Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes

[News Flash] August 9, 2020

Sunday, August 9, 2020

We hope you enjoyed yesterday’s interview and book giveaway with Alia Volz @aliavolz. RETWEET OR SHARE for a chance to win a copy of HOME BAKED: MY MOM, MARIJUANA, AND THE STONING OF SAN FRANCISCO. #DebBallGiveaway #giveaway #author Interview with Alia Volz, author of Home Baked (and Giveaway!) @DebutanteBall #ClassOf2020 #guest #author News from the Class of 2020 Debs: Lisa Braxton is honored to have received a National Association…

It’s Your Book; It’s Your Party

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

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Well, our official topic this week is lauch parties and swag. I think I’m the only member of our 2020 class who got a launch party. Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes released on Feburary 2nd. Covid was front-page news at that point, but it still seemed awfully far away. No one here in Minneapolis fully grasped the threat. At my launch, 150 people jammed into my local indie. Gretchen Anthony…

Marching Along….to March 2021

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

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I can’t believe we’re writing about what’s next for us this week! You know what that means, right?! It means we’re almost ready to hand over the reins here on The Debutante Ball to the class of 2021. It’ll happen at the end of August, and I’m so excited! Here’s why: Next year’s writers are undoubtedly going to be awesome and fascinating. The applications are incredibly strong. My debut year…

Embracing the Lightness

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

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Our topic this week is the books that inspired us to be writers. I think I’ve covered this in previous posts: I’ve been a voracious reader since elementary school. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I finally decided to give noveling a try when I read Celeste Ng’s absolutely genius Everything I Never Told You, at which point I discovered two very important things: I’m not Celeste Ng AND…

The Manuscript in Kathleen’s Drawer

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

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My first manuscript was a twenty-thousand-word trashfire of a multi-generational family saga. I’d decided to try being a novelist (New Year’s Resolution 2015), and then wrote a couple hundred words a few times per week. I published the scenes (now deleted) on my personal blog, which added a bit of accountability to the project. Alice, the main character, went through various life stages. I wrote out of order, tackling pivotal…

Interviewing One of My Main Characters

Monday, July 13, 2020

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This week’s topic is “The Manuscript in the Drawer.” But I have no manuscript in the drawer. The Talking Drum was my first manuscript, and thank goodness I got it published. For this week’s blog post I am interviewing one of my characters. Sydney was in my head for such a long time and is finally on the printed page. She’s been itching for an interview since The Talking Drum’s…

Big Mistakes. Big. Huge!

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

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It’s blooper week! I feel like I’m a walking blunder most of the time, so I’m sure I could fill hundreds of blog posts with examples of “most embarrassing moments.” Since no one wants to read that, I’ll pick the category in which I’m most likely to screw up: copy editing. Copy editing comes very near the end of the publishing process. It’s when someone who is brilliant and generous…

All (well, some) of the Cuts from Kathleen’s Debut

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

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We’re talking about deleted scenes this week, and there were so many iterations of Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes that I don’t know where to start. Here are a few of the major and minor cuts I made during the four years I worked on the novel: A very minor character named Erin Warner used to be a POV character. In fact, the chapters that are now Tracy’s were originally…

Interview (and book giveaway) with Jeni McFarland, author of The House of Deep Water

Saturday, June 27, 2020

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It is my pleasure to welcome Jeni McFarland to the Debutante Ball today! Jeni and I have met virtually through our fellowships at Kimbilio, a national residency for fiction writers of the African diaspora. The House of Deep Water has been described as a stunning and perceptive debut perfect for fans of The Mothers and Olive Kitteridge. It made Bustle’s 23 Debut Books That Are Too Good To Ignore, Salon‘s…

Let the Children Read Whatever They Want

Friday, June 26, 2020

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I was just chatting with my sixteen-year-old son yesterday about reading. “Remember how everyone loves reading when they’re in second, third, and fourth grades?” he asked. I mean, yes. I remember this quite well. My little cherub was a voracious reader, downing series after series — Percy Jackson, The Secrets of Droon, Warriors, My Weird School, and a million other things. “What happened?” I asked him. Because now, he reads…

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