Katie Alender is a 2009 graduate of the Debutante Ball and the author of Disney-Hyperion’s thriller series for teens, Bad Girls Don’t Die. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found reading, sewing, or hanging out with her dog and husband! She can be found online at KatieAlender.com, Twitter, and Facebook. Katie talks about her summer beach reads! (First things first: Wow! It’s so amazing to be back at…
Oh my goodness, this is the last time I’ll type a blog post and add “by Deb Katie” to the title. I’ve been thinking a lot about “what it means to be a Deb” as we coach the new class and prepare them for their turn in the spotlight. I can remember very well when I didn’t know which Deb’s book matched up with which Deb, or what any of…
So, bad habits. Let’s talk bad habits. I’m going to come totally clean on this. Heck yeah. This post is going to be like a cleansing… what’s another word for cleansing? Let me just go check thesaurus.com. [45 minutes later] So, where was I? Yeah, I’m going to examine my bad habits. I mean, I don’t really have any more or less than your typical person. I can be a…
Our topic this week is “desert island reads”. For the record, I would much rather be stranded on a dessert island than a desert island. But if I didn’t have a choice… here’s a sampling of what I’d want with me. The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris This is one of my favorite books, although I don’t recommend it very often. Kathleen Norris is a poet and a theologian, and…
(Before I begin, may I remind you that today is 2007 Debutante Mia King’s release day for TABLE MANNERS, her third novel? Longtime Friend of the Debs Larramie is featuring it at her website, The Divining Wand. You can even win a signed copy! Or visit
So I forget how long ago it was that I discovered the Jungian Typology test (sometimes called the “Myers-Briggs Typology” test). In a nutshell, possibly even a wrong one, because it’s lifted out of my brain, it’s a test based on Jungian theories that divide personalities into one of sixteen types based on the balance of four sets of traits: Introversion vs. Extroversion Sensing vs. Intuition Feeling vs. Thinking Perceiving…
The writing myth I’m going to debunk is a biggie. It’s big enough, in fact, to stop the faint-hearted in their tracks. (Although I’ve found that we don’t have a lot of faint-hearted readers here at the Ball, so you’re probably safe.) I remember vividly the day I read this in a magazine–probably “Writer’s Digest.” I was already subscribing to “Writer’s Digest,” which in some way meant that I was…
It’s “You Tell Us Day” here at the Debutante Ball! What’s hanging on your walls? If you feel inspired to blog about the topic, drop a link to your blog entry in the comments! PS – Time is running out to apply for next year’s class of Debutantes! If you’re a debut author, check out our “Got Pearls?” link on the sidebar! The deadline is July 15 (tomorrow)!!
So a song came up in my random lineup today. The song is called “Friends of P.”, and it’s by The Rentals, and the first time I ever heard it was the first semester of my freshman year of college. My roommate always had the college rock station on, so instead of my usual diet of Indigo Girls, Danny Elfman scores, and Sinead O’Connor, I listened to that. Isn’t it…
Dear Katie, Oh, Katie, Katie, Katie. There are a lot of things I could tell you but won’t, because as tempting as it would be to give you all the lottery numbers and sports scores, that would change a lot of things that I’d just as soon not change. Instead, I’ll just tell you that, yes, this is definitely your awkward stage. And yes, you will grow out of it….
