Clarice Gregoire James

Why I Started Writing:

After years of raising a family and working fulltime outside the home, I’ve reached a stage in life where I can pursue writing—like I’ve wanted to since high school. The encouragement I received over time from professors, employers, friends, and family always spurred me on. My desire never waned. Now I get to choose what I write! Currently, it is contemporary women’s fiction. 

Authors Who Have Influenced Me:

Mark Twain (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer), Erma Bombeck (The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank), and Dave Barry (Miami Herald columnist) showed me the funny side of human nature. A. A. Milne (of Winnie-the-Pooh fame) and Marjery Williams (The Velveteen Rabbit) taught me about unconditional love. Charles Dickens (A Tale of Two Cities), Victor Hugo (Les Miserables), and Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook) showed me the fullness of love and heartache. Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbs) and Scott Adams (Dilbert) taught me to laugh at myself. Mary Higgins Clark and Jan Karon (The Mitford Series) added just enough mystery without scaring me half to death. Dale Cramer and Daphne Simpkins made me want to move down south. Women’s contemporary fiction authors Deborah Bedford and Cynthia Ruchti inspire me to write better every day. 

Books I Have Written:

To date, all four of my novels are women’s contemporary fiction with humor, romance, and mystery woven throughout.

As one of three winners in the 2014 Jerry Jenkins Operation First Novel contest, Double Header was originally published in December 2015. An updated second edition, Doubleheader, was released by Elk Lake Publishing in 2019. Set in Boston, MA, the story follows a rising sports columnist who fears losing the unblemished memories of her late father when she learns she has a brother no one knew existed. 

Set in Sandwich, MA, Party of One was released by Elk Lake Publishing in early 2017. In a bold move for a private woman, a widow starts a supper club for single diners, where her private life becomes the “blue plate special” for the eclectic mix who join her.

Manhattan Grace, was released by Elk Lake Publishing in May of 2018. An aspiring actress leaves Cape Cod to become a nanny in Manhattan, where her path crosses with a Jewish believer who mentors her, a seven-year-old who challenges her, and a jewel thief who fools them all.  

The Girl He Knew, set in Plymouth, MA, was released in September, 2019, by Elk Lake Publishing. After a man loses his active, health-conscious wife to a drug overdose, he struggles with guilt and feelings of inadequacy until he takes on the drug problem in his town.

What I'm Working On Now:

Currently, I’m working on another women’s contemporary novel set in Andover, Maine entitled The Least of These. A whistleblower from Philadelphia hides out at her great-aunt’s home in a small town in Maine. She discovers keeping her identity and whereabouts secret is not easy in a town where residents know everything about one another.

Clarice James

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