Happy Friday

I am a huge Brad Paisley fan and this song always reminds me of my hubby... So for Chadaddy on this Friday.
xo maggie

Children of the Waters by Carleen Brice

Children of the Waters by Carleen Brice is out this week! I can't wait to read this book. I am so very excited for it. Here is the cover. As you all know, I love cover art...and this cover gets a big thumbs up from me.



Carleen was kind enough to answer some of my questions about Children of The Water as well as her writing process.


Tell us about your latest book.

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.


What pulled you into this story, and as a writer made you think 'I have to write this'?

My sister-in-law told me the story of meeting her birth sister. I got goose bumps and everyone I ever told the story always said they got goose bumps. Can’t have a better sign that this is a good story to tell!


Tell us about your writing process. Do you outline or are you more organic?

I do a combination of outlining and writing and seeing where it goes. It’s weird and very messy, but seems to be how I work.


What is a typical writing day like for you?

After goofing off on the internet, I mean, after networking, for an hour or so, I usually spend about 3 hours writing or trying to write. If it’s really going well or if I’m on deadline, I will pick it up later in the day and do another couple of hours.


If you could only own and read 5 books for the rest of your life, (excluding your own) what five books would you choose?

This would be a terrible, terrible thing! But if I had to:

YOUR BLUES AIN’T LIKE MINE by Bebe Moore Campbell

THE RED TENT by Anita Diament

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE by J.K. Rowling

THIS SIDE OF THE SKY by Elyse Singleton

UGLY WAYS by Tina McElroy Ansa


If you had to watch only five films for the rest of your life, what five films would you choose?

Again, shivers just thinking about it!

Broadcast News

Out of Sight

Something New

Kung Fu Hustle

The Way We Were




Thank you Carleen! Now everyone go buy the book!
xomaggie

Happy Friday

This made me laugh, smile, and even tear up a little. Nothing like a good wedding.
Happy Friday!

Whats New

Let's see... The In-Laws are in town for a visit. Since having children, they definitely aren't here to see me or Chadaddy. Oh no. It's all about H & G. Finished TV Pilot on Friday and sent to managers. Am hopeful this becomes part of their weekend read. Am even more hopeful that they love it. Although I would settle for a 'we really really like this, but here are some notes.' Anything above 'this sucks' would be welcome. Tweaking movie treatment for producer I am working with. Reading article sent to us by other producers to try and sort out pitch. And am working on YA that I love but has been hanging around for over a year... There are a couple other developments...but...I am ridiculously superstitious so want to keep them to myself until I know more. Have a happy Sunday.
xoMaggie

This Little Mommy Stayed Home

The cover for This Little Mommy Stayed Home by Samantha Wilde is absolutely adorable...



Samantha's new book is out and she stopped by to answer some of my questions.

Tell me a little about your book.

Joy McGuire, a seemingly normal person with a seemingly normal marriage, has a baby, after which point, nothing is normal again. Not her breasts or her belly or her heart or her marriage. It’s a hilarious, rueful, laugh-out-loud post partum tale about the grueling work of the first nine months of the first baby when change is an urgent necessity that you wish you could run away from.


What got you writing in the genre in which you write?

Being who I am, I suppose. I think my genre is chick lit, yummy mummy lit. It just came out of me that way, actually. And then it landed in a genre. Sassy, funny stuff about motherhood really only has one genre, in fiction, for the most part.


Favorite thing about being a writer?

The actual writing, the living inside the worlds of my characters, and some sense that some time, somewhere, my words may make someone laugh, may make a difference, for an instant.


Least favorite thing about being a writer?

Being alone. I’m a people person. I don’t love sitting in front of my computer.


What is the most interesting thing that's happened to you since becoming a published author?

I started blogging. I am afraid of blogs, so this still surprises me. It’s been alright. I’m a ludite. I’m into in-person community, but I’ve learned a lot and made some connections.


What's your writing process/writing environment like?

I wrote THIS LITTLE MOMMY STAYED HOME while lying in bed, eating chocolates, during my infant son’s nap times. I write quickly, with the sense of an impending cry from the nursery. I write without looking back and look back later. I write in a sort of frenzy, but mostly I write in my head, so when I have my hour, I can go, go, go.


What's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten about writing?

My mother, Nancy Thayer, has been quoted as writing, “It’s never too late, in fiction or life, to revise.” We laugh, because this is true and also not true. (When it’s on the shelves, it’s too late.) Still, it helps when I’m writing to know there is a time later to perfect things. She also always said to me, “put it in your work.” I do. I put it all in my work. It’s a great place for things, the good, the bad and the ugly. And it makes of a mess, a meaning.


What's next for you?

I just finished my second novel I’LL TAKE WHAT SHE HAS out from Bantam in 2010. It’s about envy. Another topic I know nothing about.