Craft

Interview with “Byline Bible” Author Susan Shapiro

Saturday, November 30, 2019
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  Not only is Susan Shapiro a great writing mentor to many (including me!) she’s the bestselling author/coauthor of 12 books her family hates including Five Men Who Broke My Heart, Lighting Up, Unhooked, The Bosnia List & the new inspiring writing guide The Byline Bible. She and her husband, a scriptwriter, live in Greenwich Village, where she teaches her popular “instant gratification takes too long” classes at The New School, NYU and in private…

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Where Do You Draft Your Words?

Friday, October 11, 2019
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Did you ever notice how, on TV or in the movies, when they want to show the difficulties of writing, they have people sitting in front of a  typewriter tossing off crumpled pieces of paper into (or near) the garbage? Real writing isn’t like that. First off, we use computers now, so the visual of trying to write is much less dramatic…just a cursor key going forward and backward. More…

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Introducing Amy Klein: Author of THE TRYING GAME

Friday, August 30, 2019
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I’m beyond thrilled to introduce you all to your new Friday blogger, Amy Klein! Amy is the author of The Trying Game: How to Get Pregnant and Get Through Fertility Treastment Without Losing your Mind (Ballantine, 2020) based on her New York Times Fertility Diary column. As soon as I read her application, I knew I wanted her to be on the Debutante Ball, and now I’ve got my wish. It…

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Introducing Kathleen West: Author of MINOR DRAMAS & OTHER CATASTROPHES

Tuesday, August 27, 2019
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I’m delighted to introduce the new social media maven for the Debutante Ball, Class of 2020! Please welcome and meet Kathleen West, whose debut novel Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes will be out from Berkley (Penguin Random House) on February 4, 2020. Kathleen is a writer, teacher, reader, and semi-professional minivan driver. A life-long Minnesotan, she holds degrees from Macalester College and the University of Minnesota. She currently lives in Minneapolis…

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Attacus Atlas & Other Inventions: Mahalo and Aloha

Tuesday, August 20, 2019
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Aloha! I can’t believe it’s been a year since I first joined the Debutante Ball. Mahalo to the previous class for giving me the opportunity to work alongside K.A. Doore, Martine Fournier Watson, Layne Fargo and Stephanie Jimenez, as part of the Class of 2019. I had no idea what kind of ride to expect as a debut author, and it was truly wonderful to be part of the DB-Hive….

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Work in Progress

Friday, August 9, 2019
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    I used to have this weird typo tic where I never got the acronym for work-in-progress right. It always came out WOP. I’ve even tweeted about my wop and never noticed until it was too late. Maybe there was something Freudian about this little tic. Because “wop” always makes me think about a cartoon where some character is being repeatedly bludgeoned over the head. Not that my works…

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Attacus Atlas & Other Inventions: What Happens Next

Tuesday, August 6, 2019
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Aloha! Six months since the publication of The Atlas of Reds and Blues. It’s so hard to believe. I’ve loved every moment since the whirlwind began on publication day — a cool Tuesday in February. I’m so grateful for the warm welcome my debut has received, and for all of the support it continues to get. I’ve been so lucky in the past six months, with the publication, too, of…

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Attacus Atlas & Other Inventions: They Could Have Named Her Anything!

Tuesday, July 30, 2019
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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….

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Bluebeard’s Drawer

Friday, July 26, 2019
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    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…

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Attacus Atlas & Other Inventions: Remains of the Day

Tuesday, July 23, 2019
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          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…

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