We talk a lot about debut authors around here. As a freelance journalist looking to publish her first novel, I’m interested in hearing about the first-timer’s road to publication. (Yesterday, Kathleen Rodgers told us about hers.) Today, Carol Garvin posted a list of debut novels on her blog, many of which I’ve read and enjoyed. I remember when I read A Time to Kill, the first novel written by John Grisham — I read it after The Firm, the book that launched Grisham into the stratosphere. In his author’s note to A Time to Kill, Grisham wrote something that always stuck with me: “This one came from the heart. It’s a first novel, and at times it rambles, but I wouldn’t change a word if given the chance.”

Although my mind right now is focused on another round of revisions, my hope is that when Baby Grand (fingers crossed!) is published one day, I will feel the very same way.