Interview with Abby Fabiaschi + #DebBallGiveaway of I LIKED MY LIFE

We are so thrilled to welcome back 2016 Debutante Abby Fabiaschi to The Debutante Ball! Abby’s debut novel I LIKED MY LIFE was just released this week, and we are thrilled to have an opportunity to hear more about Abby’s book and what she has in store for the future.

If you haven’t already, pick up a copy of Abby’s debut novel today, and you can also enter to win a signed hardcover by retweeting on twitter:


Or you can also share the post on Facebook. We will select and contact the very lucky winner on Friday, February 10th at noon (US Only).

Find out more about Abby by going to her website at www.abbyfabiaschi.com and following her on Instagram and Twitter at @AbbyFabiaschi. More information about Abby and her most recent novel can also be found below.

I LIKED MY LIFE: Maddy is a devoted wife and mother, host of excellent parties, giver of thoughtful gifts, and bestower of a searingly perceptive piece of advice or two. She is the cornerstone of her family, a true matriarch…until she commits suicide, leaving her husband and teenage daughter heartbroken and reeling. How could the exuberant, exacting woman they loved disappear so abruptly, seemingly without reason, from their lives? How they can possibly continue without her? As they sift through details of her last days, trying to understand the woman they thought they knew, they’re forced to come to terms with unsettling truths.
Maddy, however, isn’t ready to leave her family. Watching from beyond, she tries to find the perfect replacement for herself. Along comes Rory: pretty, caring, and spontaneous, with just the right bit of edge…but who also harbors a tragedy of her own. Will the mystery of Maddy ever come to rest? And can her family make peace with their history and begin to heal?

You will absolutely love this book that PopSugar named a Best WInter 2017 Book, describing it as, “A heartbreaking and ultimately heartwarming read about life, death, and family.”

Welcome back, Abby!  The road to publication is twisty at best–tell us about some of your twists.

In 2007 I secured a great agent for a manuscript much lighter than what I write now. By the time the manuscript was pitched to editors it was 2008 and the publishing industry was hurting because homeowners were hurting. My project was chick-litty and no one was buying stories with young women making a lot of money because that wasn’t anyone’s reality. Blah, blah, blah; the point is, it never sold. I went back to selling hardware and software.

Fast forward five years. I wrote another manuscript, this time upmarket, and sent it to my agent, who gently conveyed she was passing. Let me say that another way: I was fired by my own agent. I was devastated, but determined. I believed in I LIKED MY LIFE. I queried an additional 10 agents and received interest from 6. And guess what? The novel my first agent rejected went to auction with four houses. What I thought was the end turned out to be the beginning.
Do you have any phobias?
I used to, and it was a doozy: for the longest time I was afraid to fail. I only endeavored to do things when I was certain of success. I loved acting as a kid, but hated auditioning—I couldn’t handle that list announcing who was talented enough to be a lead and who’d be relegated to the group of silent, dancing rocks. In relationships, I’d be the first to call things off. Not because I was unhappy, but because I’d rather quit than be fired.
I credit my husband with curing me of this flaw. He rationally, consistently, and firmly, pointed out all I was missing out on by making decisions with my ego instead of my heart. Had it not been for his insight, I would never have endeavored to write a book— my fear of failure wouldn’t have allowed it.
What’s your next big thing?  (new book, new project, etc.) 
My second novel, tentatively titled WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LUCY BISCARO?, should be out with St. Martin’s Press in the winter of 2018. It explores the polarizing hold that memories have on us, how decisions we make are layered with our past experiences.
Have you ever met someone you idolized?  What was it like?
YES! Part of marketing a project is reaching out to authors to ask for a blurb. As a fangirl bookworm, I was terrified by the prospect of this, but it turned out to be the most amazing experience. Lisa See— my absolute favorite female writer— even agreed to have breakfast with me!!!!! She was as compelling as her writing suggests; open-hearted, candid, kind. I sat across  from her, sopping up every word, in awe of the fact that my dream coming true opened doors to even more dreams coming true.
Do you have a regular first reader?  If so, who is it and why that person?
I do: my big sister, Sarah Byrnes. She is also my pro-bono therapist, parenting coach, and on-demand motivational speaker. You can’t pick family, but in this case the universe was on my side. I go to her because she knows I have thick skin, that I’m hungry for feedback, that I want to develop each story to its fullest. She writes hundreds of little notes in the margins, so I can experience the book from the reader’s perspective. I smile every time she puts a happy face and stop to work every time I see WTF?!?!?!?! scrawled across a section. It works.
About Abby:
 Abby Fabiaschi is a human rights advocate and the Director of the Her Future Coalition, an international nonprofit organization with a unique prosperity model that uplifts victims from human trafficking and extreme abuse. I LIKED MY LIFE is her first novel. She and her family divide their time between West Hartford, Connecticut, and Park City, Utah. Learn more at www.abbyfabiaschi.com.
*Twenty percent of Abby’s after tax profit— including foreign and film rights— are donated to charities uplifting women and children around the world*

Author: Amy Poeppel

Amy Poeppel grew up in Dallas, Texas and left the south to attend Wellesley College. Since then, she has worked as an actor, a high school English teacher, and most recently as the Assistant Director of Admissions at a school in New York City. Her three fabulous boys are all off in Boston attending school, and she and her husband now split their time between New York and Frankfurt, Germany. A theatrical version of SMALL ADMISSIONS was workshopped at the Actors Studio Playwrights/Directors Unit. She later expanded it into her first novel.

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