Writing, Research, and Creativity Quotes from Deborah Kalb Book Q&As: 1st Half of 2023

This post follows up on my most recent curation of quotes, links, and book information drawn from my regular Tweets about the Deborah Kalb book/author Q&As. (One is from a Q&A published at the end of 2022.)

As I noted in the previous post, “Deborah continues to do heroic work on these interviews, often posting several a day, with fiction and nonfiction authors. It’s easy to see why she’s developed a devoted following of authors, editors, publishers, publicists, librarians, and other book lovers.”

And as I’ve organized the posts previously, I list the authors with links to their Q&A; book titles, and a quote from their interview with Deborah.

Major congratulations to Deborah for the recent publication of her first novel for adults, Off to Join the Circus. On July 18th, Deborah did a “reverse Q&A” about the book with her cousin, author Claudia Kalb.

And stay tuned for my own interview with Deborah about the new novel, which I hope to have online before the end of the summer.

Author: Ali Bryan

Book: The Crow Valley Karaoke Championships

Author quote: “Though karaoke takes center stage in the novel, what the story is really about is the elevating power of love, empathy and community to heal and connect, and the notion that there’s nobility in the struggle.”

Author: Terry Tierney

Book: The Bridge on Beer River

Author quote: “Binghamton is an example of the challenges faced by rust belt towns and a microcosm of the economic and social upheavals we have endured as a nation.”

AuthorAnnie Lyons

Book: The Air Raid Book Club

Author quote: “I’ve read a lot about how people faced the challenges of the Second World War, particularly the women. There is a real sense of them lifting one another up and digging deep so that they can keep going.”

 Author: Mary Kay Zuravleff

Book: American Ending

Author quote: “My other books are devoted to imagination, whimsy, and wonder—this one is personal and based on fact.”

AuthorChad L. Williams

Book: The Wounded World: W.E. B. Du Bois and the First World War

Author quote: “I was repeatedly surprised by how long—over two decades—Du Bois spent researching, writing and agonizing over his book that he ultimately never finished.”

Author: Colin Babb

Book: 1973 and Me: The England v. West Indies Test Series

Author quote: “During the 1960/1970s in Britain, West Indian cricket played a central role as a medium of collective Caribbean self-expression.”

AuthorAmy Nathan

Book: Together: An Inspiring Response to the “Separate-But-Equal” Supreme Court Decision That Divided America

Author quote: “I dug into the resources of Louisiana historical societies, libraries, and newspapers. The more I learned, the more books and articles I read.”

AuthorNancy Christie

Book: Reinventing Rita

Author quote: “Live your life, don’t just mark time. And don’t let your age define your possibilities.”

AuthorJoyce Maynard

Book: The Bird Hotel

Author quote: “I never know how my novels will end. I get up every morning exited to get to work so I can find out what my characters do next.”

Author: Kate White

Book: Between Two Strangers

Author quote: “I’ve written 17 mysteries and thrillers and I’ve never changed the ending of a book.”

AuthorJonathan Eig

Book: King: A Life

Author quote: “I was astonished to realize that the last cradle-to-grave biography of MLK had been published in 1982 by Stephen Oates. I couldn’t believe it. That’s much too big a gap for a figure of such importance.”

Author: Brendan Slocumb

Book: Symphony of Secrets

Author quote: ” I have to believe that human nature can also rise above the noise and find a way to implement solutions together.” 

AuthorDiana P. Parsell

Book: Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington’s Cherry Trees

Author quote: “Beyond the cherry trees, I see Scidmore’s legacy rooted heavily in her intrepid travels and journalistic work that made her an important agent of early cross-cultural understanding.”  

Author: Michelle Fishburne

Book: Who We Are Now: Stories of What Americans Lost & Found during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Author quote: “When John Steinbeck did Travels with Charley in 1960, the country was full of people everywhere, milling about. That was not the case in 2020. I had to get creative.”

Author: Jonathan R. Kroll

Book: Preparing Leadership Educators: A Comprehensive Guide to Theories, Practices, and Facilitation Skills

Author quote: “Effective leaders are those who exploit their strengths and lead from a place of a genuine and self-authored sense of self.”

AuthorJoanne Lipman

Book: Next!: The Power of Reinvention in Life and Work

Author quote: “I wanted to look for people who had gone through massive transformations of all sorts—people coming back from failure or trauma,  people forced out of their jobs—different transitions.”

Author: Sara Read

Book: Johanna Porter Is Not Sorry

Author quote: “What Johanna really wants is to get to the flow state and create work that does justice to her talent.”

Author: Elisa A. Schmitz

Book: Become the Fire: Transform Life’s Chaos into Business and Personal Success

Author quote: “We can’t just wait for the system to change. We need opportunities and strategies for success, right now.”

AuthorDaisy Alpert Florin

Book: My Last Innocent Year

Author quote: “It’s also definitely an examination of privilege and class as it plays out on a college campus, which is one of the first places many people begin to realize what they have, and don’t have, compared to other people.”

Author: Amy Meyerson

Book: The Love Scribe

Author quote: “The “quarantine novel” looks different for everyone, but something about the isolation of being at home allowed many writers I know to try new things.”

Author: Omer Bartov

Book: The Butterfly and the Axe

Author quote: “The protagonists of this book are tormented by an event that occurred before they were born, whose contours are only vaguely known to them.”

AuthorSharon Tubbs

Book: They Got Daddy: One Family’s Reckoning with Racism and Faith

Author quote: “I hope the book evokes an awakening among readers. That awakening could take different forms, based on their own experiences with racism or privilege or injustice.”

Author: Jenna Podjasek, M.D.

Book: Particles in the Air

Author quote: “Dr. Mallory Hayes originated from many of my real-life experiences in medicine. I wanted to create a character that inspired women of all ages to challenge the status quo and never give up on what you know to be right.”

AuthorAlice Henderson

Book: A Ghost of Caribou

Author quote: “In the back of all of my Alex Carter novels, I have sections where readers can read more about the species and learn about volunteer programs and nonprofit organizations that aid in their conservation.”

AuthorEdward J. Delaney

Book: The Acrobat

Author quote: “He always saw himself as Archibald Leach, the acrobat from Bristol, but he was also was happy to occupy the Cary Grant persona when it had its benefits.”

AuthorJerry McGill

Book: The Color of Family

Author quote: “Once I made the decision to structure the work in a more linear form I had to go back and realign everything. Interestingly enough, the last chapter held up as the last chapter, albeit with a few changes.”

AuthorIwan Rhys Morus

Book: How the Victorians Took Us to the Moon: The Story of the 19th-Century Innovators Who Forged Our Future

Author quote: “The future became a different country, and science and technology were re-imagined as the tools to get us to that different country.”

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Bruce Rosenstein

Author, Editor, Speaker, BLOGGER

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