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The Thing I Wish I'd Done When My Dad Was Alive

I have a confession to make. I hate Halloween. Not because of the candy, for which I harbor a shameful addiction, or the pressure of...

Kimmery Interviews The World's Bestselling Author

Hi book nerds! Today I have the honor of interviewing literary king James Patterson and the celebrated co-author of his latest novel,...

Kimmery's Monthly Reading Lists

The Books I'm Reading Now...

Ella Biber Reviews THE GILDED GIRL by Alyssa Colman

Please welcome Ella Biber, my returning junior partner! Ella is a seventh grader and an avid reader.

The World's Worst Advice for Writing Fiction

Let’s be honest: I am not a trained writer. I don’t have an MFA or a background in journalism or even an English major. So it might amaze...

An Irony You Can't Invent. And Also: Casturbation for The Antidote for Everything

PJ: Dear Reader, I know The Antidote for Everything swept you off your feet. Kimmery is a wicked talent and her writing oozes clever...

My Junior Partner Ella Biber Reviews: The Mr. Terupt Book Series

Please welcome Ella Biber, my returning junior partner! Ella is a fifth grader and an avid reader. When she’s not swimming or playing...

My Junior Partner Ella Biber Reviews PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS

Please welcome Ella Biber, my returning junior partner! Ella is a fourth grader and an avid reader. When she’s not swimming or playing...

Jonah's Song

I know I knew I went I came I turned the corner and called your name I searched for fire, for love, for life I heard your voice through...

Kimmery’s Top Ten Tips For A Good First Draft

Our topic this week is first drafts, and let’s be honest: I am not a trained writer. I don’t have an MFA or a background in journalism or...

Interview With Emily Giffin, Author of All We Ever Wanted

Emily Giffin is the gold standard when it comes to women’s fiction. Her success surges past a writer’s wildest dreams into the realm of...

Inside Kimmery's Brain: Deadline Edition

One week until article about deadlines is due. No problem; is loads of time. Would start immediately, except, much like childbirth, you...

Kimmery's Dream Book

Remember that summer when everyone was surreptitiously reading Fifty Shades of Grey on their Kindles, eyes darting shiftily as they tried to

Interview with Meg Wolitzer, Author of The Female Persuasion

I met Meg Wolitzer in Iceland. (How great is an opener is that sentence? I could hardly have invented better words to pass myself off as...

Interview With Catherine McKenzie, Author of The Good Liar

I am having all kinds of success with my author interviews lately. This week is another biggie: Catherine McKenzie, who I met at the...

An interview with Chris Bohjalian, author of The Guest Room

I’ve been a fan of Chris Bohjalian for years, so having the opportunity to ask him questions was the literary equivalent of my...

How To Love Researching Your Novel

Most of the time—to my surprise—I look forward to writing my weekly post for The Debutante Ball. This week, however, I dreaded it. This...

Interview With Jessica Strawser, Author of Not That I Could Tell

I am all kinds of delighted to be able to interview one of my writer heroines this week. Jessica’s Strawser’s debut novel, Almost Missed...

The Call: It Doesn’t Always Go Like You’d Think

When I was an aspiring author, I read every query letter success story I could get my hands on. There was a common theme to these essays,...

When Kimmery Gets Distracted

Today’s topic is Writing Through Distraction, which I feel eminently qualified to discuss because my God, it is freakishly cold in here....

Kimmery’s 2018 Writing Resolution Checklist

I typically don’t make New Year’s Resolutions, on the theory that I’m more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants girl (a pantser, as we dorks...

Kimmery's Top Five Favorite Quotes About Writing (Plus One Quote About Coffee)

We all know December is traditionally hellish, what with the looming holiday madness, the ten thousand “festive event” obligations, and...

Kimmery’s Timeline to Publication

Back when I was engaged in the humbling process of querying, I held a keen interest in other Back when I was engaged in the humbling...

Interview with Anna Quinn, author of The Night Child

I met Anna Quinn through a Facebook group for debut authors and was immediately intrigued both by her background and her book. Anna, a...

Dear Agent: XOXO from Kimmery

Note: this week, we are discussing the process of landing a literary agent. For anyone unfamiliar with this torturous process, it...

Kimmery Investigates Slow Time

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across an article in National Geographic about the longest train ride through India. You know how every now...

In Which Kimmery Thanks Five People* You Wouldn’t Expect

For this post about people without whom The Queen of Hearts would not exist, I decided to go rogue in order to list a few unexpected...

The Debutante Ball and the Princess

At my wedding, my sister told a story of how we used to play a game when we were little called The Princess and the Servant. In this game...

A Celebration and a Smackdown: An Update on The Queen of Hearts

I was contemplating the time course of novel-publishing the other day, after someone asked me an interview question about how long it...

New YA Fiction: Elle Boyle Reviews The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

“Fat moths the size of palms wreathed my hair like pearls and moonstones. And then, as I had done since before language burgeoned in the...

An Interview With Holly Goddard Jones, author of The Salt Line

I am so excited about this book! It has already vaulted up to become one of my favorite thrillers ever and I think it is going to be...

Kimmery's Guide to Toronto

O Canada! The True North strong and free! It is July, and the temperature at home is hellish and accompanied by near-lethal humidity. I’m...

Hot Books of Summer/Fall 2017, Part I

I'm back! Summer always unglues me, what with the heat and all the travel and the thousands of children running around and the alcohol....

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

The problem with reviewing a large amount of books is it's possible to use up all the superlatives, particularly if you are excitable by...

An Interview With Lisa Duffy, author of The Salt House

One of the things I love most about reading fiction is the opportunity to inhabit a consciousness completely alien to my own. Recently...

Interview with K.V. Scruggs, Author of What They Don't Know

Today, I'm speaking with the author of a great new medical thriller, my physician friend K.V. Scruggs. See below for a description of her...

Kimmery's Guide to Iceland

Velkomin til Reykjavíkur! GETTING HERE: Unlike most of the people attending the Iceland Writers Retreat, who are flying Icelandair, I’ve...

An Interview with Jessica Strawser, author of Almost Missed You

Almost Missed You begins with an event so startling there is no possible chance you’ll put the book down. A woman named Violet is...

Kimmery's Guide To Costa Rica

Bienvenido a Costa Rica! ¡Pura vida! Here I sit in a paradisiacal jungle, with a cup of strong coffee and a view of the rollicking...

The Last Kids on Earth

The Last Kids on Earth is about a 13 year old boy named Jack Sullivan, whose town and possibly the rest of the world has had a monster...

What Happens When You Write A Book, Part I

T-minus 10 months until my book is published and I am officially transformed from nerdy reader to nerdy writer. (February 6th, 2018!...

Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens

I read Stevens' debut novel Still Missing when it was released in 2010 and remember it as one of the creepiest abduction scenes ever...

History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

Well, this book tore my heart in half and then stomped on it, but before we get into that, here’s some background: Theo, Griffin’s...

Virals by Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs

Today's book review is a guest post from my friend Colman, age 12. He'll be recommending Middle Grade and Young Adult books from time to...

We Could Be Beautiful by Swan Huntley

It’s very difficult to write a book with an unlikable main character. Or, I should say, it’s very difficult to write a book with an...

Kimmery's Top Ten Books of 2016*

It was the best of years and the worst of years. My crazy dream is one step closer to reality— I signed with a fabulous literary agent...

The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty by Amanda Filipacchi

I LOVED this book. I was therefore mystified when I looked it up on Goodreads and discovered a whole lot of people trashing it with the...

The Regulars by Georgia Clark

This is not a book afraid of a little raunch. Or a lot of raunch, actually. I had no idea what it was about when I downloaded it—I do...

The Circle by Dave Eggers

I enjoyed The Circle right from the first few pages. Mae Holland is a millennial drudge, working at a public utility company that’s about...

Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven

Let's start out with a synopsis. Libby, formerly “America's fattest teen,” is about to become a junior in high school. She is still...

Writings By Kimmery Martin

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