Guest Star: Carleen Brice

Our Guest Star author this week is Carleen Brice author of the new novel, Children of the Waters.


Here's what the book is about:

Still reeling from divorce and feeling estranged from her teenage son, Trish Taylor is in the midst of salvaging the remnants of her life when she uncovers a shocking secret: her sister is alive. For years Trish believed that her mother and infant sister had died in a car accident. But the truth is that her mother fatally overdosed and that Trish's grandparents put the baby girl up for adoption because her father was black.

After years of drawing on the strength of her black ancestors, Billie Cousins is shocked to discover that she was adopted. Just as surprising, after finally overcoming a series of health struggles, she is pregnant--a dream come true for Billie but a nightmare for her sweetie, Nick, and for her mother, both determined to protect Billie from anything that may disrupt her well-being.

And here's my interview with the author!

1) How do you come up with the names for your characters?

I often use family names or names of friends to start and then see if the name changes as I go along.

2) When you got that first phone call announcing your had sold a novel, how did you react? How did you celebrate? If you've sold more than one novel, do you have a celebration ritual for subsequent sales?

I yelled and cried and beat on the steering wheel (my agent called just as I was leaving for work). I bought myself a pair of diamond earrings and got hubby a guitar, and there’s been lots and lots of champagne. This is my 2nd novel and it was part of a 2-book deal, so I celebrated the deals for both at once, but I also partied when each book was released.

3) If your book were to be made into a movie, who could you see playing the lead role?

Halle Berry could play Billie. Jennifer Aniston as Trish. Or Alicia Keys as Billie and Reese Witherspoon as Trish.

4) Since becoming a writer, what's the most glamorous thing you've ever done?

Attended awards ceremonies and actually received 2 awards! Almost like the Oscars! (not really, but you know what I mean)

5) If you could be a superhero, what would you superpower be?

Invisibility. (She said after months of doing self-promotion.)

Paise for Children of the Waters:

"I was exhausted and singing the blues the hour I began Carleen Brice's new novel, CHILDREN OF THE WATERS. Five hours later, I'd finished this fresh, free-rein novel about mothers' secrets and children's sorrows and was shouting 'Hurray!'"
--Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean

Click here to order Children of the Waters on Amazon!

About the Author:

Carleen Brice was recently named 2008 "Breakout Author of the Year" by The African American Literary Awards Show for her debut novel Orange Mint and Honey, which was also a selection of the Essence Book Club. She is also the author of Walk Tall:Affirmations for People of Color, and Lead Me Home: An African American's Guide Through the Grief Journey and edited the anthology Age Ain't Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife. She lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband and two cats. Visit her online at: www.CarleenBrice.com