Writing
Some Stuff About Kiss River
Kiss River is the middle book of the Keeper of the Light trilogy and I’m happy that my publisher is giving the whole trilogy a second life by re-releasing the books one by one. The first book, Keeper of the Light, came out in April. Kiss River was published today. And the final book, Her…
Read MoreStory Weekend: Your Childhood Kitchen
I’m a little late getting Story Weekend up this weekend due to company, but here we go! Sometimes when I teach workshops on characterization, I have participants do an exercise I always find helpful. First, I have them close their eyes and then remember the kitchen from their childhood home–everything they can see and hear…
Read MoreWhat's Wrong with this Picture?
I was going through my pictures from last week’s retreat with my fellow writers when I came across this one. I didn’t notice it when I snapped the pic, but my bud Alexandra Sokoloff, ordinarily so beautiful, looks a little . . . octopus-like, doesn’t she? It took me a minute to realize she was…
Read MoreTurning an Idea into a Story
One thing a writer learns early is the importance of “showing” instead of “telling”. It’s a real problem for many new writers, but seasoned writers struggle with it, too. That’s what I’m grappling with right now as I flesh out my work-in-progress. I’ve written the long synopsis that describes the novel, but how do I…
Read MoreStory Weekend: Ghosts
I’ve spent the last week with five of my writer friends at the beautiful Weymouth Mansion, where serious North Carolina writers are allowed to stay and work for up to two weeks each year. We try to come each spring and fall and we get so much done on our works-in-progress. The mansion has a…
Read MoreContinuing my Learning Curve, this time with Scrivener
You may recall that I recently switched from PCs to Macs. Much cursing and hair pulling ensued, but I’m now to the point where I’m enjoying my iMac and Macbook Air. Still some cursing, but it’s much better. I just ordered a Kinesis ergonomic keyboard and I think that will ease the physical…
Read MoreSneak Peek at the Kiss River Cover
Not only can you peek at the cover, you can even pre-order it (along with the book!) at Amazon or Barnes and Noble or your local bookstore. Kiss River, in case you don’t know, is the middle book of the Keeper of the Light trilogy set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. You can…
Read MoreHow Many Fiction Writers does it take to Fantasize a Disaster?
Many years ago when I lived in Virginia, a few friends and I put together a writers’ group. We met regularly and read and critiqued each others’ work. There was a core group of five or six of us and a few folks who came for a week or a few months or a year…
Read MoreDiane Chamberlain, Paranormal Writer??
About eight years ago, I was chatting with my writer friend Mary Kirk when she told me she was editing an anthology of short stories. I’d recently been thinking of trying my hand at a short story, so I asked if I could contribute a story to the book. She seemed delighted, but told me…
Read MorePictures from the Old Days of Romance
I’m about to make the leap from a PC to a Mac, so I’m cleaning up all the stuff that’s accumulated on my PC over the years. I stumbled across some fun pictures I thought you might enjoy. Some of my early books had strong romantic threads running through them, so I was active in…
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