Diane Chamberlain

Well, as I’ve mentioned before, you never know when a character is going to do something unexpected in your Work-in-Progress. I should have also mentioned that you never know when your editor is going to do something unexpected as well. I’ve been blessed with the BEST editors–and that can be a problem because they’re always thinking…

Yes, my favorite workshop is finally going to make its North Carolina debut! I’ve picked a date, May 19th, and now I’m committed. I’ll have more information as the date grows closer, but for now, you can read a bit more about it on the blog’s Events page.

I talk to so many people who want to write a novel, and often they tell me they get started, get stuck, put it away and never go back to it again. So here is the elegant, highly sophisticated technique I use when I get stuck in my first draft: I simply say to myself “pass,”…

Now that’s an odd pairing.   In the last couple of days, we’ve lost them both. I don’t believe I’ve ever read a book by Sidney Sheldon, but if my mother didn’t have one of my books in her hand, she had one of his. (My father, on the other hand, loved Andrew Greeley novels. In…

I guess I am a bit of an obsessive outliner after all, because even as I prepare to write a scene, I make a semblance of an outline. It keeps me on track. I ask myself what I need to get across in the scene, then jot down notes. Here’s an example from early in…

Is it any wonder I need to escape to the Opium Den to work? I can’t find anything in here!

I’m doing my ten pages a day. . . well, trying to, anyway. Even though this story has been outlined and re-outlined for months, I still find (and always do) that I need a Go-Back List. What this means is that, as I’m writing a scene or narrative, I realize I need to plant something…

Back by popular demand, this little essay is from my former blog:  When I’m typing for many hours every day (as I am now since I’m racing toward deadline), my hands sometimes to get painful and stiff from rheumatoid arthritis. That’s when I break out the Dragon. Dragon NaturallySpeaking, that is. Its voice recognition software. I’m glad…

I know I’ve already blogged about this, but from my email, it’s clear not everyone’s reading my blog! I just spent an hour responding to “when is your new book coming out” emails. I’m so touched that my readers know when my books usually come out and that’s they’re happily anticipating each release.  However, due…

                   Saturday, I spoke on a panel at the new Holly Springs Library and Cultural Center with members of the local crimewriters gang. From left, that’s Sarah Shaber of the Professor Simon Shaw Mysteries, Margaret Maron of the Deborah Knott Series, me, and Brenda Witchger, aka Brynn…