Writer Deborah Johnson, also known as Deborah Johns, currently lives in Columbus, Mississippi. Her father was an African-American doctor. Her most recent book is entitled The Air Between Us and is published by Harper Collins. It takes place in a town called Revere in Mississippi, where the population is diverse and segregated. The story's plot revolves around "ghost surgery," a practice in which one doctor operates on a patient, but the patient thinks it is his own doctor. Previously Johnson had written four books published by Kensington Press that were considered historical romances under the pen name Deborah Johns.

In addition to being a writer, Johnson is the editor for Genesis Press in Columbus and Executive Director of the Colom Foundation. Before moving to Columbus, Mississippi, she lived for eighteen years in Italy. Three of those years she was an announcer for the Vatican Radio in Rome. She also did translations and edited doctoral theses for the rest of that time. She has participated in the Welty Symposium at MUW in 2008 and will be at the Oxford Conference for the book in March 2009.