Litopia is celebrating another major success story following the publication of the debut book from Donna Ballman, the Colony’s legal eagle and deadly debriefer.

The Writer’s Guide to the Courtroom: Let’s Quill all the Lawyers has been published in the US by Behler Publications and sees Donna (and her cool, dry wit) run the rule over everything and anything a writer could want to know about US civil law.

For Donna, who is a young adult writer, Quill came out of the blue.

‘It’s a real Litopian success story,’ said Donna, who is a Florida-based lawyer as well as a regular panelist on the Litopia After Dark podcast and the ‘debriefer’ on Litopia Daily every Monday.

‘I joined Litopia because I couldn’t find a local critique group that suited my schedule. I didn’t intend to find a publisher or an agent there, but I found both. It all began with a preposterous assessment piece called Frog-Gigging and the Nobel Prize, a middle grade sci-fi novel I was working on. Although it’s never been published, it got attention from the Moderators, including our own Lynn Price, editorial director at Behler. Lynn’s company doesn’t publish children’s books, but she was always supportive of my writing. Because we were some of the few American members at the time, she and I became friends when we used to message each other to ask what the heck the Brits were talking about in some of the threads! In one of the messages, I mentioned I was a lawyer. Lynn became very excited because a writer had missed his deadline on a book Behler was doing about the court system for writers.

‘I had zero intention of publishing nonfiction. I’ve written and published nonfiction articles on legal topics for many years, and my purpose for joining Litopia was to focus on fiction. But who can resist when a publisher says she wants you to write a book for her because she would love to have a “real writer” do it?’

Donna said: ‘The long-distance editing process was a hoot. Lynn and I would set up a Skype call and she’d give me her notes by phone. These sessions usually erupted in loads of laughter. They were really the first time we’d talked to each other instead of emailing, and we have similar senses of humour. Nobody believes me that editing was fun, but I truly enjoyed having Lynn as my editor.

‘When it came time to ask someone to write the foreword, my first choice was easy. Alex Ferrer [TV’s Judge Alex] has been a friend of mine since first year of law school. He’s a gentleman and a good writer, as well as a fantastically handsome TV judge. When he said yes, it was one of the highlights of my writing career. His kind words about the book made my year. I never really believed the wait was finally over until a box of books showed up two minutes before a Litopia After Dark Podcast was going to record. It was one of those moments I’ll always remember, and I’m glad I got to share it with Litopians while it was happening.

‘The dedication in the book says it all – “To every aspiring writer everywhere, especially to those members of Litopia Writers' Colony, the best writers' colony on the planet”.’