Author: Lisa Alber

The New Deb Line-Up Begins Monday — Please Welcome the Class of 2015!

Saturday, August 30, 2014
8 comments

Please return next Saturday for the Deb class of 2015’s first guest author and giveaway! We’re excited to announce the new blog schedule as of Monday, September 1st. We know the 2015 class will continue the deb traditions in fine form, and we look forward to following their journeys over the next year! Please join the fabulous 2015 Debs next week as they introduce themselves and their upcoming debut novels. Woohoo! And…

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The Last Goodbye, the Last Blog Post, and All Good Things

Friday, August 29, 2014
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I’m honored to be writing the final blog post on behalf of the Debutante Ball Class of 2014. How can a year have raced by so fast? Seems like just a few months ago the five of us were going nutty preparing the Debutante Ball’s relaunch with this fantastic new website. Can it be? Are we really the old hands now, the published authors ready to hand down the tiaras to…

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An Era Almost Ends — the 2014 Debs and Some of Our Favorite Posts

Saturday, August 23, 2014
15 comments

Hi! Lisa here, resident guest wrangler. (Did you know we each have blog jobs behind the scenes? Yep!) We don’t have a guest this week. Instead, as we wind down our year on this wonderful blog, we decided to reminisce. We’ve had a ton of fun exploring topics ranging from surviving public events to cooking disasters to writing craft. Of course, let’s not forget our launch weeks, every Deb’s moment in…

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Hey, I’m Not Thinking About My Next Novel At All (Kidding)

Friday, August 22, 2014
21 comments

As I write this, I’m in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Killer Nashville conference. I’ve put on my bonafide author mask (authordom still feels too new to be real yet), which means I’m on panels and signing books and the whole author thing. So here I am promoting KILMOON. What about the second novel in the County Clare mystery series, you ask? I’ve got a solid second draft that still needs heavy…

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Robin Williams, Me, and Doing It Differently

Friday, August 15, 2014
26 comments

Robin Williams’ death stunned me, and if Facebook is any indication, his premature demise has got many people thinking about the ramifications of depression. I’ve admired him for years in large part because I knew what he battled. When I look back on KILMOON’s book launch, I can’t help but wonder what effect depression had on my efforts. For example, how many more copies could I have sold if I’d had the…

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Rejection: This Too Shall Pass

Friday, August 8, 2014
14 comments

Wow. I give up. First time since we started our deb year last September 1st that I can’t think of a thing to write. I’ve started and erased three attempts to say something funny or meaningful or something about this week’s topic: rejection. Not happening’. I even emailed Lori, Natalia, Susan, and Heather — told them I had nothin’. They probably didn’t believe me. I’ve cried wolf before. Maybe it’s…

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Overwhelmed Author Syndrome — It’s Catching! Three Debut Authors Chime In

Friday, August 1, 2014
22 comments

Now that four months have passed since KILMOON published, I can look back with a smile. Oh, that wasn’t SO bad. Yeah, it was stressful, and my head felt like it was about to explode … But hey, I survived. Apparently, I’m in the process of relegating Overwhelmed Author Syndrome (OAS) to a conveniently fuzzy memory almost as if I’d had a book baby epidural or something. In this crazy…

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KAY KENDALL talks Jane Eyre, Nancy Drew, and Champagne + DOUBLE GIVEAWAY!

Saturday, July 26, 2014
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Today we welcome a fellow debut novelist, Kay Kendall, author of DESOLATION ROW! I (Deb Lisa) met Kay last year at a mystery conference called Bouchercon. Kay is a sparkly, feisty Texan with a big heart. What I loved best about her was her surprise and delight when I told her I’d not only heard of Desolation Row, but had already read it! In Desolation Row, Kay uses the social…

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Guilty Pleasures I Actually Feel Guilty About

Friday, July 25, 2014
16 comments

I’m convinced that guilt sometimes resides in the cells, to be handed down from one generation to the next. In my case, this would be guilt of the Catholic persuasion, and it hovers formless and ready to pounce for no real reason. So here are a few guilty pleasures that actually trigger some guilt (but not enough to stop me!) 1. BUTTER Remember the days when margarine was the healthy…

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Former Deb SUSAN SPANN on Early Writing, First Readers + GIVEAWAY!

Saturday, July 19, 2014
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We love it when former debs visit us on Saturdays! Susan Spann’s debut novel, CLAWS OF THE CAT, came out a year ago when she was a deb. Now, she’s back to introduce us to the second acclaimed novel in her series, BLADE OF THE SAMURAI (July 15, 2014, Minotaur Books) and to answer a few questions. Please join us in welcoming her — ask away! (And don’t you just…

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