Diane Chamberlain's Blog, page 9
July 3, 2013
Midweek Questions from My Readers (and a Giveaway)
On Facebook, I asked for some questions that were a bit out of the ordinary and received plenty! I may make this a feature on my blog for a midweek pick-me-up. Here’s the first set (and then it’s your turn…):
Q. What is your favorite breakfast food?
A. I have breakfast nearly every morning at Starbucks and when I’m being good, I have their yummy steel cut oatmeal with dried fruit and when I’m being bad, I have their cinnamon chip scone. Can you guess which I have more often?
Q. Fifty years from now, what do you hope your readers are getting from your work?
A. I love this question! Everyone wants to feel as though they’ve left behind some sort of legacy. Well, since I’m dreaming, I’d like a couple of my books to be taught in high school, most particularly the upcoming Necessary Lies and my older book, Breaking the Silence. They both have to do with the abuse of power against people unable to defend themselves, something I want young people to think about. A lot.
Q. What is the first book that impacted your life significantly?
A. Charlotte’s Web. My first grade teacher read it to us and I was transported to another world filled with emotion and action and sympathetic characters who made me cry. It made me want to be a writer.
Q. If you had 10,000,000 in cash right now but you had to spend it all on a swanky vacation before the end of the month, where would you go and what would you do there?
A. Hmm. I’m going to disappoint whoever asked this question. First of all, I don’t do swank. I really, really dislike swank. I dislike anything that requires me to wear something other than jeans or yoga pants (except for book events. I like book events even if it means I have to dress up); (the picture is me looking about as swanky as I get). Plus a swanky vacation would mean I’d be surrounded by the sort of people who like swank, so that just won’t do. So here is what I’d do with that 10,000,000 vacation: for starters, I would buy back the summer house I grew up in at the Jersey Shore. It’s on a canal between a bay and a river. (If you’ve read The Bay at Midnight, you know this little house). Then I’d invite my siblings and cousins–people who enjoyed this house when we were kids–to come spend the month with me. I’d buy a boat and or several and we’d all go boating in the bay. I think I’ve only spent about a million at this point so I will have to forfeit the rest, unless I can give it away (please let me?)
That’s enough for this week. I love these questions! Any of you who like, choose one of the questions and answer it in the comments. Friday evening, EST, I’ll pick one of you at random to win one of my audio books. And Happy Fourth of July!
The post Midweek Questions from My Readers (and a Giveaway) appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.
June 28, 2013
Story Weekend: The Best Thing About Me
Okay, I’m not talking about myself here! Story Weekend is your turn to talk. What’s the best thing about you?
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. Happy writing!
The post Story Weekend: The Best Thing About Me appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.
June 22, 2013
Story Weekend: Hairdressers
I’m sitting in Starbucks, waiting for my hair appointment, so hairdressers seem like a good Story Weekend topic for today. Those of you who’ve read my blog for a while may remember when I came out last year as a faux-hair wearer, and you may wonder why I still need a hairdresser. The answer is twofold. First, I still have hair that I sometimes wear around the house or at the beach and I’m not ready to let the gray take over. Second, I would miss my hairdresser. I’ve gone to her for nearly eight years. She’s half my age, bright, ambitious, entrepreneurial, a great mom and amazing with color. I love chatting with her and I bet her other clients do as well.
So, I just realized I’m disobeying my own story weekend rules by not making this into a story. I hope you’ll do better with yours!
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. Happy writing!
The post Story Weekend: Hairdressers appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.
June 14, 2013
Story Weekend: Housework (and a giveaway)
We have a problematic porch. First, it has ratty old carpet on the floor (blue) which has probably been there for decades. Second, we live in an area that gets thick yellow pollen every spring and although I cover all the porch furniture prior to pollen season, the stuff still coats the screens and the rough wooden walls and that hideous old carpet. And finally, we live in the woods and that means . . . . spiders. Spiders, cobwebs, spider eggs. Oh and I didn’t mention the skinks. Somehow the cute little skinks that live in our yard occasionally visit our porch. I’ve never seen one there, but I’ve seen evidence of their visits. Ewww.
Since we had a relatively cool evening tonight, I decided to attack the porch. I just finished. I’m never doing that again! I think I said that last year and the year before, too, and I suppose I’ll end up doing it again the next time the spider eggs take over. I have a lovely housekeeper who comes every two weeks, but she’s too nice for me to lay the porch on her.
So what’s your most horrible domestic task?
Oh, and in the mail today, I received the audio version of my third novel, Secret Lives–an oldie but I promise it’s a goodie. I’ll use my random number generator to pick two of you to receive a copy. Have fun, and I hope my porch story doesn’t give any of you nightmares.
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. Happy writing!
The post Story Weekend: Housework (and a giveaway) appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.
June 4, 2013
The First Lie: Writing a Short Story inspired by a Novel (Plus a Contest!)
The First Lie, an e-original short story, is available today! It’s just 99¢ in the United States and 99p in the United Kingdom. I had a blast writing it, though it was a challenge. I wasn’t sure I could “write short” after writing novels for so long.
I knew I wanted to come up with a story involving the characters from my upcoming September release Necessary Lies, but how to write it without giving too much away? How to grab my readers and leave them wanting more? I hope I’ve accomplished both those goals with The First Lie.
Necessary Lies, the novel, is set in 1960 rural North Carolina. I set The First Lie two years earlier in 1958 when my characters Ivy and Mary Ella Hart are just thirteen and fifteen. They live in poverty with their grandmother on a tobacco farm. Ivy is still more child than woman, but Mary Ella is pregnant, holding tight to the secret of her baby’s father. In the middle of a windy, eerie night, Mary Ella goes into labor. Ivy’s mystified as to why her grandmother tells her to call their social worker instead of their public health nurse for help. The answer to that question sets the stage for the story in Necessary Lies.
I can’t wait to hear what you all think of The First Lie. Feel free to share your comments here. I’ll randomly pick three comments (whether they’re about The First Lie or not) to win one of my newly minted audio books!
The post The First Lie: Writing a Short Story inspired by a Novel (Plus a Contest!) appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.
May 31, 2013
Story Weekend: “Born out of Wedlock”
Okay, it’s a weird topic for Story Weekend, but I bet everybody has some kind of story inspired by those four words. I look forward to hearing yours.
This topic is inspired by the fact that my e-short story, The First Lie, will be available Tuesday (99¢ in the US and 99p in the UK), and it has a lot to do with a birth out of wedlock. The First Lie introduces the characters from my upcoming September release Necessary Lies (and both the story and the book are available right now for preorder. Just sayin’!)
By the way, this is our ninetieth Story Weekend! We’re going to have to find a way to celebrate when we hit one hundred!
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. Happy writing!
The post Story Weekend: “Born out of Wedlock” appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.
May 16, 2013
Story Weekend: Change
I’m sorry for missing a couple of Story Weekends, but my web designer and I have been busy re-creating an all new site. It was time, especially with the upcoming September publication of Necessary Lies. Please take some time to wander around the site and do let me know if something isn’t working the way it should. So many little bits and pieces to a site this big!
When I click on the site now, I get a little jolt. I’m so used to looking at the old site with the ancient folded-arms picture of me and the sea oats and red sky in the background. I loved that site, but I was ready for the clean, contemporary look of something new. I’m embracing the change!
And that brings me to the topic of this Story Weekend. Change. What do you think of when you hear that word? Is it the time your mother told the teenage you that you’d better change or find another place to live? Is it your divorce after twenty years, when you had to create a whole new life for yourself? Is it a move to a new city? A new career? Or just that jingly stuff in the bottom of your purse? Whatever Change means to you, we’d like to hear the story!
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. Happy writing!
The post Story Weekend: Change appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.
May 1, 2013
Brainstorming Brilliance
Omigod, what a great brainstorming session! I finished the draft of the first half of my work in progress today, knowing it was just not right, but keeping my writing friend Mary Kay Andrew’s words of wisdom in mind (“You can’t rewrite what you haven’t written”). Then I gave it to my sig other John to read and we went out to dinner to discuss the mess I’d created. We asked for a big booth at the restaurant and John pulled out his pages of notes and I pulled out my blank notepad and we began. I knew I had a really good story in that manuscript, but the structure was wrong. So we played with a dozen other ways of telling the story and finally–finally–I got it! Oh yeah, baby. Once I figured out the structure, all the other elements began to slip neatly into place. Now I’m super psyched to get back to work tomorrow. We’re at the beach and I’m so glad I brought my outline board with me because I’ll be writing about a hundred new index cards to tack on it in the morning. I’m only three months from deadline (gulp) but I have the feeling this re-engineered story is going to write itself. I’m counting on it!
So how about you? What have you brainstormed lately?
April 26, 2013
Story Weekend: Your Earliest Memory
I can’t really pinpoint my own earliest memory, so I’m always fascinated when someone tells me theirs. I’d love to hear yours.
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. Happy writing!
April 22, 2013
Win a Personalized Advanced Reading Copy of Necessary Lies!
I’ve seen a lot of Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs), but never one quite this pretty. I love how my publisher, St. Martin’s Press, incorporated the cover of the final book at the bottom of the ARC cover and devoted so much space to bestselling author Christina Schwarz’s wonderful quote—a quote that warmed my heart when I read it. I hope that my readers will feel the same way about Necessary Lies that Christina did.
So what is an ARC? It’s the uncorrected proof of an upcoming book and it’s sent to reviewers, librarians and bookstores to generate early reviews and orders. Since the ARC is uncorrected, you’ll find some typos, maybe some awkward sentences that will later be changed, and in the case of Necessary Lies, some documents in the body of the story that will be printed larger (and therefore more readable!) in the actual book. But the story will be the same.
ARCs are printed in limited numbers, so I only have a few and am hoarding them for some hand selected reviewers. But I have a copy reserved for one of my readers…maybe you? If you’ll add a comment to this blog post or under this post on Facebook (just “hi!” is fine!) and agree to write an honest review on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com when reviews are allowed, you’ll be in the running. I’ll use a random number generator to select a winner. Although this is the North American version of Necessary Lies, the book will be available in all English speaking countries on September 3rd and I’ll send you the ARC no matter where you live (and if you live outside the US, you may leave your review in your country’s online stores). I’ll select a winner this Friday at noon EST.
Good luck!
