Day 5: Daphne's Real World Book Launch!

2K8ers love a good blog party, but nothing beats a debut author's first real world launch party!

I had my book party (Alive and Well in Prague New York) at the wonderful Bank Street Bookstore in my neighborhood in Manhattan. Friends and family braved fierce heat to come out and help me celebrate.



This is me and my super fabulous editor Jill Santopolo, who is an excellent author in her own right. She introduced my reading. I was pretty nervous about it but it was a sympathetic audience and they cheered me on. Afterwards I signed books.

This is my friend Keith Bunin who is a terrific playwright and screenwriter. He was one of a group of friends from high school who came out to show their support. It’s neat to have friend who actually knew me as a teen read my teen book!


Here are some other friends and my awesome-beyond-words agent Alyssa Eisner-Henkin. Writer Kathryne Alfred is in there too along with a couple of other friends. After the signing we headed out for food and drinks at a nearby restaurant.

And here’s another group that came out to support me: some Class of 2K8ers! This is me with Donna Freitas, Courtney Sheinmel and Nina Nelson.

It was so much fun to celebrate my book’s arrival in the world and I’m so grateful to everyone who came!

Thanks for a wonderful week, Daphne!

Day2: Interview with Daphne Grab!

As promised, We're here with Daphne Grab asking all sort of questions about what being a debut author is all about!

So, where do you do most of your writing? What's it look like? (maybe include a picture if you can get it!) My bedroom! Our NYC apartment is big enough for our family of four (barely!) but there are no extras, like say, a study or a living room big enough for a desk. But mine fits nicely in the bedroom and the cat, who is my muse, keeps me company all day so I can’t complain.

Can you tell us how the book came about? How did you begin writing it?

Six years ago my dad was diagnosed with ALS and he died about six months later. Living with a sick parent was a profoundly difficult and life changing. After he was gone I had all kinds of feelings about it and a few years later, when I was at the New School, I wanted to channel those feelings into a character. Not just the hard stuff but also the parts that were beautiful and real about living with illness but still having the gift of that person in your life. And so Matisse was born.

And how did it find a publisher? Give us the *real* dirt!

I began ALIVE AND WELL IN PRAGUE, NEW YORK in my third semester at the New School. My writing teacher, Sarah Weeks, had us submit five pages of our manuscripts, plus a cover letter, to her editor at Harper, Jill Santopolo. It was a class exercise, not an official submission, so that we could get a feel for how our work might be received by an editor. Jill liked my pages so after I graduated I officially submitted to her. She liked the manuscript and ended up buying it.

Did anything surprise you or caught you off guard when you were writing your book?

How much I liked my main character and how totally different she is from me! I was very insecure in high school and it was a lot of fun to write a character who believed so strongly in herself. When people ask me if the book is at all autobiographical it makes me laugh because Matisse and I, and our experiences, couldn’t be more different!

Imagine you have an offer from your dream press to publish your dream book, no matter how insane or unmarketable it might be (though of course it might *not* be). What story do you want to write next/someday and why?

I’d love to write historical fiction. I studied history in college and got pretty into it. I’d love to write something about the Opium Wars in China or the White Rose in Germany under Hitler. My next book is contemporary about a boy who loves football, but maybe with my next manuscript I can go back in time!

Thank you Daphne! We're certainly looking forward to what's next with you! Next for us is Daphne's take on the KidLit Publishing world--so be sure to come back tomorrow!