 Red Room Writer Profile
|
|
Diane Chamberlain's Blog
November 2, 2009
- Ah, the title challenge once again.My publisher plans to reissue Cypress Point in late 2010–a plan which makes me very happy! This is the old cover, and I can’t wait to see what they’ll come up with for the new one. In addition to changing the cover, they would like to change the title to one that’s more in keeping with my more recent books. It’s true that my recent and upcoming books ...
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
October 28, 2009
- Point of View. Every author has to figure out which character (or characters) is telling the story, and if she’s telling it alone, and if she’s telling it in first person or third (or sometimes from an omniscient perspective), and if she’s telling it in past tense or present. So many decisions! As I begin my new work-in-progress, tentatively titled The Midwife’s Confession, I’m ...
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
October 21, 2009
- We had a friend over for dinner tonight and the conversation turned to travel. Given the fact that I just bought beach property, I won’t be able to afford to travel anywhere else for quite some time, but dreams are free!My dream is to visit Sicily, especially the village of Collesano where my grandparents grew up. It would be a moving experience to visit the places that were so much a part of ...
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
October 18, 2009
- The original title for this blog post was “I Give Up,” but when I mentioned that to my significant other, John, he nixed it. He said I’m a positive person who has overcome adversity and embraces change, totally shaming me into taking a different slant on my topic. Until then, I was sounding like quite the curmudgeon in this post. Now, I feel much lighter. At least, I’m trying to feel ...
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
October 12, 2009
- When I decided to set Before the Storm and Secrets She Left Behind on Topsail Island, I never dreamed how important this place would become to me. From my very first research trip, though, I knew I’d discovered something special. It reminded me of my childhood at the Jersey Shore and of my early adulthood on the Outer Banks. Like most coastal areas, it has way too many houses crammed together ...
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
October 9, 2009
- I will say very quickly, before any of my readers totally freak out, this is not a new cover for one of my books. Not even a recent cover. But my last post led to a discussion on book covers and author input, so I thought I’d use this truly scary example as a jumping off point.This cover was the Norwegian edition of my third (and perhaps my personal favorite) novel, Secret Lives. I hasten to ...
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
October 4, 2009
- The cover for The Lies We Told, which I just completed and which will be published June 2010. I love it, but the hair color of the sisters doesn’t match the story exactly. How much would that bother you as readers? If I view the image as more representational than literal, I can get past that fact.
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
October 2, 2009
- Years ago, my then-husband and I were driving through the countryside in a pouring rain. I was working on my second novel back then, and was utterly entranced with the process. As we drove through the downpour, I noticed a group of cows huddled together under a tree, and my heart broke for them.“I feel so sorry for those cows,” I said.“Because they’re stuck out in the rain?” my ...
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
September 27, 2009
- I’m at SIBA this weekend–the trade show for the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Alliance. What that means is row upon row upon row of publishers showcasing their upcoming books to booksellers, and in many cases, giving those books away. Publishers bring some of their authors with them to meet booksellers in the Southeastern US. It’s also a chance for authors to catch up with one ...
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
September 23, 2009
- I didn’t think it was ever going to happen! After several months of “everything that can go wrong going wrong” (with the exception of a hurricane, but the season’s not over yet), I now own a vacation home–a two-bedroom oceanfront condo on my beloved Topsail Island! It’s hard to believe I’d never even heard of Topsail until about five years ago. I was invited to participate in an ...
- Continue Reading » 1 Comment
September 23, 2009
- During my twenty-eight years of writing, I’ve heard plenty of advice from other authors. One tidbit stands out: tighten the relationship between characters. I know exactly where (in Albert Zuckerman’s Writing the Blockbuster Novel) and when (1995, as I wrote Reflection) I read this suggestion. It’s stayed with me all these years and I draw on it with every book I write. I thought of how ...
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
August 28, 2009
- My reading life is out of control. With the advent of ebooks, I worried that authors would lose income because they make less on an ebook than they do on a “paper” book, but if most readers are anything like me, authors have nothing to worry about. Take for example, the book I’m reading right now, Sarah’s Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay. I purchased it months ago from one of my ...
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
August 26, 2009
- My webmaster has changed my blog to a WordPress blog, so I have a bit of a learning curve going on here! Let's see how it works out. For those of you who comment frequently, let me know if you run into any snags. I hope not. Change is always a challenge, but I hope it will ultimately be for the better. I have a feeling you won't notice much difference on your end, but if you could see the ...
- Continue Reading » 1 Comment
August 23, 2009
- Let me say one thing right up front: I think it's wonderful that there are so many opportunities on the Internet for readers to review novels they've read. I absolutely love being able to check out what other readers think about a book I want to buy. If most of the reviews of a certain book are glowing, I toss out the solo stinker, assuming the reviewer either has an ax to grind or very ...
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
August 21, 2009
- Sometimes you find the prize when you're not looking for it. John and I were traveling the backroads of eastern North Carolina recently as I researched the setting for my work-in-progress, The Lies We Told. We stopped for an ice cream cone at an out-of-the-way restaurant, and we sat on the restaurant's tiny porch, licking our yummy cones and chatting about my book. On the bench across from ...
- Continue Reading » 0 Comments
