. And then, and that ties into the story in the first book. And then Dylan's story. He's a really strong character. His story is called Sometimes Love Just Isn't. And they're short, they're just backstories. I'm three, I'm working on three more backstories. I want to do, um, I won't even tell you because I don't want to tell you. Anyway, three more of those. And then uh the Crow series. So there's another trilogy coming out with that. I already have the cover. It's called Mystic Passage. And it's weird because I'll tell you something interesting about writing, creative, this kind of writing. I it's called Pants, or I hate that word, but it's writing for the seat of your pants, is what it's called. And there's another term called writing into the dark. So I don't outline. I have a journal for every single book, so I can keep track of because especially my trilogy, there's it's a it's a generate, there's it's a family thing. There's all these generations. So I had to keep track of

Book Launch Stories And Career Growth

Speaker 2 46:25

those. But um, I remember the first book. I got up in the middle of the night and I was going back to bed and just thought, and I thought, who is Patrice? Just came to my head. I'm like, I don't know who that is. So when I got up to write the next day, I started writing. Sure enough, she's one of the strongest characters in those books, but I had no thought of her at all. Same thing happened in the second book and the third. These cover, these people just came out nowhere. I don't know where they come from. So that's the fun part about writing that way. I just let the story, I always know the beginning and the end, and that's all. And then whatever comes in the middle, that was only supposed to be one book, and it ended up being three, and mystic mansions are the most thick of all. They're about anywhere from three to five hundred pages. They're big for, but they're fast reads. And then my um the legend of the crow, the first one's legend of the crow, the second one's imminence, um, which means evil, which imminence just means that. So what's happened in there is they've got um the the Norway people are trying to destroy the American people. They're not trying to kill them, they want to take their powers away. So now we got this big battle going on, and the third book I'm working on right now, um, there's a big a group of my grandkids are now in Norway fighting the battle. So that's been fun too. That'll be an eight-book series.

Darla Brandley 47:35

Yeah, I'm super excited. This is awesome.

Speaker 2 47:38

Thank you. Those are fun, and then um the little witch book, I'm gonna write another story. It's not a witch one, it was just I think my grandma's a witch. There's five little boys that are 10 years old, and they found out their grandmas are all witches, they're all fly around brooms. It's really fun, so that's all that's cute. So I published a total of eight books on my own and written two um back to ghostwriting that have been published. So, but I didn't publish those.

Scott Brandley 48:02

And what's the name of Alan's book?

Speaker 2 48:04

Um, One Way Ticket. And it's a great book. It's it's fun to read too. It's a fast read, too. And it's and there's some, they're so funny. There's so many funny parts. Sam, when I was interviewing them, they were telling me about their courtship. She had a whole different view on this. I'm like, okay, I want to hear your story too. So I had her write her story, and that's one of the fans' favorite things because it's you hear it from both sides, and it's just Alan was so dramatic and so, and she's like, whatever. She had a totally different thing. And then their wedding and their marriage, I mean, it's just, and she's got a great personality, too. That's part of it, too. She's just they're just fun people, and I don't know. Alan's a great guy, and so is she. She's not a great guy, she's a great lady, but they're and they raised eight amazing boys. I mean, they really have. It was fun to talk to every one of their boys. They have so much respect and love for their dad and mom. And it's funny because five of them or four of them don't like to sing. But when mom and dad have something big, they'll come and sing, they'll do it, but it's not their thing. They've got their different things, it's not their thing, but they'll still do it. So they're great.

Darla Brandley 49:16

Oh, that's so nice.

Scott Brandley 49:18

Well, Debbie, this has been so fun. Thanks for so much for coming on and sharing some of your experiences. Um, I think one of the great things about people like you coming on is it gives other people that are creative inspiration, right? Especially people like you know, coming to the end of maybe their first career like you did, and they're like, Well, I love I love being creative, but I just don't know what to do. I you know, I think taking just that next leap of faith and and just seeing where it's gonna go, you never know where it's gonna lead, right?

Speaker 2 49:54

You never know. That's exactly right. The other thing too is something about for anybody that wants to write, don't forget that there's an audience for everybody. There really is. There's so many people.

Practical Writing Advice And Closing

Speaker 2 50:05

So, and and this is what I tell the people I edit when they're struggling, they're trying to get their book done. I tell them it's nothing but words on paper. It's not, it doesn't mean anything to anybody until it's published and somebody can read it. So you just have to do it. You just have to do it.

Scott Brandley 50:19

Well, do you have any final thoughts you'd like to share before we wrap things up?

Speaker 2 50:23

Um, you know what? Uh when you mentioned that to me before, so I will tell you one of the biggest blessings, and I really do mean this, uh, the gospel has brought me so many blessings throughout my life, my whole life. But LDS PMA, I didn't know that place existed. I had no idea that I was just called to teach that class. And I said, I was gonna go home after I taught. And I said, can I stay for the whole conference? They said yes, and I'm just gonna put a plug in. I'm we're talking, that is an amazing conference. And I so I jumped in and volunteered to be on the vendor committee. So now I work with them on that. And I for creators, it's musicians, artists, and and writing. And it's such an open, open um arena, I guess, for everybody. It's just such a good place, so many great people there. So I if whoever listens this, if you're encouraged to do something like that, you should attend. They have lots of ways for people to go to. You can volunteer and go for free. So there's lots of ways if you can't afford it.

Scott Brandley 51:24

Awesome. Well, thanks, Debbie, for being on. We really appreciate it. And thanks everyone for tuning in to another episode of Latterday Lights. If you have a story to share that you would like to share on Latterday Lights, go to latterdaylights.com or email us at latterdaylights at gmail.com. And don't forget to go and hit that share button. Do your five-second missionary work. Let's get Debbie's story out there, share some light into the world. And thanks again, Debbie, for being on. We really appreciate it.

Speaker 2 51:56

Thank you. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. This is fun. Thank you.

Scott Brandley 52:00

Yeah, it sure was. And thanks everyone for tuning in. We'll see you next week with another edition of Latter Day Lights. Till then, take care. Bye bye.