I was lucky enough to read the sophomore novel from today’s guest author, Carleen Brice, in advanced reader copy this spring, and loved it. But I’m not the only one singing the praises of Children of the Waters. Booklist calls it “compelling and difficult to put down,” and Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean, calls it a “fresh, free-rein novel about mothers’ secrets and children’s sorrows” that left her shouting “Hurray!'” Carleen’s post about how she started writing will leave you torn between running to the bookstore and sitting down to write. Enjoy! – Meg
I got started taking the road more frequently traveled. Colorado Boulevard in Denver. My first nonfiction book idea came to me in the car going south on Colorado Blvd. My first novel idea came to me heading north on the same street 7 years later.
My degree is in journalism and I worked in marketing and PR writing newsletter articles, press releases, brochures and such before I tried something more creative. For years, all my creativity got used up making excuses for why I couldn’t write an essay or short story. One of the excuses I actually verbalized was that I wouldn’t be able to write until my mother died. I believe I thought this for 2 reasons: 1) I was afraid that I’d write about my childhood or relationship with her and she would be hurt by it and 2) My mother was quite young and I thought she’d live many more years (giving me many more years of reasons not to write). Turned out I was wrong. My mom passed away about 3 years later. She was 45 when she died. I was 28. She died in February. March of the same year I published an op-ed in the local paper and by that fall was working on a book proposal. Not only did I not have that excuse anymore, but I also had a tangible sense of how short and fragile life is. I couldn’t spend any more time dicking around.
My first novel, Orange Mint and Honey, came out in February 2008. It’s a mother-daughter story, 
so my worries about writing about my relationship with my mother were well-founded. And, at the same time, I had nothing to worry about. I discovered that characters quickly become themselves. Work with them enough. Daydream about them enough. And they won’t be only the people they were loosely based on. They take on their own quirks, likes, dislikes, hopes and dreams and habits. The mother in that novel is more me than she is my mother. The relationship between her and her daughter is closer to how my relationship with my father evolved than how I got along with my mother.
I spent a few years writing and rewriting—teaching myself how to write a novel and taking workshops and being in critique groups—before I started to try to get an agent. I sent a draft off to the literary agency of a writer friend and they loved it, but had some ideas about rewriting. I decided to make their re-writes. Then I went further (farther?) and made even more changes (once you start pulling that thread….). By the time I sent it back, it was so different, they hated it. Seriously, they all but said, What the hell did you do?!
I cried. A lot. For hours. But the next morning, I got up and went to dance class. After an hour of literally shaking it off, I was done with tears and ready to try again. That Saturday afternoon I queried 2 more agents via email. Within days, 1 agent asked for a partial, which I sent, and another agent asked for the full on a 3-week exclusive. When I told her I couldn’t give her an exclusive, she asked if I would give her 1 week to read it before I made any decisions.
In a week, I went from “this book sucks rocks” to “don’t sign with anybody else.”
I signed with the agent who took a week to read the full manuscript. Three months later, I was offered a 2-book deal. My 2nd novel, Children of the Waters, came out June 23. (Loosely, very loosely, based on a true story.) I’m currently working on a novel called “Calling Every Good Wish Home”, and doing research for another book.
Morals? Get a 2nd opinion before you decide if you want to make changes to your work. And, pay attention to the voices that come when you’re driving. But if you live in Denver, Colorado Blvd. belongs to me. Get your own road. – Carleen
