Diane Chamberlain's Blog, page 11

Story Weekend: Dream a Little Dream

It’s been strangely quiet on Story Weekend the past couple of weeks, so today I’ll pick a topic I know we can all relate to: dreams. Have you had a dream that came true? A recurring dream you can’t shake? A nightmare you still remember from your childhood? Tell us!

If  you’re new to Story Weekend, here’s how it works: I pick a theme and you share something from your life that relates to that theme, however you interpret it. Thanks to all of you who’ve been contributing. As always, there are a few “rules”:

▪   The story must be true

▪   Try to keep it under 100 words. Embrace the challenge! That’s about six or seven lines in the comment form. I want others to read your story, and most people tend to skip if it’s too long. I know how tough it is to “write tight” but I hope you’ll accept this as a challenge.

Can’t wait to hear your dreams!

 

Story Weekend: Public Speaking

Sunday afternoon, I’ll be speaking to a group at the West Regional Library in Cary, North Carolina (come join us if you can!). I was thinking about that talk this evening when I suddenly realized it’s time to write my Story Weekend blog post. So that’s the genesis of this weekend’s topic: Public Speaking.

The story that comes immediately to my mind happened back when I was a hospital social worker and still nervous about public speaking. I had to make a presentation to a room full of doctors and just before I stood up, I realized I was wearing one blue shoe and one black. Arggh. I bet some of you have better stories than that and I’d love to hear them. Tell us about your favorite—or least favorite—speaking experience…or the fear that keeps you from speaking in public at all.

If  you’re new to Story Weekend, here’s how it works: I pick a theme and you share something from your life that relates to that theme, however you interpret it. Thanks to all of you who’ve been contributing. As always, there are a few “rules”:

▪   The story must be true

▪   Try to keep it under 100 words. Embrace the challenge! That’s about six or seven lines in the comment form. I want others to read your story, and most people tend to skip if it’s too long. I know how tough it is to “write tight” but I hope you’ll accept this as a challenge.

 

 

Please Give Me Feedback on my Website!

Hi everybody! I’m considering a re-do of my website–perhaps small, perhaps large–as it gets closer to the release of Necessary Lies. I love my site, but I want it to focus more on that book in particular, plus the pic of me on the home page is three years old, so it’s time for an update. I welcome your thoughts. What shall I let go? What shall I keep? What is missing from the site that you’d like to see or that would be helpful to you? Thanks so much for your input!

Here’s the link to take you directly to the home page.

Story Weekend: What’s Your Sign? Your Astrology Story.

Yes, there was truly a time when that was a serious pick-up line, though I don’t think it worked very often. Even though I don’t put much stock in astrology, I have to admit I am such a Pisces! I have all the good parts—empathy, sensitivity, sensitive, caring, creativity—along with all the not-so-good parts I don’t feel like listing right now.  ;)

So what’s your astrology story? Does your personality fit your sign? Did you choose your spouse because of his or her sign? Did you plan your pregnancies so your child’s sign would be compatible with yours? (Don’t laugh! I know a woman who did exactly that, then delivered a month early. Ha!)

If  you’re new to Story Weekend, here’s how it works: I pick a theme and you share something from your life that relates to that theme, however you interpret it. Thanks to all of you who’ve been contributing. As always, there are a few “rules”:

▪   The story must be true

▪   Try to keep it under 100 words. Embrace the challenge! That’s about six or seven lines in the comment form. I want others to read your story, and most people tend to skip if it’s too long. I know how tough it is to “write tight” but I hope you’ll accept this as a challenge.

 

 

 

Early Peek at Necessary Lies

I just asked my Facebook readers what they’d like me to post about today and several of them asked to hear about my next book, Necessary Lies. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this book! I feel really confident in saying that if you love my books, you will really love this one. This may not be the final final cover, but it’s close and isn’t it yummy? That’s the North American cover. The one below is the United Kingdom cover. I love them both.

So what is Necessary Lies about? Here’s the story:

After losing her parents, fifteen-year-old Ivy Hart is left to care for her grandmother, older sister and nephew as tenants on a small tobacco farm.  As she struggles with her grandmother’s aging, her sister’s mental illness and her own epilepsy, she realizes they might need more than she can give.

When Jane Forrester takes a position as Grace County’s newest social worker, she doesn’t realize just how much her help is needed.  She quickly becomes emotionally invested in her client’s lives, causing tension with her boss and her new husband.  But as Jane is drawn in by the Hart women, she begins to discover the secrets of the small farm—secrets much darker than she would have guessed.  Soon, she must decide whether to take drastic action to help them, or risk losing the battle against everything she believes is wrong.

Set in rural Grace County, North Carolina in a time of state-mandated sterilizations and racial tension, Necessary Lies tells the story of these two young women, seemingly worlds apart, but both haunted by tragedy.  Jane and Ivy are thrown together and must ask themselves: how can you know what you believe is right, when everyone is telling you it’s wrong?

I’ll be sharing much more about Necessary Lies as the pub date (early September) gets closer. I hope you’ll be as excited about it as I am!

 

Story Weekend: Stationery

I was going to make taxes the topic for this weekend, since I’m sitting here drowning in statements and receipts, but I decided that could lead to a dicier conversation than I want on Story Weekend. So then I thought, what would be a non-controversial topic? And here it is: stationery. I don’t know about you, but that word immediately brings back memories of letters and thank you notes and dear friends and pretty paper with special watermarks. How about you? What story comes to you when you hear the word ‘stationery’?

If  you’re new to Story Weekend, here’s how it works: I pick a theme and you share something from your life that relates to that theme, however you interpret it. Thanks to all of you who’ve been contributing. As always, there are a few “rules”:

▪   The story must be true

▪   Try to keep it under 100 words. Embrace the challenge! That’s about six or seven lines in the comment form. I want others to read your story, and most people tend to skip if it’s too long. I know how tough it is to “write tight” but I hope you’ll accept this as a challenge.

 

 

The Happy Insomniac

Yeah, that’s me. Well, I’m also waking up tired, but that’s beside the point. I absolutely love it when the reason I can’t sleep is that ideas for my work-in-progress are popping into my mind so quickly I can barely keep track of them.  Example from last night: A door that should have been locked was found ajar. A cop turns out to be my protagonist’s old lover, now married to her best friend. Her brother, heretofore unknown to me, ran away as a teen for mysterious reasons. And on and on the ideas came during the hours when I should have been sawing wood. I was too sleepy to write everything down but the images were so vivid I still have them with me today. If I have to be an insomniac, at least I’m a productive one!

How about you? How is your sleep these days?

 

 

Story Weekend: Who Would You Dedicate a Book to?

I’m sitting in Starbucks working on the dedication and acknowledgement pages for my September book, Necessary Lies, and it prompted an idea for this weekend’s Story Weekend: If you were writing a book right now, who would you dedicate it to and why?

If  you’re new to Story Weekend, here’s how it works: I pick a theme and you share something from your life that relates to that theme, however you interpret it. Thanks to all of you who’ve been contributing. As always, there are a few “rules”:

▪   The story must be true

▪   Try to keep it under 100 words. Embrace the challenge! That’s about six or seven lines in the comment form. I want others to read your story, and most people tend to skip if it’s too long. I know how tough it is to “write tight” but I hope you’ll accept this as a challenge.

 

Join Me on the Next Big Thing Blog Hop!

Welcome to the very last installment of the NEXT BIG THING Blog Hop.

A blog hop is like a giant game of tag to help readers discover authors who are new to them. For this hop, authors answered 10 questions about what we’re working on now. This week, I’m it and I’m the last author on the Hop.

I was tagged by Julie Ortolon.  Visit her blog to see who she was tagged by, and feel free to work your way back through the Blog Hop to discover some new-to-you authors.

Here is my Next Big Thing!

1: What is the working title of your book?

NECESSARY LIES, which will be released in early September, 2013. 

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?

In recent years, the news here in North Carolina has been about an involuntary sterilization program that impacted thousands of people in the state. As I thought about the people affected by the program, characters began to take shape in my imagination and I knew it was a book I had to write. 

3: What genre does your book come under?

Women’s Fiction or General Fiction

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

That is so hard! There are so many young actors who would suit the roles. I’d love to hear who my readers think would be a good fit. The book is set in 1960, and we need a fifteen-year-old sweet but feisty farm girl, her seventeen-year-old eerily beautiful sister, and a caring but naive young female social worker. Any thoughts?

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

NECESSARY LIES is the story of an idealistic young social worker who begins her work with the poor with all the best intentions.  But in the face of small town secrets and the harsh realities of her job, she finds herself tested beyond comprehension.  (okay, that was two sentences. I tried!)

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

I’m thrilled that my publisher for this book is St. Martins Press. Please watch for its release in September.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

About a year–a year full of intense research and falling in love with my characters. 

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

That’s a hard question because there are few similar stories out there. The closest I can think of is The Help.

9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The news reports I mentioned in #2, and the human stories that emerged from them. 

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I think the fact that NECESSARY LIES, while completely fictionalized, is based on events that really happened–events that are hard to believe in 2013. I can’t wait to hear what my readers think about it. 

Thanks for ending the Blog Hop with me!

 

 

Story Weekend: First Broken Heart

You know you’ve had one, unless you were incredibly lucky! I’d love to hear about yours. (note I’m not sharing mine. . . )

If  you’re new to Story Weekend, here’s how it works: I pick a theme and you share something from your life that relates to that theme, however you interpret it. Thanks to all of you who’ve been contributing. As always, there are a few “rules”:

▪   The story must be true

▪   Try to keep it under 100 words. Embrace the challenge! That’s about six or seven lines in the comment form. I want others to read your story, and most people tend to skip if it’s too long. I know how tough it is to “write tight” but I hope you’ll accept this as a challenge.