The Debutante Ball, established in 2007, is a group blog for authors making their debut in the literary world. We are now in our twelfth season of celebrating up-and-coming authors. Former Debs include bestsellers in the genres of women’s fiction, mystery, literary fiction, nonfiction, young adult, and more. Click on any of the photos above to learn about The Debutante Ball Class of 2019 and their books. Read about the bestselling…
My Bookshelf, Myself
I am on vacation this week, so I’m going to shamelessly take the easy way out and just give you a list of ten authors who’ve influenced my writing, in alphabetical order by last name: Margaret Atwood – Her writing is so exceptional it simultaneously inspires me and makes me want to pack it all in since there’s no way I’ll ever be as good as she is. Truly we…
Attacus Atlas & Other Inventions: Under the Influence
This week the Debs are to discuss the books & authors that most influenced us. And this is especially difficult, since I love to read, and I am fond of both fiction and non-fiction, poetry and prose, forms both hybrid and pure journalism. So many authors, so many books. So little time. But I will try to thank them and tell you why. With regard to my forthcoming debut novel,…
What’s in a Doore? A Study in 3 Authors
I was the quiet kid growing up. The one off in the corner with her own toys or, later, with a book. I can’t remember when I picked up the Book Worm Virus, only that I always had it. In the same way, it’s difficult to pick any specific author as my Official Influence, because every book I’ve read has made me the author I am, today. Yes, even Bunnicula….
[News Flash] October 14, 2018
Thank you so much to yesterday’s guest, Ivelisse Rodriguez! If you haven’t already, enter the #DebBallGiveaway to win a copy of Love War Stories. You can enter by sharing our post on Facebook and/or retweeting the following tweet (make sure you follow @DebutanteBall on Twitter too!): This week, @IvelisseWrites talks about Latinx literature & writing new models of love. Follow us + RT for a chance to win LOVE WAR STORIES –…
Ivelisse Rodriguez on Latinx literature & writing new models of love + GIVEAWAY of LOVE WAR STORIES
Please welcome Ivelisse Rodriguez to the Ball this week! Ivelisse’s debut short story collection, Love War Stories, came out this July to much acclaim, and was named one of the most anticipated books of 2018 by Cosmopolitan, The Root, and Bitch Media. Bustle called it an “exceptional debut” and as soon as I read the description of the book (and saw it was published by Feminist Press, one of my favorite small presses!),…
Dorothy Parker and the Vicious First Draft
It is one of the minor tragedies of my life, perhaps a major tragedy in my writing life, that no one ever told me first drafts are supposed to suck until I was thirty-eight years old. Yup. Thirty-eight. Now, this is most likely because I never really knew any writers, and I rarely took any actual writing classes. While most writers would probably agree that having an MFA,…
On Drafting
I get easily excited about ideas. If you sit me in front of a computer long enough, I will inevitably start writing. Drafting is the fun part. Drafting should be the stream of consciousness part, the unfiltered part, the part that is done out of joy. In drafting, there is no judgment, only indulgence. One is able to describe a house or a room or even a bowl of soup…
The Worst Part of Writing is the Writing
So first drafts. I hate them. See you next week. …just kidding! But this is one Debutante Ball topic where I’m especially interested in seeing what my fellow Debs have to say. First drafts freak me the fuck out, so I’m hoping for some sage wisdom from these smart and talented ladies I’m lucky enough to be working with. I am the kind of person who likes things neat and…
Attacus Atlas & Other Inventions: Ode to the First Draft
I really want to write a rant to all the devastations of the day: the Kavanaugh vote in the Senate, the FBI’s incomplete investigation, the senator from Maine’s weak speech justifying her vote against women, the Senate’s dismissal and nullification of Dr. Ford’s courage. But I have to write for the Debs, it’s that time of the week where the Debs must cull their thoughts for the topic at hand….
Rocks Fall, Everybody Dies
I hate first drafts. I didn’t always. There was a time when I loved the thrill of a first draft, the rush of figuring out the story and exploring the characters. But back then I didn’t have a first draft so much as an only draft. And I had a bad habit of getting halfway through the story only to circle around and rewrite it so completely that the new…
