About Diamante Lavendar:
I have been in love with reading since I was a child. I spent many hours listening to my mother read to me when I was young. As I grew older, I enjoyed reading novels of all genres: horror, fantasy and some romance to name a few.
I began writing in college and published some poetry in anthologies over the years. After my kids were older, I wrote as a form of self expression and decided I wanted to share my stories with others.
Most of my writing is very personal and stems from my own experiences and those of my family and friends. I write to encourage hope and possibility to those who read my stories. Each book I write is an exploration of the human soul, a traversing of the situations that life throws at us. I have always been intrigued by the ability to overcome and move on to bigger and better things, a theme that resurfaces in each book that I write.
I believe that everyone should try to leave their own positive mark in the world, to make it a better place for all. Writing is the way that I is attempting to leave my mark—one story at a time.
What inspires you to write?
I am inspired by events in my own life and in the lives of those around me. My circle of influence gives me ample ideas to mull over when choosing exactly what I will write next. I write in quiet. Peace inspires me. I feel connected and divinely inspired when things are quiet. At times I write in nature as the natural world inspires me as well.
Tell us about your writing process.
I do think things over before I begin a story but I am more of a spur of the moment writer. I come up with a general idea before I sit down to construct a tale, but I have no specific plans or goals. I simply decide upon a person and a situation and then I let inspiration hit me as I begin to write. The story usually unfolds in the quiet of my heart.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
When I am writing, it is as if I am in the book. Usually I am the main character and I can feel and hear things going on inside of me and around me. My life becomes the book. I forget about reality completely. I can see the other characters talking and coming and going. I can feel the rhythm of the life of the story as if it’s happening to me at that exact moment. It feels as though I have gone through a time warp.
What advice would you give other writers?
Get in a quiet place and identify with your characters. Feel the movement of the story and the emotions that are happening. The more real it feels, the more real the writing will become.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I self published my book because I had a bad run-in with an agent and publisher in the past. It set me back many years and I almost lost rights to my own book. Luckily, I regained all rights in a lawsuit and was able to republish. Self publishing is wonderful for many reasons. First of all, you keep your rights. And that is huge in the writing world. Second of all, you have control over every aspect of the publishing procedure. You are not at the mercy of others in hoping that they will understand your vision and market things as you wish them to be. It is a little more difficult to do your own marketing, but in the long run, I believe it is still much more important to have all of your rights and the control over how you want your manuscript to be portrayed.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think book publishing is leaning more and more toward self publishing. The big publishers are concentrating more and more on established writers. It is getting very difficult to be heard as a new writer. I also think that writers are choosing self publishing more because they retain all of their rights and they are able to make their own decisions regarding artwork, marketing, etc.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer
What genres do you write?: inspirational, fantasy adventures and mainstream fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Diamante Lavendar Home Page Link
Link To Diamante Lavendar Page On Amazon
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