Diane Patterson

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Vera
397 books | 582 friends

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Diane Patterson

Goodreads Author


Born
August 10

Member Since
April 2008

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Diane Patterson When I worked as a tech writer, I wasn't allowed to have "writer's block" -- I was allowed to "write something else, today."

What I do now is, roughly…more
When I worked as a tech writer, I wasn't allowed to have "writer's block" -- I was allowed to "write something else, today."

What I do now is, roughly in this order:

* If I'm just having a bad day because of external events, then I go take a Mental Health Day and take care of errands, visit friends, whatever.

* If I really don't want to write this scene I'm working on (for first drafts, I write in chronological order), I ask myself why.

- Is it boring? When it's boring for you, it's boring for the reader.
- Does it feel wrong? Doesn't even matter what I mean by "wrong" there -- if it feels like the wrong thing to be writing, it's time to rethink the direction the book is going in. I've removed 15,000 word sections from books because it felt "wrong" (and boy, did I turn out to be right).

* If the book still feels good and this isn't a case of powering through the writer-blahs, then I work on another project, something with a totally different voice and genre. (less)
Diane Patterson Finding out what happens next.
Average rating: 3.7 · 1,213 ratings · 151 reviews · 7 distinct worksSimilar authors
You Know Who I Am

3.64 avg rating — 593 ratings — published 2013 — 6 editions
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The Sound Of Footsteps

3.69 avg rating — 486 ratings — published 2014
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Everybody Takes The Money (...

4.08 avg rating — 125 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions
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Keep Santa Cruz Dead (Zombi...

3.20 avg rating — 5 ratings
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Crossing The Bridge (Zombie...

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings
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Camping in the Temple of th...

by
3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1992 — 3 editions
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Favor for My Labor

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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More books by Diane Patterson…

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You Know Who I Am Everybody Takes The Money
(2 books)
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3.71 avg rating — 1,204 ratings

Keep Santa Cruz Dead Crossing The Bridge
(2 books)
by
3.56 avg rating — 9 ratings

Curso de Tarot. T...
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$20 Per Gallon: H...
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Diane’s Recent Updates

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The Devil's Playground by Craig Russell
The Devil's Playground
by Craig Russell (Goodreads Author)
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Diane Patterson rated a book really liked it
The Woman in Black by Susan         Hill
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Great pastiche of Victorian horror. Atmosphere for DAYS. I really enjoyed this from beginning to end, although the end seemed kind of abrupt to me (maybe I just wanted the book to last).

A young man who knows better than everyone heads out to the Moo
...more
Diane Patterson rated a book it was ok
Clown Town by Mick Herron
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Oh man, what a slog. Took me forever to read this book, completely forgot to post it. I’ve read all the Slow Horses stuff and I feel like Herron is just disinterested in it now — all the annoying tics, none of the underlying heart. I’ll wait to see i ...more
Diane Patterson rated a book it was amazing
The Missing Cryptoqueen by Jamie Bartlett
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Excellent follow-up to the excellent podcast. Even bigger scope and bigger explanations of what happened.

Frustrating that so far she’s gotten away with it!
Diane Patterson rated a book really liked it
Making History by K.J. Parker
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Short but enjoyable story about a bunch of academics charged with rewriting the ancient history of a civilization — only to find their forgeries seem to be showing up in the real world as facts.
Diane Patterson rated a book really liked it
Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon
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Atmospheric AF. Tryon could definitely teach you a thing about how to set the feel of a place.

But the book is too long and too repetitive. Too much emphasis on people and events that happened 14, 21, 28 years ago! Wow, there is some WEIRD stuff going
...more
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The Playing Card Oracles by Ana Cortez
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The Tomb by F. Paul Wilson
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Okay. The writing’s a little choppier than I would expect from such a prolific writer. Many goings on in New York.
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The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman
The Lesser Dead
by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)
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Man, Buehlman is just a great writer. Vampires in the NYC subways in the 70s discover an even greater threat. There so much in here.

One demerit for the epilogue being too “let’s readjust what we think we just read here.”
Diane Patterson rated a book liked it
The Incandescent by Emily  Tesh
The Incandescent
by Emily Tesh (Goodreads Author)
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I really enjoyed the hell out of about the first half of this book, but after they deal with Old Faithful the forward momentum falters a LOT. Took me forever to read the second half, and I was deeply disinterested in what was going on. The reason why ...more
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Quotes by Diane Patterson  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“I hate coincidences. Because so very often they’re no such thing.”
Diane Patterson, The Sound Of Footsteps

“You should remove your sweatpants,” Stevie said. “We’ll get dye all over them.”
Diane Patterson, The Sound Of Footsteps

“overacting; this was Colin on a dangerous mood swing.”
Diane Patterson, You Know Who I Am

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Comments (showing 1-1)    post a comment »
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message 1: by Steve

Steve Thank you for sending me your book, "You Know Who I Am". I greatly enjoyed it, and posted a review here on Goodreads, updated my review on Netgalley, and will post a review on Amazon shortly.

Looking forward to the next book, which I'm starting very soon!


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