Spellbound Book Signing

I made an appearance at Spellbound Bookstore and Cafe today as part of their Grand Re-Opening at their new location in Pittsburg, KS. I want to thank Brett for inviting me as one of the local authors for a book signing. If you go to their Facebook page, you can see a photo of the local authors in attendance (including me) and read reviews of their books (including Outsider). Here's the link: Spellbound FB Page

It was fun! We were there for two hours and I had plenty of time to chat with the other four authors, each of whom provided me with insights and good conversation. We all learned things from each other. Thank you to Kathy Manning Gronau, Loren Chancey, Melissa Fite Johnson and Richard Crooks!

Diane at Spellbound Bookstore 4-25-15

Quite a few people came in while we were there and I was asked some very good questions. It's always fun to "talk shop" and revisit how I managed to write my novels. I got some good feedback on Outsider and even sold two copies, so I'd call that a success.

It was good to see people supporting the local bookstore, too. I hope that will continue because it was sad when Pittsburg didn't have one. I wish Spellbound continued success!

I'm ready to do it again!

Distractions

I've been trying to work on the fourth novel but there have been a few distractions.
I finally got over my virus, only to be struck by monstrous allergies, which are threatening to rob me of my voice again! Argh. (See last week's blog about my voice.)

I also spent some time finishing up my second video, this one about my second novel, Another Shot. If you haven't seen it yet, I encourage you to do so here: Another Shot video  Let me know in the comments what you think. It was fun to make, although this one seemed a little harder than the first one. I think I was trying too hard this time around because I wanted it to be better than the first. I don't know if I succeeded or not, but at least it's out there.

I've also been spending entirely too much time on Facebook lately. I "blame" it on my good friend Bill Zahren (we met at Morningside College), who keeps posting updates on his first two novels. He's hoping to get the first one published this year and I wish him every success. He has a page where you can follow his progress here: Bill Zahren-author FB Page

Despite all this, I am getting some work done on the fourth novel. I'm pleased with the first seven chapters (although they could always use a little tweaking), but now I need to move on to the rest and make them better. In a few weeks, I'll let you know the title of the novel, but I'm still swirling it around in my head to see if I think it works.

The local bookstore, Spellbound, is planning some type of event for local authors in Pittsburg, KS, next weekend and I'm hoping to take part in it. I don't have any details yet, but I will post them on Facebook, Google+, my Amazon author page and my Goodreads author page as soon as I get them. Stay tuned!

And that's the latest! Thanks again for your support.

Voice

I took an unintentional vacation from writing recently when a virus took root in my throat like some evil alien weed. I felt like a character in a horror movie, although some people probably thought it was a bit of a comedy when I lost my voice and could only blink apologetically at people. My co-worker suggested "interpretive dance," but I made do with sign language and occasional notes on scraps of paper.

It's amazing how much you miss the ability to talk when you lose your voice! I, like many people, completely take my voice for granted until it's not there anymore. Not that I have the most important things to say, but I did miss the ability to express my indignation/joy/irritation/relief/various other emotions when they occurred. Whether anyone else missed it is another matter entirely.

And thus I gained at least some understanding of the fascination for Facebook, Twitter, etc. Typing those little epiphanies and sending them out into the world is a way of expressing ourselves, letting others know that we're here and we have something to say. I know that most of the stuff I post on Facebook is probably ignored, but I post it anyway because it's my way of declaring my existence: I'm Diane and I'm here!
(Did you hear me, Horton?)

I'm not sure I feel the same way about my novels, though. I didn't release them to let everyone know that Diane McCallum exists. I think I released them to let everyone know that Sean Foster, Ben Lamont, Reggie Hawkins and several others exist. The characters had a story to tell and I wanted to share that.

So I'm their voice (even when I'm mute), and as long as they have stories to tell, I plan to pass those along.

Work on the fourth novel continues!

Closet Spaceship Part 12

When I first told Reggie about my visit with Sean, he laughed.

I sat in the conference room, watching him fill a cup with coffee. By the time he sat down next to me, he’d grown serious.

“You sure that was Sean?” he asked. “Doesn’t sound like him.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Am I sure it was Sean? Really?”

“Okay, okay.” He took a drink. “Never seen him run from anything before.”

“You talked to him,” I said. “What’d you say?”

“I said you’re an ax murderer.”

My eyeballs were getting a lot of exercise. “What’d you really say?”

“I told him who you are, is all. What’d you do?”

“I waved an ax at him,” I said. “I guess I can’t really blame him. If some strange woman appeared outside my door and said she was from the past, I’d lock the door, too.”

“Yeah, but I told him you’re okay,” Reggie said. “There’s got to be something else.”

He took another drink.

I thought back to the conversation, trying to remember when Sean seemed to get scared.

“I told him I’m your friend, then I told him to call you …” I was thinking out loud.

“What’d you say after he talked to me?” Reggie asked.

“I don’t remember. Uh, something about people in 2015 knowing him.”

“Huh.” He took another drink.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “Maybe that’s it! I said people in 2015 knew him and they might think he was fictional. What if he thinks they don’t think he’s fictional?”

When I get excited, I tend to bundle a lot of words together and fling them outward all at the same time. It makes me spend a lot of time rewriting, but that’s when I’m writing—it’s a little hard to rewrite what I say.

Reggie looked puzzled. “What?”

“He thinks people are reading about him,” I explained. “That’s got to be intimidating, right?”

“But what about during his trial? Everybody was reading about him then.”

“Oh.” This was enough to deflate my theory.

“Listen, you know him better than anybody,” Reggie said. “Keep thinking.”

It’s not easy being a writer. (Wait, it’s never easy? Okay, sometimes when the words are flowing, maybe. Other times, not so much. But I still love it.)

I sat back in my chair, thinking about all the articles written about Sean at the time. I guess that wouldn’t be fun, having your name plastered all over the place followed by the words “criminal” or “smuggler” or “convicted.”

Yet that hadn’t affected Sean. He’d been himself when he met the crew, not bitter or ready to slam a door in their faces. And now it was done …

“Okay,” I said.

“I figured you’d get it,” Reggie said.

I nodded. “And you got it a long time ago.”

Reggie shrugged.

“He thought he put all of that behind him,” I said. “And those articles were just about superficial stuff, not the real Sean. He reads fiction: he knows what a writer can do, digging around in a character’s head all the time. So I’m bringing back the past and revealing more about him than he might want to have known.”

I wanted to find Sean and apologize to him.

“I’m not really evil,” I said. “Am I?”

Reggie laughed. “Nah. Don’t worry, he’ll get over it.”

I hope he’s right.

(Happy Easter.)