He fascinated me, and when he turned those gorgeous blue eyes my way he would change my life forever. A singer in a local metal band he had tattoos, scars and an almost palpable aura of anger. Ruggedly handsome, with startling blue eyes, slightly crooked front teeth and a shock of dark brown hair artfully spiked up in the fashion of the day. I was at a friend’s party when he walked into the room.

And it did! My life changed exponentially that year, it just didn’t change quite the way I always dreamt it would. I was absolutely convinced that my life was going to irrevocably change within those 365 days. Like so many young people before me, I always thought that sixteen was going to be my year. Scraping through my head 'till I don't want to sleep anymore.” My favorite dreams of you still wash ashore. This will likely be a disaster.Įchoing your voice just like the ringing in my ears. I think it’s time I try to review this novel…. There are things more valuable than life.' He was quoted in the New York Times and elsewhere as saying, in reference to those considering leaving, 'If you’re ever lucky enough to belong somewhere, if a place takes you in and you take it into yourself, you don't desert it just because it can kill you. In the following months, Brite has been an outspoken and sometimes harsh critic of those who are leaving New Orleans for good. He used his blog to update his fans regarding the situation, including the unknown status of his house and many of his pets, and in October 2005 became one of the first 70,000 New Orleanians to begin repopulating the city.

They are no longer together.ĭuring Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Brite at first opted to stay at home, but he eventually abandoned New Orleans and his cats and relocated 80 miles away to his mother's home in Mississippi.

They have been known to have a few dogs and perhaps a snake as well in the menagerie. Photos of the various felines are available on the 'Cats' page of Brite's website. He loves UNC basketball and is a sometime season ticket holder for the NBA, but he saves his greatest affection for his hometown football team, the New Orleans Saints.īrite and husband Chris DeBarr, a chef, run a de facto cat rescue and have, at any given time, between fifteen and twenty cats. He lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia prior to returning to New Orleans in 1993. He self-identifies almost completely as a homosexual male rather than female, and as of 2011 has started taking testosterone injections. Brite (born Melissa Ann Brite, now going by Billy Martin) is an American author born in New Orleans, Louisiana.īorn a biological female, Brite has written and talked much about his gender dysphoria/gender identity issues.

El alma del vampiro by Poppy Z. Brite