I listened to a woman read a chapter from her romance novel about gay male truck drivers. Within a few minutes, it became glaringly obvious that she knew nothing about gay men or truck drivers. I was incensed—this was my community she was writing about so badly—but I was also chagrined. I was reminded of my own 300-page gay romance novel I had written several years before. Like the author…
Congratulations to Lisa Romeo, winner of our #DebBallGiveaway of COTTONMOUTHS by Kelly J. Ford. If you haven’t already, enter the #DebBallGiveaway of a signed, not-yet-released paperback of SMALL ADMISSIONS or enter to win a copy by sharing our post on Facebook and/or retweeting the following tweet: RT to Enter! Win a shiny new paperback of #SmallAdmissions by @AmyPoeppel! #BeachReads https://t.co/CFPXWCfpXN pic.twitter.com/K8U6L7pEcY — The Debutante Ball (@DebutanteBall) June 24, 2017 Calling all debut authors! Want…
It is with great pleasure that we welcome back former Deb Aya De Leon to The Debutante Ball for our Saturday interview! Aya, author of UPTOWN THIEF, has a brand new book that came out last week – Congratulations, Aya!!! Want to know more about Aya and THE BOSS? Here’s the scoop! Justice Hustlers Book #2 THE BOSS (2017): Tyesha Couvillier seems to have escaped her disastrous past on Chicago’s South Side. She’s…
We send our thanks to Lori Rader-Day for being our guest yesterday on The Debutante Ball. If you haven’t already, pick up a copy of THE DAY I DIED this Tuesday or enter to win a copy by sharing our post on Facebook and/or retweeting the following tweet: RT to Enter! Interview w/ @LoriRaderDay + #DebBallGiveaway of THE DAY I DIED https://t.co/OQSJ7n43rn pic.twitter.com/B7P1crWBGx — The Debutante Ball (@DebutanteBall) April 8, 2017 BIG…
I distinctly remember coming back to college after my freshman year (freshwoman, really). I still felt fresh. Being new to the school was part of my identity. And yet, I came back from my first summer vacation, I saw this new group of people I didn’t recognize. They were walking around with maps in their hands, looking lost. Seeing those dazed and anxious faces, I realized that I was indeed…
Although I’ve dreamed of being a novelist since I was a young adult, I am achieving the dream in my 40s. So instead of being the first dream I fulfilled, it’s actually the last one that I’ve been carrying around since my youth. Here’s the list: finish college get an MFA develop a body of work in spoken word produce my hip hop theater show make a living as a…
Unlike my Deb sisters with the huge TBR stacks (to be read), I have completely accepted defeat. I can’t seem to read print books and still manage to write books, work my job, and raise my kid. I listen instead. And unfortunately for me, 75% of the books I’d like to read are not available in audio format. The other problem is that I often listen at bedtime, so the…
Congratulations to Patty Smith, winner of Heather Young’s THE LOST GIRLS! Check back next week, where we will announce the winner of this weeks giveaway, our own Aya de Leon’s UPTOWN THIEF! From the 2016 Debs: Louise Miller is thrilled that The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living was featured in Read Simple Magazine’s The Best New Books to Read This Month article! She is a little teary, all the time, as she approaches her…
Over this past year being a Deb, I’ve shared the interview questions with several guest authors. Each time, one or two questions have caught my eye, and I’ve wondered how I would answer them. Now that it’s my turn to be a guest author, here’s my chance! As a continually hybrid writer, I’m remixing them with some fresh questions from the other Debs about UPTOWN THIEF… Talk about one book…
Last week, my debut novel UPTOWN THIEF was published. As I reflect on the experience, I recall that 2004 was the last time I launched a full-length project into the world. It was a solo show, Thieves in the Temple: The Reclaiming of Hip Hop. (Thus far, I seem destined to have the word Thief in my titles). Because the launch of my solo show is my only frame of reference,…
