Something quite wonderful happened yesterday. I was at a birthday party and sat opposite a neighbor I didn’t know. We began talking about school and he shared that he was a truant in high school, though he was in one of the best high schools in the city and scored well on his regents. One neighbor said he would never be truant, and I agreed. Also, I said, in college I was the VP of the black students club, Club Toussaint L’Ouverture in the 60s at Hunter College. We were successful in getting a course in Black history, even though students were threatened with expulsion for protests. I said, I was most nervous that my mother would kill me if I was expelled. That course quickly grew into a department once I was in graduate school. Then he shared this! He was a student at Hunter years later in 2000 and took a required course in the Black and Puerto Rican Studies department, and read books by James Baldwin and Richard Wright and others. He said, “I know that if it wasn’t required I would never have been exposed to these writers.”
It was quite wonderful to feel that something I had a hand in beginning had a positive effect on this stranger, and others.

The back drop of Wildflowers is the 60’s and Kirkus called it “A solid historical novel with engaging characters.”

The end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 has been fraught with illness for me and mine. This last few months have been filled with ups and downs. I haven’t written here because of illness in my family and a terrible upper respiratory infection that I suffered for the past six weeks. But while all that was happening, a wonderful thing also happened. At the end of 2018 Wildflowers was chosen as an Indie Book Worth Discovering by Kirkus Reviews and was highlighted in the January issue.

This honor meant a great deal to me, and I am glad I finally can share it with you. Wildflowers is one of 23 books that was selected for this honor for 2018.

On Tuesday, September 25,  I met with my first Book Club–the Bay Ridge Book Club. What a wonderful evening! I was nervous for days before. A retired professor, I haven’t given a presentation in years. I have been caring for my husband and at home writing. And none of my presentations had anything to do with my novel. So, this was new. My son and friends all said, just go, be yourself and have fun! It was so much fun.

I began the evening by talking about how I began as a writer. Then we had a free-wheeling discussion of Wildflowers. It doesn’t get better than hearing a room full of women, ages from fifty to eighty, tell you that they loved your characters, and related to the incidences in their lives. One, a retired teacher, read the book twice. They were retired teachers, social workers, business women, a variety of career backgrounds. Yet, they talked about how the circumstances of their lives, were so similar to the things that happened to my characters as college students, and as women, so much so that they felt that there was a universality in the story. They related to my characters thoughts and feelings, and connected with them. One expressed it this way, “I know these women. I hung out in the same kinds of places. I did these things.” One mentioned that the protests that the main character was a part of, reminded her of her own participation in protests in grad school. Another said that she found herself thinking back on her own friendships reevaluating them as the character in the book had. They then mused that they could see the characters and the story Wildflowers done as a film or extended series.

That was Tuesday , and then today Friday, September 28, I see this review on Amazon.

5 out of 5 stars
Wildflowers is a great book to curl up with
ByLinda C. Pierce on September 27, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
Right from the start, when Camille…one of the main characters of the novel…mentioned her preoccupation with reading the “Obituary” column in the New York Times, I was intrigued. Sure enough, at some point in her perusing, Camille came upon the obituary of Jewel, a dear friend from days gone by. Apparently, Jewel had passed away at age 64…alone in her apartment, with no visitors in months. Now, I was really curious to find out more.

And so the story of three best friends …Camille, Saundra, and Jewel…unwinds. Each of these “wildflowers” opens up to the reader, petal by petal, in individual chapters. Each narrative is compelling, unique, and memorable. And the individual narratives intertwine resulting in a story you will not easily forget.

The action initially takes place in NYC on Hancock Street in Brooklyn where three little Black girls…Camille, Saundra, and Jewel…first meet and play together. We get caught up in their lives and see how childhood experiences have profoundly informed the women that they have become.

If you are looking for a good book to curl up with, Wildflowers is it. And, I would be remiss if I did not mention that the novel is beautifully written. In the expert hands of author, Delores Lowe Friedman, the figurative language and imagery are skillfully rendered as the plot keeps you engaged and captive.

I highly recommend that you add this novel to your list of books to read. You will be glad you did.

https://www.amazon.com/Wildflowers-Novel-Delor…/…/1974638596

AMAZON.COM

Wildflowers: A Novel

We assume that our closest friends will be around forever. Sometimes we let years pass without checking in, confident that our paths will cross eventually and that the connection we once had will still be there. However, life doesn’t always work like that.After learning of the death of her…

Wildflowers in Countdown Promotion

Countdown discount beginning December 29th. Read a preview of the first chapters on Take a Look on Amazon,

Wildflowers my debut novel is getting its first reviews. This story about the power and perils of friendship follows three women—Camille, Jewel, and Saundra—across several decades as they confront issues of family, abuse, love, ambition, and race.

The first reviews are in! Kirkus Review says of Wildflowers:

“Friedman (Ian’s Pet, 1991, etc.) writes a multilayered account of these three women’s lives that pays close attention to setting, character development, and history. Camille is particularly well-drawn, as when she’s shown to be thoughtfully indecisive about her relationship with Coleman. Engaging reflections on issues of race, such as interracial dating, give the novel a strong social underpi nning….A solid historical novel with engaging characters.”

Here is what first readers have said on Amazon

Only 10 Days to Go
10 days to Launch Date of Wildflowers November 17, 2017. Lend your support and your voice by joining in this Thunderclap.

What is a Thunderclap?
Think of Thunderclap as a social media flash mob, or a massive scheduled social post. You can lend your voice and “donate” a Tweet or Facebook post to help spread the word about the Wildflowers Launch.
Thunderclap makes it so you don’t need to remember to post your message to social media at a specific time. You can sign up ahead of time, and help increase the social reach on Launch Day.
If you click below you can read the Thunderclap and see what the post will look like and pledge your support. You can also read what Beta Readers said about Wildflowers. Thank you for your support.

They say that having a book published is like having a baby. They are right. Wildflowers is two weeks from my due date November 17th. I thought she’d be coming late, but I was told yesterday that it seems that everything is progressing as it should, and she will be here on time. I received the Proof last week, as many of you know, and put up my reaction on Youtube. If you haven’t seen it, I had no voice. I was whispering throughout the video. I was in awe of it.

I put out the Preview Chapter 1 and have been hearing from people about it. One said it was “a page turner”, and one commented about the gender power dynamic between two characters. Yet another told me she was sending it on to a friend. It felt wonderful to hear the different comments and qualities that different people highlighted. It’s like people saying my baby had such beautiful curly hair, or such intelligent eyes. Others have said I don’t want to read Chapter 1 until I have the whole book. It’s like the relative or friend who can’t wait to hold your baby in their own hands. I am loving all of the preparations for her arrival and all of your comments and reactions.

For those of you joining me on this journey now for the first time,Wildflowers is my debut novel. This coming of age story about the power and perils of  friendship follows three women—Camille, Jewel, and Saundra—across several decades as they confront issues of family, love, betrayal, ambition, and race. You can read more about Wildflowers and about me by using the pull down menu above.

Update:  Last week I got my first book club. They are adopting Wildflowers and want me to meet with them when they finish reading. Then this week I heard from two other people who want to have Wildflowers as a book club choice. One is also in the New York City area, and they will want me to visit them in the spring.  One is an online book club and I don’t yet know how I might interact with them, but I have heard of authors doing a virtual discussion via Skype. I am researching that to see how it works. If you want to include Wildflowers in your book calendar, I would love to hear from you. 

This has been a hectic and very exciting week. The kindle version of Wildflowers went on Preorder on Amazon. I am reading the Kindle Version of my book as it will appear on Kindle and I am so pleased. And yesterday I posted a Preview of Wildflowers, Chapter 1 for you to read.

A little bit about Wildflowers…

When Camille Warren finds out that her old friend Jewel has died, she can’t help but relive the past. Camille, Jewel, and Saundra were once very close—from childhood all the way through college in New York City—but then they drifted apart, and now Camille can’t remember exactly why.

Wildflowers is the story of a dynamic friendship that spans more than four decades. It explores both the tenderness and anger in the relationship that connects Camille, Jewel, and Saundra. As Camille remembers a fateful brunch from twenty years earlier, she confronts old jealousies, prejudices, and betrayals, and she finally comes to understand the strength of friendship—and its fragility.