2021 Debut Author Spotlight
March – Denny S. Bryce
Click HERE to Pre-Order
Denny S. Bryce puts on a great show telling a quintessentially American story of love and danger set amid Chicago’s Jazz Age. Bryce explores Chicago’s creative genius and gritty underbelly, and brings the bright-light district of the Stroll to life with its jazz clubs, cabarets, vaudeville theaters, and speakeasies. Evocative and entertaining!
-LAURA KAMOIE, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF MY DEAR HAMILTON
Interview
KatznDobs: What is your favorite independent bookstore & a book you’d love to see Wild Women and the Blues sitting next to on a featured table in that bookstore?
Denny S. Bryce: Favorite independent bookstore is difficult. I’ve lived in several cities so far, so I have to go by region: Chicago — 57th Street Books in Hyde Park; Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland or the DMV — One More Page Books in Arlington, VA, and East City Bookshop, Washington, DC., and in Savannah, GA, my new home, the city’s oldest independent bookstore, E. Shaver, bookseller.
At any and all of these bookstores, I would love to be placed between these two books (again, I can’t just pick one): The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton to the left of Wild Women and the Blues by Denny S. Bryce and to the right, The Color Purple by Alice Walker.
KatznDobs: What has most surprised you about the process of writing and publishing a debut novel?
Denny S. Bryce: The biggest surprise (to date) of my debut journey is how luck can be such a factor. I am extremely lucky to be debuting with a class of extraordinary authors with titles such as The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson, Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton, The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, and the more than 200 other authors in our Facebook 2021 debut author group. The support, advice, and information sharing is amazing. It’s made the highs higher and the lows bearable:).
KatznDobs: What would you most like your readers to know about you or your book?
Denny S. Bryce: Wild Women and the Blues is told in a dual timeline (2015 and 1925) with a past and present rooted in my personal experiences and the stories I was told growing up. The fearless, adventurous, talented, and fun-loving Black women in my family, dead and alive, contributed mightily to the tale I’ve fabricated and the African American history (facts no historical figures) that helped me find this story and made clear, it was a tale I had to tell. I am thrilled that readers will have an opportunity to meet Sawyer, Honoree, Bessie, and more on March 30, and I truly hope they will enjoy their story.
An award-winning author, Denny S. Bryce won the RWA Golden Heart® and was a three-time GH finalist, including twice for WILD WOMEN AND THE BLUES, her debut novel. She also writes book reviews for NPR Books and entertainment articles for FROLIC Media. Additionally, the former professional dancer and public relations professional is a self-proclaimed history geek. She credits this obsession to her maternal grandmother, Ella Elizabeth Joseph, who immigrated from Montego Bay, Jamaica, to New York City in 1923. Denny recently relocated from Northern Virginia to Savannah, GA. For more about Denny, visit her website at www.dennysbryce.com. Follow her on Instagram @dennysbryce and Twitter @DennySBryce.