Leaping

Happy Leap Year Day! Here's a little from my book launch party on Tuesday...the results of my taking a leap of faith about 6 years ago. And what results! It was a grand time!

So the thing about being the guest of honor is that you don't really take photos. But lots of other folks did, so as soon as I get photos emailed, I'll be posting them. In the meantime.... One half of the crowd, taken right before I was introduced. Sold more than 150 books!

Signing books for Diane and Marleen.

With my flowers Leslie brought for me.

Don't know what the heck was going on here, but that is one glam photo!

Today, the Rocky Mountain News gave Orange Mint and Honey an A-!

Sneak peek

Sustenance Scout over at Beyond Understanding has a sneak peek of my very successful, extremely fun book launch!

Tattered Cover

Killing a couple of birds with this one (hmmm, sounds like a metaphor created by my cat!): taking care of My Town Monday and hint, hint my book-signing tomorrow when it's supposed to get cold and rainy/snowy. Grrr. On Wednesday it's supposed to be back sunny and in the 50s! Not that I take weather personally, or anything. :-)

Anyhow, back to Tattered Cover, one of the best independent book stores in the country. TC (as we friends of the store call it) has 3 locations. The store I'll be signing at is the LoDo (Lower Downtown) store.

The other day I was at a meeting and someone commented that after I do my signing at TC, my life would change. Getting published and doing signings is great and all, but...I've done 3 signings at TC already. It doesn't exactly change your life.

I actually worked at TC for about 2 1/2 years. I used to (very lovingly!) call it the home for the vocationally challenged. I know I was when I worked there. It's a good place to go when you need to lick your wounds or dial down the stress in your life. You'll never meet a bunch of kinder, smarter, more interesting people anywhere. I worked with a former judge, a former ER nurse, a former nun, a former monk, and a lot of good writers. Many of my coworkers had more than one advanced degree. It was hard not to laugh in the face of people who wanted to apply for a job when they tried to impress me with their BA, JD or MFA. I used to think, "Yeah, get in line." (Not that I was hiring, but sometimes people would ask me for an application and take the opportunity to point out just how cool they were and how lucky the store would be to have them.)

I started about a year after my first book, Walk Tall, had been published. I actually had the opportunity a couple of times to sell my own book. Once a customer approached me and asked if I knew where she could find it. I thought a coworker had put her up to it. But no. Just right place right time. Another time, a man was buying it along with a stack of others. As I rang up the book, I turned it over to reveal my photo on the back. We both had a good laugh, but I always wondered if those customers left thinking, "Book must not be any good or would she be working in a book store?"


Which leads me back to my point: in terms of fame and fortune, for many, many, many of us writers being successfully published means about as much as any other job I've had. You could fill the Grand Canyon with writers who've published multiple books and been reviewed in newspapers across the country and yet they're not household names, they don't get on Oprah, they don't have a million dollars, nobody recognizes them in the grocery store.


Having said all that, being a published author is much cooler than any other job I've ever had! And for all you out there working on your first novels I hope you get to find out just how cool it is. I'll be posting pictures from the launch party sometime later this week. I've got relatives and friends coming in from 4 cities for a few days of celebrating (I'm taking 7 of them to Idaho Springs on Wednesday). I'll be back to the blog when the champagne wears off!

Yoo hoo Borders

Update on the Borders OMAH-pub date situation: Lafreya tells me that in Ann Arbor she went to one of the new hi-tech Borders today. Their computer still stated that my book hasn't been published yet (so much for hi-tech!), but when she talked to a salesperson, they discovered there were 3 copies on the shelf.

So, if you go in Borders, please check the shelf (I believe they're shelving me in AA Fiction) first. If you don't see it, ask them to order it.

BTW: Lafreya says the store is absolutely beautiful. Thanks Lafreya!! And thanks everybody for helping me get the word out!

In memory

Today is a day I remember two women. The first: my mother, who died on this date 16 years ago. She was the age I will turn in May (God willing). Ever since I was 28, I've been haunted by the idea that I might die the same way she did (of breast cancer) and at the same age she did. It looks like I'm going to make it past the age she was when she died (God willing). And who knows how I'll go? Perhaps this is one fear it's time to let loose. A poem by Lucille Clifton says it better than I ever could:



poem on my fortieth birthday to my mother who died young



well i have almost come to the place where you fell
tripping over a wire at the forty-fourth lap
and i have decided to keep running.
head up, body attentive, fingers
aimed like darts at first prize, so
i might not even watch out for the thin thing
grabbing toward my ankles but
i'm trying for the long one mama,
running like hell and if i fall
i fall.



The other woman I commemorate today is Nina Simone, who was born on this date 75 years ago.



On the surface these two women seem to have nothing in common. Nina Simone, born in the south, a piano protege, a voice like no other, mother to one daughter. My mother, born and raised in the midwest, not famous, couldn't sing, mother of three children. But they were both larger than life characters. Each one just...herself. Each one an inspiration. Each one on my mind and in my heart today.

At a book store near you?

Next week is the big launch party at Tattered Cover LoDo (NOT Colfax as was reported in yesterday's Denver Post). It's Tuesday, February 26th. Hope to see you there!

I've also added some dates for California next month. Please check here for list of my events. (And more to come--I'm looking to set up something in Omaha and Chicago...maybe in May)

On another note, if you live near a Borders would you please help them learn that the book has actually been published? And if you feel brave enough, ask them to stock it. Thank you!

For Shay

One of the best things about publishing Orange Mint and Honey is that I feel like I got to give a voice to these people I came to know and love. I actually cried for Shay (my main character) when Essence called her "talented" and "super smart." I know how much she would like that.

I'm polishing up Children of the Waters, so I'm reading poetry (it greatly helps with editing). Today, I ran across the poem "Dance in Your Blood" from Rumi and it made me think of her. So I post the last stanza for Shay:

Dance, when you're broken open.
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you're perfectly free.

My Town Monday

Travis Erwin came up with this great idea. On Mondays we blog about our home towns, or where we live or about some town. I'll be blogging about Denver.

Travis blogged about (yuck!) Dr. Phil. I'm blogging about Hattie McDaniel. Most of y'all know her as "Mammy" from Gone with the Wind. McDaniel wasn't born in Denver, but moved here when she was a little girl. Now, all this I've known for a while. What I didn't know, is that her family (her father was a freed slave) was lured here just like white folks were by the idea of striking it rich. There was a black prospector named Jeremiah Lee (former slave of Gen. Robert E. Lee) who hit the mother lode and was living it up in Central City.

During this time, 1890s-early 1900s Denver was very welcoming to blacks (y'all remember I pointed out that Madame C.J. Walker had started here in the early 1900s). The city had African Americans in city government and on the police force.

But as the black population grew, the white citizens became less hospitable. (Denver actually has quite the Klan legacy.) McDaniel's family struggled quite a bit, but Denver is where her career began. Her family's history and continuing racism is what led McDaniel to famously declare she'd "rather play a maid than be one."

McDaniel, of course, was the first black person to win an Oscar (and the first black person to even be invited to the ceremony--though she was made to sit at a different table). That means in one generation, her family went from slavery to Hollywood. I'm sure she took a lot of shit (from whites who were racists and blacks who saw her as a sell-out), but what an achievement!

And, good to know: Clark Gable was a good friend to her and advocated strongly on her behalf in Hollywood. I knew I always liked Rhett (especially more than ole wimpy Ashley!).

Source: Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood, by Jill Watts

Spring!

Look: buds on one of the rose bushes!

The first daffodil!

For all you suffering from this long dreary winter (Sherry!), hold on: spring is on the way!

Superdelegates, listen up!

Democrats turned out in record numbers at caucuses and primaries around the country to make our voices heard. Superdelegates need to honor our choice. As my good friend E put it, we were betrayed by the Republican party during the 2000 election. What do Dems do if we're betrayed by our own party during the 2008 election?

Click here to sign a petition that MoveOn.org is sponsoring to tell superdelegates to honor the will of the people.

Jamaica Kincaid, pub day and Angela Davis

Jamaica Kincaid was fabulous! She spoke about her experience as a gardener and read from the book I linked to before, Among Flowers, which is about her trip to Nepal to collect plants and seeds. Unfortunately, I didn't take the best notes (more on that in a minute), but a couple of quotes:

"There's no place I feel so much like myself as I do in the garden."

"All cruelty should be confined to the garden." Said in reference to how gardeners fall out of love with a plant and get rid of it.

So, Jamaica Kincaid spoke on my pub date, as you may know. And this is how pub date went: Got up at 6 and read all your wonderful comments and emails! Thank you all so much!!!

At 9 I met my good friend Maryann for breakfast at a Greek diner and then we went over to Tattered Cover (the Colfax store) to witness the miracle of my novel actually being on the shelf. It was so much fun. The booksellers there are excited and handselling, and putting my book in nice displays. Thank you Tattered Cover!

After that, I went to Target and Borders, where I didn't yet see my book (or Theresa's). Then I came home and read and reread the Essence review about five million times. :)

After that, I met my good friends Elizabeth and Heather for a 3 p.m. happy hour of champagne and tempura (they also had sushi). Which turned into 3 happy hours of eating, drinking and gabbing.

After that, I hopped in the car and over to the Botanic Gardens to hear Ms. Kincaid. My good friends Lois (owner of West Side Books) and Karen were there, so I showed off Orange Mint and Honey and Essence and got a few other people excited about the book.

Then, Ms. Kincaid went to the podium and they turned down the lights. She has a beautiful British accent and was very charming and wonderful. Except...I'd been drinking champagne for 3 hours. And they turned down the lights. And I'd been up since 6 a.m. So you know what happened, right? I didn't go all the way to sleep, but I spent most of her talk mentally slapping myself to stay awake. Hence the bad notes.

Yesterday, I did see my book (along with Therese's and Patry's) at Target.

Yesterday, I also received an invitation to go hear Angela Davis speak about "radical social justice." Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend. But here's the details:

Place and time: The Regis University Student Center Cafeteria at 8 p.m. on February 21st.

Background: Through activism and scholarship Angela Davis has been deeply involved in our nation’s quest for social justice. Her work as an educator – both at the university level and in the larger public sphere – has always emphasized the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial, and gender equality. Email for more information.

It was in the 60s yesterday. Today, snow. But that's ok because girlfriend has to get some writing done!

ringShout

I just discovered ringShout a cool new blog that is a breath of fresh air. Started by black writers "of some seriousness and ambition," the site says:

"RingShout was founded following Martha Southgate's essay "Writers Like Me" in the New York Times Book Review in July of 2007. The response in the blogosphere and in the literary world was enormous. So Martha wanted to harness this energy. She contacted Cornelius Eady and Alison Meyers of Cave Canem , a group she greatly admired, for insight into how they had formed their organization. The next step was contacting several writers, editors and a bookseller (Sarah McNally of McNally Robinson Books who participated in our first couple of meetings) who she knew and respected. The five got together over a period of six months and brainstormed until they had come up with a way to form a book list and a tool kit that would help carry out the group's mission. We kicked off with a party to drum up support and volunteers on February 1, 2008. At the present time, we remain an all-volunteer effort that is unaffiliated with any larger organization."

Writers (black, white, Latino, Asian, Indian, everybody!) please check it out. The most recent post is about a desire for "our books to be for everyone--Barack style."

The Essence Recommended Read

Wow! I'm over the moon with joy! This feature opens with:

"Carleen Brice's Orange Mint and Honey, a new novel about real mama drama, will have you hooked from page one. Taking on the fabled mother-daughter bond, the Denver author confidently strides onto terrain many lesser writers have tripped over--with winning results."

A great day...

...to curl up with a great book!

Or even two great books! Don't forget: Souvenir hits shelves today too. If you're so inclined, please post a review on Amazon.com or other sites.

Thanks everybody for all your support and for sharing my excitement! And P.S. you did it! My friend M is writing! Thanks for all your comments for her too!

Fans of Hillary and Barack, enjoy!

Refrigerator magnet synopsis

Two brief shining moments

I caucused last night. What a madhouse. In 2004, 15,000 Colorado Democrats caucused. Last night, over 100,000 did! Lines were out the door and down the block at my caucus site. Caucus workers were told to plan for 600. Several thousand showed up. I heard at least a dozen people say "This is a zoo!" as they wove in and out of lines trying to get to the line for their precint. It was crazy.

Mayor Hickenlooper was at the same site (we live in the same district, but not the same precinct.) He said something that summed up the evening for me, "Democracy is messy." If the caucus here and the caucuses and primaries around the country are any indication, get ready for a very messy election.

But what better reason to be "messy" than to be passionate about making your voice heard? I was thrilled to see many of my neighbors, and I was proud to be part of the process. Others obviously were too: they brought their children from infants to teenagers to show them what it was like to speak out about how you want your country to be led. Also, the sense that we were participating in a historic event was palpable.

In funny coincidences, my precinct was crowded into a tiny middle-school classroom in which writing is taught. On the board was a reminder for students to give themselves permission to write "badly." And the Obama precinct leader was Charlene Porter, author of Boldfaced Lies.

In other news, for this brief shining moment, Orange Mint and Honey is #24 on the Amazon list of best-sellers about mothers & children. Therese Fowler's Souvenir is #21. The Amazon numbers fluctuate wildly and mean next to nothing, but, for now, it sure feels good!

Jamaica Kincaid coming to Denver

As part of the Bonfils-Stanton Garden Personality Series, author Jamaica Kincaid will give a presentation called, "The Writer in the Garden: The Garden as Metaphor and Paradox" on Tues., Feb. 12, 7 p.m. at the Denver Botanic Gardens. The price is $17 for Botanic Garden members and $22 for nonmembers.

Kincaid is author of best-selling novels Annie John and Autobiography of My Mother. A visiting professor at Harvard University and an avid gardener, her gardening books include My Favorite Plants: Writers and Gardeners on the Plants They Love, My Garden (Book) and Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalayas.

Go here for more information.

Yes we can

This video sort of sums up everything we've been discussing here lately: writing, hope and politics. These 3 little words are my new mantra: yes we can.

The dark place

My friend M is a writer. Somehow though she's got the idea that there's something wrong with her because she's afraid of writing, publishing, revealing herself, rejection, failure, success, the whole ball of wax. I try to tell her it's common. It's normal. But she still doesn't quite believe me.

So I'd like to enlist your help. Please leave a comment about how you handle fear and writing.

And for all of us who battle fear, here's a quote from Walking on Alligators, A Book of Meditations for Writers by Susan Shaughnessy:

"The dark place seems less dark when we get there. It was only the journey that was fearful....Join us as we take the less-lit road, the road that curves into the unknown places. See what you bring back."

In the stars

So much going on in February. Black History Month. Groundhog Day. Super Tuesday (I will be caucusing for the first time!). Valentine's Day. The American Heart Association wants us to remember to be good to our hearts. But, of course, the big enchilada for me (and my pal Therese Fowler) is February 12th, pub date.

FYI, because Karen asked about events, I added a link to the event page on my website. We're still working on a trip to LA and San Francisco, but right now it looks like I'll be there the week of March 10. And I'll be (along with Kim Reid, Therese and Judy Merrill Larsen among hundreds of others) at the VA Festival of the Book at the end of March. Other cities are in the works too, so stay tuned.

Jamey Hatley turned me on to Susan Miller's Astrology Zone. Because so much is going on, I thought I'd check my February horoscope, and boy is it interesting! Susan predicts publishing or broadcasting opportunities/developments and travel, and says my picture will be in the newspaper or on TV. I especially like this part about the solar eclipse on February 6th:

What will happen precisely? Much will depend on what you've done in the past, for as you enter each month...you bring with you previous hopes, dreams, past experiences, and ongoing projects and relationships. This eclipse is meant to be your moment of reward. It will offer you a chance to take hold of something you've always wanted to do and run with it.

If you're a Gemini, you just got a taste of what's in store this month. Check out your horoscope and let's see what's up. If anything interesting pops up, let me know in the comments, ok?