Thanks to Godparents

From The Pajama Gardener and author Carleen Brice, whose debut novel, ORANGE MINT AND HONEY, will be published in February.

When I was working on a pseudo-final draft of my first novel, I asked my then-new friend Marisol (author of The Lady, the Chef and the Courtesan) to read it for me. I couldn't for the life of me think of a good title. I gave her a list of almost-there-but-not-quite ideas, and asked for some help.

Well, not only did Marisol read my book, but so did her husband Rob. Then they did a little brainstorming and came up with Orange Mint and Honey, which I loved! (The closest I had come was Orange Mint Tea--boring!) But even better than the wonderful title was how Marisol presented it to me: on a sheet of paper printed with the words "a novel" and my name just like they would be in a book. It was the first moment I felt like this dream could actually come true.

I'll always be grateful to Marisol and Rob for believing the draft they read would become a book, and for helping to make it so by giving it such a lyrical title. I call them my book's godparents now.