PSB: Boston Edition and GrubStreet are delighted to present the latest installment of the Grubbie Debut event series, featuring Danit Brown! Join us for a celebration of her book Television for Women on Tuesday, June 24th at Porter Square Books: Boston Edition. Andrea Meyer will join Brown in conversation, and the author talk will be followed by a signing line.

We had a chance to ask Danit a few questions about her debut book:

GrubStreet: Can you share your book pitch and what inspired you to bring it to life?

Danit Brown: Television for Women is about one woman’s search for the person she used to be as she navigates the aftermath of childbirth and the way it unravels relationships, expectations, and even her sense of self.

Early in my teaching career, a colleague was dismissed for faking his Ph.D., and for years afterwards, I couldn’t stop wondering about his wife and whether she’d known the truth all along. If she hadn’t known, how had his lies affected her? Did she feel betrayed, or trapped, or both?

At the same time, I was new to both marriage and motherhood and discovering that the transition was much messier than depicted on television. Having a baby changed everyone in my family, including me, in ways I didn’t expect, and now all of us had to recalibrate our lives and our relationships.

Television for Women was my way of exploring what happens when the stories we tell ourselves about our life — stories like “Of course I want a baby” and “I’m happily married” — fall apart. It’s about love, identity, and the lies we tell others and ourselves along the way.

GS: GrubStreet is all about supporting writers through all stages of their writing journey. How has GrubStreet supported or shaped the writing journey with your debut?

DB: I found GrubStreet during the pandemic, at a time when I was feeling very stuck with the novel. I signed up for "6 Weeks, 6 Stories," and the regular deadlines and the support from the instructor and the other students jogged something loose for me: I still knew how to write. Even if the novel ended up in a drawer, the classes at GrubStreet showed me that I’d be able to keep going.

The Manuscript Mart at the Muse was also a huge source of support. I especially appreciated the
opportunity to meet one-on-one with agents. I attended twice, once in person and once virtually, and it’s how I ended up meeting Sorche Fairbank, who eventually became my agent, and whose guidance has been invaluable throughout this process.

GS: Writing a book can be a life changing experience. Looking back, were there any standout moments — a challenge and breakthrough, or a surprise — from the process of writing your book?

DB: This novel took me something like sixteen years from start to finish. I gave up on it many times, and then, a few weeks or months later, I’d somehow wake up knowing what else needed doing. Each time, I was surprised by the novel’s insistence that it was worth completing, and by the fact that I never quite managed to lose faith in it completely. I keep telling my students that writing well is a marathon, not a sprint, but I’ll admit that I had no idea that you could work on something for so long, and give up on it so many times, and still end up with something you feel good about. If nothing else, I trust my process a whole lot more now than I did when I began this project, and I’m also much more aware of the importance of patience and of allowing ideas to simmer on the back burner.

GS: One of the great benefits of a writing community like GrubStreet is the opportunity for learning and feedback from so many different perspectives. Was there a specific piece of advice or workshop experience at GrubStreet that significantly changed how you approach writing, either creatively or practically?

DB: One of the things that continually amazes me about GrubStreet’s community and instructors is how kind they are. Whether you’re a beginning writer or someone with publications or a book, the feedback you get from your peers and instructor is generous and unfailingly constructive. Everyone is there because they want to be, and that shared investment in writing and the writing life is a gift in and of itself.

GS: Aspiring authors often wonder how to take that first big step. What’s one piece of advice you would offer to writers preparing to take on their first book?

DB: Write the book that you want to write and think about the practical side of things later. Having always written short stories, I initially spent a lot of time worrying about my ability to write something as long as a novel. As a result, I wasted a lot of energy thinking about how to fake writing a novel before finally buckling down and, you know, writing the novel itself. Trust your instincts and your process, and treat your own writing with the same kindness, generosity, and encouragement that you treat other people’s writing.

Join us on Tuesday, June 24th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the Center for Creative Writing in the Seaport for "Grubbie Debut: Danit Brown, author of Television for Women, in conversation with Andrea Meyer" RSVP here.