It’s the last dance, each beat of the last dance… I have a Frank Sinatra CD and those words above begin one of my favorite songs on the album, and Ol’ Blue Eyes is crooning in my head as I write this. Is it really my last dance as a 2009 Debutante? It seems like only yesterday I was playing with my string of pearls, tugging my gloves tight and…
My bad habit is something I’ve by now given up. Well, mostly. Swearing. It’s coarse, tacky, definitely unladylike … but let’s face it, nothing vents pressure like letting fly with a really satisfying curse. The apex of my swearing history occurred during my news reporter days when, in certain situations, I would swear like a merchant marine. I’m a little ashamed to admit this when I consider certain people who…
One of my habits is to turn back to old favorites in times of stress. I suppose this is like “comfort food”. There are certain movies I’ve watched so many times I can recite whole scenes, for example. I laugh before I get to the funny parts because I know they’re coming and laugh again when they happen. There’s comfort in that. I do something similar with books. I’m reading…
I’m willing to bet it’s the Number One thing a new author hears: “You should go on Oprah!” There’s so much packed into that statement. It’s a compliment: “You really could get on Oprah! You’re book is just as good as MIDDLESEX!” It’s optimism: “Your book would stand out from the pack, I just know it!” It’s cheerleading: “I want you to be a success and I know that would…
Hello, my name is Kristina, and I’m an extrovert. I love parties, even if there are lots of people I don’t know. I even enjoy small talk. I sometimes go into what my husband calls “reporter mode” when I meet a new person, trying to draw out their life story, one anecdote at a time. I’m not intimidated by crowds, or public speaking. In fact, when it goes well, I…
Here’s my revelation about being published: you don’t walk around in a cloud of stardust every minute. Eventually, it gets routine, even dull. Being a published author starts to feel ordinary, because, well, it is ordinary when you’re in it. Mind you, I’m a positive, upbeat person, so much so that I strongly suspect certain people have wanted to punch me in the nose. However. Even I, the original Pollyanna,…
New Englanders and those enjoying a New England vacation can catch Deb Eve at various lovely locations this week! She’ll be at Boswell’s Books (just off the Bridge of Flowers) in Shelburne Falls, MA on Monday, July 20 at 7 PM; at Other Tiger Bookstore in Westerly, RI on Friday, July 24 from 4-6 PM; and The Book and Tackle Shop (next to the famous carousel!) in Watch Hill, RI…
Excerpt from REAL LIFE & LIARS: For a time, Van had a poster of his hero taped on his apartment wall. Bob Dylan stared down at him every night and every morning, heavy-lidded, cigarette drooping. Then Van got drunk and whiskey and self-pity one night and ripped it down, and in the blazing light of morning, through his hangover fog, he’d noticed that the paint had faded all around where…
As Independence Day has just passed, I’ve been thinking about independence from stuff. Three years ago, we moved into this house in a rush. We’d been renting the back half of a lady’s house and with our then three-year-old, it seemed frightfully small. So we rushed out of that apartment as quickly as possible and threw our possessions into the house in every nook and cranny. Also, we had saved…
Dear Kris, Stop taking yourself so seriously. No really. Stop it. Look, I know you feel like everything you do now will reverberate down through the decades and color your entire life, but guess what? You’re going to have babies and do other cool things that have nothing to do with the fact you slept through introductory geology on Friday morning. Believe me. I oughta know. See, that fiasco the…
