Downey, Annie

PERSONAL:

Born in NJ; children: two.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Burlington, VT. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer.

WRITINGS:

Hot and Bothered (novel), Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC), 2006.

Contributor to Web sites and periodicals, including Hip Mama, Utne Reader, Harper's, and Vermont Woman.

SIDELIGHTS:

Annie Downey's novel Hot and Bothered is the story of a single, thirty-nine-year-old mother who is unnamed until the end of the story. Told in journal-style, one-page episodes, it follows her search for romance after her husband, Ex-Rat, leaves her with two children to fend for herself. Other characters include her mother, a best friend, and several romantic interests. "Perfect Guy" is the object of her crush, while Mason from Alaska may be the handsome hunk who will bring her happiness.

On her Web site, Downey notes that she was four when her parents divorced and writes that her mother went from being a stereotypical fifties homemaker to "a short-haired-[pancho]-platform-shoe-wearing-N.O.W.-meeting-goer-softball-team-leader-hot single mama! She purchased a yellow Pinto and went back to school to get her Master's in Math." In order to help fund her education, Downey's mother delivered papers with her children asleep in the back seat. She became a corporate executive, married an Irishman named Brendan who became a stay-at-home dad, then dropped out to open an herb shop in Vermont, because they were having more fun than she was. Downey's protagonist is similarly a woman seeking to find herself in spite of the everyday obstacles life places before her.

Library Journal contributor Amy Brozio-Andrews commented that Downey "has penned a debut novel full of wit, humor, and offbeat characters."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August 1, 2006, Emily Cook, review of Hot and Bothered, p. 40.

Library Journal, July 1, 2006, Amy Brozio-Andrews, review of Hot and Bothered, p. 64.

ONLINE

Annie Downey Home Page,http://www.anniedowney.com (June 11, 2007).