What Would You Like to Know?

questions.jpgI’m often asked questions about my books, my writing, and writing in general. I thought of adding a “Frequently Asked Questions” section to my website, but then I had the idea of addressing some of these questions in more of an interview format. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I hope to create little videotaped “mini-interviews” in response to questions I’m often asked by readers. I have a list I’ve been keeping over the past year–and it’s long–but I’d love to get a sense of what you, my readers and fellow writers, would most like me to talk about in the interviews. So, please share with me your most burning questions. I’ll jot them down and pick a few of them as the focus of my first set of mini-interviews. I think this is going to be fun!

8 Comments

  1. Gina on February 3, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    Looks like I’m going first. Don’t see any other posts. Anyway, Diane, my question is a personal one. What brought you to North Carolina from New Jersey? Curious….

  2. brenda on February 3, 2009 at 8:18 pm

    Since I think I remember why you moved to N.C. (We’ve been together a lot of years…) I will ask a question that is about your writing career. Diane, I know how diligent you are…is there ONE book that you have written that you would like to do a “doever”…if so…why?

  3. Margo on February 4, 2009 at 8:40 am

    Diane, I have a question which pertains to BEFORE THE STORM. I was so intrigued with the round house at Topsail and was wondering if the SEA TENDER had a double meaning which we’ll find out in the sequal?
    There’s always something in your books that continues to haunt me and make me think…with this book it was SEA TENDER. I’m hoping you might answer this question on your blog? Thx, (-O:

  4. Denise on February 4, 2009 at 10:53 am

    Do you think your background and education as a social worker has influenced your writing? Do you think it has given you a better ability to get inside a character’s head?

  5. Diane Chamberlain on February 4, 2009 at 11:04 am

    I’m off to the Opium Den to do my ten pages, but will respond to these excellent questions later. Keep ’em coming!

  6. Gina on February 4, 2009 at 4:07 pm

    LOL Diane. I would LOVE to run into at a Starbucks.

  7. Gina on February 4, 2009 at 4:08 pm

    Let me correct that.
    I would LOVE to run into YOU at a Starbucks. LOL

  8. Diane Chamberlain on February 4, 2009 at 11:11 pm

    Gina, that would be fun, but I probably wouldn’t get much work done ’cause we’d be chatting nonstop.
    Well, I think I’ll save Denise’s question for a mini-interview, since it’s one I’m asked most often. The others I’ll try to answer right now:
    Brenda- Are there books I wish I could do over? My first thought is YES! I’d like to do over my first two novels, Private Relations and Lovers and Strangers. My second thought is an equally emphatic NO! That’s because I learned so much from writing those two books, so even though I don’t think they’re my best, I wouldn’t trade the experience of writing them for anything.
    Margo, in my mind the Sea Tender–the house in Before the Storm–referred to both the house and to Jamie, since he was essentially lost at sea. When I originally conceived of the story, Jamie played an even stronger role, which is why I wanted to call the book The Sea Tender. Other characters took over, as they often do, which may be why you didn’t pick up on the dual meaning of the Sea Tender.
    I had a fun phone interview with a writer from a UK magazine today. Love that accent! I wonder if I sounded as alien to her as she did to me?

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