Diane Chamberlain's Blog, page 44
March 10, 2009
Sneak Peek!
Okay, I can't resist. Here is the new trailer John and I just completed for Secrets She Left Behind. Right now, it's only up on You Tube. Soon I'll have it on my website and many, many other places on the web, and it will show up again on the blog once the book is released (May 26th--coming up soon!) Please let me know if any of you have trouble viewing this or it looks "strange" in any way. We're still ironing out the bugs. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDTfm1...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDTfm1...
March 6, 2009
A Good Story Never Goes out of Style . . . I Hope.
One of my older books, Breaking the Silence, will be reissued in December, so my editor recently asked me to take a look at it to see if it needed updating. It was originally published in 1999, and it's been a looong time since I read it. I'm enjoying the story (as I try to remember what happens! This plot has so many twists even I can't remember them all). As I read, I'm keeping my main purpose in mind: how does the book need to be changed to fit 2009? Cell phones? Fashion? Car models? Laptops? I thought it would be simple to zip through the book and update it, but I've discovered I have quite a dilemma on my hands.
You see, Breaking the Silence took/takes place in both 1999 and in the fifties. It's the story of Laura Brandon, whose father's dying wish is for her to take care of an older woman who is a complete stranger to her. The story moves back and forth between Laura's current day relationship with the older woman, Sarah, and Sarah's life as a psychiatric nurse in the fifties. The problem is that I can't move the scenes from the fifties into the sixties because the story rests on the CIA mind control experiments which took place in that earlier decade. And I can't make Sarah any older than she is because. . . well, just trust me. I can't. So it looks like the book, while being reissued in 2009, will still need to be set in 1999. Would that bother you as a reader? I'd really like to update it, and plan to create a meticulous timeline this weekend to see if there's any way I can tweak the story to make that happen, but I don't think it will be possible and still make it believable. So what do you think? Does a good story go out of style?
You see, Breaking the Silence took/takes place in both 1999 and in the fifties. It's the story of Laura Brandon, whose father's dying wish is for her to take care of an older woman who is a complete stranger to her. The story moves back and forth between Laura's current day relationship with the older woman, Sarah, and Sarah's life as a psychiatric nurse in the fifties. The problem is that I can't move the scenes from the fifties into the sixties because the story rests on the CIA mind control experiments which took place in that earlier decade. And I can't make Sarah any older than she is because. . . well, just trust me. I can't. So it looks like the book, while being reissued in 2009, will still need to be set in 1999. Would that bother you as a reader? I'd really like to update it, and plan to create a meticulous timeline this weekend to see if there's any way I can tweak the story to make that happen, but I don't think it will be possible and still make it believable. So what do you think? Does a good story go out of style?
March 2, 2009
In the Beginning...
I hope all you parents are making readers out of your children. When I think back to my own childhood, it's full of books. My Dad was a school principal, and nearly every day after work he'd stop in each of our bedrooms and toss two things on our beds: candy and books. We may all have bad teeth, but we love to read. For two of us, that led to a love of writing as well. In my case, that writing started very early.
I'm pulling together pictures to be used in a video presentation at a May event celebrating my twenty years as an author. While doing so, I stumbled across the cover for Witchville (or--ahem--Whitchville), the first book I wrote. What really cracks me up about this book is the synopsis on the flyleaf. Except for the spelling and sentence structure, the plot sounds like it could be from one of my current novels, doesn't it? I may have grown as a writer, but my imagination appears to be stuck in 1961 (as is my typing ability, I'm afraid).
So are you nurturing some excellent readers? Perhaps some future authors? I wonder what form your kids' books will take? Will we be able to hold them in our hands and store them on our bookshelves, or will they all be on Kindle-like devices or on little chips we have implanted in our ears? No matter how anxious I feel about the future of publishing, I have no anxiety whatsoever about the future of storytelling. We'll always need stories, and I hope you're sharing plenty of them with your children.
I'm pulling together pictures to be used in a video presentation at a May event celebrating my twenty years as an author. While doing so, I stumbled across the cover for Witchville (or--ahem--Whitchville), the first book I wrote. What really cracks me up about this book is the synopsis on the flyleaf. Except for the spelling and sentence structure, the plot sounds like it could be from one of my current novels, doesn't it? I may have grown as a writer, but my imagination appears to be stuck in 1961 (as is my typing ability, I'm afraid).
So are you nurturing some excellent readers? Perhaps some future authors? I wonder what form your kids' books will take? Will we be able to hold them in our hands and store them on our bookshelves, or will they all be on Kindle-like devices or on little chips we have implanted in our ears? No matter how anxious I feel about the future of publishing, I have no anxiety whatsoever about the future of storytelling. We'll always need stories, and I hope you're sharing plenty of them with your children.
February 27, 2009
They're the Same Book!
I'm very concerned! In the last few days, I've heard from several readers who are upset because they ordered two different books written by me. . . or so they thought. They'd each read Before the Storm and The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes and they loved them so much they wanted more. So they ordered A Beautiful Lie and The Lost Daughter. Imagine their surprise and disappointment when they realized that both these books were The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes in disguise. These readers are not happy with me, but I'm here to profess my innocence, as well as my distress that they feel duped.
You see, CeeCee was published in Australia with the title A Beautiful Lie, and in the United Kingdom with the title The Lost Daughter. The publisher in each country comes up with the title they think will work best in their particular market. I think CeeCee is--so far--the only one of my books to have multiple English titles. I'm not sure where or how my readers have been finding and ordering these books, and I'm so sorry for any disappointment they may be feeling--I'd feel the same way. I hope, though, that they'll continue to read my other books, and as always, let me know what they think.
You see, CeeCee was published in Australia with the title A Beautiful Lie, and in the United Kingdom with the title The Lost Daughter. The publisher in each country comes up with the title they think will work best in their particular market. I think CeeCee is--so far--the only one of my books to have multiple English titles. I'm not sure where or how my readers have been finding and ordering these books, and I'm so sorry for any disappointment they may be feeling--I'd feel the same way. I hope, though, that they'll continue to read my other books, and as always, let me know what they think.
Anyone for Crumb Cake?
I'm occasionally invited to local bookclubs when they're discussing one of my books, and I always go if I can fit it into my schedule. I love meeting new readers and it's fun hearing what they think about a book I've written. Every once in a while, though, a visit to a book club comes with a big bonus. One such visit occurred a few weeks ago, when I met with a bookclub at the home of a woman named Karen.
Karen had read my book, The Bay at Midnight, which is set in Bay Head Shores at the New Jersey Shore. Karen grew up as I did, spending summers "down the shore," and she still has a strong attachment to the area. When I arrived for the bookclub, she'd decorated with sea glass and other beachy items, but told me the one thing she'd really wanted to have for me she'd been unable to get: crumb cake from Mueller's Bakery in Bay Head. I'd mentioned Mueller's in The Bay at Midnight, so Karen knew I was a fan. During my childhood summers, my family would stop at Mueller's after church each Sunday for rolls and their famous crumb cake (which they ship, by the way). Mueller's was closed for the season when Karen contacted them, but she wasn't deterred! She and her husband, Bill, were in Bay Head last weekend, and this evening she stopped by my house with a box of crumb cake. What a treat! It's so yummy and brings back wonderful memories of childhood summers. I have the most amazing fans. Thank you, Karen!
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...
Karen had read my book, The Bay at Midnight, which is set in Bay Head Shores at the New Jersey Shore. Karen grew up as I did, spending summers "down the shore," and she still has a strong attachment to the area. When I arrived for the bookclub, she'd decorated with sea glass and other beachy items, but told me the one thing she'd really wanted to have for me she'd been unable to get: crumb cake from Mueller's Bakery in Bay Head. I'd mentioned Mueller's in The Bay at Midnight, so Karen knew I was a fan. During my childhood summers, my family would stop at Mueller's after church each Sunday for rolls and their famous crumb cake (which they ship, by the way). Mueller's was closed for the season when Karen contacted them, but she wasn't deterred! She and her husband, Bill, were in Bay Head last weekend, and this evening she stopped by my house with a box of crumb cake. What a treat! It's so yummy and brings back wonderful memories of childhood summers. I have the most amazing fans. Thank you, Karen!
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...
