When I sat down to brainstorm ideas for this article, it was hard not to think of all the B.C.’s invoiced. Before COVID-19, yes, but on a personal level– Before Children. When I was writing The Frozen Crown, I was working a full time job as well as remodeling an 1850’s farmhouse. (And I mean– remodeling— it needed a lot of work!) At the time I thought I was juggling…
“It’s a black fly in your chardonnay. It’s a death row pardon two minutes too late.” Alanis Morissette was kind enough to give us many definitions of irony in 1995, and to those I would like to add, “It’s a jackhammer in your basement when you’re trying to write a blog post about writing through distractions.” We’re getting our house earthquake-retrofitted — a project that was initially supposed to take…
Good morning! First, I’m writing this post at 5:30 AM. That’s about the time I rise this time of year…I’m a seasonal creature, so my sleep pattern shifts. I am an early riser in the fall and winter and am down for the count around eleven o’clock. But my sleep habits aren’t the topic today. The question before me is how do I deal with distractions and such. Well, here…
Thank you to Simone st. James for talking to us about her new novel, THE SUN DOWN MOTEL. If you missed Denny’s interview with Stacie Murphy about her forthcoming novel, A DEADLY FORTUNE, you can still watch it now at our Instagram page. Tune in to @thedebball tomorrow, 10/19, when J.S. Dewes, author of THE LAST WATCH, takes over our Instagram account for the day, finishing with an interview with…
It’s finally here! Lyn Liao Butler’s cover for THE TIGER MOM’S TALE was released this week and it’s gorgeous! And make sure you sign up for Lyn’s newsletter so you don’t miss any updates. Elizabeth Gonzalez James’ cover for MONA AT SEA was also revealed this week at Vol.1 Brooklyn. Way to go Lyn and Elizabeth! Denny S. Bryce is interviewing Stacie Murphy, author of A DEADLY FORTUNE…
When writers talk about “world building” they mean more than just setting. Setting is where a story takes place. But a fictional world is setting, history, the special rules of that particular place, the people who inhabit that world, as well as the general tone or atmosphere that sort of floats over every page. The setting of the Harry Potter books is England, but in order to build her fictional…
Thank you so much to Diane Zinna for joining us to speak about her debut novel, THE ALL-NIGHT SUN. And thank you to Laya Vivian Smith for her interview about her new book, THE LUMBERMILL. So many good books to read, and so little time! Way to go Denny! Wild Women and the Blues was included in NetGalley’s list of 21 Highly-Anticipated Books Hitting Shelves in 2021. Ehsaneh Sadr…
I wrote last week about how I hadn’t planned on becoming a writer, and how writing was something I came to after being unemployed for a long time. So already my path to publication was a little longer and had more forking paths than some people. I completed the rough draft of my novel in about six months in 2011, and I spent the next four years first learning how…
So, here we are. The end of the line. The beginning of everything. This has been a great year. It’s not the year I thought I would get on the tin, but it’s taught me a lot of lessons and kept me on my toes. I’m sure next year will be as… eventful. (I’m giving you the side-eye, next year. You’d better behave.) We’re supposed to finish off our tenure…
Greetings and salutations and welcome to the Debutante Ball! I was so excited when I read the first words of the email I received on a Sunday morning in early August of 2019 informing me that I’d been chosen as one of the 5 debut authors who would chronicle her “big dance” toward publication. I had been following the Debutante Ball blog for more than a year and eagerly…
