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.

So how about you? What have you brainstormed lately?

The post Brainstorming Brilliance appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.

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: Your Earliest Memory appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.

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!

The post Win a Personalized Advanced Reading Copy of Necessary Lies! appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.

I’d love to hear your spider story. We had a very quiet Story Weekend last week–I never know what topic will spark your imagination and what won’t. Surely, though, everyone has a spider 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: Spiders appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.

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. I’ll probably have a good reunion story myself by Monday!

The post Story Weekend: Reunion appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.

My parents, whom I adored, were—let’s see, how to say this nicely?—bigots. To their credit, they raised my siblings and me not to be. They masked their true feelings so well that when I was asked to the senior prom by an African American boy, and a friend asked me if my parents would let me go with him, I responded “Of course! They don’t have a prejudiced bone in their bodies!” Well, ha. I discovered I was wrong about that, and thus I learned of their hypocrisy. After that experience, they didn’t hide their feelings as well, and I became aware of their bigotry in many ways, large and small. They were good, caring people, mind you, and I know some of their life experiences made them the way they were, but there’s no denying their animosity toward people who were different from them.

Then came my mother’s heart attack and the need for a quadruple bypass. We took her to a specialty hospital where she awaited the life-saving surgery. And then we met the surgeon. You guessed it. I’m sure if the situation had not been so critical, my parents would have asked for another surgeon. But time was of the essence and the surgery proceeded at the hands of the black man who promised to save my mother’s life.

We waited for hours upon hours in a tiny  room, some of us praying or trying to read and drinking buckets of coffee. Finally the surgeon came out and told us the surgery had gone very well. He shook my father’s hand, then left us. With a smile on his face and tears in his eyes, my father said over and over again, “Did you see his hands? Did you see how amazing and beautiful they were?” He was awestruck, and I believe, a little enlightened.

Did the experience change my parents? Yes, I think it did, at least to a degree. How could it not? But it shouldn’t take life-saving surgery by a black/white/Hispanic/Muslim/gay/lesbian/disabled doctor for us to see the value in every human being.

The post Can We Have a Little Tolerance, Please? appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.

What is your Goodbye 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.

The post Story Weekend: Saying Goodbye appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.

Last week’s Story Weekend topic of “names” really took off. I hope you’ll share your stories on this topic as well. It’s so much fun to connect with one another this way!

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 post Story Weekend: What Brings You Comfort? appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.

Over the years, I got away from writing in the library. As my regular blog readers know, I write nearly every day at the Opium Den, also known as Starbucks. Oh, I visit the library to borrow books, but it’s been a very long time—more than a decade—since I spent hours in a library.

The past few days I’ve been struggling with part of my untitled work-in-progress (my 2014 book). A third of the story is told in letter form and the timeline was getting all screwed up. I knew I needed to spread out my notecards, but my dining room table is covered with the cards for the other two thirds of the book and the Opium Den doesn’t lend itself to spreading out.

That’s when I remembered this amazing resource just a few miles from my house.  I had the best time! I found a table I could have all to myself. I discovered the chairs at this newish, big library are super comfortable. You can tilt back in them without tipping over (I spent about ten minutes playing with and admiring the chair). Then I spread out all my cards, moved them around, and in a short time, everything fell into focus.  Magic! I only wish writing all those letters would be as easy as figuring out the order they should be in.

When’s the last time you visited your library? I can’t wait to go back!

The post Library Love appeared first on Diane Chamberlain.