I would like to be able to say that what I love most about writing is being able to share it with other people… but I don’t think that’s actually true. This week my short story “Ocean Jumper” was published on Joyland Magazine. The story, at only 4,000 words long, took many rounds of workshops and revisions to complete. In fact, its first iteration was written for a workshop hosted…
One of the best things about being a debut author is being able to partake in the giddy and frantic exchange of galleys with other debut authors who are publishing the same year. Months ago, I was treated to Devi Laskar’s The Atlas of Reds and Blues — a book that I read in two sittings and that hooked me so immediately, I wish I had written it myself. I…
This week, we welcome guest author, Andrés Cerpa, whose debut poetry collection Bicycle in a Ransacked City: An Elegy was published on January 8th by Alice James Books. Praised by Publishers Weekly for its”stunning, dark observations and sparked chilling lines,” Bicycle in a Ransacked City: An Elegy is a stormy, transporting read, and perfect company for a long, winter night. Weeks after reading, these poems continue to haunt me, and I’m so pleased…
In my career, I’ve worked as a publicist, which means I’m accustomed to reaching out to people with cold pitches, telling them that I have something I think they’d find interesting. Sometimes, they do find whatever I’m pitching interesting and feature it on their website or talk show. Other times, I’m not so lucky. But when I put on my author hat, it suddenly feels weird to be reaching out…
If you have never worked in publishing, you might not be familiar with the term “comp title.” A comp title is a book that publishers compare your project to in order to determine its capacity for turning out a profit. A publisher who wants to take on your book will likely use comp titles to create what’s called a P&L, a profit and loss statement–but if your P&L shows that…
I don’t know if I should be writing this post right now because technically it’s Friday and my day to blog here on The Debutante Ball is over. But it seems like these days, the time is slipping away so rapidly! Appropriately, I’m writing about dreams from the comfort of my bed, in my pajamas, minutes away from falling asleep… Every writer who isn’t an author basically dreams of the…
I am not a fast reader, which makes keeping up with all the new books sort of difficult. This year, I’m excited for lots of great books (like Willa & Hesper by Amy Feltman! The Affairs of the Falcóns by Melissa Rivero! Good Talk by Mira Jacob! The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling!), but I’m also looking forward to finally get to read the ones that have been sitting on my shelf already….
Happy New Year to the lovely readers of this blog! I hope you had a wonderful break and are not starting 2019 with a fever, like me! This year is a pretty monumental year for me and a lot of my loved ones. Friends are moving back home, others are getting married, and others are pursuing new callings and careers. And of course, THEY COULD HAVE NAMED HER ANYTHING will…
This year, we interviewed dozens of authors for The Debutante Ball about what it’s like to become a writer. We asked them for their most helpful tips for established and emerging writers alike, and they had so much to say on an array of topics: from becoming a literary citizen to learning how to persevere through doubt to the magic of releasing a book into the world. It’s the end…
Please welcome Reyna Grande to the Ball this week! Reyna is an award-winning author whose stunning memoir The Distance Between Us was a New York Times bestseller, and whose novels have been adapted as a common read selection in classrooms across the country. A Dream Called Home, which came out this year, is Reyna’s fourth book, and we are incredibly honored to have her as a guest. In A Dream Called Home,…
