What Happens When Two Literary Debutantes Meet at a Bookstore?

When I found out that fellow Debutante Kathleen West was making a stop in the Boston area during her book tour, I knew I had to make plans to attend. Kathleen and I have been in touch since we became Debs in late summer of last year, but we’d never met. We Debs are in different parts of the country and our interactions have pretty much been through video conferencing, apps, email, and social media.

I was thrilled to share a hug and have an in-person conversation with her moments before she began her book talk on Tuesday at Belmont Books. It was even more fun to cheer her on as she spoke before book fans about her novel, Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes.

Kathleen has a great sense of humor and had the audience chuckling the entire time. She told a funny story about her life, talked about what motivated her to write the book, shared how feedback helped her add dimensions to her characters and described her writing schedule, which involved rising way before sunup, hours before the English teacher would report to school.

I jotted down notes as she spoke, picking up presentation tips I’d like to use when The Talking Drum is released and I begin my book tour.