Guest Author

When a Purple Rose Blooms – Guest Author Jenee Darden

Saturday, November 9, 2019
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When a Purple Rose Blooms (Nomadic Press, 2018), is a collection of essays and poetry about Black womanhood from Jenee Darden’s personal experience. She writes about love, sex, race and mental health with honesty, humor, and insight. This is Jenee’s first book and we are so excited to have her share some of her brilliance with us today. Follow Jenee: Website Twitter: CocoaFly Twitter: JeneeDardenFacebook Instagram *** What is one…

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Interview with Farah Heron, author of THE CHAI FACTOR

Saturday, October 26, 2019
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I am so excited to welcome Farah Heron to The Debutante Ball this week. Farah’s debut, THE CHAI FACTOR released in June from HarperCollins Canada, and she’s one of my favorite people on Twitter. Check her out for a perfect blend of writing truth, political and equity truth, and straight-up humor. Farah is one of those writers you at once root for and want to be friends with it.    After…

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Interview with Valerie Valdes, author of CHILLING EFFECT

Saturday, October 19, 2019
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I am thrilled to welcome Valerie Valdes to The Debutante Ball. We attended Viable Paradise together in 2016. Valerie will be giving away a copy of her novel, Chilling Effect, with an absolutely adorable fridge magnet — see below! Valerie Valdes lives in an elaborate meme palace with her husband and kids, where she writes, edits and moonlights as a muse. She enjoys crafting handmade bespoke artisanal curses and admiring…

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Interview with Rion Amilcar Scott, Author of The World Doesn’t Require You

Saturday, October 5, 2019
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I am so excited to welcome Rion Amilcar Scott to The Debutante Ball. Rion and I are both Kimbilio fellows. Kimbilio is a national residency for fiction writers from the African diaspora. Rion Amilcar Scott is the author of the story collection, The World Doesn’t Require You (Norton/Liveright, August 2019). His debut story collection, Insurrections (University Press of Kentucky, 2016), was awarded the 2017 PEN/Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and…

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Interview with Desiree Cooper, Author of Know the Mother

Saturday, September 28, 2019
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I am so excited to welcome Desiree Cooper to The Debutante Ball. Desiree and I are both Kimbilio fellows. Kimbilio is a national residency for fiction writers from the African diaspora. Desiree is a 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow, former attorney and Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist. Her debut collection of flash fiction, Know the Mother, is a 2017 Michigan Notable Book that has won numerous awards, including 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Award. Cooper’s…

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Interview with Meghan Scott Molin, Author of The Frame Up and The Queen Con

Saturday, September 21, 2019
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I am so excited to welcome Meghan Scott Molin to The Debutante Ball! Meghan and I share an agent (the excellent Joanna MacKenzie), and I was on the preorder train for both of Meghan’s published novels, The Frame-Up and The Queen Con. These books truly have something for everyone: smart writing, clever mysteries, swoon-worthy romance, and the most wonderful nerdy bad-ass main character, MG Martin. Meghan promises a third book…

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Interview with Lisa Barr, Author of The Unbreakables PLUS BOOK GIVEAWAY

Saturday, September 14, 2019
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  Lisa Barr is the author of The Unbreakables (HarperCollins) a delicious, sharp novel about a Chicago woman who jets off to France after her “perfect” marriage collapses, putting the broken pieces of herself back together while rediscovering her own joie de vivre—a lust for life, art, and passion. Artful, feminist, and emotionally gripping, The Unbreakables is a remarkable tribute to a woman’s strength in the face of heartbreak and adversity.        What’s one book that made…

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Interview with Adeena Sussman, Author of Sababa Cookbook

Saturday, September 7, 2019
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Welcome to our first guest, Adeena Sussman! As an almost full-time resident of Tel Aviv, Adeena’ Sussman’s Israeli cookbook, Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors from My Israeli Kitchen, was released by Penguin/Avery books on September 3, 2019. Also the solo author of Short Stack Editions’ Tahini, Adeena has co-authored twelve cookbooks. Three of her recent collaborations, Cravings and Cravings 2 with Chrissy Teigen and The Sprinkles Baking Book with Candace Nelson,…

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Interview with Shelby Mahurin, Author of SERPENT & DOVE

Saturday, August 31, 2019
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And the final guest of the 2019 Debutante Ball class is… Shelby Mahurin, author of the gorgeous, swoony, and all-around amazing YA fantasy novel Serpent & Dove! Shelby Mahurin grew up on a small farm in rural Indiana, where sticks became wands and cows became dragons. Her rampant imagination didn’t fade with age, so she continues to play make-believe every day—with words now instead of cows. When not writing, Shelby…

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Interview with Maureen Joyce Connolly and LITTLE LOVELY THINGS Giveaway

Saturday, August 24, 2019
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Welcome to this week’s guest, fellow 2019 debut author Maureen Joyce Connolly! Maureen Joyce Connolly is a former owner of a consulting firm that helped develop medications for ultra-rare diseases. While she misses her old career, she loves being a full-time writer. Maureen received her bachelor’s degree in physiology from Michigan State University and her master’s degree in liberal studies from Wesleyan University. Her background and love for science and the…

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