Happy Labor Day

The cat days of summer are almost over. Hope you have a good holiday weekend celebrating the fruits of your labors. I won't be posting this weekend because I'm going to write.

What else is new?

No real news in this article about pretty authors. The author-as-sex-symbol has been coming for a while now. When author photos are larger than the cover of the books in the ads, you know the cult of personality has arrived in the literary world. And no surprise, considering that the big publishing houses are owned by megacorps that also make movies and other entertainments. They're just doing what they know how to do.

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

Last weekend Hubby and I went on a long walk. A walk made longer by the heat (we went at lunchtime) and the fact that Hubby is sloooooow. He looks at everything. It's like going into the world with ET or a toddler. It always bugs me at first. Come on, come on, come on, I think. But this time eventually I accepted and slowed down too. And instead of seeingeverythingflashbymelikethis, I saw crabapples and oak leaves and bubble gum hyssop and red roses and old cars.

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.

Review time

Just got back from seeing The Nanny Diaries, which isn't getting great reviews, but I liked it. It was somewhat different from the book, which I also liked, because of the sensibility of the director and writer. (The team who made American Splendor, which I also liked). And it featured Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti. Hello? Nothing to hate there. This review is quite the lovefest. Except. Scarlett Johansson? Really not great. And they punked out on the ending. Even so, I liked it.

It made me think even more about Third Girl from the Left, which I just finished and LOVED. It's a book about women much like me who turn to movies for...almost everything. It's about movies, mother-daughter relationships, gender, race, love, sexuality. So much. I'm too tired to do it any justice. Just read it. Sigh. It would make a great movie. But something tells me that because of race and gender we may not ever see it on the big screen. Too bad.

Everything's coming up roses...

...and cosmos and daisies. Life is sweet (as illustrated by this late-summer bouquet). I was just checking my bank account online and saw an ad that said "create the home you've always wanted." It featured an amazing kitchen. But instead of coveting the amazing kitchen, I thought I have the home I've always wanted. Not that I would mind the amazing kitchen (we don't even have a dishwasher), but our home is safe shelter literally and figuratively. It's comfortable and filled with books and music and flowers and places to work and rest (and cat hair and dust). What more could I want?

Thanks, hubby, for the roses and the sweetness.

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!

Synchronicity

I have a somewhat wavering faith in something I cannot name. Call it God. Call it a higher power. Call it the universe. I don't know what it is, but I believe in it even when I also doubt it. (Like, how can entire ethnicities, countries, genders, religions catch so much hell if there is a higher power?) It is beyond my understanding, but then so would God be. What keeps me believing or makes me return to believing just when I think I no longer believe is a feeling that unseen forces are at work in my life.

I shared this story with a BB (blogosphere buddy) and she enjoyed it so I will share it with all of you. It illustrates what I mean. About 7 years ago a friend of mine applied for a job that as soon as she told me about it, I felt like it sounded perfect for ME, which, of course, I didn't tell her. They offered her the position, and she ended up declining it. I assumed they would just offer it to the next person in line. A different friend told me about another job so I looked in the paper and what did I see, but the job I wanted and my friend turned down. I applied for it and they offered it to me.

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.

I couldn't help but see that as a sign that I was on the right path. That job was very important to me because of the people it brought into my life, people I'm still friends with several years after not working there anymore. And, of course, that moment gave me the encouragement I needed to keep going on the proposal, which opened the world up to me in many ways. So I believe.

Now I've got this song stuck in my head.

You can do it!

I am a product of ABC After School Specials. Remember them? (If you're too young to know them, keep it to yourself!) One in particular stays with me. The Amazing Cosmic Awareness of Duffy Moon. To this day, 30 years later, my best friend and I encourage each other by saying, "You can do it, Duffy Moon!"

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!

Yikes!

The Denver Post is coming to take a picture of me working in my home office. It's for an article on home offices. Yes, folks, I will be working in jammies (though I have to confess much nicer jammies than usual). Speaking of jammies, take the new Pajama Gardener poll over by the links.
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.

Whee hee #3!

Lucky winner #3, Lisa says:

"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....

Low-sugar chocolate chip zucchini bread

The original recipe called for 2 cups of white sugar, which I replaced with 1/4 c Splenda sugar, 1/2 c apple sauce and 1/2 c of currents (because I had them in the cabinet). I also reduced the oil by half (since I was adding moisture with the apple sauce) and replaced half the white flour with whole wheat pastry flour.

3 eggs

1/4 c Splenda sugar

1/2 c unsweetened apple sauce

1/2 c canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 c shredded zuke

1 c chopped walnuts

1 c chopped Dagoba 73% cacao drops (or you could use semisweet chips)

1/2 c currants

1 tablespoon orange zest

1 1/2 c white flour

1 1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Blend flours, baking powder, soda, salt, spices and orange zest.

2. Beat eggs, add sugar and beat until well blended.

3. Stir in oil, vanilla, zuke, nuts, chocolate chips and currents.

4. Stir in dry ingredients.

5. Turn batter into 2* greased 9 x 5 inch pans.

6. Bake at 350 for 50** minutes or until done. Remove loaves from pan and cool.

*My loaves are kind of short. Maybe it's the altitude? But next time I'll only use one pan.

**My loaves were done in 33 minutes, though our oven temperature isn't reliable.

Thanks H for the zuke from your garden!

Whoo hoo Pajama Gardener #2!

Here's Lois in her nightie in her Denver garden. (Is it me, or are pajamas getting nicer?) Lois says:

"bent over weeding is the more usual pose, but not sure if you see much except a## in the air in that case..."

Thanks Lois! You too win a free, signed copy of Orange Mint and Honey. 8 more winners are out there. Don't be bashful, but don't be like this guy.

Our first winner!

Our first brave pajama gardener! This is Virginia in her garden in Australia. Virginia says:

"This is a garden near our house which we are growing herbs in so we can just pop outside and pick them when we need them for cooking. There are also some bulbs and violets and some other flowering companion plants to confuse the pests and entice the bees -it's Winter here so not much is growing, we don't get snow, but we get a lot of frosts."

The dog is Bronson, who "loves to howl like a Dingo." Don't you love it? Virginia, you will receive a free, autographed copy of Orange Mint and Honey. Thanks for being such a good sport! Okay, folks, 9 more free books to go....

Win a FREE copy of Orange Mint and Honey!

Virginia in Australia emailed me today. She was planting rhubarb this morning in her pajamas and got to wondering who else works in their garden that way. She did some Googling and found me!

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.)

The finest place you ever saw

I just finished Devils in the Sugar Shop by Timothy Schaffert. It's a fun read with worldly, quirky characters you might not imagine could find Omaha on a map, let alone live there. But they do and so did I. It's where I was born and raised up. The neighborhood the story is set in is The Old Market, the hip part of town. I took the following photos of The Old Market in April when I went to see my grandfather before he died.

They got a thing for decorating windows!

This is my high school, Central High. It's downtown. I loved this place. It was what home should have been - stable, dependable - but wasn't. We moved a lot, and I went to 7 different schools, most for a year at a time. But for 3 straight years I went to Central. Nuff said.

This is the my grandparents' neighborhood, the North side. The most colorful and the most broke down part of town. It's populated with little popsicle-colored clapboard houses on rolling green hills, as if it was built by Caribbean farmers.

My grandfather loved this city. One of the last things he told me was, "Omaha's the best place on Earth." And in a moment of rare humility that confirmed my suspicions that he was on his way out, he added, "For me."

For Papa:

Omaha, Omaha,

Finest place you ever saw

And at night while you are dreaming

Dream of Omaha

Back in my jammies again

With apologies to Gene Autry, sung to the tune of Back in the Saddle 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

Enough about me

My pal Kim Reid's book No Place Safe got a great review in the August 6th issue of Publisher's Weekly! Yay Kim! Watch for it in October and watch for Kim here at The Pajama Gardener.

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.

I'm a trendsetter

Today's Denver Post has a story about trips you can make from Denver on one tank of gas. One of the destinations is Central City (which I hit on Friday). Methinks I'm going to take my artist to a couple of these locations. Maybe hubby too!

Addendum

I just repotted my tree, and she actually has 6 lemons on her! She is a Eureka Lemon, which made my clever hubby laugh when I told him. (Say it out loud to someone else and you'll see why.) I'm going to call her Eureka.

Fruit

What wondrous life is this I lead!
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.

Getting out of Dodge

I woke up this morning with a strong urge to go someplace, so I decided to go on a writing adventure. In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron talks of "artist's dates," a time to take your inner artist out to play. I've been spending too much time writing at home, so I decided I'd branch out a bit. I charged my cell phone, lap top and camera batteries and headed up into the mountains.

First, I went to Black Hawk and Central City, two gambling towns in the mountains. I'm envisioning a scene in my book in which the two sisters go to Central City so I thought this would be good research.

This is the Central City Opera House. My husband brought me here a few years ago to see Candide. Remember the scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts proves what a sensitive lady she is by crying at the opera? Yeah, I totally flunked that test. Though I was so bored I wanted to cry. And Candide is in English!

Note to self: when you go to check out a gambling town, don't go at 10 a.m. on a weekday morning. Not much happening. Sure, the casinos are open, but most of the shops and restaurants are not. Luckily, I've been to Central City at night (see above) and I think I have pictures somewhere of what it looks like at night.

On the way back down the mountain, I stopped near Clear Creek. A woman and her little girl were in the creek sifting the water with kitchen utensils. "Found any gold?" I asked. The woman laughed and explained that she had taken a picture of her daughter in the creek and they were getting pebbles to put around the picture frame that she would put the picture in and send to her daughter's grandparents. Cute idea, huh? Another woman sunned herself on a rock like a snake. I stood in the icy cold water, wrote, watched butterflies and listened to the water and the wind and the traffic on Highway 6.

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.

The stage, of course, was blocked off. I watched roadies getting the stage ready for a bit.

These intrepid folks had crossed the police tape. I've only been to 2 concerts at Red Rocks (Tracy Chapman and Seal). After I climbed the steps to get up there I remembered why: you've got to train to be ready for those bad boys. This being Colorado, several people were jogging up and down the stairs. I was sucking air and pouring sweat just walking!

I had planned to stop for lunch in Morrison, but the afternoon rainstorms came just as I got in the car, so I came on home for peanut butter & jelly (no-sugar-added, spreadable fruit).

Done being careful

Okay. So. You know the saying, "Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it"? I wasn't very careful. I wished for more time to work on my novel. That part-time job I thought I was blessed with? Gone. They decided they didn't like the job-share concept, afterall. My first thought was, "I'm free." My second thought was, "Oh sh**!"

But anytime your first thought is "I'm free," what's happening is a good thing. So I'm going with my first thought. I'm not going to pursue a different part-time job with the same company. I'm going to put most of the freelance work I've been offered on hold for a bit. And I'm going to spend a couple of months writing and working in the yard. An opportunity I'm extremely excited to have.

Maybe sometimes it pays not to be so careful with our wishes.

Two-movie day

Today, I saw two movies, Talk to Me and Hairspray. Some people drink when they get stressful news. Some people eat. I watch movies. They're kind of like shock absorbers. And today was a two-movie day. I had wanted to see both films, but I didn't have any idea how much alike they were. They're kind of like book-ends. Both address race, class, civil rights, following dreams, being bold, and both have 60's-ish music as a soundtrack. Petey Green (Don Cheadle) and Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) would seem to not have much in common, but they're both characters (Green, based on a real person) who are bigger than life.

I recommend them both, but Talk to Me really got me. Long live Petey Green and Dewey Hughes (Green's manager)!

Mudear is coming! Mudear is coming!

Not Tyler Perry's Madea. Mudear. The sequel to Ugly Ways (one of my all-time favorite books), Taking After Mudear, is due out November 2007!! This is Harry Potter-big for the likes of me. I can't wait! (Wouldn't it be cool if there were Mudear parties all over the country?)

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.

Enough is enough

I was talking with a friend a couple of days ago. We discussed promoting Orange Mint and Honey, writing N2, books I've read lately, work, blogging, and she said the nicest thing to me: "I don't know how you do it all." It was great to have someone recognize that I'm working hard. However, am I doing it all? No, not even close. I don't want anybody to get the wrong idea. The woman who blogs about gardening let this forest of weeds happen in the backyard. Yesterday, to get rid of one weed tree, I had to bend the trunk and jump on it!

I am blessed with a husband who does the grocery shopping and cooking, lots of yard work AND his own laundry. I am blessed with a half-time job. I'm spared the daily work of raising kids. And I still can't do it all. I still feel like I'm barely holding it together.

I try to get my work done. I try to do what's important. I try to rest and have a little fun. It's not nearly everything I should be doing, but it's plenty. It's enough.

Just like Adam and Eve

Dear Amy: You answered a letter from a "naturist" in your column and made some disparaging comments about gardening in the buff. Actually, Amy, nude gardening is an extremely enjoyable exercise, something my wife and I have been doing for more than 50 years. There is a formal "World Naked Gardening Day" each year in the first part of May. Our garden is beautiful.

A Happy Gardener, Richmond, Calif.

Dear Gardener: Responding to this letter, I made a comment about nude gardening and hedge trimmers. Based on the responses to this letter, however, many people enjoy nude gardening, despite what I perceive as its obvious risks.

And I thought I was doing something gardening in my jammies! I wonder if I started a "World Pajama Gardening Day" would others join me? The next World Naked Gardening Day (co-founded by Mark Storey, the gentleman in the picture) is May 3, 2008. I know I'm marking my calendar! :-)

Thanks Kim and Bella for the tip about today's Ask Amy column.

My theme song

(At least the chorus is) What's yours?

The uncultivated field

I've written about outcome goals before, and now it's time for me to take my own advice. Because now is definitely time for output. I'm shooting for 3 pages a day between now and October 2. "Writing the marble," as Elizabeth Wrenn says. Writing "the shitty first draft," is what Anne Lamott calls it. Walter Mosley puts it this way: "It [the first draft] won't be publishable. It won't be pretty. It probably won't make logical sense. But none of that matters. What you will have in front of you is the heart of the book that you wish to write. There is no greater moment in the true writer's life.... Your first draft is like a rich uncultivated field for the farmer: it is waiting for you to bring it into full bloom." (How could The Pajama Gardener resist?)

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.

Happy Birthday Yuh Yuh!

Call for submissions

Wolverine Farm Publishing (Fort Collins, CO) is now seeking submissions for their flagship publication, Matter. Now in it's fifth year, Matter has been hailed by Utne Magazine as full of "epiphanies both big and small," and continues to test the boundaries of what a literary/art magazine can do in the world. The 11th issue is themed THE WOODS. We are actively seeking fiction, poetry, non-fiction, interviews with authors/activists, hand drawn illustrations, photography, maps, lists, and other ephemera. Please send in your creative work by 30 September 2007.