Ep 43: Donna Norman-Carbone (All That is Sacred)

Donna Norman-Carbone's debut novel, All That is Sacred, released on April 11, 2023 (Red Adept Publishing).

In this episode of the Write the Damn Book Already podcast, we discussed her journey to writing and publishing the novel, which was inspired by true events.

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

How Donna got started writing, and the story and characters who inspired her debut novel
Donna's process of writing through both grief AND difficult conversations to sort through her feelings and thoughts (as a fellow emotional being, this made my ears perk up!)
How long the book ended up taking to write and be published given all the other things going on in her life
The details of her unique publishing journey, which started with querying agents and ended with her querying her publisher directly (which isn’t common)
One of her favorite offerings provided by her publishing house (I think every publishing house should have this for their authors!)
Within the editing process, a suggestion was made to go from 5 POVs (points of view) to 1 and to write an entirely new first chapter. We talked about how she responded and worked with those suggestions without feeling like she was starting all over.
A perspective-shifting way to think about where you are in the book-writing process when you send your book to the editor (hint: you’re NOT 95% to the finish line)
What Donna is most excited about when it comes to promotion (as someone who doesn’t like to speak in front of others, even though she’s a teacher!)

ABOUT DONNA

Donna Norman-Carbone’s debut, All That is Sacred, a women’s fiction released on April 11, 2023, is published by Red Adept Publishing. A member of the WFWA and CAPA and a tour guide for Bookish Road Trip, Donna also teaches English in CT where she resides with her husband and family. She enjoys reading and traveling.