About
Deborah Lyon is a British author, entrepreneur, and advocate for children’s literacy whose work brings together storytelling, education, and the enduring appeal of the Lake District. A former corporate communications specialist with more than twenty-five years’ experience in financial and strategic PR, she left London to pursue her lifelong ambition to write and to live in Cumbria, where she now runs The Heaning Estate in Bowness-on-Windermere with her husband.
Her debut novel, Time Waif, is the first in a historical adventure series for young readers. Inspired by an inscription on a Roman tombstone and a walk through a ruined felltop fort, it follows twelve-year-old Tim Wainwright as he tumbles from modern life into Roman Britain and discovers that courage and belonging transcend time. The book has been acclaimed by Tim Robertson, former Director of the Royal Society of Literature, as “an absolutely wonderful book… exhilarating and at times moved me to tears.”
Lyon’s earlier work includes Lake District Unlocked (2010), a children’s travel guide introducing young explorers to Cumbria’s landscapes and legends. Through both her fiction and her advocacy, she works to promote child literacy and to help young readers reconnect with history, imagination, and the written word. She holds an MA in Creative Writing and an MA in Public Relations, combining literary insight with a professional understanding of narrative and communication. Her writing draws from history, place, and imagination, exploring how the past informs personal change and self-belief.
She supports the Teenage Cancer Trust, DEBRA, and Wordsworth Grasmere, and continues to champion causes linked to literacy, cultural education, and self-development. Away from her desk, she lives on the shores of Windermere with her husband, Gez, four children, two golden retrievers, a Border terrier, guinea pigs, and tropical fish. Her second book, set in the Viking period, will be published in 2026.
Further Information:
Personal Website: www.timewaif.com | www.theheaning.com
Socials – Instagram & LinkedIn (@DeborahLyon)
