Posts Tagged ‘“Secrets She Left Behind”’
Dogged by Research
Dang, Shelties are cute, aren’t they? My two furry babies, who are sitting next to me on the sofa as I type this, certainly think so. But to the topic of this post. I love research. My favorite teacher in high school, Mrs. Westphal (who seemed about 100 years old to me, but was probably about…
Read MoreThe Final Draft (sort of)
I’m often asked how many drafts I write when I’m working on a book. The answer: a lot. I finished my next novel, tentatively titled The Lies We Told, last week, and thought I’d show you the stack of drafts the writing generated. In my left hand, of course, I’m holding the nice, neat perfectly…
Read MoreName that Newsletter!
I’m getting ready to create my next online newsletter, since some of you have told me you’d like to hear from me more than once or twice a year. Yes, I’ve been a little slow getting the news out! Now that many of my older books are being reissued, I agree that I need to communicate with…
Read MoreDr. Jakes and the Care and Feeding of Secondary Characters
One of my favorite characters in my latest novel, Secrets She Left Behind, has no starring role, no point of view and he’s only in the limelight in a few scenes. Yet, he’s one of my all time favorite characters.…
Read MoreOne Paragraph, Three Drafts
I write many, many drafts as I work on a book. Recently, someone on Facebook asked writers to share different drafts of a single paragraph. I thought this would be an interesting exercise for me to share with you, my blog readers. I want to give credit to the Facebooker who suggested this, but I don’t…
Read MoreSneak Peek at Breaking the Silence Cover
Breaking the Silence will be reissued in December, and I thought you might like a sneak peek at the cover my publisher is working on for it. There’s a lot going on in this story, as there usually is in my books: a mute little girl, an old woman with…
Read MoreNaming Characters and Coffee Shops
Someone on Facebook recently asked me when I planned to auction off another character name, which made me realize that I forgot to auction one off for my work-in-progress, The Lies We Told. Life got a little crazy during this book! It’s too late now, unfortunately, but I will definitely remember for the next book. Meanwhile,…
Read MoreWhat are You So Afraid Of?
In the past twenty plus years of writing fiction, I’ve had plenty of time to ponder why I write about particular topics and revisit particular themes. I grew up a fearful person, something I’ll post about at greater length one of these days. I think I’ve conquered most of my fears (with the exception of…
Read MoreDiane McCrone (aka Little Zan)
I’ve wanted to write this post for a long time. Some of you might find it macabre and weird. Others will totally understand. Either reaction is just fine. I’m one of those people who hates to lose touch with old friends. I Google people I cared about from my past. I ‘friend’ people I went…
Read MoreThe Backtrack List
Since my novels usually involve twists and turns, readers often ask me if I think all those plot points in advance. The answer is: I wish. What usually happens is that, despite my carefully plotted outlines, new ideas come to me once I really get into the writing. Sometimes it feels as though the characters are…
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