Lo siento

Sorry I haven't been blogging here much lately. I was busy with freelance deadlines and I've been sucked into Facebook land.  If you're on FB, friend me. 

A little news: I'm a finalist for the Colorado Book Award for literary fiction and for the Colorado Author's League Top Hand Award for mainstream fiction.

And, I got a Mac! It's hubby's gently used one, which is a zillion times faster than my 6-year-old PC.

Nothing much else exciting going on. Working, picking dandelions, walking. Counting the days to book launch. What's going on with you? 

Welcome April Henry!

I'm doing a panel next month on social networking, and I get interviewed from time to time about my other blog. One of the things I love to point out about online networking is how great people can be to one another. Almost daily I'm amazed at the generosity people show to each other online, providing information and support to virtual strangers. The Girlfriends Cyber Circuit is just one example of that!


April Henry is a new member of the GCC, so let's give a big pajama gardener welcome to her! And check out this book...sounds like a mighty good read.


Face of Betrayal
When 17-year-old Senate page Katie Converse goes missing on her Christmas break near her parents' white Victorian home in Portland, Ore., law enforcement and the media go into overdrive in a search for clues. Three friends at the pinnacle of their respective careers--Allison Pierce, a federal prosecutor; Cassidy Shaw, a crime reporter; and Nicole Hedges, an FBI special agent--soon discover that Katie wasn't the picture of innocence painted by her parents. Did Katie run away to escape their stifling demands? Was she having an affair with the senator who sponsored her as a page? Has she been kidnapped? Is she the victim of a serial killer?

April co-wrote Face of Betrayal with Lis Wiehl, a legal analyst on FOX. They have a contract for three more Triple Threat mysteries. In March, April’s young adult thriller, Torched, came out from Putnam.

April Henry knows how to kill you in a two dozen different ways. She makes up for a peaceful childhood in an intact home by killing off fictional characters. April had one detour on her path to destruction: when she was 12 she sent a short story about a six-foot tall frog who loved peanut butter to noted children's author Roald Dahl. He liked it so much he arranged to have it published in an international children's magazine. By the time she was in her 30s, April had come to terms with her childhood and started writing about hit men, drug dealers, and serial killers. She has published six mysteries and thrillers, with five more under contract. Her books have gotten starred reviews, been on Booksense (twice!), translated into four languages, short-listed for the Oregon Book Award, and chosen as a Quick Pick by the American Library Association.


What others are saying about Face of Betrayal:



Publishers Weekly: “A sizzling political thriller… The seamless plot offers a plethora of twists and turns.”


Romantic Times:4.5 stars [and they don’t give out five stars] “Wiehl and Henry have penned a winner that seems to come straight from the headlines. Captivating suspense, coupledwith tightly written prose, will entertain and intrigue."


Ingram: "Readers are in for a treat as trial lawyer/commentator Lis Wiehl and mystery author April Henry team up for a political thriller."



And now to our Q&A:


Who do you picture in your mind when you write?
I really write for myself – someone who is busy and wants to be entertained and/or informed, or they’ll move on.


What's been your biggest surprised about getting published?
One surprise was that I imagined when you were published all your worries disappeared and you just sat back and cashed fat royalty checks. Another was that adult books only have about an 8-10 week window to succeed. (With children’s andYA books, that time is a lot longer.) A more recent discovery was just how different YA and adult publishing are from each other.


Is writing your main job? If not, what do you do for your real source of income and how does it impact your writing?
For a long time, I worked full time in health care as a writer. I wrote everything from ads to “What you need to know about ovarian cancer” [the answer to that one is: that you should hope to never, ever get it.] Having to write on deadline taught me about discipline. And I learned that what I loved best about writing was telling stories. I’m good at getting people to open up and tell me their stories.


Art or entertainment? Is one more valid or important than the other?
If art isn’t entertaining, then it won’t find much of an audience. But entertainment without substance is like trying to live on marshmallow fluff. There has to be a balance.


What comes most naturally for you to write, dialogue? plot? character? And what's hardest?
I often forget to have my characters do something while they talk. But it’s so important, because the right interaction with an object can really speak volumes without any dialog.

Thanks April!

Novel Adventures

Novel Adventures is a CBS web series/commercial for Saturn. But the cool thing is the series is about 4 women in a book club who go on adventures (in their Saturns) inspired by the books they read. 8 books, 8 episodes.

The series went up in November. Anybody watch? I wonder what you think of web shows that double as commercials?

Good Friday

A friend emailed me this advice for having a Good Friday and I thought I'd share:

Nothing you probably haven't heard before but everyone needs to be reminded once in awhile.

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement,' My purpose is to __________ today.'

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest
your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone..

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. GOD heals everything.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch!!!

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

News

I'm guest blogging over at Brenda Janowitz' place today. Though I know you don't spend your time wondering what it's like to be me, but maybe wondering what it's like to have a novel optioned has crossed your mind? If so, read my guest post. And if you STILL haven't scored a copy of Orange Mint and Honey yet, I'm giving away one over there (contest goes until April 15).

Goodreads' Literary Fiction by People of Color Book Club is reading Orange Mint this month. Join the group and join the discussion.

In other news, more blurbs!

“In Children of the Waters, Carleen Brice manages to explore the difficult, messy and unpleasant details of life with both humor and wisdom. The parallel journeys of sisters, Trish and Billie, will resonate with everyone and anyone who has questioned their identity and place in this world. Once again, Carleen Brice has crafted a thoroughly enjoyable novel that gets at the heart of the human experience." – Lori Tharps, author of Kinky Gazpacho

"In Children of the Waters, Carleen Brice highlights the effects of America's complicated relationship with race and identity on three generations of two families in a clear and insightful depiction of what it means to be American at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Brice knows how far we have come and how far there is left to go, and in Children of the Waters she deflty lays it all out for the reader to see." - Matthew Aaron Goodman, author of Hold Love Strong

I'm feeling like Sally Field more and more every day! :)