Just making an attempt to get my Twitter to report here...:)

I've been posting this on my MySpace blog, but then thought there might be a few people who still read this one :). So here is what's going on in my world lately...

Wednesday, April 16

I managed to get to Pittsburg just fine. Got off the ramp and into real city streets and didn't have far to go...just a quick set of rights and a quick pull into the hotel loop. Right?

Yeah, right.

The first right was closed...road all ripped up as they do construction on...something. I drive around the block, only the blocks aren't square...they're at angles here in Pittsburg and so I stop and ask for directions (I'm not proud). Some very nice women on the street point out the Hilton (which is 2 blocks straight ahead so I wasn't too far off!) and I'm on my way. Pull into the loop...big sign "Valet Parking-- Full". Drat.

I unload and leave all my stuff on the sidewalk beside the bellhop's station, keeping my purse, my laptop and the projector with me. He says, "take a right and another right and the overflow garage is right there."

He was right . The garage was right where he said it would be. And it was full.

This attendant gives me directions for the NEXT garage...I drive over and it's automated and gives me a ticket. I drive up and up and up...finally find a place on the 9th level. Least I think it was a place. If not...I made my own. Parked, grabbed the purse, the laptop and the projector and hiked my way 3 blocks back to the hotel. Where my bags still sat on the sidewalk. No carts available.

So the bellhop tells me to go register and probably by the time I'm done, he'll have found a cart. Now I'm rooming with Jennifer Dunne, who came in yesterday. Only the hotel says she's a no-show. They still have her room available...one with a king sized bed. One bed. Not two. One. I take it, figuring for three nights I can deal with this. Not happily, but I can deal.

I go to my room, breathe. Take a few pics out the window (I'm on the 22nd floor...the better suites and rooms...which I don't mind at all). I grab some of my promo to put down on Promotion Lane and head back down to register for the conference. And who do I find down there? Jennifer Dunne!

Turns out she refused the room with the king-sized bed and made them switch us to a room with two beds. Only the change wasn't ever logged into their computer. So I go BACK to the front desk...tell them I need to change my room. After some confusion, they manage to figure it out.

Only all the bellhops are busy and there aren't any carts. So Jennifer and I lug all my junk from the 22nd floor...to the 6th.

In my roaming around trying to find people, I happened to be waiting on my floor for the elevator (waits can go as long as 20 min!), with a tall, muscular hunk of a model. I thought it might be...wasn't sure...he turned and I saw the tattoo on his shoulder (he wore a muscle shirt)...and I smiled. "You're John Fish," I said with particular brilliance (insert eyeroll here).

He smiled and said he was, so I introduced myself, telling him he's on my book, Winter Studs. We have a fun conversation, the elevator comes and we both ride it down to the ballroom floor and go our separate ways.

Ladies, I can tell you without embellishment, yes...he is as hunky in RL as he is on the cover of that book! He's polite, a true gentleman, and VERY easy on the eyes.

The Ellora's Cave party was fun, as always, although I was pretty tired. By the time I finished this blog post and Jennifer and I finished going over our presentation, it was one in the morning. Thankfully the beds here are comfortable. :)

Today deserves a post unto itself, and I'll write about that in a bit. Play safe!

Diana

Okay...so the world is divided into three sets of people: those who don't know what a blog is, those who keep a blog, and those who comment on blogs. It's taken me a while to realize it, but I belong in the third category.

It's not that I can't pontificate...heck, I do that all the time! Nor is it that I can't write (I let my books speak for themselves on this one), or that I don't have the time (although that is at a premium lately). I'm afraid it really has to do with the fact that I'm just a better kibbitz-er than I am a generator.

So if you're a reader of this sometime-blog, know that I comment like heck all over the blogosphere. I DO have opinions...lots of them. They're just spread hither and yon like so many seeds scattered across a meadow. And know that, although I rarely post here, my thoughts can be found in many places. :)

All that said, there are some important dates coming up. Besides my regular schedule of in-world readings in Second Life (btw, I'm WAY over my shyness at saying particular words...and my audience doesn't seem to mind them at all!) and workshops (just finished a 12-week set of discussions and creative writing exercises and am on hiatus for April), I will actually make an honest-to-goodness, real life, live appearance at the Romantic Times Convention in Pittsburg, PA this month! I'm arriving Wednesday afternoon and will be there all week, including the Saturday booksigning extravaganza :).

While I'm there, Jennifer Dunn and I will be presenting Second Life to the uninitiated and showing other authors how it can be used for promotion. Looks to be a lot of fun :).

So I'll see you 'round the blogosphere...and play safe!
Diana

Well, I got tagged, I guess that means I have to dig out this poor excuse for a blog and write! (grinning).

Here are the rules:
(1) Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
(2) People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
(3) At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
(4) Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Random facts? habits? hmmmm....

1) In real life I also weave. Yes, weave. With a loom. Has treadles (6 of them) and harnesses (4 of those). I get to beam the warp, thread the headles and sley the reed ( love the fact that the language of weaving hasn't changed in over a thousand years). Mostly I make lap rugs from yarn. What can I say? I live in the Finger Lakes and it gets cold in the winter!

2) Speaking of where I live, I live in a Queen Anne Victorian house built originally in the late 1880's. It was one of the best houses in town and boasted a specialty that most homes didn't have...the outhouse out back was connected via a corridor to the main house...and it was a two-holer! The corridor and outhouse are long gone, but boy, does that ground make for some great tomatoes!

3). I have two teenagers...one a senior in high school (yes, we're doing the college visits now...applications are going out and the wait begins...). The other is a sophomore and loves World of Warcraft.

4) Love, love, love Second Life. I went in originally to advertise my books, but have met so many people and made so many friends there that it's become much, much more than a source of advertising.

5) I still have a day job even though I write and have published (at this point) an even dozen stories. One of these days one of the books will catch the right eye at the right time and I'll be able to drop the day job and do full time what I love best: write!

6) I have three college degrees: a BA in Theatre, an MS in Education and a CAS in Educational Administration. Funny how I use the theatre one far more than the other two!

7) My husband is a theatre director...directing five shows a year. We're on haitus now for two weeks...LOVE IT! I actually get to see him for a little while!!! :)

8) I drive a standard. Love the control it gives me over the car. The first car my husband and I shared was a standard and he taught me how to drive it (we're married 26 years this past summer, so I guess I must not have been TOO bad a student!). Don't ever want anything BUT a standard. Too much fun to drive!

LOL Okay! I'm done. Now I need to tag eight other people. Hmmmm...I tag....

Heath Vercher, Ruby Storm, Ruth Kerce, Ravishal Bentham...and I can't think of any more who have blogs! At least that haven't been tagged already.

Play safe...and enjoy! :)
Diana

I blogged over at the Sizzling Scribes blog today...it was my turn :). Head on over and have a read!

Play safe,
Diana

http://sizzlingscribes.blogspot.com/

LOL...I can barely keep up with one blog...but the Sizzling Scribes have decided to undertake a group blog where each of us will take a week and post. One week out of ten? I think I can handle that.

Head on over and take a peek. Soon as I remember how to add this to my blogroll, I'll get the link into the side panel....

Play safe!
Diana

Well, as you can see, I've been very lackadaisical in posting to this thing. The latest idea was a bit of a bust, although I thank those who did participate. I suppose I should just up and admit, I'm a better fiction writer than blogger, period.

That said, it's been an interesting several months! I've done live readings in Second Life...yes, readings of my very own work. It was hard at first...I was terribly nervous and I self-edited some of the more specific words out of my readings. The second reading I suddenly came across the word "pussy" that I had missed in my editing and hesitated before saying it. But the audience egged me on and I haven't looked back since. I think, though, it cost me some listeners.

In fact, while I had a segment that wanted to hear the hotter stuff, the majority (I think) didn't want it so explicit. It was really hard to tell. I started with audiences/listeners of 15-17 people...and by the end of a six weeks had only 2 or 3. Time to face facts...either they didn't like my voice, didn't like the selections, didn't like me....I had to do some pretty dark soul-searching because the reality was that, whatever I was doing, it wasn't working.

So I took a hiatus, ostensibly to write more (which I have done), but it reality, it was to nurse a wounded ego. I really don't have a big one. No, really...I don't! lol But to go from a small audience to a tiny one would make anyone stop and think. During this time (most of May), I curtailed my SL time somewhat...touched base with the Real World and started a new project (see, you can't keep me down for long!).

Working with Selina Greene of Book Island, I proposed 4 writing workshops. I thought to use my stream and do a combination of streaming and chat in order to present. The delay makes it...interesting! I'm either ahead of the conversation by a full minute...or behind it! But the attendance has been steady in the 20-25 people range--a perfect number for a workshop. Small enough that everyone who wants to participate in the chat can...and yet large enough to make Book Island want more.

So yes, I added two more workshops to the line up and probably would go on with more, but I'm going on holiday (yes, I'm from the States, so I should say 'on vacation' but I really like the British choice of words better!) and I won't be in-world for three weeks. I hope they don't forget me!

I'll be adding more workshops when I come back as well as restarting this set from the beginning for those who missed a workshop or two. I'm having fun...and even when the stream breaks down or SL decides not to cooperate, I'm finding the people of SL are just fun to be with and are very understanding that technology always comes with issues.

If you're still reading this...I have a few thank yous to give: to Secundo Dharma who has been a big supporter and who interviewed me for SLCN; to Selina Greene of Book Island who is graciously hosting these writing workshops, and to Ronin Kirosawa of Booksquare who is helping the publishing world see there are alternate avenues to getting your work out for public consumption (sorry, Selina...can't find the link for the Book Island website!).

I'll try to be better in posting to the blog!

With AS the SL WORLD TURNS off to a good start, I've turned my attention in Second Life to doing readings of my works. Taking a lesson from the musicians, I have done three readings so far...one in my home shop (Passionate Books) and two on the island of Hukilau, where I was asked to come and read! Two other sims have contacted me about doing a reading in their venues and I'm setting up a weekly reading at Passionate Books.

I have to say that this blows my mind a bit. I've never even done a reading of my works in RL! The response has been positive (although the lag between the time I make a joke and the time I get a response from the crowd does drive me crazy a bit. Ahh..the technology of broadcasting!). I do worry people will get bored, though, so I hope they'll tell me if a piece is too long...or too hot!

Wednesdays, Passionate Books, 5 PM SLT...at least, every Wednesday in March to see how it goes. I have already begun to line up some guest authors in the erotic romance genre. The format of the hour is still a work-in-progress. At the moment, three readings with time in between for questions and/or stories (if no one asks questions) seems to work.

Still hoping for people to begin using this blog as an outlet for their Second Life stories!

Hooray! My bookshop is named and open for business in the Mystic sim of Second Life. Today is the official opening!

For those of you who don't know, a few months back I decided to explore this new "game" called Second Life and see what kind of promotional opportunities might be there. I'd heard a piece about it on NPR and the announcer mentioned Ford and Toyota had places there...I thought...well, if they can, why can't I?

The learning curve is incredibly steep...it took me two months just to get a clue how to create objects, what prims were to begin with...how to make Linden dollars so I could buy all the gorgeous dresses! But this week, the climb up will bear fruit as I open Passionate Books, Diana Hunter, Prop.

To celebrate the opening, I'm offering the first two episodes of my new serial...AS THE SL WORLD TURNS...a set of stories set in Second Life whose storyline is directed, not only by my own experiences thus far, but by those of the readers as well. To get your copies, stop by Passionate Books...and read a few hot excerpts while you're there!

This is a new form of storytelling for me, but it is not a static story with a set plot already formed in my head. Come tell your own SL stories! I will take pieces of your adventures and weave and interweave the wonderful threads into a tapestry filled with the color and passion of Second Life. Let Rosie’s story be truly interactive…come post your thoughts about each episode and help direct the next one!

Play safe!
Diana

This blog is taking on a second life. Or maybe I should captialize that? Let me explain...

I started this blog initally as a place to do some thinking out loud about characters and stories. Thought readers might be interested in the "behind the scenes" look at the writing process. Well, to put it bluntly, they weren't. I don't know how many people subscribe to this blog, heck, I can't even find the darn RSS button it supposedly has on it somewhere. Few people leave comments, even when I post on bigger topics. Over the past several months, I've been posting less and less frequently as a result.

Those of you who DO read, know that my past few posts have mentioned Second Life, the Linden company's virtual world that mirrors everyday life...and yet has its own, unique reality. I've established a presence there, with a new reading room/coffeeshop/bookstore-type place to showcase my books. Click on a book cover and read an excerpt...follow the links to Ellora's Cave Publishing and voila! Purchase my books! Clever, huh?

Except I don't want it to end there. Second Life has far too many stories of its own to leave them untold. So, sitting with Ravishal Bentham one day (owner of East End Radio), we got to chatting about how to tell those stories. He told me of another story-teller who publishes on the web, adding a chapter on a regular basis, whose readers comment on his stories and gives him direction for the storyline.

Well, that got me to thinkin'....What about a story set both in RL (real life) and SL (Second Life)? A story that not only took some of my own adventures and viewed them through the eyes of a fictitious character, but that allowed readers to post their own stories as well? A story that could be directed by the readers as new worlds are created and new events occur? In other words, not a static, already-plotted out story...but a new, dynamic storytelling where the reader could interact with the characters and the storyline!

But of course, I need a way for readers to talk back to me. Find me in-world (I'm Diana Allandale, in-world), or add your stories here for the world to read. Let's give this blog its own Second Life!

Play safe,
Diana

Something old...something new...and Second Life!

The old first...which isn't so very old...I have been working on a sequel to Secret Submission. When I first concieved the novel, I had a much larger story in mind. One that went all the way to Sarah and Phillip's wedding. I pitched it to Ellora's Cave as a two-novel set, but since I was an untried (an as yet, un-pubbed) author, they would only buy the first book, since it was finished and the second part existed only in my mind. Wise choice on their part.

Over the past few years, I set the story of Sarah and Phillip aside as I worked on other projects. But every time I opened the story starts folder I have tucked away on my computer...the file of bits and pieces would stare at me...accusing me of abandoning them. This past fall, I gave into the guilt and pulled the pieces out.

Tentatively titled, Submission Revealed, the story has flowed quickly. There is but one scene left to finish (and it's a doozy of a sex scene!) and I can send it in to my editor. I have hopes to have it done by the first of the year which, by the calendar on the wall beside me, says I'd better get to it! I wrote 3000 words in the last two days...another 3000 or so ought to finish everything off.

Something new...I have my first Exotica novel debuting in January! Mostly, as you know, I write erotic romances. A New York Moment is my first that is more erotic and less romantic...although there is a romantic element to it. It's a Quickie...just a short story, as befits the title!

and Second Life.

When I originally started in Second Life, it was to explore the online possibilities of a place for my readers to visit with me. I'd heard of the colleges that were conducting online classes and the big businesses that were getting into the SL market for their products (like Toyota and Ford!). I figured there had to be a place for an erotic romance author with a small following to find a pleasant place to chat with one another in a real-time environment much more pleasant than an online chat room.

With that vision in mind, I started my Second Life exploration. What I discovered along the way were casinos galore and entrepreneurs every other person...places of education and BDSM clubs as well. I also discovered a sim full of friends and soon-to-be neighbors. While I currently have a few places open where people can download excerpts from my books, by the end of January I hope to have that place I originally envisioned...a permanant spot with lots of comfy couches where readers can come to download excerpts and talk about books, erotica, and life in general. The spot is already reserved...the building has begun! Soon, you will be able to sit and chat with Diana Hunter (as Diana Allandale, my SL avatar) in a marvelous new way!

Till then,
play safe!

Diana

I haven't blogged much because of two happenings in my life that have been keeping me busy. The first is a new story (yay!)...and no, I'm not going to spill the beans till it's done and into my editor (which, if all goes well, should be in the next week or two).

The second, appropriately enough, is Second Life. I know I asked before if there were any SLers out here, and I did discover a few (waving hi to Montecore). Well, recently I rented space at the Nantucket sim and have put up a few of my book covers. More will be coming soon. I'm also trying to figure out how to create notecards so that when you click on a cover, you get a card with an excerpt from the book as well as purchasing information. Actually, I've created the cards...just have to try and figure out how to attach them to the posters!

The entire idea of Second Life is intriguing...at first I thought of it as just a giant chat room with avatars. But it really is a lot more than that. Sometimes, I will admit, I feel a bit like I'm playing with my Barbies again...every time I change my avatar's clothes. And believe me, Diana Allandale (my avatar on SL) likes to change into appropriate clothing for the sim she's in! Guess I miss playing Barbies more than I thought!

I have met some wonderful people there...from all over the world. A few days ago I visited a BDSM spot and the place was taking a long time to "rez" (sometimes the resolution of a site takes a bit of time). Several people stood nearby, carrying on a conversation and I eavesdropped as I rezzed. Being me, I couldn't resist going over when my avatar was finally fully pictured and joining in. The conversation revolved around Real Life issues of real Master/slave relationships. What an opportunity to talk to people about a subject near and dear to my heart...with no sideways glances, with no disapproving looks, with no concerns about what people might think!

LOL I could go on and on...but I'd better get back to writing this story.

Play safe!
Diana

Any Second Lifers out there?

I sent this out to my fans via newsletter...then realized that perhaps this is the better home for it.

My new obsession (besides writing, of course!). If you haven't heard of Second Life, you will. It's the next MySpace. Place has been around for about five years, but is just now coming into it's own.

What's the difference you ask? Well, Second Life (SL) uses avatars that you can customize to the nth degree. Make it look like you...make it look like Catherine Zeta-Jones...your choice. No one uses their RL (Real Life) names...although I do use my first name. You choose your last name from a list, so I'm Diana Allandale on SL. There's a real economy and you can buy and sell cyber stuff...or real stuff. Toyota has a dealership out there and Reuters just put a real-life reporter "on the scene" to report on SL happenings. Go to concerts...take a class...gamble...the whole world is recreated.

Now, is this a good thing or a bad thing? Like anything...it's all in the user. Yes, there are "griefers" who are annoying. Yes, the land is expensive (and no, I can't afford to buy any yet). Yes, gambling and cybersex is VERY available. But then again, so are online courses and some wonderful shops (if you're there, check out Shakespeare & Company!). So, for the most part, asking if Second Life is a good thing or a bad thing, is like asking...is Real Life a good thing or a bad thing?

So if you're out and about in SL, look for me, Diana Allandale! I'm sometimes at the Bondage Cafe (where else?), but I think if you do a search, you'll find me wherever I am (guilty secret...I like to hang out in the chairs that pay you to sit there and fill in to make the place look full. You get paid a minimal amount...but like I said...I don't have many Linden dollars and I'll take what jobs I can! LOL Besides which, I can sit there...and have my file open and be writing away at the same time!).

As always...and whether in real or Second life...PLAY SAFE!

Diana

Read this great article entitled "Are you an Internet Addict?" and had to answer with a resounding, "YES!" I went down through the list of symptoms and know I have five of the eight.

I definitely like having the latest Internet gadgets, even if I don't exactly know how to use them to their fullest capability.

I often wonder if I have email and usually have the window up all the time so I can just maximize and hit "check email" 'cause I don't want to miss something important.

I go online to escape...not to escape problems so much as escaping characters who won't behave!

Disregarding emotional or physical consequences of staring at the computer screen for so long? Heck, I have glasses...and aspirin. What more do I need?

General decrease in physical activity or social life? What's a social life? And I'm pretty sure getting up to use the bathroom or visit the fridge counts as physical activity.

That's the five. So am I an addict? Yeah, I probably am. Especially since I have one more symptom this blogger doesn't mention... I'm sitting here blogging about other people's blogs!


Have fun and play safe,
Diana

The world is shy one deer after this morning I've had. Dark, rainy roads...oncoming traffic. Difficult to see much, so I'm driving under the 55 mph speed limit (admittedly, not by much, but I WAS under it). A deer standing in the middle of the road. Just standing there. Looking at me. Of course, I had about three-quarters of a second to register this fact before the thud came and I saw it flying past my window.

Damn. Not even a year old, either...although in that shortened second between sight and impact it looked huge. I pulled over, the oncoming car pulled over...he got out and pulled the deer from the road and went on. I got out...several yards up the road and watched, pulling my cell phone out as I did so.

I'm fine. The deer has gone to Heaven (yes, I believe animals have souls). The accident has been reported to the police (thank goodness I had my laptop in the car while I waited for the officer to come make a report. Because there were no injuries to anyone except the deer, I wasn't a high priority as I sat in my car waiting for an hour before a member of the K-9 unit came to write it up for me. Got bored, so took out my next story and got to work editing it. Tease, tease!). I've gotten my estimate ($1500 to the front corner of my car...a Hyundai Elantra. Hood's okay...headlight's smashed. Front bumper is only crumpled a little and the side panel has a rip in it). Now I'm home and have decided work can do without me for the day.

I hate the fact that I just killed a deer...and one less than a year old, at that. Seems such a waste. The philosophical part of me keeps looking for the reason behind it, but the practical side of me just says, 'get over it. Accidents happen.' The practical side of me also says, 'Don't waste the day you were given....get writing!'

So I'm off to get a cup of hot chocolate and find a comfortable spot to curl up in. The house is strangely quiet...I'm not used to being home in the middle of the day. But something tells me, I will enjoy the unexpected time alone.

Play safe...and watch for deer!

Diana

I write romances with heavy bondage scenes. In my books, the man is sexually dominant and the woman is always submissive. Often they have issues...troubles...dealing with their sexual preferences. A man who doesn't want to give into the 'cave man' mentality of bossing a woman around...a woman who needs to reconcile her hard-won, feminist independence with a desire to just relax and give all that power to a man. The Dominant/submissive dynamic and the internal struggles that go along with it have always fascinated me.

But I go further than that in my romances. I add in some of the stronger elements of BDSM. She likes being tied..."forced" to do things she would never have dreamed of until meeting a man she calls "Master." Slavery. Sexual slavery that teases...excites...fulfills. I write of our deepest held secrets, of fantasies we only whisper to ourselves on dark nights when no one can hear. I write of snapping whips and chains that bind, of spankings that leave the skin pink, and of hot sex that leaves the reader breathless.

And then a man goes into a schoolroom and tells the boys to leave, keeping the teenagers he then makes sexual advances toward. He takes their freedom...and at least one life. And another man walks into another schoolroom, this one filled with children, and he keeps only the little girls, tying their ankles so they cannot walk. He plans to sexually assault them, but kills them instead.

These men are twisted and sick and they differ from my heroes only in the matter of degree. Bondage, male dominance, the sexual submission of women...these are themes that run through these crimes just as assuredly as they run through my books. Do I bear some of the responsibility for their heinous actions? I don't have an answer to that...and it torments me.

Consent is a big part of the key...my heroes always obtain the consent of the woman they love. They do not push their sexual preferences on those who do not want them. My heroes respect women and love them for their independence, understanding that the power truly lies with the woman in a D/s relationship...for a woman has only to say the word, and the ropes are untied, the bondage gear put away, and the "play" ends.

"Play." Another key element, I suppose. Even among real people who truly live D/s lifestyles, the term "play" is used along with another word to describe the sexual act with all the trimmings: a "scene." Both these terms, derived from the theatre, denote a setting-apart...a definite movement of the action out of real life and into a realm of fantasy.

My husband tells me I cannot be responsible for other's mental illnesses. These men could not see the line between fantasy and reality...a line that is often blurred even by those of us society considers "normal." I understand that. I really do. And yet, a part of me will always wonder when these things happen...where does my responsibility begin? And where does it end.

Please...please...please....ALWAYS remember to
Play Safe.

Diana

Cabin Fever is now on sale! You can buy the print version here at Amazon (although they list it only as presale) or here at EC's home site. Barnes and Noble also still lists it as pre-sale (the 'big boys' need to update their pages!). If you'd like an excerpt...check it out here. Reviews, too!

From its position on the Coming Soon page, I'd say Kara's Captain will be out (ebook format) the first week in October. Don't quote me on that, though. Believe me, when it releases, I'll post the information! Check out my website or the newsletter to get a sneak peek!

And watch for New York Moment and A Devil in Winter...both coming this December!

Till then, play safe!
Diana

Well, it's taken me a while, but I've finally signed up for MySpace. LOL No, not as one of my characters (yes, I know that seems to be a hot new gimmick, but I'd rather write the character's stories than write the character's blog. Call me old fashioned....).

No, I'm there as myself. If you'd like to see my profile, check it out and then add me as a friend. I look forward to seeing you there!

On the writing front, we go from famine to feast. After not having a release since last (gasp!) October, looks like there will be three out at the end of this year. Kara's Captain should be out sometime in October (crossing fingers!), and Devil of a Winter in December (crossing toes!). And of course, there's always the Quickie New York Moment for Ellora's Cave new Exotica line!

How does an author get herself into these situations? For me, it all began last year when I was trying to write a novella for the now-defunct Lady Jaided Magazine. I started two stories, one of which actually went on to become Kara's Captain. But we had a sorrowful spring in our family, with the passing of a beloved great uncle and then the untimely death of my father-in-law. Although I had several stories started at that point, I just couldn't seem to concentrate enough to finish any of them.

But time moves on and so do we. In the space of a few weeks early this summer, I finished all three stories and sent them in. Final edits are now done on all and I can turn my attention to something new...or something started and not yet finished...which is more the case.

So what have I settled on? You may remember Secret Submission (my banned Ebay book...which, by the way, is still banned and no closer to being reinstated. That's okay...give Amazon or Barnes and Noble the business instead). Well, ages ago, I wrote a small scene between Sarah and Phillip that didn't make it into the book. It's been sitting on my computer just begging to have a story written around it. I pulled it out last week and decided to play around with it. I even have a title: Submission Revealed. Looks like a keeper!

I liken choosing a story to work on to throwing spaghetti at the wall to see if it's done. I remember my mother flinging a piece of pasta at the wall behind the stove. If it slid down the wall, she'd get out the cloth and wipe the starch off the wall, pick up the dropped pasta and throw it away. Two minutes later, she'd do it again.

Well, I use much the same approach when starting a new story. First I'll read through the half-dozen or so manuscripts that are started. If the characters from any one of them start talking, I'll stay with them a while and see if the story "sticks." If it does...we're off and running. If it doesn't, I clean the starch from my computer and.... No, if the characters are silent, I move on to the next file. And if all of them are silent? I just start a new story with new characters and follow along until either 1) they shut up and I have another unfinished story, or 2) they take me all the way to the end.

Okay, so it's about as organized and scientific as throwing pasta at the wall to see if it's cooked. So far it's worked for me!

(by the way, my mom no longer throws pasta at the wall. She's living in a house where the stove is on an island, okay...a penninsula...and has no wall to use. Now she just tastes it...as I have learned to do as well!).

Off to visit with Sarah and Phillip...and I'll see you on MySpace!

Play safe,
Diana

Susan Gable made a great post regarding buying used vs new books. This is such a touchy subject...and she does a great job explaining why authors tend to push the sales of new books rather than used (bottom line: authors don't get any royalties on the used book). Problem is, explaining that to readers without coming across as capitalistic pigs isn't exactly easy.

That's why I like Susan's post so much. She explains the ins and outs (and freely admits she often buys used or uses the library as well. In the interest of complete disclosure here, I have to admit to the same, although our library doesn't stock erotica titles...!) without coming across as whiny or money-hungry. A fine line to walk...and she manages it quite well.

Hmmm...wonder if subliminal messages would work? Note to self: figure out how to encode BUY MY BOOKS NEW into the text of every email message and posting I make...LOL

In the meantime, Play safe!
Diana

Wow.

Many thanks to Melissa at Paperbacks and Things for a GREAT booksigning experience. She throws quite a party, let me tell you! If you ever get the chance to go to her store, DO IT! She's an incredible lady who makes everyone feel at home. Her store is great, too...with places to sit and chat about books, philosophy, or the kids at home. And believe me, we covered all those bases and more this past Saturday!

Also, I need to send some thanks over to Debbie E for the pictures you can find here. My Dear Heart and I decided to turn this tour into a family vacation, so we went to Cedar Point last Thursday, the booksigning in Cleveland on Friday, Paperbacks and Things on Saturday and Greenfield Village yesterday, the Ford plant and Henry Ford Museum today and home tomorrow. My Internet usage is spotty, so am posting this now while I can. Will post a LOT more when I get home.

till then, play safe!
Diana