I really want to write a rant to all the devastations of the day: the Kavanaugh vote in the Senate, the FBI’s incomplete investigation, the senator from Maine’s weak speech justifying her vote against women, the Senate’s dismissal and nullification of Dr. Ford’s courage. But I have to write for the Debs, it’s that time of the week where the Debs must cull their thoughts for the topic at hand….
This week for The Debutante Ball, we’re sharing our journey to getting a literary agent, so I dug through the archives of my email outbox so you can experience truly and authentically the real realness of my querying process, before I landed the book deal for THEY COULD HAVE NAMED HER ANYTHING. WARNING: THERE ARE TWO PARTS OF THIS BLOG POST. THIS IS STORY #1. Read this story to be…
A Circuitous Route: The reflection of the world is blues, that’s where that part of the music is at – Jimi Hendrix I have no way to express how stunned I am, sitting here today, holding my newly hatched ARCs. It is surreal to see this book in galley form, it is surreal to see my family hold my debut novel in their hands. By all accounts I should…
The Twice-Born Book: I wrote my first book because I wanted to read it – Toni Morrison I’m a voracious reader. I admit it. I started young – one of my favorite books came in to my possession when I turned nine. A friend of the family gave me Anthony B. Lake’s A Pleasury of Witticisms and Word Play. Inside those pages I learned all about anagrams and palindromes,…
Origin Story: I am the sum of so many things and it is at once easy and difficult to place labels on myself. I’ll begin in the most obvious ways: I’m a daughter to an academic; my dad is a mathematician and was immersed in the world of biostatistics and multi-variant statistical analysis for more than a half-century before retiring this year. I saw how much he loves math —…
Asking me to name a favorite author is like asking a wine snob to name the best vino. I struggle mightily with this question—which is one of the top three questions I’m asked in interviews—both because I have eclectic reading taste and because I don’t want to leave anyone out. I read across genres and I read constantly: I could literally name at least a hundred books I’ve read…
This week, the Debs are discussing authors we fangirl over, and I’ve decided to focus on the one writer who has influenced my brain more than any other. William Shakespeare I mean that so sincerely and entirely. I worked for the man for seven years, after all! My Master’s degree is in Shakespeare studies. I’ve not only read all of his plays, I’ve actually seen all of them. Most of…
This week on The Debutante Ball, we are describing our personalities. To be honest, I have a hard time describing my personality, which varies according to the person with whom I am interacting and whether or not I’ve had my coffee. Plus, meta-cognition is not really my thing. Therefore, I have decided to focus on your personality. Specifically, I am going to assess whether or not you have the personality…
Last week my phone began spiraling. See, I’m not one of those people who runs out to buy the latest and greatest gadget. When something works, I hold on to it. I’ve had my phone since 2014, and while some folks think that’s not a long time, but when it comes to Apple products, iphones age in dog years. I noticed it’s unresponsiveness to touch, the way it felt like…
Congratulations to Jacqueline Bridges, winner of our #DebBallGiveaway of the SMALL ADMISSIONS audiobook! We send our thanks to author Kimberly Belle for being our guest yesterday on The Debutante Ball. If you haven’t already, pick up a copy of THE MARRIAGE LIE. Or you can enter to win a copy! Simply RETWEET on Twitter: Enter the #DebBallGiveaway to win THE MARRIAGE LIE by Kimberly Belle! RT to Enter, Ends 1/13 https://t.co/pdYKZqWfBL pic.twitter.com/GPDO2BH9eF — The Debutante…
