Eve Brown-Waite's Blog

With Banned Book Week on the horizon, I've been thinking… While having a book banned is probably some writers' worst nightmare, that's what I dream of. What better publicity could you get than having your book banned? I have no interest in intentionally writing a book that raises people's hackles. I mean, how hard would that be really? Just pick a few taboo subjects like witchcraft, sex, homosexuality and you're there, right? And if you want to make sure, a series about gay witches having...

Ok, fine, you caught me.

I don't really have a gerbil, but my son would looooove to have one,  —and name him  "Papi."  Don't ask me why, but my child (who is 6) digs gerbils, and I think I traumatized him the other day by telling him I once had a pet gerbil who met an awful demise when my sister didn't notice our furry friend nuzzled deep inside her sneaker and….squish!  Yep, I still don't know what I was thinking when I said that either, but let's just file that under the "Silly Mommy File" a...

Like most kids who devoured James Herriot books, I dreamed of becoming a large-animal veterinarian. I envisioned an adult life whereby I'd heroically heal a few cases of horse laminitis by day, then report to my night gig: singing on Broadway.

As a middle-schooler I realized that math and sciences just weren't my bag (to put it very mildly). Plus another, more painful realization: I possessed neither the voice nor chutzpah to try out for the school play, let alone Broadway.

By tenth grade, I...

I usually write these blogs a week ahead of time, just to be safe. You see (cue knife-shrieking music as we enter into the "nightmare" portion of this post), my computer terrifies me. And like dogs and bees, my computer can smell fear. Most of the time my Mac is content to simply demonstrate its dominance by correcting my spelling with a superior sigh, or showing me a better word for what I'm trying to say ("Oh, Christ," my computer hisses under its breath when I don't pick the word it...

My recurring stress dream is always the same: The cast of my college production of Nicholas Nickleby has been called together to reprise our roles. We haven't rehearsed, or even been given scripts to brush up with. We're supposed to just show up and still remember everything.

What makes this especially nightmarish is that Nicholas Nickleby is no ordinary 90-minute play. It's a lavish adaptation of Dickens' thick novel of the same name, with eight and a half hours of stage time. That's pure...

Italian translation rights for Deb Sarah's The Opposite of Me sold to Piemme in a pre-empt!

Deb Joëlle was a runner-up over on the Guest Blog contest on agent Rachelle Gardner's blog. Hopefully, next year sometime she'll get to do a post about her passion – The Need To Read. Stay tuned!

Graduate Deb Kristina's REAL LIFE & LIARS just went into second printing!

Deb Sneak Peak!   Here's What the Debs are READING this week:

*Deb Alicia is reading "THIS LOVELY LIFE" by Vicki Forman, who'll be a guest ...

If you can't find Beth Harbison by her computer, penning another bestseller, you'll probably be able to locate her at the Sephora makeup counter. Beth knows her makeup — and she also knows how to write compulsively readable novels. Her book Shoe Addicts Anonymous hit the New York Times bestseller list, and won praise from readers and critics alike. To learn more about Beth and her latest book, Hope In A Jar, visit her  website.

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Usually I cite ...

Hiya. Miss Marley here, but you can call me Marley. I know Deb Joëlle's post this week is supposed to be about her office, but she's busy sleeping reading her first pass pages for Restoring Harmony, so I thought I'd show you around. She leaves her computer on all the time (I know…not very environmental of her, I might have to start sleeping on it to teach her a lesson) so I just thought I'd help her out.

I'm new on the scene here at Casa Bon Chance (the name for Deb Joëlle's house), only...

I think the staff at my local Starbucks is trying to poison me.

Maybe it's because I always give them complicated orders (like a venti double-caff fat-free Pumpkin Latte, extra hot with extra syrup, extra cinnamon, and a recycled heat protector lest I burn my sensitive fingers) or maybe they hate me because I've practically moved into their store hogging the oh-so-welcoming "zen corner" on a daily basis. I waltz in armed with my computer and trusty neck pillow for those...

[image error]Welcome to the corner of my living room, where I'm sitting at a mismatched desk and chair. Stella the greyhound snores at my feet. I can reach out and touch:

1. a rejection notice from a literary magazine. A big theme in any writer's life is rejection. Keeping one of those impersonal "thanks but no thanks" notes in plain sight might seem masochistic, but I actually find it inspiring, in an "Oh yeah? We'll see about that" way.

2. a photograph of my nieces and nephews with their arms around each ...