Ask the Author: Jacqueline Diamond
Answered Questions (13)
Jacqueline Diamond
Cintia, you're allowing generalities about the profession of writing to overwhelm you. Everything you cite here is about the industry, other people, etc. Neither you nor anyone else (including me) has any control over these things. We simply have to let them go or, like the caterpillar who couldn't keep track of how many legs he had, we'll fall over and lie in a ditch.
Please focus on the following:
1) That you write because you love to and/or feel driven to. That's part of you. Never mind anyone else.
2) That your job is to keep moving forward one page at a time, whether it's a page of plotting, or character sketches or of actual writing.
3) That none of us can control the future (will we find love? Have a successful marriage? Have children and raise them well?), only the effort we put into getting there.
4) That becoming a writer is a process. Articles, blogs, etc. focus on the outcome, but for us as writers, the key is our growth, development, craft and daily/weekly writing efforts and schedule.
5) Do your best to surround yourself with positive people and influences, and weed out the rest.
6) As for ideas, jot things down. An item in the news, a plot twist in a TV show, a remark by a friend, etc. Play with these. Think in terms of "what if" or "what next."
7) Give yourself permission to fail. As many times as necessary. And for me, that was a lot.
8) Make friends with other writers. Network. Turn the competition into a support group (for them as well as you).
9) The bottom line is, how much do you want to write? If it isn't important to you, go do something else that's fun and life-affirming. If it's vital to you, remember that life is what happens while you're making other plans, and just keep at it.
Please focus on the following:
1) That you write because you love to and/or feel driven to. That's part of you. Never mind anyone else.
2) That your job is to keep moving forward one page at a time, whether it's a page of plotting, or character sketches or of actual writing.
3) That none of us can control the future (will we find love? Have a successful marriage? Have children and raise them well?), only the effort we put into getting there.
4) That becoming a writer is a process. Articles, blogs, etc. focus on the outcome, but for us as writers, the key is our growth, development, craft and daily/weekly writing efforts and schedule.
5) Do your best to surround yourself with positive people and influences, and weed out the rest.
6) As for ideas, jot things down. An item in the news, a plot twist in a TV show, a remark by a friend, etc. Play with these. Think in terms of "what if" or "what next."
7) Give yourself permission to fail. As many times as necessary. And for me, that was a lot.
8) Make friends with other writers. Network. Turn the competition into a support group (for them as well as you).
9) The bottom line is, how much do you want to write? If it isn't important to you, go do something else that's fun and life-affirming. If it's vital to you, remember that life is what happens while you're making other plans, and just keep at it.
Jacqueline Diamond
I sit down at the computer to write my next chapter. The entire book has vanished.
Jacqueline Diamond
Harlequin still controls the rights to "Illegally Yours," so unfortunately I can't issue a Kindle edition. It's up to the publisher to reissue that series if they choose to, and I certainly wish they would!
I have reissued a lot of my backlist books, whenever I can reclaim the rights. It depends on the terms of my contracts. I hope you'll visit my website, www.jacquelinediamond.com. There's a books overview page and also a romantic comedies page that have Kindle links on them.
Thanks for asking!
I have reissued a lot of my backlist books, whenever I can reclaim the rights. It depends on the terms of my contracts. I hope you'll visit my website, www.jacquelinediamond.com. There's a books overview page and also a romantic comedies page that have Kindle links on them.
Thanks for asking!
Jacqueline Diamond
I'd love to drop in on Brother Cadfael in the mysteries by Ellis Peters. While I'm not a huge fan of living in the 12th century, I'm fascinated by his knowledge of herbal and medical lore, as well as his kind but hard-won insights into human frailties.
Jacqueline Diamond
I'll be catching up on the wonderful Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters, with Brother Cadfael's Penance. I've also bought Tess Gerritsen's The Apprentice, part of her Rizzoli and Iles medical mystery series, and I'm rereading Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer's delightful Sorcery and Cecilia, a paranormal Regency.
Jacqueline Diamond
In traveling and in researching history, I've been shocked at the level of violence and murder affecting people who were unquestionably my ancestors, even before the Holocaust. How did my Jewish ancestors, who surely included artists like my mother and writers/storytellers like me, survive wave after wave of oppression and exile over the centuries? That's too big a topic for one book, I'm sure. Instead, I'm taking a tiny part--one family's story of how they, barely, survived the Holocaust and how it impacted future generations--and weaving it in as a secondary plotline to my third Safe Harbor Medical Mystery, The Case of the Desperate Doctor, which I'm currently writing. (The second mystery, The Case of the Surly Surrogate, has a publication date of May 1, 2017).
Jacqueline Diamond
It's always been Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice. Readers of my Safe Harbor Medical Mysteries will note that my obstetrician-turned-amateur sleuth, Eric Darcy, M.D., is named after the Jane Austen hero.
Jacqueline Diamond
The Baby Bonanza is the third in a three-book arc (as well as being 15th in the Safe Harbor Medical series). My hero and heroine have been squabbling with each other since moving into the same house with fellow workers at the hospital. In this book, finally, they discover they're falling in love.
Jacqueline Diamond
I don't wait for inspiration. I keep track of ideas and play around with them. I ask questions, such as Why would someone do this? What kind of person would do this? What might the results be?
Jacqueline Diamond
I'm usually involved with multiple projects at once. I just finished revisions on The Baby Bonanza, book 15 of the Safe Harbor Medical miniseries, scheduled for publication in March 2015 (book 14, The Surprise Triplets, comes out in September). I also sent two proposals to my editor at Harlequin. And I'm working on the background and concepts for a new mystery series.
Jacqueline Diamond
Work on your craft. Take workshops, take classes, join a critique group. Revise, and discard what doesn't work, including manuscripts with a fatally flawed premise. Especially, move past your hurt and feelings of self-doubt that result from discovering you've made mistakes. Learn from them, and persevere.
Jacqueline Diamond
Being able to give life to the people inside you. And, when you're publish and have actual readers, reaching others.
Jacqueline Diamond
I go back and reread what I'm working on. Usually I find that somewhere I went astray, and that's why I can't move forward.
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