& Company
Maine Flannel Fairytale
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Once upon a time...
There was a snowbank. A truck. A man she never should’ve met—then couldn’t forget.
Just five days before Christmas, Charlie’s world veers wildly off course—
in all the best (and worst) ways.
Some fairytales start in a ditch & some princes wear steel-toe boots
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
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Not your typical Romance.
Cue Snow Storms, Sass, & Snowdrift Serendipity.
A Snow Ditch Love Story to Melt Your Heart.
It's a late-in-life love story that goes full four-wheel over the long haul—
Buckle up, at nearly a thousand pages this takes the winding roads home.
Cozy, chaotic, and absurdly real—a new genre mashup of Maine meets mayhem with wit, grit, and one backroad mishap-maybe-miracle,
Ditchmas is what happens when a flannel-wrapped fairytale
slams into a helluva redneck romance.
Meet our heroine: Charlotte 'Charlie' Harris.
"My Life in a nutshell: Memo. Text. Spiral. Repeat—In whatever order.
When all you really need is one icy patch, a lost purse,
and maybe a man who won’t stop calling you Princess."
Is this a romance?
Yes. But probably not the way you're thinking.
Just beware, the typical tropes are turned on their heads.
Permanently banned from Hallmark.
Which book should I start with?
Ditchmas.
Because if you start with After The Ditch you'll be wandering into every spoiler... wondering why she even fell for this man.
What does Charlie say about dating apps?
Wine needed first. And a second wind.
About the Characters
The Women
Does Monica have a hot line?
Yes.
Basically everything that comes out of her mouth. But that's not what you meant, is it.
Who falls for Tessa?
Everyone.
Every woman deserves one friend with dark wit who's willing to weaponize common sense.
What is Aubrey's deal?
Imagine if Martha Stewart, Beth Dutton, and a horse-farm CEO had a niece.
Sophia
Is Sophia an actual character?
She's a character alright.
She's the enitre Greek Chorus wrapped in one arched brow.
Sporting Chanel flats and a spritz of Clive Christian No. 1.
Where does Sophia live?
In a Paris salon in (or above) Charlie's head.
But Sophia would say in a dilapidated farmhouse on a frozen hay field in outback Maine.
What is Sophia's nickname?
Miss Sophisticate.
Marchioness of Uninvited Wisdom & Emotional Oversight.
Goddess of Guilt Patrol.
The Men
Is Brody a typical Mainer man?
He's the Maine masculine poster child.
If Maine handed out trading cards, he'd be on one.
Is Nate the hero?
Hahaha. Funny, actually.
Depends on which chapter... and who's asking.
What role does Dillon play?
That's a loaded question. Not the one you're probably thinking. And Nate would be the last person to ask.
About the Places
Is Meadow Lake Farm real?
Yes it is.
And so are the dump trucks and loud mufflers.
What is Mack Hill Farm?
The Dream.
Aubrey Prescott's ideal version of a New England horse farm.
And that includes everyone else's, too.
What's so romantic about Rangeley?
A chalet, a sock slide, prime rib soup, and Sir Whiskerpaws (the seven foot taxidermy bear).
About the Process
Did Dillon always exist?
Not exactly.
One day his first name arrived. Then McCrae.
Next, Wyoming Mustangs trotted in.
What inspired Mack Hill Farm?
A Google search. Not kidding.
Randomly landing on an Amherst, NH farm on Mack Hill Rd. And its back story begged for a debut.
Which character came fully formed?
Tessa Montgomery. Hands down.
She jumped off the page in full spa, Diptyque, horse pilates glory along with her white cape and Maine Coon cat, Max.
Favorite Quotes
Monica
All of them.
But "Keep your boots on, Cinderella" is a keeper.
Tessa
"Don't Messa with Tessa." Of course.
"Jesus, take the mulch!" Also comes to mind.
Charlie
“Plan to have no shred of dignity left by sundown.”
A day in the life of Charlie.
Nate
The king of corny lines and Dad Jokes.
As Charlie says, Nate Calder's lines need their own catalog.
Brody
"Past down by generations of idiots."
Stated by someone who knows what the hell he's talking about.
Dillon
Ah, Dillon. "Don't get cute, cowboy."
When he knows he already has.
A Look Inside
The Author
I'm Deborah Lynn Hayes
But everyone calls me Debbie—or just Deb. And turns out, I write pretty much how I live: full-volume, full-hearted, and with snow or sh*t on my boots. Twenty years ago, I left Texas with part of my heart still tangled in tumbleweeds. The rest moved to Maine landing on a lakeside farm, where the view is lovely and quiet, the truck mufflers are anything but that, and the stories are just getting louder.
My debut novel, Ditchmas, and its follw-up, After The Ditch, began in a snowbank and hasn't let up. Pulled straight from one very real ditch, what started as a holiday mishap turned into hundreds of pages of raw, romantic chaos along with some cozy cabin-core and idyllic New England scenery across four seasons.
When not wrangling words, wandering ponies, or a weedy farmhouse, I might be adding to my list of snarky candles, lost on a snowshoe, behind on some project, talking myself (and others) off an emotional cliff, or just kicked back watching the clouds roll by.
I think every woman deserves several chapters, several pairs of boots, write-your-own rules life of long-shot luck with stubborn serendipity served up spicy and hot. If there's a salt-rimmed marg nearby? So much the bettah.
