debut author,  fashion,  publishing,  vintage,  writing

I’m a debutante at 34

Jacqueline Bouvier (Kennedy) as a debutante in 1947
Jacqueline Bouvier as a debutante in 1947

Lately, I’ve been dusting off my dancing shoes and picking out the perfect string of pearls. Why, you might ask? Because I learned this month that I’ve been selected as one of five authors to join the Class of 2014 at The Debutante Ball, a blog for debut authors, now in its eighth season.

Of course, at thirty-four, I’m a little old to be a real debutante, of the white dress and perfect pedigree variety. But apparent it’s not that old to be making a debut of the literary kind. Laura Ingalls Wilder didn’t publish her first novel until she was sixty-five.

The Debutante Ball, a group blog on all things books, has been celebrating new authors since 2007 and has helped launch the careers of past debs and national bestsellers Eleanor Brown (The Weird Sisters), Sarah Jio (Blackberry Winter), and Mia King (Table Manners). Guest authors who have posted for the blog include John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, Jamie Ford, Meg Cabot, and Jane Green. Ahem. Okay, I’m done with the name dropping now.

And this year, my fellow debs and I are planning to kick off our debut year with a new site design, new topics, and new, behind-the-scenes looks at the journey to publication. I’ll still be blogging here, but you can come see me at the Debutante Ball, too, where I’ll be posting every Wednesday.  My fellow debs– Heather Webb, Natalia Sylvester, Lisa Alber, and Lori Rader-Day—will be handling the rest of the week. We’ll talk about reading, writing, and lots of other non-bookish topics, too. Mostly, we’ll try not to trip over our long white dresses as we waltz, or more like Macarena, our way to publication.

4 Comments