Deborah Freedman: Hello, my name is Deborah Freedman, or at least that's my official author name. When I was a kid, everyone I knew called me Debbie, except for my first grade teacher, Mrs. Billiat. When Mrs. Billiat called me Deborah on the first day of school, I was too shy to tell her that I prefer Debbie and so she called me Deborah for the entire school year. Well, by the first day of second grade, I wasn't too shy to speak up anymore and every teacher I had from then on called me Debbie. These days though, people call me Deborah, Debbie, Deb, and I happily answer to all of those names.