If you missed part 1 of my interview with author Carleen Brice, the remedy is just a click away. Carleen is the author of the highly regarded novel Orange Mint and Honey–which was just optioned by Lifetime TV–and has just released her second novel, Children of the Waters. Read a two-chapter excerpt of her new work HERE.

Today, we’ll talk about inspirations, writerly advice, Carleen’s unboxed White Readers Meet Black Authors blog, and more. Enjoy!

Interview with Carleen Brice: Part 2

Q: I read in the endnotes of your book that several characters were based on real acquaintances and family members. How do you go about using real people to develop characters? Which traits do you keep, which do you release, which do you develop? How closely do you adhere to who that person truly is in real life, or does it depend on what you need for the story?

CB: No character ever stays completely the person their based on. I blend traits from different people, and then, as I said, as I work with them, I learn more about the characters so that they become unique.

Q: Also in the endnotes you said:

Writing a book is much like starting a relationship. At the beginning, it’s all hearts and flowers and you’re madly in love with your story. Your story can do no wrong. Until it does.(For me, this is around page 100.) Then you start to notice what a jerk your story really is secretly thinking you can do better. You may even start cheating and work on another story on the side. Whether you give in to temptation or not, this is the moment you have to ask yourself why you thought your story was worth it in the first place. You remind yourself of why you wanted to tell this story and how important it is to you, and, you hope, how important it’ll be to others. Then you stop winking at other stories and focus on this one. You do this over and over and over until publication do you part.

Love this! How, specifically, do you push through the page-100-wanna-cheat bump to recommit to your story? Re-read notes? Re-read the draft? Envision the ending? Meditate? Eat a lot of chocolate? Or just sit down and do it?
CB: You left out crying! I do a lot of crying and praying! I also keep rereading the parts of the story I like, to remind myself that it’s worth getting through the hard parts. And I will also let myself skip ahead to parts that are easier to write. (And I have been known to indulge in coffee and chocolate.)

Q: Who or what inspires you?

CB: Other writers. Reading a book that I really, really love makes me want to sit down and try to write something that moving or beautiful or funny myself. I’ve been inspired a bit lately by athletes. Watching the NBA finals for example and watching all the guys who played while injured or sick. Makes me think that when I’d rather not sit down and write, I should be more inclined to suck it up like they do.

Q: What’s on your keeper shelf?

CB: The Red Tent by Anita Diament, Ugly Ways by Tina McElroy Ansa, Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine by Bebe Moore Campbell to name a few.

Q: What was the editorial process like for you? How long did it take? What sort of feedback did you have and how did you process it?

CB: I workshopped about 100 pages of this story in a master novel-writing class, and had one of my good writer-friends read parts for me. So I got a lot of the basic instruction about what was working and what wasn’t working out of the way before my editor read it. On this book, my editor and I were both working on it at the same time, which was a little different. As she was reading a draft, I’d still be rewriting myself. So it was a challenge to keep track of all the different versions out there.

Q: What was the most important lesson that you took away from that class, and the critique experience? [And/Or] What did you learn about yourself and your writing?

CB: Can I answer a slightly different question? I took an intermediate novel class about 5 years ago and learned a great lesson there. There was a guy in the class who wasn’t a very good writer who kept saying about my writing, “But nothing happens.” Everyone else in the class was in love with the language and the imagery and stuff, but he was bored. I hated that guy, but about a year after the class I realized he was right. The scenes would end where they began. For example, if a character started the scene worried, she ended the scene with the same amount of worry–and to keep things moving, it should be more or less. So I learned a lot from a guy who wasn’t a great writer, but he understood that stories need to move.

Q: Let’s talk about one of your two blogs, welcomewhitefolks.blogspot.com: “Your official invitation into the African American section of the bookstore! A sometimes serious, sometimes light-hearted plea for EVERYBODY to give a black writer a try.” How did the blog come about? How has it been received? What else would you like people to know about it?

CB: I started this blog in reaction to conversations I was having (and reading) with other black writers. Two in particular, Shon Bacon and Bernice McFadden, started a conversation on Blogging in Black (now called Readersrooms.com) last fall about how books by black authors are marketed and sold differently than books by white authors. I half-jokingly suggested “Buy a book by somebody black and give it somebody not black month” and it got such a good response within a week or so I had the blog up (naming December as National Buy a Book…Month) and soon after that got some friends together and we did a video. The reception has been pretty amazing. The media picked up on it very quickly and most readers get the humor and the point I’m trying to make. We’ll see if it really makes any difference in how people view fiction by black authors though.

Q: Your other blog, pajamagardener.blogspot.com is more personal and features a sidebar promo of your book, with a scattering of puzzle pieces-reminiscent of a spiritually mysterious portion of Children of the Waters. (Very unboxed!) What else have you done to promote your book?

CB: I used AuthorBuzz.com. I paid to send myself to BEA & ALA this year. I bought some other online promotions. I’ve held contests and guest-blogged or done Q&As on many sites.

Q: What are three things you’ve done to publicize your novel that you’d do all over again?

CB: I’d definitely use Author Buzz again, and I think it’s worth being at BEA (ALA was a little different because I received an award-so I was invited.). White Readers Meet Black Authors has raised my profile some, and I will definitely continue to try to promote the works of other black authors. (And I recommend that authors try to think of something to blog about that’s not just “buy my book.”)

Q: What is it about the publishing industry that you wish you’d known before your debut was published?

CB: How hard it is to breakout. I’d heard it a million times, but my 1st novel received a lot of good attention and I thought it would make a bigger splash than it did. Even with good reviews and awards and such, it’s really, really hard to cut through the clutter.

Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists?

CB: Keep the faith. And, ironically, that all the information would-be novelists gather about the business may make life harder than easier. Even though I just said I wish I really knew how hard it was to break out, I also sometimes wish I didn’t know so much about how the sausage is made, you know? It can be pretty discouraging sometimes. It might be best for one’s mental health to leave most of that stuff to the agents.

Q: What’s next for you?

CB: I need to get back to work! I started a 3rd novel-the working title is CALLING EVERY GOOD WISH HOME. But I haven’t done much on it in over a month. I’m also looking at trying my hand at a graphic novel (depending on things), so I’ve been doing research and learning about graphic novels.

Thanks so much, Carleen, for taking time out for this interview, and best of luck with your new novel. Readers, you can learn more about purchasing Carleen’s works at her website HERE, or look for them at your favorite brick-and-mortar shops nationwide.