Dreams are boring. That’s a rule in fiction. Also in life. No one wants to hear about your dreams. Not your night dreams, or nightmares, and not even your regular life dreams or goals: The former lacks narrative structure (“and then you were flying? Wait, I thought you were a shark?”) the latter makes people nervous because they may not be in touch with their own naked ambition. I don’t want…
If you haven’t already, enter the #DebBallGiveaway to win a copy of THE ENVY OF PARADISE BY Jocelyn Cullity @JocelynCullity @InannaPub! You can enter by sharing our post on Facebook and/or retweeting the following tweet (make sure you follow @DebutanteBall on Twitter too!) Interview and Book Giveaway: Jocelyn Cullity, Author of The Envy of Paradise @DebutanteBall #ClassOf2020 #guest #author #giveway News from the Class of 2020 Debs: Lisa Braxton is…
In 2020 I’m looking forward to reading The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President’s Black Family, by Bettye Kearse, MD. I met Dr. Kearse, a retired pediatrician, a couple of years ago after we both had essays featured in the anthology, Black Lives Have Always Mattered, published by 2Leaf Press. She and I gave readings together at Porter Square Books and were featured panelists on Boston Neighborhood Network….
Patience—The hardest part of being a writer is having patience—the continuous effort and courage in the face of success, failure, rejection, and long stretches of time waiting for positive results. Patience in the face of success: In 2012 I was thrilled to have an essay I’d written about how I met my husband published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Dating Game. For the first time, a story I’d…
I am thrilled to welcome Molly Greeley to the Ball this week! I met Molly virtually in an online group for debut authors, and she strikes me as kind, genuine, and hardworking. Follow her on Instagram for a sneak peek at the writing life alongside three children, a couple of cats, and whole lotta Jane Austen enthusiasm. Her novel, THE CLERGYMAN’S WIFE has many rave reviews, but I especially like…
I’ve never been interested in making New Year’s resolutions, resolving at the end of the year to change an undesirable behavior or characteristic beginning on January 1st. I’d much rather review goals and accomplishments that are ongoing and tweak and fine tune them where needed. My writing goals for the upcoming months include: Spending extensive time working on my second novel. Life was so busy for me this year with…
My favorite book of 2019 is the memoir, Once More to the Rodeo. Author Calvin Hennick wants to teach his son, Nile, lessons he hopes will help him navigate through life successfully: what it means to be a man and the importance of taking care of family. He decides to take Nile on a road trip from their home in the Boston area to Hennick’s tiny hometown of Maxwell, Iowa….
On a couple of Saturday night’s a month, my husband and I pop one of our favorite movies into the DVD player and sit on the living room couch in the pitch dark like patrons do in movie theaters. Recently we watched the 1944 psychological thriller “Gaslight,” starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. In the story, an innocent woman (Bergman) marries a charming man (Boyer) who tries to drive her…
I am so excited to welcome Lisa de Nikolits to The Debutante Ball. Lisa’s latest novel is The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist’s Solution. It is a serio-comedic thriller about a couple who embark on an unintentionally life-changing around-the-world adventure, The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist’s Solution is about the meaning of life, healing from old wounds, romantic love at all ages, and how love and passion can make a…
I was in the waiting room of the dentist’s office the other day when another patient glanced over and asked me what book I was reading. It was On Writing by Stephen King. She went on to list all of King’s books that she’d read: The Shining, Misery, and a few others. With a gleam in her eye she said, “His books are scary. Spine-tingling!” I looked down at my…
