Surprise! This Week’s Guest is You!

In keeping with our “week of surprises,” we thought we’d ask YOU – our readers – to take The Deb Interview and let us get to know you a little better!

You can answer in the comments or on your blog – and if you blog your answers be sure to leave the link in the comments so we can find you! The Debutante Ball is all about community. It takes at least two to tango and many more to make a party, and we’re grateful for all the readers and commenters who stop by to share part of the day with us. So we hope you’ll introduce yourselves today!

On with your interview:

Please choose any THREE of the following questions and answer them – the more detail the better: 

1. Tell us about one book that made an impact on you.

2. Who is your favorite (fictional or non-fictional) character?

3. Talk about one thing that’s making you happy right now.

4.  Have you ever been surprised by wildlife in unexpected places? (Yes, that’s an urban chicken in the photo…)

5. Share one quirk you have that most people don’t know about.

6. Share something that’s always guaranteed to make you laugh.

7. What are the hardest and easiest things about your job?

8. What three things would you want with you if stranded on a desert island?

9. What’s your next big thing?  (new book, new project, etc.)

10. What’s the strangest job you’ve ever had?

It’s your turn! Hop into the comments and play along!

36 Replies to “Surprise! This Week’s Guest is You!”

  1. This is fun but I’m not all that interesting.

    3. My husband and son opened a craft beer store in July and I’m really happy to see that they’re building a solid customer base and the business is growing.

    5. In my car, you control the air conditioning and heat by setting the temperature and it MUST be on an even number. Don’t even think about getting in my car and setting it on an odd number – you just might find yourself walking!

    6. My husband and I have a few inside jokes that are probably old and stale now but always make me laugh. Sometimes just thinking about them makes me laugh.

    I can’t wait to see everyone else’s answers.

    1. I have met you, Kathy, and you are lovely! And now I’m very excited to come back and visit and change all the temp settings to odd numbers.

    2. Fantastic answers, Kathy! It’s great to get to know you better. My husband and I have some jokes like that too – isn’t it great to have that kind of relationship?

  2. Oh dear, will you still love me after you read this?

    3. Quiet mornings always make me happy.
    5. I wear my socks inside out!
    9. I’m excited about my WIP — it’s all about love and lies.

    1. Why would you wear your socks inside out? Man, I’ve never considered myself OCD, but I’m getting a little twitchy just thinking about it.

      1. It’s the darned seams! I have pull tags out of every article of clothing too. I guess we’ll just say I’m sensitive and leave it at that! 😉

  3. Kathy, I dunno – you sound pretty interesting to me! Amy, how could we not love you.
    1. Lord of the Rings. I was on a band tour (as the tuba player!) and I borrowed the Fellowship of the Rings from the trombonist. Fell in love on page one and barely surfaced until I’d finished the trilogy.
    3. Well, it’s 5:30 am. The answer is, obviously, coffee makes me happy
    9. My next big things is – another book. No surprises there!

      1. Oh no – not a Tolkien hater? This does create a potential rift between us, I fear! I did play the Tuba in 12th grade and college. It was a total kick. The poor Tuba does not get the respect it deserves.

        1. I had to teach The Hobbit to 6th and 7th graders for 7 years. I didn’t love it at the beginning, and now the very thought of it makes my skin crawl. So it’s not poor J.R.R.’s fault, technically, but I’ll blame him anyway, because he’s dead and won’t mind.

  4. 1. This may surprise some people but one influential book that doesn’t get a lot of credit was Bridget Jones’ Diary. After a young lifetime of reading ‘important’ books this was perhaps the first time I read something and thought, wait, you’re allowed to do that in a book? Books can be just for fun?

    6. The Colbert Report.

    10. I once worked at a food safety tester. If you’ve never had e coli, these are the people you have to thank. My main job was to clean out and sanitize the buckets where meat was purposefully rotted and test tubes where salmonella had been grown.

  5. OMG, Kelly – you stole the words out of my mouth. I felt that way with both Bridget Jones’ Diary and Sophie Kinsella’s Can You Keep a Secret? I was like…wait, reading doesn’t always have to be “challenging”? It’s not all Thomas Pynchon?

    1. Other than Bridget Jones’ Diary (see above), A Prayer for Owen Meany had a big impact on me, also in terms of making up your own rules as a writer. Owen Meany was such a strange character (his dialogue was in all caps!), and yet he was completely unforgettable.

    3. My husband is painting our guest room, a task he’s been meaning to do for…oh, months.

    9. I’m working on my next book, in which one of the characters brews his own beer — which, Kathy, makes me extra excited about your son and husband’s venture!

    1. Owen’s dialogue was all in caps? I have not read it since college and don’t remember. I think John Irving accidentally invented the internet.

    2. I shall now confess that I haven’t actually read Bridget Jones. But – I have had that lightbulb moment of realizing that just because a book is fun and easy to read it doesn’t mean it is less significant than its weightier counterparts.

  6. I have been lucky enough to take the Deb Interview, but I’ll do it again, just because it’s so fun!

    3. Talk about one thing that’s making you happy right now.
    I am HOME for three blessed days before I have to travel again.

    4. Have you ever been surprised by wildlife in unexpected places?
    When I was in college and had my first apartment, we were watching The Firm on my tiny VCR/TV combo and a mouse scuttled across the floor. I always associate Tom Cruise with mice now. I guess it’s not really wildlife, but it certainly was unexpected.

    8. What three things would you want with you if stranded on a desert island?
    Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, and Colin Firth. I suppose I should bring a book too, but I think I’ll be busy.

  7. I didn’t answer the book question above, but since we’re breaking with tradition, I’ll do it now!! When I read Jennifer Weiner’s GOOD IN BED, I came to a/the major plot twist (no spoilers from me!) and had my AH HA moment. I was shocked, but it all made sense. I had not been misled, I had been prepared. I actually went back through the book for the parts that led to that moment. And I thought — THAT is what I want to do.

    I hope I did. 🙂

  8. 2. Who is your favorite (fictional or non-fictional) character?
    Anyone in a Charles Dickens story. His characters are so cleverly drawn and FUNNY, in a 19th century way. And the names just kill me.

    3. Talk about one thing that’s making you happy right now.
    This week, my debut novel sold to William Morrow/HarperCollins in a 2-book deal. I know there’s much work ahead, but for now I’m grinning like a kid.

    8. What three things would you want with you if stranded on a desert island? Coffee, wine, and chocolate.

    1. Huge congrats on selling your novel! It’s such an exciting adventure!! I hope you continue to stop by and share your journey with us. As for Dickens – I adore him. 🙂

    2. Congratulations Susan!! What great news!! I bet you’re over the moon and still smiling. I don’t think I came out of the clouds for weeks. Hurrah!!

  9. Thanks! I’m enjoying reading about everyone’s writing journeys here and looking forward to all the great books coming out.

    Oh, and I forgot to mention that Javier Bardem is allowed on my desert island, too. I might trade the chocolate for his spot.

  10. 2. My favorite fictional character has to be Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice–trite, but true. She’s intelligent, honest, bold, plus she gets to meet the love of her life. Yes, I’m a total corn ball.
    5. One quirk–I would gladly roll naked in chocolate ganache if I had a big enough tub.
    9. My next big thing–My novel BECOMING JOSEPHINE about Napoleon’s empress (Beautiful gowns, sensual descriptions, the search for love and meaning during an incredibly volatile time) is about to go on submission! Yeeehaw!

    This was fun. and Susan Gloss, I love that Javier is allowed on your island. I’d probably let Chris Hemsworth visit me!

  11. 1. Tell us about one book that made an impact on you. I love John Irving for so many reasons. All of his books have had a huge impact on me and each for different reasons. But the one that killed me was Cider House rules. I cannot imagine living in a time when women didn’t have birth control or when they were shipped away to have their children. It made me thankful for all the work that women have done before us.

    2. Talk about one thing that’s making you happy right now. There are two interwoven things making me happy right now: my family and my freedom. I moved to CT 3 years ago to spend the rest of my life with a college love. So being with him and his children, while challenging at times, is certainly making me happy. He talked me in to starting my own consulting company so that I could write. So, I have the freedom and do not have a boss.

    3. What’s your next big thing? I’m working on my first book. I have published scientific “stuff” before and I have authored several book chapters but I’ve never written my own book. I’m working on it and want to have it finished by the end of the year.

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