Today my book They Could Have Named Her Anything is finally out! When I first started writing this novel, I couldn’t really imagine anyone else reading it. I certainly didn’t think of myself as an “author” yet. I’m proud of how far my mindset has changed–I’m no longer afraid to put my ideas into the world. I’m especially proud of not giving up on sending out my book to agents…
About a Girl
What a perfect way to wrap up my year of reading Debutante Ball novels! I absolutely loved Stephanie’s debut novel They Could Have Named Her Anything and its unforgettable heroine Maria Rosario. No way can I top the eloquence of her recent LitHub piece about learning to write girls with agency, so I’ll shamelessly quote from it: “Through a friendship that is ultimately destroyed, Maria’s life expands in ways she…
Attacus Atlas & Other Inventions: They Could Have Named Her Anything!
I’m thrilled that Stephanie Jimenez’s debut, They Could Have Named Her Anything, is out in the world this week! I had a chance to snag an advance copy and I was not disappointed — this novel has it all: a young but strong protagonist who tackles racism, loyalty, classism; she slingshots between poverty and privilege and learns the hard way of the bittersweet nature of love. Beautifully written and well-realized….
A Surprising, Feminist Literary Debut with Heart
This week we’re celebrating our fellow deb Stephanie’s release of THEY COULD HAVE NAME HER ANYTHING! A heartfelt, warm, and occasionally disturbing literary novel about family, racism, and dreams – those both fragile and terrifying. This is the story of a teenager caught between two worlds – her close-knit family in Queens and her private school full of rich white girls swimming in privilege they can’t even see. As one…
[News Flash] July 28, 2019
Thank you so much to yesterday’s guest, Erin A. Craig! Pick up a copy of her amazing YA Gothic debut House of Salt and Sorrows Tuesday, August 6th, wherever books are sold! We are delighted to host @Penchant4Words this week on @DebutanteBall! Check out @LayneFargo’s interview and read all about Erin’s forthcoming novel HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS https://t.co/rjPW1cwDKy @KA_Doore @estefsays @MFournierWatson @devislaskar pic.twitter.com/pjeyiLtX4u — The Debutante Ball (@DebutanteBall) July 27,…
Interview with Erin A. Craig, Author of House of Salt and Sorrows
The best part of being a writer is getting to be friends with people you also fangirl over, and I am the BIGGEST fangirl of Erin A. Craig and her upcoming debut novel House of Salt and Sorrows! I was lucky enough to read an early copy of this book, and it’s the spooky Gothic fantasy of my dreams. Erin A. Craig has always loved telling stories. After getting her B.F.A….
Bluebeard’s Drawer
I have two manuscripts in the drawer. Although they’re not actually in a drawer, and I have no idea where they went. They are so old now that I know not if any current software could even read them, so I’ve pretty much abandoned the idea of ever looking at them again. This may be for the best. The first time I wrote a book, I sat down…
A Peek Inside the Drawer
Like most writers, I have a bunch of manuscripts in the proverbial drawer. There’s my first book, the X-rated dystopian thriller Screw Your Courage, which (rightfully) got rejected over 100 times. There are the partially-written sequels to that book (I know, I know). There’s an attempt at an erotic romance, about a female bass player, a bad boy rock star (also with the surname Mercer; I definitely borrowed heavily from…
Attacus Atlas & Other Inventions: Remains of the Day
Aloha I no longer have my computer or the bulk of my writing before May 2010, but I since I started anew in 2011 I have amassed quite a stash of words that will never be published. Since I am a proud workshop junkie, I’ve had the opportunity in the past eight years to generate stacks of bad poems and two manuscript-length works of prose…
Trunked Books
I don’t have a trunk or a drawer of manuscripts that will never see the light of day so much as I have a giant sinkhole of ’em, all at various states of decaying into one another. Whenever I’m asked about my previous books, my first books, my works in progress, my works never finished, how many I wrote before I won the proverbial Author Lottery, I think about this…
