Connie Briscoe Presents–
Author Carleen Brice

Carleen Brice is a fiction and nonfiction author and also editor of the anthology Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife. She is a two-time finalist for the Colorado Book Award in nonfiction. Her first novel, Orange Mint and Honey (don’t you just love the title?) was published in February of this year to outstanding reviews from Essence magazine and others.

Connie Briscoe: You had been very successful writing nonfiction, including Walk Tall: Affirmations for People of Color, which sold more than 100,000 copies. Why did you decide to write a novel?

Carleen Brice: Fiction is where my heart is, but I think I was too chicken to start out with fiction. Writing a novel seemed like something other, more “special” people did, like going to the moon or something. My husband encouraged me to give it a shot, and I’m glad I did!

CB: How did you come up with the story idea and title for Orange Mint and Honey?

Carleen Brice: I set out to write a mother-daughter story about forgiveness and redemption. As I worked on it, it evolved to include the themes of gardening and music. The title comes from the orange mint the mother grows and uses to make tea, which she serves with honey. It’s symbolic of bitter and sweet coming together.

CB: Interesting. How much did you draw from your real life for the novel?

Carleen Brice: I have felt all the emotions the characters express: jealousy, resentment, love, joy, surprise, sorrow. And the characters have bits and pieces of my personality and the traits and personalities of people around me. But this novel isn’t directly autobiographical.

CB: Do you think that you’re strongest at developing plots, creating characters, writing dialog or something else?

Carleen Brice: Characters and dialog are my strong suits. Plot is definitely hardest for me, but I’d say that now after two novels I’m starting to get the hang of it.

CB: What has the publisher done to help you promote the book? What are you doing yourself, if anything?

Carleen Brice: I’m lucky. My publisher did a lot of upfront marketing and PR, getting the book in Target stores as a Breakout Book, getting it accepted by Black Expressions Book Club and submitting it to Essence for their book club. They also sent me to L.A. and Oakland to promote the book.

That’s a lot, but still not enough for a book to make its mark. So I am applying to different book festivals and doing a lot of stuff online. I maintain a blog: http://pajamagardener.blogspot.com and comment regularly on other people’s blogs. I’ve made myself available to book clubs—if in state, I’ll go in person, if out of state, via phone. I’m paying my way to go back to L.A. for BEA (BookExpo America) in May to meet with booksellers.

CB: How did you find your literary gent?

Carleen Brice: I researched agents on Publisher’s Marketplace and Agentquery.com. I also looked in the acknowledgements of books I liked, to see if the authors thanked their agents. Then I made a list of my top choices. I contacted two agents with short email queries. The woman who became my agent contacted me very quickly to ask me not to make any decisions until she’d read my manuscript. A week later I had an offer for representation!

CB: That must have been thrilling. And the site for finding literary agents sounds like a hot tip for the many authors and aspiring authors who visit this site. So what’s next for you?

Carleen Brice: My next novel Children of the Waters will be published next spring by One World/Ballantine. It’s a story of two half-sisters, one white and one biracial. The biracial sister is put up for adoption and raised by a black family. As adults, the two sisters reunite. It’s about race, family, and what unites us and divides us.

CB: Another interesting book title. We will look forward to it. What do you do for fun or when you want to relax?

Carleen Brice: Work in my garden. Read and watch movies. If I really want to let it all go, I go outside and climb in my hammock and watch the clouds drift by.

Carleen Brice’s website