WS Chronicle

Trice Hickman is an accomplished author with nine books under her belt. She is holding a book signing at the Carver School Road Library this evening at 7 p.m. to promote her new book, “The Other Side.”

Her new book tells the tale of three women from three different age groups that help one another navigate their way through the trials of life.

“This is a really special story for me, because I have been on a hiatus and have not released a new title in over three years,” said Hickman. “At one point, I was releasing a book a year, but you know life kind of happens and life happened to me.

“This book is really special to me, because I had a realignment in my life while writing it. One of the characters is 50, one is 40 and the other one is 30, so there are these three different women, born in different decades, that come together as friends and they form a bond that as they face their fears and struggles, they help each other get to the other side of those things.”

Hickman says the book carries a theme from her other books, which is the central character has a journey or situation they are going through and how they recover from that.

The inspiration for this book came while Hickman was writing another book. During that time, she took a vacation with her then boyfriend. While on vacation, she was halfway through writing the book, but was having writer’s block.  

As luck would have it, inspiration struck her after her boyfriend proposed to her and she happily accepted.  

“I didn’t know that love would come again, I mean real true love and when that happened, there was a seismic shift,” she said. “I came back an engaged woman thinking, wow at this stage in my life, love can really happen again if you don’t give up on it. So I thought, I am going to write a story about that, about what’s on the other side of your fear, if you face it. These women just appeared, and it happened quite organically.”

Hickman chose the Carver School Road Library to hold her book signing because they have been behind her since she released her first book, she said.  

“In 2007 I published my first novel and I was self-published, because I had been turned down by every agent, editor and publisher I submitted my manuscript to, so I took a leap of faith and published the book myself. Carver School Road Library was the very first library to host an event and they have supported me throughout my literary career.”

Hickman attended Winston-Salem State University for her undergrad studies and Wake Forest University for her graduate studies.  

The biggest thing Hickman wants readers to take away from the book is, “If you have faith in yourself and you surround yourself with good people who have faith in you as well, you can accomplish anything,” she said.  

“If you are intentional about what it is you want and you have faith, you can accomplish anything and I am proof of that,” she continued.

Her target demographic for the book is women, but she believes that if men read the book, it will give them insight on what women want.  

Hickman wanted to give a special thanks to the Carver School Road Library, Synergy Book Club and the Divas Book Club, for their continued support throughout her career.

“Book clubs are really the lifeline of an author’s career and I have built my career through book clubs and one reader at a time. I am grateful and thankful for supporting me book after book.”