The Writer's View: Eva Marquez

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Eva will award a Kindle touch to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a swag pack of goodies to one commenter at each stop. Click on the tour banner to see the other tours on the stuff.

The View Inside My Writing Space, and Out
By
Eva Márquez

Over the past decade, I have had so many different and unique writing spaces. Sweetest Taboo was first drafted in the capital of Nigeria, where I spent most of my free time gated up in my compound watching Oprah, reading books and writing Sweetest Taboo. My writing space was literally my living room’s coffee table and a few cushions, which I used to prop myself, up as I sat cross-legged on the carpet and typed away on my work-issued Dell laptop. I completed the first draft of Sweetest Taboo in that writing space, but that was just the beginning! I spent some time in California with family while healing my body from the many illnesses inflicted upon my body in Nigeria (Malaria, Typhoid, amoebic dysentery, just to name a few) and my writing space was transformed from a simple coffee table in my Nigerian home to a bustling Starbucks in a local Barnes & Nobles in my hometown. I must say, this writing space was the most enjoyable because I find that a nice buzz of activity helps me to concentrate. For example, if I’m trying to write at home I often become distracted and think of half a dozen things that need to get done. However, when I commit myself to staying at Starbucks for several hours, I have nothing else to do but write, write and write some more. I close my Internet browser, I close my mail program, and I ensure that all of my social media apps are closed down to limit any interruptions. Most of Sweetest Taboo’s edits, changes, rearrangements and improvements were carried out in my local Barnes & Noble Starbucks, as well as at least half of my doctoral dissertation!

Since moving to Southern Africa to assume the role of Director of HIV/AIDS Programs for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), my writing space has yet again been transformed. I lived in a beautiful house in a serene, country like setting (my house is on an unpaved road, I might add, which lessens traffic and contributes to the serene nature of my home). In this home, I have a large ‘study’ with two French doors that open to two different patios, which are both on the periphery of my garden courtyard. I absolutely adore flowers, plants, trees, and colors so I have surrounded both patios and the garden with flowering almond trees, violas, verbena, California poppies, star jasmines…you name it!

This makes for a beautiful outdoor scene, as I look up from my desk and draw my attention to the French doors which serve as the windows to my gardens. Although I don’t often sit at my desk and write, when I do, I take the opportunity to stare out onto my garden to ponder and decide which way ‘to go’ in my writing. Should I lead the character this way, or that way? Should he chase after her or let her be? Will there be drama here or should I wait until the next chapter? More often, though, I sit at my table in the furthest patio from the house, the patio off of the master bedroom, which is more private and secluded. Since I work primarily on a laptop, I like to take advantage of the mobility it affords me and sit outdoors when the weather is cooperating. Sweetest Taboo was finalized as I sat in my private patio, smiling at the miniature orange pansies lining a potted plant nearby and enjoying the feeling of completing such a monumental task (this is my first full-length novel, so it felt quite monumental to finally be done!).

About the Author:

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, daughter of European immigrants, Eva Márquez has spent most of her life outside of her home country. At the age of five, Eva accompanied her parents to the United States, where the family settled permanently. After graduating from university, she went on to complete graduate studies in International Relations in Spain. Eva received her Master of International Studies degree from the University of Sydney and went on to work in the global health field in Sub Saharan Africa and South East Asia. Eva currently resides in Southern Africa.

Find Eva online at

www.SweetestTabooBook.com (website AND blog)
www.facebook.com/Sweetest.Taboo.YA.Book (FB Book page)
@EvaAuthor (Twitter)
www.goodreads.com/eva_marquez (GoodReads)
http://youtu.be/flff2TcA4AQ (Official Book Trailer on YouTube)

Isabel Cruz was fifteen years old when she met Tom Stevens. She was 15 when they started dating, and 16 when she lost her virginity to him. By the time she turned 18 and went to college, everything had fallen apart. This hadn’t been an ordinary love, though. Not a love between two dear friends, or even high school sweethearts. This had been the most taboo sort of love there was: a relationship between a student and her teacher. Isabel started her high school career as a normal student, but set her sights on Tom Stevens as soon as she met him, and pursued him with an intense – and sometimes reckless – fascination. When he finally approached her after swim practice and told her that he shared her feelings, it was the start of a forbidden and dangerous relationship.