TWO WOLVES

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

About Deborah

Deborah Elliott-Upton's publishing credits include Woman's World, Writer's Digest, Millennium Science Fiction and Fantasy magazine, Working Writer, Mystery Readers Journal, Beginnings, Crime and Suspense, trade magazines, and newspapers. Star-Blaze Entertainment has optioned five of her short stories for opening episodes of a proposed television series. She's a former book reviewer for the Amarillo Globe-News, a frequent conference speaker and online instructor for Writing & Marketing the Short Story. Deborah is one of seven writers chosen to write short stories concerning the Seven Deadly Sins, included in the anthology, SEVEN BY SEVEN (Wolfmont Publishing, April 2006.)

Deborah has collected story ideas, characters and plots throughout her lifetime. Once only a dream, she considered writing seriously long, long ago in the last century -- 1991 to be exact. Characters live with her for a while before she decides to write their story. She refers to this as "mulling." Like good mulled wine, it takes time to meld the spices together of the character, their needs, strengths and frailties before a simmering storyline takes shape.

Deborah is a coffee and chocolate addict  and sees no hope of recovery. Every few years, she re-reads CATCHER IN THE RYE, just for the fun of it. She might not leave her husband for Johnny Depp, but she would have to at least think about it. She shares a birth date with the multi-talented Michael Chiklis.

If she was never published again, Deborah would continue to write. "I can't stop. I don't know how," she says.