Kind-eyed, loced Carleen Brice, the author of the highly-acclaimed novel Orange Mint and Honey, published her second novel, Children of the Waters, in June 2009. Children of the Waters tells the story of two sisters’ parallel struggles through prejudice, disease, and family through subtle but finely tuned writing. In the interview below with "One World Books" (from the Reader’s Guide to Children of the Waters), Carleen shares the surreal joy of her success and her thoughts on book clubs.
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One World Books: Carleen, it’s a pleasure getting the chance to sit with you and talk all things books, now that you’re a seasoned and award-winning novelist! Perhaps the best place to start would be to ask how you feel about the success of your first novel. Orange Mint and Honey earned the First Fiction Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, debut novel honors from the African American Literary Book Club, was an Essence book club pick, there’s been interest from Hollywood—and of course, admiration from readers everywhere. Did you have any idea that this would happen?
Carleen Brice: I hoped, of course, for good things to come, but it’s pretty surreal when it happens. When they called my name at the awards for the African American Literary Book Club, and people at my table—who I had just met that night—screamed for me, it was amazing. The whole process has been incredible. I’m overjoyed and honored that my work has received so much attention. But the best thing has been reader response—I’m so grateful to the people who’ve taken the time to email me or write reviews online.
One World Books: Can you tell us a bit about your visits to individual book clubs to discuss Orange Mint and Honey? How did that come about? How did you find the experience?
Carleen Brice: Book clubs contact me through my website, www.carleenbrice.com, or approach me at events and whenever I can, I make it a point to attend in person or via phone. It’s wonderful to hear the discussions first hand. When you’re writing about your characters, it’s just you and them in a room. It’s really fun to see other people relate to them and treat them like they’re real—feeling sorry for them or getting mad at them—just like I did when I was writing.
At first people are a little shy because the author is right there, but eventually they loosen up (the drinks served at book clubs might have a little to do with that!) and start saying how they really feel about the characters and the plot. I encourage that honesty (though so far it’s easy to do because nobody has hated it). It’s fun to hear one person say “I thought it was wrong for them to act out in the church the way they did.” And then someone else say, “I understand it. If I was Shay I would have been hollering too!” It makes me feel like I did my job when some of the group is siding with Shay and some of the group is siding with Nona, which happens at every single book club.
One World Books: Did any of the early feedback you received about Orange Mint and Honey impact the way you wrote this novel (which, by the way, is simply stunning)?
Carleen Brice: Thank you! I wouldn’t say the feedback impacted how I write. I feel like I learned a lot writing my first novel, but writing this book was a completely different thing so I don’t know how much was applied to it. My goals were the same: to make people think and feel and for them to be entertained. It was inspiring to see how people responded so well to my first novel. Gave me hope that readers are interested in the same kind of characters and stories I am.
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The full interview is available on Carleen’s website, and you can catch Ms. Brice this week in Denver:
Sunday, August 16 at 6:00 p.m.
West Side Books
3434 W. 32nd Avenue
Denver, Colo. 80211
303.480.0220
***
One World Books: Carleen, it’s a pleasure getting the chance to sit with you and talk all things books, now that you’re a seasoned and award-winning novelist! Perhaps the best place to start would be to ask how you feel about the success of your first novel. Orange Mint and Honey earned the First Fiction Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, debut novel honors from the African American Literary Book Club, was an Essence book club pick, there’s been interest from Hollywood—and of course, admiration from readers everywhere. Did you have any idea that this would happen?
Carleen Brice: I hoped, of course, for good things to come, but it’s pretty surreal when it happens. When they called my name at the awards for the African American Literary Book Club, and people at my table—who I had just met that night—screamed for me, it was amazing. The whole process has been incredible. I’m overjoyed and honored that my work has received so much attention. But the best thing has been reader response—I’m so grateful to the people who’ve taken the time to email me or write reviews online.
One World Books: Can you tell us a bit about your visits to individual book clubs to discuss Orange Mint and Honey? How did that come about? How did you find the experience?
Carleen Brice: Book clubs contact me through my website, www.carleenbrice.com, or approach me at events and whenever I can, I make it a point to attend in person or via phone. It’s wonderful to hear the discussions first hand. When you’re writing about your characters, it’s just you and them in a room. It’s really fun to see other people relate to them and treat them like they’re real—feeling sorry for them or getting mad at them—just like I did when I was writing.
At first people are a little shy because the author is right there, but eventually they loosen up (the drinks served at book clubs might have a little to do with that!) and start saying how they really feel about the characters and the plot. I encourage that honesty (though so far it’s easy to do because nobody has hated it). It’s fun to hear one person say “I thought it was wrong for them to act out in the church the way they did.” And then someone else say, “I understand it. If I was Shay I would have been hollering too!” It makes me feel like I did my job when some of the group is siding with Shay and some of the group is siding with Nona, which happens at every single book club.
One World Books: Did any of the early feedback you received about Orange Mint and Honey impact the way you wrote this novel (which, by the way, is simply stunning)?
Carleen Brice: Thank you! I wouldn’t say the feedback impacted how I write. I feel like I learned a lot writing my first novel, but writing this book was a completely different thing so I don’t know how much was applied to it. My goals were the same: to make people think and feel and for them to be entertained. It was inspiring to see how people responded so well to my first novel. Gave me hope that readers are interested in the same kind of characters and stories I am.
***
The full interview is available on Carleen’s website, and you can catch Ms. Brice this week in Denver:
Sunday, August 16 at 6:00 p.m.
West Side Books
3434 W. 32nd Avenue
Denver, Colo. 80211
303.480.0220
--Emmaline Silverman
Photo courtesy CarleenBrice.com
1 comment:
Thank you for including me. I'm reading SHORT GIRLS right now so I look forward to reading the interview with Bich!
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