Announcing the 2021 Debs!

The Class of 2020 is wrapping up our incredible, historic year, and we’re thrilled to announce that we’ve selected the new Debutante Ball Class of 2021! These debut authors and their books represent a variety of categories and genres, and most importantly, authors with clear, smart voices that will resonate with the Debutante Ball’s readers. Please welcome these fabulous writers and their equally fabulous books! We know the 2021 class will continue the Deb traditions in fine form, and we look forward to following their journeys over the next year.

The new blog schedule will begin Monday, August 31st. Please join us the week of August 24th to learn more about them and their work!

 

EHSANEH SADR, A Door Between Us, Blackstone, 9/1/20

 Ehsaneh Sadr is an Iranian-American novelist and activist with a PhD in International Relations. She has worked, in various capacities, on campaigns related to Palestinian human rights, Iranian sanctions, access to credit for rural villagers, and safe spaces for children in crisis. She currently works with the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition to create the culture and infrastructure changes needed to support a shift away from carbon-based modes of transportation.

Ehsaneh and her five brothers grew up in Tehran, Salt Lake City, and a Maryland suburb of DC with a Mormon American mother and a Muslim Iranian father who kept the family active in both religious communities. In her early twenties, Ehsaneh moved to Iran to work on urban and rural poverty alleviation efforts with local NGOs as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Reconstruction Jihad.

Ehsaneh lives in Northern California with her husband and two children.

 

GRETA KELLY, The Frozen Crown, Harper Voyager, 1/12/21

Greta Kelly is (probably) not a witch, death or otherwise, but she can still be summoned with offerings of too-beautiful-to-use journals and Butterfingers candy. Though she has travelled across the world, including brief stints living in Germany and Japan, life always kept bringing her back home to the Midwest. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her husband EJ, daughter Lorelei and a cat who may, or may not, control the weather. Her debut novel, The Frozen Crown, is forthcoming from Harper Voyager.

 

 

 

 

 

DENNY S. BRYCE, Wild Women And The Blues, 3/30/21

Denny S. Bryce is an award-winning author and three-time RWA Golden Heart® finalist, including twice for WILD WOMEN AND THE BLUES, her debut historical fiction novel coming on March 30, 2021. She also writes book reviews for NPR Books, feature articles for FROLIC Media, and conducts debut author interviews for A Mighty Blaze.

A former professional dancer and ‘bad’ actress, she spent over two decades running her marketing and event management firm. A fan of genre-TV, she is currently obsessed with The CW’s The Flash, which is in line with past obsessions, which fed her love of writing fanfiction. Her fandoms included Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, the BBC’s Being Human, and of course, Outlander_Starz.

A member of the Historical Novel Society, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Novelists, Inc., she is a frequent speaker at author events. She also is relocating from Northern Virginia to Savannah, GA. You can find her on Twitter @dennysbryce.

 

ELIZABETH GONZALEZ JAMES, Mona At Sea, The Santa Fe Writers Project, 7/1/21

Before becoming a writer Elizabeth was a waitress, a pollster, an Avon lady, and an opera singer. Her stories and essays have appeared in The Idaho Review, The Rumpus, Ploughshares Blog, and elsewhere, and have received numerous Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations. Her debut novel, MONA AT SEA, was a finalist in the 2019 SFWP Literary Awards judged by Carmen Maria Machado, and is forthcoming, Summer 2021, from Santa Fe Writers Project. Originally from South Texas, Elizabeth now lives with her family in Oakland, California.

For more information please check out her website: https://www.elizabethgonzalezjames.com/. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram: @unefemmejames.

 

 

LYN LIAO BUTLER, The Tiger Mom’s Tale, Berkley/PRH, 7/6/21

Lyn Liao Butler’s debut, THE TIGER MOM’S TALE, will be published by Berkley/Penguin in July of 2021. Lyn was born in Taiwan and moved to the States when she was seven. In her past and present lives, she has been: a concert pianist, a professional ballet and modern dancer, a business owner, a personal trainer and instructor, an RYT 200 yoga instructor[, a purse designer, and, most recently, author of multicultural fiction. Lyn did not have a Tiger Mom. She came about her overachieving all on her own.

When she is not torturing clients or talking to imaginary characters, Lyn enjoys spending time with her FDNY husband, their son (the happiest little boy in the world), their two stubborn dachshunds and trying crazy yoga poses on a stand-up paddleboard. So far, she has not fallen into the water yet.

Author: Karen Osborne

KAREN OSBORNE is a writer, visual storyteller and violinist. Her short fiction appears in Escape Pod, Robot Dinosaurs, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Uncanny and Fireside. She is a member of the DC/MD-based Homespun Ceilidh Band, emcees the Charm City Spec reading series, and once won a major event filmmaking award for taping a Klingon wedding. Her debut novel, Architects of Memory, is forthcoming in 2020 from Tor Books.

3 Replies to “Announcing the 2021 Debs!”

  1. Would love to be included with the 2021 Debs. Saving Grace, my debut novel, will be released March 16, 2021 and I am a member of 2021 Debut Group.
    I will forward my Amazon Author link.

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