March 2008 Archives
Yes, my books are soooooo sexy, as you can tell by these notes. Ha! They're all about when so-and-so had to have sex to produce so-and-so. (trying not to give away too much here). The note in the lower left reads, in part, "or cld sy con'd march 15 due dec 15" and "have sex april 2 so bby due 40 wks later" and "must say had sex april 15." I'm drowning in post it notes! Multiply these by about 20 and you have an idea of what my desk looks like right now. I'm still working on the end of After the Storm. I'm on page 467. I guess I just don't want to let go of these characters, but I intend to send them on their way by Monday. It's going to be a loooong weekend.
Another piece of good news I have to share. Every author waits on pins and needles to see what Publishers Weekly, the trade magazine targeted at booksellers, libarians and others in the industry, has to say about his or her book. PW reviewers--who don't have to sign their reviews--can be brutal, but they can also be kind. BEFORE THE STORM was just reviewed and I can tell the reviewer really enjoyed and appreciated the story. Whew! I can get off those pins and needles now.
Before the Storm DIANE CHAMBERLAIN. Mira, $13.95 Paper (480p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2541-3
Chamberlain lays out her latest piece of romantic suspense in a shattered chronology that’s as graceful as it is perfectly paced. Most of the adults in the tightly knit coastal community of Topsail Island, N.C., accept the widowed Laurel Lockwood’s 15-year-old mentally disabled son, Andy. But when Andy saves many of the town’s youth during a tragic fire, he becomes a local hero who garners national attention. Laurel, caught up with making sure Andy is okay, thinks daughter Maggie, a high school senior, can handle herself. What Maggie hides from everyone are her slipping grades, a taboo affair and a terrible secret, and when the fire’s origins are investigated and Andy is a person of interest, events turn progressively darker for the family. Long, juicy flashbacks cover the mysteries of Laurel’s husband’s death, of Andy’s condition and of Laurel’s preoccupation with him. Chamberlain offers no easy solutions, but her engrossing prose leads the way to redemption. (June)
Before the Storm DIANE CHAMBERLAIN. Mira, $13.95 Paper (480p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2541-3
Chamberlain lays out her latest piece of romantic suspense in a shattered chronology that’s as graceful as it is perfectly paced. Most of the adults in the tightly knit coastal community of Topsail Island, N.C., accept the widowed Laurel Lockwood’s 15-year-old mentally disabled son, Andy. But when Andy saves many of the town’s youth during a tragic fire, he becomes a local hero who garners national attention. Laurel, caught up with making sure Andy is okay, thinks daughter Maggie, a high school senior, can handle herself. What Maggie hides from everyone are her slipping grades, a taboo affair and a terrible secret, and when the fire’s origins are investigated and Andy is a person of interest, events turn progressively darker for the family. Long, juicy flashbacks cover the mysteries of Laurel’s husband’s death, of Andy’s condition and of Laurel’s preoccupation with him. Chamberlain offers no easy solutions, but her engrossing prose leads the way to redemption. (June)
Here I am, caught in the middle of working on an emotional part of AFTER THE STORM. I had a bunch of movie soundtracks on the stereo and was moving notecards around for the last sections of the book (yes, I know, my deadline was Monday! I am about 90% finished). The John Barry soundtrack from Dances with Wolves was playing. (It just occurred to me that I can share bits of my favorite soundtracks with you via the magic of YouTube!). I must have listened to that music more than fifty times over the years, but we have a newish speaker set-up and wow! What a difference. There is some percussion in that music I'd never heard before and that cut right through me. I was working on an emotional scene in the book at the time and got all weepy. Which is why I look so sad and pathetic in this picture.
I'm a movie soundtrack addict, as I've mentioned before. I'd love some suggestions for soundtracks you've found particularly moving. I plan to buy the soundtrack for Blood Diamonds very soon. I've seen the movie a few times, and that music, coupled with the ending of the movie, slays me. Hmm, maybe it sounds a little sick to love to be slayed, but it truly helps my writing. When I feel emotionless as I write, it shows.
John and I are going to Quail Ridge Books tonight with my scribbler friends to hear one of our fellow scribblers, Alex Sokoloff, talk about her new book, THE PRICE. Alex is always a treat to listen to, as well as to read. I'll keep you posted.
On Friday, I received a call from my editor that really has me doing a happy dance! THE SECRET LIFE OF CEECEE WILKES has been selected as a June Book Club pick for Target's Bookmarked program. Target says Bookmarked "is all about discovering and enjoying great books". CEECEE will have a special print run just for Target. I'm so happy she'll get to hang out in one of my favorite stores!
I'm still pinching myself!
I was looking through my early notes on AFTER THE STORM to see if there were things I'd forgotten. I thought I'd share with you a small example of what my early notes look like. My favorite word in the mess below is "heargroken." For those of you who don't speak diane-type, that's "heartbroken" in English. :)
Sara at the memorial service in Raleigh. Felt needed to go. Talks with Jennifer. Heargroken for her. Then af4riad for her. As much as sara hasn’t comet ot eterms with fire , jen is worsee. nnot syure what she wil do. or is cavapble of doing.
I really did get a D in typing in junior high. I type extremely fast, but I've never mastered hitting the right keys. Imagine how many more books I could turn out if I actually learned to do that!
![iStock_000005052053XSmall[1].jpg](http://dianechamberlain.com/blog/uploads//2008/03/iStock_000005052053XSmall[1].jpg "iStock_000005052053XSmall[1].jpg")
Yep. After a month solid at the computer, this is me. Except for the cigarette. Oh, and the fuscia. Plus, her desk is way too neat. But nothing fits me anymore. I can't zip my jeans. I have several king-sized M&M peanuts wrappers in the trash can next to my desk. And I'm grappling with one thorny plot problem that I thought would go away by now. It's the kind of problem that, each time you encounter it in the manuscript, you write something like figure out later. Well, later is now. And the only solution I could come up with was M&M's.
Taking a good look at myself in the above picture led me to check out a couple of blogs online that might inspire me. I went to the blog of a friend, Carole, whom I met through an online arthritis support group. Carole blows my mind! She's lost 100 pounds, all on her own, with no lame excuses such as "I've been working hard so I deserve M&M peanuts." She has such a positive attitude. I have to hang out on her blog more often. Then, to waste a little more time while I tried to solve my plot problem, I checked out blogs that mentioned Weight Watchers, and came across this one, only to discover she's one of my readers! What a treat for me. Anne, this particular blogger, is a little more like me in the will power department than Carole, but I still plan to spend some time at her blog, because I like her writing style, as well as her taste in books. :)
Okay, enough gabbing for now. Back to Google, which I'm hoping will solve my thorny plot problem if only I dig deep enough.
It's almost spring, y'all!
![3c063cf2-3538-4417-b459-b765b751c014.widec[1].jpg](http://dianechamberlain.com/blog/uploads//2008/04/3c063cf2-3538-4417-b459-b765b751c014.widec[1].jpg)
New England Historical Genealogical Society
Have you all seen this beautiful, just-discovered 1988 photograph of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan?
I saw it on AOL this morning and couldn't take my eyes off it. Before I knew it, tears were running down my cheeks. I wasn't sad. Just moved. Her story has always moved me.
The first movie I saw as a "big girl" (ie with a girlfriend instead of a parent) was West Side Story in 1961 (at the Strand theater in Plainfield, New Jersey). How I loved that movie! A few months later, my friend and I sat in the same theater to watch The Miracle Worker. Before the lights went out, I remember saying to my friend in my best eleven-year-old drama queen voice, "I'll never love this movie as much as West Side Story!" A few hours of sobbing later, I had to admit I was wrong.
So many people of my generation were introduced to Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan through the Oscar-winning performances of Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft. Then we went on to read some of Keller's eleven books and to marvel at all she'd achieved in an era when there were few resources for people as profoundly handicapped as she was. Few resources, and even less understanding.
When her picture popped up on my screen this morning, I was in the midst of my frantic push toward my book deadline. It stopped me cold, and gave me time to reflect on what's important (people, teachers, strength, love, tolerance) and what's not (my little book, in the grand scheme of things). It put my rheumatoid arthritis--funny-looking joints, controllable pain, scary drugs--in perspective. It filled me with wonder that people can overcome so much.
Now, I have to go back to work, but I'm reinspired. We all have our limitations and our gifts, and it's up to us to do the best we can with the latter in spite of the former. My "little book" will never measure up to the achievements of someone like Helen Keller or Anne Sullivan, but I plan to make it the very best it can be.
Mary Kay (aka Kathy Trochek) was in town Thursday night to kick off the publication of her latest book, DEEP DISH. Kathy is one of the scribblers group I've been taken in by since my move to Raleigh. We all (minus our darling Alex Sokoloff, who was speaking elsewhere to kick off the publication of her latest, THE PRICE) went out for a leisurely dinner, than strolled over to Quail Ridge Books for Kathy's talk and book signing. Standing Room Only, as always, for Kathy's events. She is a force of nature and a hoot. Her books are so funny and so are her talks. I kept thinking of how s-e-r-i-o-u-s my own books are and I what I wouldn't give to have just a smidgen of Kathy's sense of humor. But (I remind myself frequently), we all have our own unique gifts when it comes to writing and to life.
Here we are, eating very well (as usual) at Tripp's. From left to right, that's Sarah Shaber, her husband, Steve, Mary Kay, Nancy Olson who's not only the owner of Quail Ridge Books and Music but a huge supporter of local authors, Katy Munger and her adorable daughter, Zuzu, Margaret Maron, up for yet another Agatha Award for her novel HARD ROW, Bren Witchger, and me (behind the camera).
Here we are, eating very well (as usual) at Tripp's. From left to right, that's Sarah Shaber, her husband, Steve, Mary Kay, Nancy Olson who's not only the owner of Quail Ridge Books and Music but a huge supporter of local authors, Katy Munger and her adorable daughter, Zuzu, Margaret Maron, up for yet another Agatha Award for her novel HARD ROW, Bren Witchger, and me (behind the camera).
