The Lost Girls – The Debutante Ball

NewsFlash From The Busy Debs

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Congratulations to Kathy Roberts, winner of our #DebBallGiveaway of THE SECOND MRS. HOCKADAY! We send our thanks to author Jessica Chiarella for being our guest yesterday on The Debutante Ball. If you haven’t already, pick up a copy of AND AGAIN. Or you can enter to win a copy by retweeting this tweet on twitter: Interview with Jessica Chiarella + #DebBallGiveaway of AND AGAIN https://t.co/ZqmK9yiSAK pic.twitter.com/jnk90VwRZM — The Debutante Ball (@DebutanteBall) January 21,…

My Favorite Books of 2016 (So Far)

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

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2016 has been a delicious year for reading, a state of perfect bibliophilic equilibrium wherein the “read” stack and the “to-be-read” stack have stayed even most of the time. Here are my favorites of the year so far, with helpful links to Indiebound so you can buy them at a bookstore near you: (1) DEAR COMMITTEE MEMBERS, Julie Schumacher An epistolary novel that consists of a series of hilarious and…

An Interview With Heather Young + Giveaway of THE LOST GIRLS

Saturday, July 30, 2016

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How odd it feels to sit in the Guest Author chair! Although I have to say, it is quite plush and the fabric matches my outfit, so I’m going to squish my butt into the cushion and dig in to my fellow Debs’ questions about THE LOST GIRLS: After reading LOST GIRLS I found myself thinking about the complicated give and take that exists in most sibling relationships. Did you…

Me & THE NY TIMES Agree: THE LOST GIRLS is Worth Reading!

Thursday, July 28, 2016

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I cracked opened Heather’s debut after having read her posts for six months, so I knew the writing would be strong and thought provoking. Still, I was apprehensive. Why? Because I tend to internalize what I’m reading– storylines invade my dreams and daily thoughts– so I avoid books with violence, especially when children are involved. But I am a dutiful Debutante, so I put on my big girl pants and jumped in….

Hot Damn, I’m a Published Author

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

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When I woke up yesterday morning here on the West Coast, I looked at my watch and laughed out loud. My book had already been for sale for thirty minutes on the East Coast. It had happened just as I’d always dreamed it would: I literally woke up one day a published author. I lay there for a few minutes, savoring the first hour of my book’s life in the…

The Music That Made THE LOST GIRLS

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

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Music is critical to my writing process. When I sat down to work on THE LOST GIRLS, I’d turn on Pandora and hit the playlist I’d — unoriginally — named “The Lost Girls.” Out flowed a brooding soundtrack of melancholy, loss, helpless faith, and forlorn love that shivered all along my nerve endings to my fingertips. (Doesn’t that just make you want to race out and preorder the book right…

Feeding the Muse a Cookie

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

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This week I’m confronted by a topic that doesn’t bear much relationship to what I write: food. Unlike Jennifer’s MODERN GIRLS, with its evocative descriptions of traditional shabbat meals, or the baked goods Louise’s protagonist makes that are so rich you can taste them if you lick the page, THE LOST GIRLS doesn’t feature food in its storytelling. At all. I agree it’s a powerful tool, but it’s one I…

Hell, Yes, I Have Regrets

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

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I confess: I’m jealous of Louise and Jenny, with their nonexistent and paltry lists of regrets. Because I do have regrets. Not so much on the real life side of the equation, where I share their look-forward-not-back attitude, but on the authorial side. And, being as how one of our missions here on the Ball is to offer guidance by reverse example, I am going to list them all right here…

A Woman of Letters

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

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When I was a young lawyer fresh out of law school, I was one of ten women in a class of forty incoming associates at a large law firm. On weekends, the male associates got invited for golf outings with the partners at their private clubs. Naturally, they were also assigned to the “best” partner mentors — the ones who represented the most lucrative clients and worked on the highest-profile…

The Memory of Water

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

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THE LOST GIRLS was born of water. Not just any water, but the very particular lake water of my childhood. I first saw the ocean as a teenager, and its grandeur made me so dizzy it knocked me off my feet. But the water of White Earth Lake – fecund and drawn close with mystery – was a part of my life before I could walk, and it always seemed…

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