I love books with voice. Books where you can hear the characters talk in your head, where they’re serious and witty and believable and bold. The Goddess Twins has a lot going for it, but one of its major triumphs is the voices of its teenage protagonists. I had twin acquaintances in high school—twins who dressed differently, acted separately, took different classes, had divergent interests. One played sports. The other…
Let’s talk about THE DIMINISHED by Kaitlyn Sage Patterson. I’ve been screaming with anticipation for this book to come out now it is finally here! In a world populated by twins, Vi is “diminished” meaning the sole surviving twin of her pair, and the world waits for her to succumb to grief or murderous rage. Meanwhile, Bo, as single-born, is preparing to take the throne. There are sun ships…
The Diminished scratches so. many. itches. Kaitlyn’s book is the one of my fellow 2018 Debs’ that is closest to being in the world I know. YA SFF and adult SFF do not live that far apart, and sometimes the distinguishment is really down to where any given bookstore feels like shelving things. Many authors of one also write the other (I don’t know if I ever will, being over-fond…
This week, I am so excited to introduce Zoraida Córdova to the ball! Zoraida has written adult, YA, and short fiction; Labyrinth Lost was a fantastically inventive YA fantasy novel, and it’s one of the most exciting books I read last year. Zoraida’s also a fantastic public speaker. Her keynote at last year’s Sirens Conference was thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking. The second book in her Brooklyn Brujas series comes out in June,…
I totally forgot to write my blog post yesterday. This isn’t a bit. I was distracted by life and day job and eight million other things and totally freaking spaced. So definitely listen to what I’m about to tell you. Writing has never been an act of perfection for me. I write messy first drafts and carve moments out of my life wherever I can find them to get words…
I am delighted to introduce YA & NA author Katherine Locke to the Debutante Ball! Katherine and I have been Twitter-friends for quite some time now, and our publishing journeys started around the same time. I’ve long admired Katherine for how outspoken, tenacious, and brave they are on the social and political matters that are important to them. In addition to writing, Katherine also offers editing services, which you can learn…
I’m writing this on day 3 of a fever, so please excuse me if it’s super loopy. I get stir crazy being quarantined for this long, but I’d hate to get anyone else sick. I love my office. It’s a tiny room at the top of the stairs that I painted navy blue just before we moved into this house. I have a bitsy green velvet sofa and a phrenology…
Sometimes I like to sit down and think about all the parallel universes where other Kaitlyns are going about their daily lives having walked down paths wildly divergent from my own. Here’s a peek at a few of those other universes. Before I (TO THE ENDLESS DISAPPOINTMENT OF ADULT KAITLYN) Decided I Hated Science: Kaitlyn Sage Patterson is an equine veterinarian. She lives on a sprawling farm tucked up against…
Publishing is rife with fear. Fear of bad reviews, fear of being dragged, fear of being forgotten or never published again or having our books canceled. And the thing is, some of these fears will, inevitably, be realized. We writers aren’t perfect, and the publishing industry certainly isn’t perfect. Something is bound to go wrong. I realize that, as I write this, I’m in the calm before the storm. I’m done…
At the end of my MFA thesis defense, someone asked me what I wanted to do next. I’d been thinking about this question for a while, and I told the committee that I thought I might try my hand at writing for young people. After a few moments of resounding, deeply uncomfortable silence, someone told me that I should stick to poetry and literary fiction. The underlying implication, that books…
