The Romance Reader's Connection

FEBRUARY AUTHOR OF THE MONTH

 

 

 

Diane Chamberlain 

 

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by Wendy Keel and Kelly Ross


We here at The Romance Reader's Connection are proud to welcome award-winning author Diane Chamberlain to our site. Diane's newest book, HER MOTHER'S SHADOW, is being released this month and is the third and final story in the "Keeper of the Light" series which includes, KEEPER OF THE LIGHT and KISS RIVER.

Diane was born and raised in New Jersey, but spent most of her adult life in San Diego and Virginia. With the help of her work in hospitals and her background in psychology, she has the tools needed to create real, living and breathing characters that easily pull you into the story.

Wendy & Kelly: Is there anything our readers might be surprised to find out about you?

Diane: People might be surprised to know that I occasionally write using voice recognition software, since I have rheumatoid arthritis which sometimes limits how long I can type. Voice recognition software is a great invention, but it can be VERY annoying because it makes a lot of mistakes. The mistakes can be funny, though, which helps me keep my sense of humor. One time I spoke "The feeling was quick and unexpected, but absolutely delicious." and the voice recognition software types "Panasonic's business decisions upset its chicken's contraceptives"! Funny, but frustrating!

Wendy & Kelly: How did you first start writing?

Diane: I started writing in a doctor's office, actually. I'd had a story in my mind since I was very young. It was about a group of people living together in a house on the Jersey Shore. I'd made a few false starts on the story over the years and had given up ever getting past page one. However, after waiting for hours in that doctor's office, I'd exhausted all the magazines but I had a pad and a pen with me and I simply started writing. Once I started, I couldn't stop.

Kelly: How do you come up with your characters and settings?

Diane: Often I think first of a situation--usually a difficult one--that a person must face. Then I think about what kind of character would have the hardest time dealing with that situation. That way I create the greatest possible conflict for the story. IN HER MOTHER'S SHADOW, Lacey is fairly irresponsible, never having quite recovered from losing her mother when she was 14 years old. Then her best friend dies, leaving Lacey the guardian of her eleven year-old daughter. Lacey is not cut out for motherhood in any way, so she was the perfect character for me to place in this dilemma.

Kelly: Are any of your characters based on acquaintances in your own life?

Diane: Not at all. I learned early on that if I tried to base a character on a real person, myself included, it limits what I could make that character say and do. My characters need room to grow.

Kelly: Do you have a favorite hero or heroine and why are they your favorites?
Diane: Lacey O'Neill, the heroine in HER MOTHER'S SHADOW, is a "person" I truly love. I first met her when I wrote KEEPER OF THE LIGHT, the first book in this trilogy. She was then 14 years old. Now she is 26, and watching her grow into a wonderful woman has been very moving for me. I found it hard to say goodbye to her when I'd finished writing HER MOTHER'S SHADOW.

Wendy & Kelly: Was there anything you hoped your readers would take away from HER MOTHER'S SHADOW?

Diane: First and foremost, I would like my readers to enjoy the story. I want them to stay up late, turning the pages. If they take away the idea that forgiveness is more important to the person doing the forgiving than for the person being forgiven, so much the better.

Wendy: I know your books seem to deal with forgiveness and characters learning from each other, was this planned or does it just happen?
Diane: It just happens. I never set out to write about a particular theme, but my personal values always come through. This doesn't mean that I am perfect when it comes to forgiveness and other interpersonal skills. I learn and am influenced by my characters just as I hope the reader will be.

Wendy: You used the beaches of North Carolina in the Keeper of the Light series.  Did you come to our beaches for inspiration?

Diane: I am not a beach person, in that I don't like to lie in the sun, but I love walking on the beach in the early morning or late afternoon and feeling the power and the moods of the ocean. When I discovered the Outer Banks beaches in North Carolina, I knew I wanted to set a story there. I visited the Currituck Lighthouse and began to see how that setting could fit into a story line. I go back to the Outer Banks about once a year, either for research or just to enjoy the sea and sky.

Wendy: Do you see anymore of your future novels being set in North Carolina?

Diane: I've set four of my fourteen novels in North Carolina so far. My fifteenth, THE BAY AT MIDNIGHT, will be set at the shore in New Jersey, so I will be taking a break from North Carolina for awhile. I'm certain my imagination will return there one of these days. 

Kelly: What inspires you to write? Is there something specific?

Diane: I am inspired by how hard life can be and how strong and courageous people are as they try to survive the difficult times that come their way.

Wendy & Kelly: What advice would you offer any aspiring authors?

Diane: My advice is to 1) Learn all you can about the craft of writing. I don't mean storytelling so much as the actual putting together of sentences and paragraphs. I see many manuscripts in which the idea is great but the writing itself is so poor that I know no publisher will make an offer on the book. 2) Write what you feel passionately about in a setting that moves you in some way. For that first book that I started writing in the doctor's office, I set it in upstate New York, and area which had no personal meaning to me. It wasn't until I moved that story to the Jersey Shore that it really took off for me and began to write itself. 3) Get out and live! Don't just sit in front of the computer. Every experience you have will add to that pool of ideas that will inspire you to write.

Kelly: Do you have a favorite time period you like to write in?

Diane: I write contemporary novels, but often include recent historical events in them in the form of parallel stories. In KISS RIVER, the middle book of the KEEPER trilogy, I visit World War II and how it impacted the people living on the Outer Banks through the diary of a young girl.

Kelly: How do you find writing romance as compared to writing for TV Soap operas, specifically, One Life To Live?

Diane: I had a hard time writing for One Life to Live because I like to tie things up at the end of a story. Writing for the soaps, it's important to leave everything "unfinished," so the saga can continue. I also found it difficult to write about characters who already existed because I like to create my own "people." Nevertheless, the little bit of writing I did for One Life to Live was a lot of fun and gave me a new writing experience.

Wendy & Kelly: If you had to pick one book you've written to be your favorite which one would it be and why?

Diane: I have several favorites, but I have to admit that HER MOTHER'S SHADOW is definitely one of them. I just received my advance author's copies and reread the story, as I always do when the new book comes out. You see, at the time the new book comes out, I'm in the middle of writing the next book and I'm usually feeling nervous that the story won't work out. Reading a story I've already written which turned out well always gives me encouragement. As I reread HER MOTHER'S SHADOW, I still got a lump in my throat even though I, of course, know everything that's going to happen in the story.

Kelly: Do you get alot of requests for out of print novels and if so is there a specific one that readers want?

Diane: I get these requests all the time! I give some of the books away as prizes on my website, but even I don't have many of them available. The best way of finding them is on an auction website such as Ebay.

Wendy & Kelly: What can we expect to see in future novels?

Diane: In my work-in-progress, THE BAY AT MIDNIGHT, I am having a blast writing about a fictional story set in the house that was my summer home as a child. The house is on the intercoastal waterway in New Jersey and has always held a warm place in my heart. Since you can "never go back" to those childhood homes in reality, I thought it would be fun to do so in fiction. It's a real treat to write about a setting I remember so well.

Kelly: If there could be one thing you would like our readers to remember about your work what would it be?
Diane: That they couldn't put the book down and they couldn't wait to tell their friends about it!

We'd like to thank Diane for her time and great answers. If you'd like to find out more about any of Diane's work be sure to check out her website at www.dianechamberlain.com

(Click here for a review of  HER MOTHER'S SHADOW)

 

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