The author of Dream Country, Beach Girls, The Secret Language of Sisters and others, her books often center on love, family, nature and the sea. Connecticut College awarded Rice an honorary degree and invited her to donate her papers to the college's Special Collections Library. She has also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from St. Joseph College in West Hartford, Conn. In June 2014, she received the 2014 Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award in the Literary Arts category for excellence and lifetime achievement as a literary artist. Several of Rice's novels have been adapted, including Crazy in Love for TNT, Blue Moon for CBS, Follow the Stars Home and Silver Bells for the Hallmark Hall of Fame, and Beach Girls for a mini-series on Lifetime. Rice contributed a monologue to Motherhood Out Loud a play that premiered at Hartford Stage Company and was performed Off-Broadway and at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Rice is an avid environmentalist and advocate for families affected by domestic violence. She divides her time between New York City and Connecticut.