News Flash! Exciting Alumni News Edition

news
From the 2016 Debs

Louise Miller is thrilled to announce that she will be representing the Novel Incubator at Grub Street’s annual gala LIT UP on November 5th. She will be reading from THE CITY BAKER’S GUIDE TO COUNTRY LIVING in the 10×2 program–10 writers reading for 2 minutes. She hopes to see some of you there!

Jennifer S. Brown is excited that her first blurb came in! She’s taking a break from editing this weekend in order to take 14 Junior Girl Scouts on a camping trip where she will eat waaaayyyy too many s’mores.

Heather Young is thrilled that her book deal has been announced in Publishers Marketplace!  She feels all legit now.

Abby Fabiaschi has settled on WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LUCY BISCARO? as the working title for her second book. Now she just needs to figure out what the hell is gonna happen to Lucy Biscaro.

Aya de Leon is recovering from sending in the edits on her novel, and preparing to make a promotional flyer for UPTOWN THIEF, now that the cover has been officially revealed. She’s also starting the process of reviewing proposals from a few freelance publicists to supplement the in-house publicity campaign at Kensington, based on the expectation that the book may have an audience outside Kensington/Dafina’s usual brand.

 

News From previous Debs

Colleen Oakley (2015) Just sold her 2nd novel! CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH will come out in hardcover with Simon & Schuster/Gallery in Spring 2017.

Lori Rader-Day (2014) is at the Bouchercon Mystery Conference this weekend, where her debut novel THE BLACK HOUR is a finalist for the Macavity Award for Best First Novel, and the Barry Award for Best Paperback Original, and is the WINNER OF THE ANTHONY AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL! Congratulations, Lori!

Heather Webb (2014) has sold the foreign rights to BECOMING JOSPEHINE to a press in Romania.

Susan Spann (2013) is thrilled to announce that her Shinobi Mystery series is moving to Seventh Street Books, who will publish the next installment, MASK OF THE FALLEN in July 2016. She was recently named the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ 2015 Writer of the Year

Elise Allen (2011) is happy to share that her latest book series, the Middle Grade GABBY DURAN AND THE UNSITTABLES was optioned for TV by Disney Channel!

Kristina Riggle (2009) is excited about her new book deal with Polis Books for VIVIAN IN RED, told in two timelines — 1930s and modern day — about an aging Broadway producer’s most famous song and his granddaughter who must unravel the clouded connection between the lyrics and a vibrant woman from his past.

Eileen Cook (2007) has sold her YA novel WITH MALICE (HMH, June 2016). Read this Publisher’s Weekly article about hot titles being brought to the Frankfurt Book Fair–the first book mentioned is WITH MALICE!

Congratulations to all the Debutante Ball alumni–keep the good news coming!

 

For Writers

Places to Submit

Did you self-publish or indie publish a book in 2015? If so, you’re eligible for The Firecracker Awards for Independently and Self-Published Literature, which is sponsored by the Council of Literary Magazine and Presses (CLMP). Prizes will be awarded in Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Poetry, Graphic Novel, and Young Adult. From the website: “Winning books will be highlighted in a national marketing campaign that features prominent placement in independent bookstores from coast to coast, and will receive significant digital marketing with the Firecracker Award Winning Book logo.” Deadline: October 31, 2015.

Writing Prompt

It’s an ABC prompt! Write a story/poem/essay in which the first sentence starts with A, the second with B, the third with C, and so on. Want to mix it up? Reverse the alphabet and start with ZYX.

Author: Louise Miller

Louise Miller is the author of THE CITY BAKER'S GUIDE TO COUNTRY LIVING (Pamela Dorman Books/Viking/August 9, 2016), the story of a commitment-phobic pastry chef who discovers the meaning of belonging while competing in the cut-throat world of Vermont county fair baking contests. Find out more at louisemillerauthor.tumblr.com.