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The Tunes: Writing Music for THE COINCIDENCE OF COCONUT CAKE
I cannot write without music. Full stop. End of story. My brain is wired to get down to business once the tunes start. Music keeps the skittish part of my brain occupied so the rest of it can get...
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Nick Courage Dreams of a Vespa +Giveaway for THE LOUDNESS
As I write this I’m torn. I have forty-five pages left to read in THE LOUDNESS and the last thing I want to do is stop and get this post ready to go. But being a grown up sometimes sucks — so forgive...
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Catching up with Natalia Sylvester
Editor’s Note: This week we’re catching up with last year’s Debs and seeing what they’ve been writing, publishing and working on since they were last on the Ball. Today, we welcome back Natalia...
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Tips for Tackling the Painful First Draft
Writers come in two camps (okay, there’s probably a thousand camps, but just play along with me). There are those that love writing the first draft – when all the possibilities are endless and the...
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How the C3 Characters Got Their Names
O character names, you are my nemesis and my one true love. When I find the right name, it can make an entire person come into focus, it can add new layers to the story, or it can simply amuse me. I’m...
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Maggie Messitt’s Dirty Little Secret +Giveaway of THE RAINY SEASON
There is non-fiction that strives to be strictly informative. Eat that, do this, go here! Then there is non-fiction that uses all the nuances of storytelling to weave a tale that reads like you are...
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Five Things to Love about TINY PRETTY THINGS
It feels like ages since our last debut (it was Colleen’s BEFORE I GO in January), and I couldn’t be more excited to cheer on Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton’s fantastic TINY PRETTY THINGS. You...
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Tips to Destress Your Writing Life
Every writer dreams of a point in her career where she has a book coming out, one in revisions, and one still in dream stages. This point requires guest posts, party planning, and book club visits....
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Creativity: Stay Open to It
As a shiny-new author, I’m already aware of the fascination book lovers have with where ideas come from. I have yet to be at a book event where the guest author isn’t asked where the ideas come from?...
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Sometimes Anticipation Is the Best Part
I love a great sex scene, especially the ones that are stomach flippingly good. I admire the authors that can describe every caress, every tantalizing touch with such gusto that the reader can’t help...
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Reviews: They Aren’t For You
Reviews. I love them and I hate them. I read them. I search for them. I scream at them. I get why we need them. I don’t buy anything or stay anywhere without looking at reviews, so I shouldn’t expect...
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Summer Reading
There’s a great irony about writers and reading. The more you write, the less time you have to read. I used to devour a book a day, now I’m lucky if I can get to a book a week, but I keep trying. I...
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Kristy Woodson Harvey Shares Her Summer Reads + Giveaway of DEAR CAROLINA
I’m a northern girl, so there’s a lot about southern living I don’t understand, like collard greens and unsweetened ice tea. Kristy Woodson Harvey’s touching book, DEAR CAROLINA, made me fall in love...
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Five Marketing Tips
There a a million ways to market a book. You can do blog tours, book events, magazine articles. If you’re lucky you’ll get reviews by the large trade publications like Publishers Weekly, Kirkus,...
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Mythbusting Agents
Myth: Agents always know best. I should clarify, my agent, Rachel Ekstrom, usually does. That’s why she’s my agent. I trust her to give me advice that is best for my career, not just for right now. I...
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THE COINCIDENCE OF COCONUT CAKE Launch Day
It’s here. Finally. I opened my first Word doc to start writing this book on September 3, 2010. That’s 1782 days from first word to book in hand. That was a lot of hard work and persistence, but along...
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Launch Week: Amy E. Reichert Takes the Deb Ball Interview + Giveaway
I’m on day four post publication — it’s pretty awesome. I’m currently at the Midwest Writers Workshop in Muncie, IN (and just had scrumptious Thai food with the amazing Janet Reid–yes, be jealous). It...
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Isn’t It Time Our Genre Reflected Our World?
Editor’s Note: Here at The Debutante Ball, we strive to give an insider look at our experiences with the publishing industry. But we also like to contribute to the dialogue on important topics in...
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Katie Rose Guest Pryal Explains Why Writing is the Worst Job + Giveaway
I met Katie Rose Guest Pryal almost four years ago at a pitch workshop in New York City. She introduced me to the yumminess of chicken kebabs with srircha sauce and taught me some tricks to hailing a...
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If I Could Turn Back Time
It’s been two whole weeks since THE COINCIDENCE OF COCONUT CAKE flew onto book shelves, so I have two whole weeks of experience from which to write this post. Overall, everything went smoothly and I...
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