We are pleased to welcome Jennifer Lucic to CLC today, to talk about her latest, and most personal novel, Pink Clay. She wrote it to honor the memory of a friend who lost her life to breast cancer. It sounds like a heartfelt and touching story and makes us think of Promises to Keep by Jane Green. We enjoyed chatting with Jennifer and seeing her answers to our questions. Jennifer has THREE print copies to give away!
Writing dark truths with a side of sarcasm, Jennifer Lucic is an author of Women’s contemporary fiction—deep cuts guaranteed, and entirely intentional.
Featured on Reedsy, Goodreads, and others who tolerate her style.
Award-winning screenplays mean she must be doing something right.
Jennifer Lucic’s stories are unflinching, and she’s looking for readers who are too. (Bio courtesy of Jennifer's website.)
With champagne and caviar, twenty-five-year-old Emily glitters through society, her life a kaleidoscope of luxury afforded to her by birthright as a coffee company heiress. But beneath the Hermès, lurks a gnawing emptiness, one mirrored in the mammogram that shatters her perfect world.
Scrambling to make ends meet, twenty-seven-year-old Sarah knows struggle like the worn groves in her clay-stained sneakers. A single mother, balancing a side hustle as a ceramic artist and a son’s laughter, she never expected the blow that would leave them both reeling—a diagnosis they can’t afford to face.
Thrown together by fate, or a shared oncology ward, their backgrounds couldn’t be more different. Yet, in the stark reality of chemo cocktails and stolen tears, a bond blossoms. Emily and Sarah navigate the labyrinth of treatment while being 20-somethings just trying to find their place in the little piece of the world they call life.
Will this unlikely friendship survive? Will they?
This is a story of unexpected connections, of laughter in the face of fear, and the transformative power of friendship. It is a testament to the fact that sometimes, the greatest treasures are found not in material wealth, but in the shared grit and grace of coming together. (Courtesy of Amazon.)
What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?
One of my favorite compliments I've received on my writing is how well-developed my characters are and how people feel connected to them. Character development was something I really struggled with in my early writing career and have since spent a considerable time trying to improve. Time well spent.
What were the biggest rewards and challenges with writing Pink Clay?
Writing Pink Clay has been both my most rewarding and most challenging piece thus far because it was inspired by a real-life friendship that was lost due to breast cancer. My friend Jackie, whom the book is dedicated to, came into my life at a time when I was truly suffering, and breast cancer took her from us when she was only 35 years old. Writing this book was challenging because it touched on my own experiences with losing a friend to disease. Even though the characters I wrote are fictional, Emily and Sarah both represent emotional cornerstones of my own journey through grief.
On the same token, writing Pink Clay has been immensely rewarding because I have since received an outpour of communications from other women and their families, including Jackie's family, who can relate to the same journey, and have found peace in connecting with the story. My friend's legacy lives on through her family, her children, and I am honored that, in some small way, also lives on through this story being shared with the world.
If Pink Clay were made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?
If Pink Clay were made into a movie, it would be a DREAM to have Zendaya play the role of Sarah (who happens to be my favorite), and I would love to see Emily played by Elle Fanning. Both actresses feel so perfect for every role they're in, but WOW how amazing it would be to see them as Sarah and Emily!
Since you wrote this book to honor your friend's memory, please share a favorite memory you have of her.
On the day I gave birth to my second child, I had to say goodbye to my third. They were twins. We had known half-way through the pregnancy one of the twins wouldn't make it, so we held our breath and tried to get through the rest of it in good spirits. The birthday, a mix of joy and grief, sent me into a postpartum tailspin I was not prepared for.
Around that same time, a new couple moved into the house next to ours, Jackie and her husband. They were a young couple, the same age as my husband and I, and with two kids, also the same age as ours. I was excited at the prospect of a new mom friend, but the postpartum depression and grief I felt prevented me from getting out of bed to meet her.
Months would go by, I would see them and their kids from my living room window, playing outside, and generally enjoying the neighborhood. My husband tried encouraging me to go out and interact, but I still could not, lost in my own grief and exhaustion of having a new baby.
Then it was Halloween. My new baby was four months old, my eldest daughter was turning two, in two days, and the whole neighborhood decided to get together outside for a bonfire while everyone passed out candy to trick-or-treaters. Jackie was there. I decided enough was enough and I was going to force myself out of the house. I'm so glad I did, because that one decision turned into an hours-long conversation between Jackie and I. Almost as if she had been just as excited about meeting me, as I was her. I learned that night that Jackie was in chemotherapy for breast cancer. We talked about her treatments, about my own struggles with postpartum, about the kids and my toddler's upcoming birthday. I had mentioned that my toddler had recently fallen into an obsession with a child's entertainment star named Blippi, but it had happened so recently, there was no time to plan a Blippi party or gifts, everything had been set and purchased already, oh well. We laughed about the kid's interests and how fleeting they could be.
Two days later, on the day of my daughter's birthday, we woke up to a decorated pink gift bag sitting on our front porch. My kids and I were so excited to open my daughter's first birthday present! The party wasn't for a few more days, so we thought maybe one of our long-distance family members had sent something. My daughter's tiny fingers pulled away the pink tissue paper to reveal a Blippi doll.
I was overcome. This was not from any family member, but my new friend Jackie. I couldn't believe how thoughtful she had been, considering her limited energy and everything she had going on with the demands of her treatments. She'd taken the initiative to go out and purchase a thoughtful gift for a child she'd just met. This was not just a gift, but an offer of friendship to me. It was a profound moment and sparked the next two years of us becoming good friends, and sharing in the last moments of her life. I still have the doll, it serves as a representation of a memory I will always cherish.
What is the most memorable Valentine's Day experience you've ever had?
The most memorable Valentine's Day experience I've ever had will have to go to my wonderful husband. My husband, Nick, is a notoriously horrible cook. When he moved out of his family home to attend college, he survived on canned chili and starbucks. Lucky for him, he met me, and I LOVE to cook. We eat well these days.
But one year, back when we were dating, I had mentioned that while I do enjoy all the fancy dates and restaurants he takes me to, I would so appreciate a home-cooked meal I didn't have to cook myself. That year, for Valentine's Day, he proclaimed he would cook me a meal and grant my wish. Remember, the man lived off canned chili, so, this is kind of a big deal.
Anyway, he must have spent weeks preparing, like he was going to be a contestant on Master Chef. He searched recipes, different versions of the recipe, looked on forums for tips and tricks, etc. On the day, he went to the grocery store to purchase the freshest ingredients, using Google as his guide--also never having looked at a produce section in the grocery store.
Alas, all the preparation could not prepare him for the kind of questions he would have in the moment. The time came to prepare the meal, and this is where it gets memorable. The man didn't know how to zest a lemon, salt a pot, or bread a filet of fish. In the heat of it all, with items already being cooked he tried, and pivoted, not having time or the ability to figure it out on the fly.
I couldn't help myself, and went into the kitchen to assess his progress. I found a sack of flour on the counter that couldn't have been used considering the state of the cooked fish in the pan.
"What was the flour for?" I asked.
"Oh, I was gonna do Beer Battered, but then I remembered I didn't know how to do that, so I'm doing grilled instead."
The way he said it, and how thoughtful it was of him to just figure out a different way of doing it rather than bothering me for help, was the sweetest Valentine he could have given me. And his grilled fish pasta that night was fabulous.
If your life was a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it?
Maybe it's the millenial in me, but everytime I think of a narrator, I think of Morgan Freeman. It doesn't feel right for it to be anyone else. What an honor it would be to have the GOAT narrate my life.
Thanks to Jennifer for visiting with us and for sharing her book with our readers.
How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here.
Giveaway ends February 11th at midnight EST.
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