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Today, I’m very happy to have author Diana Layne here with
us.
Welcome, Diana. Please tell us about yourself.
Not much to tell. I’m a
small town Texas girl; some might even call me a redneck although I gave up
riding horses and wearing cowboy boots years ago. (Both times I married big
city boys-still trying to figure that one out)
I am an only child and
only grandchild who hated not having siblings or cousins so I had six kids of
my own-finally someone to play with! It took me two families to get the six
kids, the first four are grown and I have two small grandchildren from son #2
and his wife, while my youngest two are 8 and 10. Another interesting
tidbit-I’ve always homeschooled. Some ask why? Mainly because I like doing
things my own way and rigid school schedules are not for me.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
Writing has always been
part of entertaining myself, given I grew up before cable TV, DVD’s, Netflix
and computers and without siblings or cousins. I just didn’t realize I could
publish until I was much, much older. I thought you had to be super smart, college-educated,
wealthy, beautiful, and of course, thin. Then, I saw an article in RT Book Reviews (at the time it was called
Romantic Times) about RWA and I had a
glimmer of hope. Maybe one day I could sell a book and become published. And at
last, I am!
How long does it take you to write a book?
It has varied-from five
years to six weeks. Of course the one that took five years was 177,500 words,
lol. The one that took six weeks was less than 30,000 words. That one sold-Pirate’s Proposal, published with The
Wild Rose Press and part of the Tales of the Scrimshaw Doll series. The
behemoth did not sell; although I am in the process of rewriting it-it’s a
Native American romance and I’m hoping the Native American romance market is
set for a comeback.
What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
My work schedule varies
too. Usually I spend days and days coming up with my “sentences”, some scene
cards, and characters. Then, usually because I’m always scared to start a new
book (what if I can’t do it again?) I make a goal of a page a day. I might do
that for a month and then when the story takes over; I become OCD and do little
else until I finish the book. (which is why my kids have to learn to cook and
wash clothes; otherwise they’d starve and run out of clean clothes during this
period. LOL, just kidding, but not much…)
Another interesting
tidbit-I write by hand. At least at the beginning of a new story-sometimes by
the end, the words are coming too fast for me to keep up and I have to switch
to the computer.
Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
Given there’s so much
killing and violence in my books, I don’t know. In real life, I’m actually
quite passive and mild-mannered. I think my imagination is simply warped. . .
What do you like to do when you're not writing?
Sleep. Seriously. As
obsessed as I get, I can go days with little sleep so I usually crash. After
that I have to catch up on housecleaning, laundry, shopping, kids’ lessons, and
get everything organized again before I start the next story. Sometimes it
takes a while to make that jump again because I need everything “just perfect”
before I start again. A bad habit, I know. I’m working on it.
How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I’ve written nine
books. Two will never see the light of day and with computer upgrades, I don’t
even have copies of them anymore. That’s okay, I learned from writing them. The
others have been published or are in the process of rewrites and will be
published.
What do you think makes a good story?
Action, conflict and
emotion-that’s what entertains me and that’s what I go for when I write.
Tell us about your latest book.
I’m working on a rewrites
for Nia and Sandro’s (from The Good Daughter) love story. Originally the story
was in The Good Daughter as back story, and some of it still is, but when I did
a massive rewrite, I realized that The Good Daughter was actually the mafia
daughter’s story and I cut most of Sandro and Nia’s love story.
Currently, their love story
has the working title Red-Hot Italian and is a novella, but it’s definitely a
stand-alone story. I hope to release it by the end of the year.
And if I might add a
couple of things about my books that are already published: In addition of some
great reviews, The Good Daughter is
an RT Book Reviews http://bit.ly/TN4CXG 2012 nominee for best
indie/self-pub contemporary of the year. Currently it is on sale for 99 cents
until December 1.
And the sequel to The
Good Daughter, my Golden Heart® nominee story Trust No One is on sale for the holidays as well.
Where can readers find you?
All the information
about my books, where to buy them, and how to follow me on social networks can
be found on my website http://www.dianalayne.com/
Thanks for having me,
it’s been fun!
It's been my pleasure.
