Belle Brett, Writer
award-winning author of the novel
Gina in the Floating World
She Writes Press (2018)
"A sharply observed and unforgettable debut."-Kirkus Reviews
"A promising start from a writer to watch." -Publishers Weekly
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Bio
Belle Brett is a proud graduate of Grub Street’s Novel Incubator program. As a child, she produced what would now be called graphic novels, but alas, only the drawings remain as the words were strictly in the oral tradition. Now, several degrees and careers later (teacher, career counselor, researcher), she writes mostly novel length fiction (no pictures, but with a cinematic flavor) about coming of age across the life span and a blog about her long, slow attempts at downsizing (My Slow Downsizing Story). She holds a Doctorate of Education in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University.
Her debut novel, Gina in the Floating World, was published by award-winning She Writes Press in September, 2018. It is the tale of a young, naive Midwesterner who faces an uncertain future when, of her own volition, her job description changes from bank intern to whore in 1981 Tokyo. The story was inspired by Belle's own experiences as a bar hostess in Tokyo several decades ago. Gina in the Floating World is a Sarton Women Book Awards finalist in Contemporary Fiction, an IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards Silver Medalist in Best New Voice in Fiction. and an International Book Award finalist in Cross-Genre Fiction.
Belle's essays about writing and books have appeared in Women Writers, Women's Books; Seattle Book Review; She Writes blog; and She Reads Lists. She has regularly contributed to the blog Dead Darlings, a site devoted to "everything novel." From 2009 to 2013 (and maybe later, as the mood strikes), she wrote a blog, Musings from the Third Half. Her short story, Heartbreak Hotel, about
the same protagonist from her novel, was published in Del Sol Review. Her most recent story, "United, Under John Prine," appears in Cowboy Jamboree.
In addition to writing and downsizing, she is an artist and enjoys traveling and dancing with her husband and aging contemporaries to live music in the dive bars of Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts. All of it is grist for her writing mill.
Photo by John Heymann
Note: All other images on this site, including artwork, are by Belle Brett, unless otherwise noted.
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