Every desperate housewife would love an alias.The heroine of my latest novel, Donna Stone has one, and it's government sanct...moreDear Readers,
Every desperate housewife would love an alias.The heroine of my latest novel, Donna Stone has one, and it's government sanctioned. Oh sure, you need to be ruthless to take on Russian mafia bosses, rogue dictators, and terrorists set on destroying the world. But it takes real killer instincts to survive suburbia. Try juggling the fifth grade phone tree during a shootout with skinhead arms dealers, or driving carpool while being chased by Chinese double agents.
Donna's life wasn't always this complicated. Five years earlier she was just another woman with two preschoolers, a baby bump, and an adoring husband: Carl, with whom she lived happily ever after in a McMansion in the Orange County, California community of Hilldale. But Donna's life was changed forever the night she delivered her baby:
Carl's car blew up on the way to the hospital.
Turns out Carl was a "hard man"—an assassin—for the black ops organization known as Acme Industries. The hit on Carl was carried out by the Quorum, a terrorist cell he was tracking. The Quorum's motto: "Show me the money." Governments and corporations do as they're told—or suffer bloody consequences.
Carl left something behind that the Quorum wants badly. To protect herself and avenge Carl's death, Donna joined Acme. Whereas her hostessing skills rival Martha Stewart's, her marksmanship is second to none.
A good thing, too, because the Quorum has planted a sleeper cell in Hilldale. For Donna, that's too close for comfort. Will she be able to save her family before the Quorum blows up Los Angeles?
Acme's way of flushing out the Quorum is by "bringing Carl back from the dead." But terrorism makes strange bedfellows--and brings new meaning to that old adage "Honey, I'm home…"
I had a very insightful interview with Allison Pearson. She is not only a fabulous writer (I THINK I LOVE YOU is just as wonderful as I DON'T KNOW HOW...moreI had a very insightful interview with Allison Pearson. She is not only a fabulous writer (I THINK I LOVE YOU is just as wonderful as I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT.)but also forthcoming as to her writing process. Feel free to read it here:
Publishers Weekly: "Josie Brown takes baby mania to its illogical, hysterical extreme in this bubbly romp. Thirty-seven-year-old Katie's biologic...morePublishers Weekly: "Josie Brown takes baby mania to its illogical, hysterical extreme in this bubbly romp. Thirty-seven-year-old Katie's biological clock is ticking like a time bomb, and she turns her baby obsession into a wildly successful consultant gig planning nurseries for pregnant women too rich, clueless, bedridden, or busy to do the task themselves.
Even grieving widower Seth, who works with Katie's child-shy husband, Alex, on a demanding new business venture, needs Katie's services to help him manage his perplexing new role as a single dad. But what begins as a light foray into Bugaboo country turns into something bigger than a satire of status-obsessed Bay Area yummy mummies as Brown takes a dark look at the fears of parenthood and family, with Katie's heartbreaking longing for a child unveiling a disturbing reality about her marriage and family. Still, the message from the somber realities is one full of hope: love makes a family, commitment keeps it together."
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Dear Readers,
Every now and then, a novelist’s muse will play the proverbial stork and deliver a wonderful little bundle of joy in the form of story concept that that is fully formed, from beginning to end. That happened to me, with this, my latest novel, THE BABY PLANNER.
My heroine, Katie Johnson, is married to Alex, who is, overall, a great guy: good looking, financially successful, great in bed . . . yep, the full package . . . Except for one thing: he’s fighting her tooth and nail about having children.
This is a sore spot with her. She has just turned thirty-seven, and already her younger sisters have three kids between them--and one is pregnant again.
When Katie gets laid off from her job as a state product safety advocate, she puts her knowledge of consumer products to good use in a new career: as a baby planner.
At first Katie envisions her job as all fun and games, that it's cross between a wedding planner and a personal shopper: a concierge for moms. Or, as she puts it, a "momcierge," since she'll help her clients arrange their nurseries, turn them onto the safest baby gear, plan their baby showers, get them into the best toddler playgroups, find them reliable au pairs, you name it.
And since the success of her marriage to husband Alex depends on controlling her own urges toward motherhood, it allows her to live vicariously through her clients.
But Katie soon finds herself playing a very different role in their lives: that of a caring friend who helps them overcome any paralyzing fears they have about protecting their babies--and for that matter, their marriages.
There is a lot of humor in this book, but in writing about Katie and her pregnant clients I also had the opportunity to explore the many serious issues that come up in the process of parenting: sibling rivalry, adoption, surrogacy, single parenting, infertility, infidelity--
Even how a new parent grieves the death of a spouse. All of these topics merit a story the reflects the fears, the tears and the joys of this life passage.
Click over to my website: (http://www.josiebrown.com) to enjoy this excerpt of THE BABY PLANNER. And from Feb 10 - June 19, 2011, I'll be running a contest there, where your correct entry, emailed to me at BabyPlannerNovel@gmail.com, makes you eligible to win the prize: a $100 gift card to your favorite bookstore.
Thank you for putting it on your must-read list,
--Josie Brown
(Simon & Schuster/Gallery Books)
ISBN#: 9781439197127(less)
I consider myself a John le Carre aficionado, and this is, hands down, my favorite thus far.
We anticipate that his espionage and political...moreI consider myself a John le Carre aficionado, and this is, hands down, my favorite thus far.
We anticipate that his espionage and political threads are strong and tightly drawn. However, what is the true joy of this novel is the emotional depth of le Carre's hero, Jonathan. Driven by retribution and revenge, we get a man (as opposed to an automaton) with heart and soul as well as the obligatory skills of a spy.
In THE NIGHT MANAGER, le Carre's prose is poetry, as exemplified when Jonathan, caught in an act of espionage, makes love to the anti-heroine (whom he covets, but thus far has never touched) by telling her: "I'm obsessed by you. I can't get you out of my head. I don't mean I'm in love with you. I sleep with you, I wake up with you, I can't clean my teeth without cleaning yours as well and most of the time I'm quarreling with you. There's no logic to it, there's no pleasure to it. I haven't heard you express a single thought worth a damn, and most of what you say is affected bilge. Yet every time I think of something funny, I need you to laugh at it, and when I'm low it's you I need to cheer me up. I don't know who you are, if you're anyone at all. Or whether you're here for the beer or because you're wildly in love with Roper. And I'm sure you don't know either. I think you're a total mess. but that doesn't put me off. Not at all. It makes me indignant, it makes me a fool it makes me want to wring your neck. But that's just part of the package."
Trust me, it works. And if you don't get it, then seriously, you just don't get le Carre. (less)
(Simon & Schuster/Downtown Press)
ISBN#: 978-143917317/ In Bookstores June 1, 2010
In my novel, Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives, I...more(Simon & Schuster/Downtown Press)
ISBN#: 978-143917317/ In Bookstores June 1, 2010
In my novel, Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives, I explore the perceptions and deceptions affecting two marriages. The Harpers, Lyssa and Ted, are firmly entrenched in the tony Silicon Valley town of Paradise Heights, California, whereas the community's "golden couple," DeeDee and Harry Wilder, are politely aloof to their neighbors...
Then word gets out that DeeDee has walked out on Harry and their two children.
Gossip runs rampant through the Heights. Was DeeDee having an affair? Is it true that Harry is fighting her for everything—even the dog?
At least one of the rumors is true: to hold on to his children and his home, Harry, once a workaholic, realigns his life and becomes a stay-at-home dad.
Touched by his efforts at trial-by-error single parenting, Lyssa befriends him, never realizing the effect their relationship will have on her close-knit circle of friends—or its explosive impact on her own marriage.
I hope you enjoy it as much as these authors, below, who were kind enough to read it in advance and provide such enthusaistic feedback that certainly makes me proud of my book.
Warmest regards,
Josie Brown
Advance Praise for
SECRET LIVES OF HUSBANDS AND WIVES:
"Hollywood's got nothing on the cast of characters living in the bedroom community of Paradise Heights, who have the secrets, sex, money and scandal of an OK! Magazine cover story. Josie Brown is a skilled observer whose clever dialogue and feisty style make for truly entertaining reading." —Jackie Collins, bestselling author of Hollywood Wives and Poor Little Bitch Girl
"I loved this juicy-as-it-it-is-heartfelt novel about love, marriage, friendship--and sharp, manicured claws. Could not put it down!"—Melissa Senate, author of The Secret of Joy
"Poignant and funny! Josie Brown's protagonist is strong, resilient, and unflinchingly honest: she has all the skills she needs to navigate the 'mean streets' of the gated community of Paradise Heights. A great read!" —Wendy Wax, author Magnolia Wednesdays
“Brown proves that a story with suburban bodies can be just as suspenseful as one with dead bodies! Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives is a probing, entertaining fishbowl of married life in a well-heeled, wayward neighborhood. Loved it!” —Stephanie Bond, author of Body Movers series
"I loved it! Josie Brown captures the highs and lows of love, lust and marriage with heartwrenching pathos. I'm recommending it to all my friends as the perfect beach read!" —Lisa Rinna, actress, and author of the novel, Starlit, and the personal growth book, Rinnavation(less)
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