The Divining Wand

Eve Brown-Waite had an “idea” that joining The Peace Corps might be exciting for a recent college graduate without a career goal in mind. She met the recruiter, fell hard for him, and thought her commitment to The Corps might bring forth a romantic commitment too. Yes it’s the girl meets boy theme that begins Eve’s memoir, First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria: How A Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart and A Third World Adventure Changed My Life, which will be released in Paperback next Tuesday, April 13, 2010.

Here’s what one Book Club reader, Rolf Potts, said about the hardcover edition:

“First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria is an unconventional but enthralling love story …. This book evolves into a wonderful tale of one woman’s adventures in marriage, family, career, and world exploration.”

Who has Eve Brown-Waite become? By reading her “official” bio, you’ll learn:

Eve Brown-Waite was a finalist for both an Iowa Review Award and a Glimmer Train Award, and the first runner up for the 2008 New Millennium Writings Award for stories she wrote about her time abroad. She lives with her husband and two children in Massachusetts.

And now let’s get to know the “real” Eve:

Q: How would you describe your life in 8 words?
A: Pretty damn good, but sometimes I forget that.

Q: What is your motto or maxim?
A: Life is not a dress rehearsal.

Q: How would you describe perfect happiness?
A: The whole family happy and healthy, discovering a new place together. Ideally, a developing nation where we could stay for awhile and do some good.

Q: What’s your greatest fear?
A: Getting to the end and feeling like I’ve wasted my life.

Q: If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A: In Haiti.

Q: With whom in history do you most identify?
A: The very strange lovechild of Erma Bombeck and Che Guevera.

Q: Which living person do you most admire?
A: Al Gore. When the country gave him a huge, stinking lemon, he used it to try to make a difference.

Q: What are your most overused words or phrases
A: My kids would probably say, “Make good choices.” Either that, or “penis.”

Q: If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A: Singing.

Q: What is your greatest achievement?
A: Still being sane, happily married to an incredible man, and the mother of two really awesome kids.

Q: What’s your greatest flaw?
A: I care way too much what others think about me.

Q: What’s your best quality?
A: I see the funny in everything!

Q: What do you regret most?
A: Not opening a Thai cooking school for tourists on Koh Samui.

Q: If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A: Me, but happier. And taller.

Q: What trait is most noticeable about you?
A: Unfortunately, my voice. I have a condition called, Muscle Tension Dysphonia, which makes me sound like I’m about a hundred years old and on my last breath.

Q: If you could meet any athlete, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A: Tiger Woods, and I’d say, “Why am I supposed to give a hoot about your sex life?”

Q: What is your biggest pet peeve?
A: That the publishing industry is far more concerned with BIG SALES than with great books. Oh, I also hate radio commercials that use kids as spokespeople. (I know, I know, I’m sorry. But it just drives me batty!)

Q: What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A: Doing freelance ministry.

Q: What’s your fantasy profession?
A: Doing random acts of kindness, writing funny and inspiring blog posts or columns about them and getting paid for it!

Q: What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
Honesty, kindness, a sense of humor.

Q: If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A: Really, really good Tom Kah Gai (Thai chicken and lemongrass soup)

Q: What are your 5 favorite songs?
A: That’s too hard! There are too many! How about five from the “soundtrack” to FIRST COMES LOVE? The Story by Brandi Carlile, On The Road to Find Out by Cat Stevens, Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel, The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens and Every Day I Write the Book by Elvis Costello.

Q: What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A: Oh my god, there are soooo many! Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Amy Tan’s The Hundred Secret Senses, Jim Fergus’s One Thousand White Women, and then I have to include two of my absolute favorites from many, many years ago (and I haven’t re-read them in quite awhile, so I’m not sure if they still even hold up, but they made such an impression on me when I was younger that I must include them). Dorothy Bryant’s The Kin of Atta are Waiting for You, and Herland by Charlottte Perkins Gilman.

Eve Brown-Waite is funny, talented, and dedicated to love — including noteworthy Causes. Become a friend on Facebook and follow along on her journey through life.

Book Giveaway: The Divining Wand is giving away a copy of The Swimming Pool in a random drawing of all comments left on this post. The deadline is tonight at 7:00 p.m. EDT with the winners to be announced here in tomorrow’s post. If you enter, please return tomorrow to possibly claim your book.