This week, Barrelhouse featured my short story “Urban Legend” in their seasonal issue. I’ve pasted the first paragraph below: It was the week of her performance review, and Adrienne was ready for a promotion. That Monday morning, at the 12th Street Gym, all the lockers in use were fastened with locks. When she joined months ago, they told her she could buy one at any hardware store, but Adrienne had…
This week, we’re supposed to be writing about how to survive an edit letter — which refers to the list of revisions that your editor wants you to make after acquiring your book. I guess it’s hard to make big changes to your manuscript after you’ve sold it, but you should never really be that attached to your story anyway. You should always be open to making it better. I’ve…
It has been a rough week in the news, and I imagine that I don’t speak for just me when I say that what’s playing out in the screens is also affecting us in our hearts. On weeks like this, writing feels like looking up to the sky, lifting my face towards a God I don’t believe in, waiting for an answer. What can I possibly write to make anything…
Because I used a handful of the books that influenced me to introduce myself, this week I thought we might have a chat about craft books. I find books about the work of writing not only interesting but immensely useful. Right now, I’m making my way through John Truby’s brilliant The Anatomy of Story, scribbling notes in the margins and dog-earing pages. (For those of you cringing your way through that sentence, I…
Reading is a crucial part of a writer’s job, so this week, we’re discussing books that influenced us. I’m choosing to interpret that as “books that influenced your upcoming publication”, because if it was just books in general, I’d be here forever. Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series: If you ever want to spend seven thousand pages immersed in the late Roman Republic (and seriously, who wouldn’t?), go swimming in…
My 2017 reading list has been a lot like that old song: “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold. A circle is round, it has no end. That’s how long, I will be your friend.” But of course in this instance, I’m talking about book friends. I relish returning to the books which have moved me in the past. Two of my new…
I read really fast–about 800 words a minute. It means that I devour books. I can easily read a 250 page book in a couple of hours. When I fly to Italy I usually read 1.5-2 books one way on the flight. For someone like me the Kindle is one of the best inventions ever, and my husband is grateful for the slightly smaller piles of actual books in our…
This week the Debs are singing songs from the Sound of Music…wait, no, that’s just Deb Crystal. But we are talking about some of our favorite things–the things that make us happy, that make us smile, that make us laugh. The Roman orator and philosopher, Seneca, once said, “True happiness is… to enjoy the present without anxious dependence on the future.” I’m not always good about the anxious dependence part, but…
Congratulations to Rhonda Lomazow for winning a copy of LAST WOMAN STANDING by Thelma Adams! We send our thanks to Georgia Clark for being our guest on The Debutante Ball yesterday! If you haven’t already, please pick up a copy of her book,THE REGULARS. You can also enter a giveaway to win her online book marketing course The Pro-Active Author! Simply RETWEET on Twitter, and/or SHARE on Facebook using the hashtag #DebBallGiveaway by noon (EST) November 25th for your…
Congratulations to Maddie Woods, Sophie Woods, Chris Von Turk, winners of Amy Poeppel’s SMALL ADMISSIONS, as part of our Tag to Win contest series on Facebook. The next contest will begin on 11/17 with a chance to win Tiffany D. Jackson’s ALLEGEDLY. Beginning 9/17, you’ll have the opportunity to win our first Guest Author giveaway: Camille Perri’s fabulous debut novel, THE ASSISTANTS. From the 2017 Debs: Crystal King is finishing up…
