It’s 2:30 am and I’m still at it. I finished After the Storm several days ago. Wow, did it feel good to type The End (on page 501). Now I await my editor’s thoughts, after which I’ll start revising. But I thought I’d share a bit of what else I’m working on. First, some of…

It’s such fun living with a professional photographer! It was time to take my new book jacket pictures to be used on the Target Book Club edition of The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes and also on my new website (coming soon!). We started with very demure poses that I hated–so not me–although John liked them. What can…

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…

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.…

                    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…

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…

  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”…

                        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…

  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…

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…