McKerrity presides over this case from her bench at Manhattan Supreme. The talented Babitt is also daughter of a federal judge and curates her extensive courtroom knowledge to bring us a thrilling trial about a man who is charged with murdering a pregnant woman. “Writing full-time as a copy director for two major Manhattan publishing houses got me thinking about writing novels again.” “I got sidetracked for a bit with the dazzle of performing,” Babitt says. It also taught her the power of active versus passive verbs.

The copy director role really allowed her to hone her craft by becoming more precise and packing as much information as needed into as few sentences as possible. Following this, she dabbled in playwriting and wrote theatre reviews for the New York Law Journal and then worked as copy director for two major Manhattan publishing houses.

Babitt pursued acting professionally after graduation but quickly found herself rewriting lines and adding multiple pages of biography and back story for her characters. Though she continued to write, she focused more exclusively on performing. In college, Babitt double majored in English and theatre. It’s only coincidence, however, that her 2021 debut thriller, Saving Grace, is about an orphan who goes to live with her aunt and uncle. In fact, Babitt started writing when she was about eight-a 200-page novel about an orphan who goes to live with her aunt. Her exposure began with her mother’s interest in suspense novels, which turned Babitt into an avid reader who also wrote a lot as a kid: articles for the school paper, poems, stories. Debbie Babitt grew up in a home where language was paramount.

Saving grace by debbie babitt