Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
What else is new?
And I have to say, I'm not too freaked out. You can't be over 40. You can't be black. You can't be ugly. Blah, blah, blah. This can't really be a surprise to anybody, can it? If I let thinking like this get to me, I'd crawl into the laundry basket next to my kitties and call it a day.
When I got the idea for my first book, I bought a book on writing a nonfiction proposal. It actually stated that if your target audience was black people or older people not to mention it because it would hurt your chances of getting published. Walk Tall ended up with 100,000 copies in print, and I'm self-publishing it with iUniverse with Lou Gossett Jr.'s blessings. (Mr. Gossett tracked me down through my former literary agency when he found out it went out of print.)
Publishing, like most fields, is sexist, ageist and racist. But don't let it stop you. Do your hair, put on a little make-up, wear comfy shoes and smile big for your author photo. Because if you can write and if want it bad enough, you will publish your book.
Seeing
Then I came home and read this:
To really see something is to let yourself move beyond the narrow place of words and into a 360-degree kind of noticing, an act which, if done correctly, temporarily takes up all of a person, and utilizes much more than the eyes--utilizes, for example, the heart and the soul.
It's from Elizabeth Berg's Escaping into the Open: the Art of Writing True. A reminder that I have a lot to learn as a person and as a writer.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Review time
Monday, August 27, 2007
Everything's coming up roses...
Thanks, hubby, for the roses and the sweetness.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Home, Sweet Office
Photo-shoot photo and article are in today's Post. (wait till you see my brilliant quote! not!) The picture in the paper is so dark you can't even see my jammies. Here you can see the top...a little. Also, note: still lots o stacks!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
Synchronicity
Before I started, I was working on the Age Ain't Nothing but a Number anthology proposal and one particular day was feeling kind of discouraged about it and didn't feel like working on it. I picked up the folder and moved it to the other side of my desk thinking I just can't face this today. 20 minutes later the phone rang. It was my new boss. He said I have a message for you from your agent. I almost fell over! Turns out, he bought my books on Amazon and found out that he and I had the SAME AGENT in NYC! (A different agent than I have now.) He called her to tell her he had hired me and she told him, Tell her I'm waiting on that book proposal.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
You can do it!
That's how I feel today. I just got a wonderful blurb from Elyse Singleton, author of This Side of the Sky, a writer I deeply admire, so I'm over the (Duffy) moon with joy! (Read a Q&A with Elyse, Colorado Book Award Winner, here.)
The blurb: "Orange Mint and Honey is sweet fun-yet also a socially-conscious page-turner about accountability and forgiveness. In this memorable story of a once-derelict mother and a profoundly wounded daughter, rage, sadness, and humor jump off the page and grip us to the end. Author Carleen Brice has woven her talent for story-telling into a funny, sad, and perceptive novel that speaks to all of us who navigate less-than-perfect-relationships with parents or children. Therefore, it may speak to all of us."
I went to hear Elyse read at the Tattered Cover when her book came out. I still remember the advice she gave writers that night, "Enjoy the process." I knew she was right, but I still thought, Easy for you to say now that you're published! And I remember wondering would I ever get there with my first novel. And now I am, and I REALLY know she was right. There's kind of no "there" there with publishing. You never really cross the finish line. You get an agent. Yay! You get a publisher. Yay! The book comes out. Yay! You get good reviews (I hope). Yay! You break your neck to make it sell and it sells however many copies it sells and it's on to the next book. The saying, "It's not the destination. It's the journey," while cliche is true.
To you other writers out there who are working on your first novel, wondering if you'll ever get "there," my advice: Enjoy the process and You can do it Duffy Moon!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Yikes!
Since my office usually looks like this, this article has sparked quite the cleaning frenzy, though there are still piles and stacks because...how could I survive without them? As I was cleaning, I unearthed the article on Cool Cat Billy, and it was like having a conversation with him. A takeaway:
"If people could get along and blend together in harmony like these musicians do, oh, man, would this be a great world to live in."
Papa, you're still the coolest cat I've ever known.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Whee hee #3!
"I hesitate to call what I do gardening, but I do have a bunch of perennials I planted when we moved in last July and was astounded to see that they really did return. This is me this morning, definitely in my pajamas, surveying a pot of annuals that seem to be past their prime. I'm in Centennial, CO and since I work from home, I feel gardening, checking the mail, working, doing housework and most other day to day activities are all best performed while in pajamas."
The world is a funny place sometimes. Here Lisa and I are in the same metro area, both going to Lighthouse workshops and such, and how did we "meet"? Through Olufunke's blog.
Thanks Lisa! 7 more brave souls to go....
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Low-sugar chocolate chip zucchini bread
Friday, August 17, 2007
Whoo hoo Pajama Gardener #2!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Our first winner!
Win a FREE copy of Orange Mint and Honey!
And, in the process, she gave me a great idea. Orange Mint and Honey isn't out until the end of February. In my neck of the woods, at least, there won't be a whole lot of gardening going on at that time of year. Therefore, I'm going to launch my first OMAH contest right now. Yep, in the words of Tina McElroy Ansa, right now.
So, the first 10 brave folks who email me a jpeg of themselves gardening in their jammies (along with permission for me to post their photo on the blog) will receive a FREE signed copy of Orange Mint and Honey next March.
Sound good? Click here to email me or send your picture to carleen(at)carleenbrice(dot)com. Also include permission that I can post your pic on this blog and your snail mail address so I can send you the book when it comes out next year.
(This is me in pajama pants and t-shirt. For the purposes of this contest, I'll honor whatever you consider pajamas.)
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
The finest place you ever saw
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Back in my jammies again
I'm back in my jammies again
Home where a good book is my friend
Where the two fat kitties feed
And my neighbor's son smokes weed
I'm back in my jammies again
Workin' at home once more
Just till Oprah's on at four
Where you sleep till 8 each day
Write what you want for pay
Back in my jammies again
Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Typin’ to and fro
Back in my jammies again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I blog away
Back in my jammies again
Monday, August 13, 2007
Enough about me
Lighthouse Writer's Workshop is hosting our 5th Annual Writer's Studio September 15-16. Tobias Wolff, author of This Boy's Life (and others), will be in town for several cool events. For more information, go here. For ticket prices, go here.
Two blogs I'm enjoying lately:
Iyan and Egusi Soup, the very inspiring and wonderful blog of writer Olufunke Grace Bankole.
Yarn Harlot, a hilarious blog about, of all things, knitting, which I don't do.
Both are excellent ways to pass time when you should be writing, but aren't quite there yet.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
I'm a trendsetter
Addendum
Fruit
Ripe apples drop about my head;
The luscious clusters of the vine
Upon my mouth do crush their wine;
The nectarine and curious peach
Into my hands themselves do reach;
Stumbling on melons, as I pass,
Ensnared with flowers, I fall on grass.
Andrew Marvell (1621–1678), British poet. The Garden (l. 33–40)
This is the harvest from our plum tree. First, a hail storm got it, then the squirrels. Last year, I bought a net and covered the tree, but the little buggers figured out how to climb under it (of course) and still ate all the fruit.
This is my new lemon tree. My friend Tanya gave me a gift certificate to City Floral for my birthday back in May. I finally used it yesterday. My tree sat in the hot car while I went to the grocery store and all the way home my car smelled of flowers and lemons. See the green lemon? There are 3 others and blossoms for more...if it makes it. Poor tree is not cut out for Colorado, but meant to be grown indoors during the winter. It already had a tough day outside yesterday. It can't take the Mile High mid-day sun. I'll give it morning light and evening light and bring it inside next month. Wish us luck!
I have hopes. A few years ago, my brother-in-law sent us rose bushes from California for Christmas. For Christmas! We raised them in the living room until the next May when we could safely plant them outdoors. Two of the three lived.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Getting out of Dodge
Then I went to Red Rocks near Morrison. I thought I might even write in the amphitheater. But it was blocked off for a concert tonight: The String Cheese Incident is (are?) playing one of their last gigs. Which explains all the hippies camping out.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Done being careful
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Two-movie day
I recommend them both, but Talk to Me really got me. Long live Petey Green and Dewey Hughes (Green's manager)!
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Mudear is coming! Mudear is coming!
And Tina McElroy Ansa has a blog! (Or it looks like she did for a while) Here's an excerpt from one of her posts:
Two words…I have two words for you. These are words that I want you to burn into your consciousness. These are two words that should be on your mind first thing in the morning when you awake and then all through the day as you go about your routine. When you see something that you know has your name all over it, whether it’s a chore, a pair of gorgeous shoes on sale, an idea, a new job, an undiscovered park, a new route to work, a person who could use your help or expertise or smile. Whatever! These are the words I want you to remember. They are words that will change you life. Are you ready?“ Right now.” That’s it. Nothing more. “Right now.”
Check out her blog to read the rest. Also, visit the websites for her workshops and her publishing company.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Enough is enough
Friday, August 03, 2007
Just like Adam and Eve
Thursday, August 02, 2007
The uncultivated field
Sorry for repeating myself, but I keep bumping up against the idea that there's no way to get to the polished manuscript without first writing the mess, writing the uncultivated field. For me, that means not worrying what my critique group is going to say when they look at it on August 22. My only goal is to get through the story all the way through by the first part of October.