Author Bio:
Diana lives in the state of New York with her family. She has been writing for many years and trying out many genres, finally deciding to concentrate on writing the sorts of books she enjoys reading. This book is the first in her series of crime/thriller/mystery books set in the not-too-distant future.
What inspires you to write?
Wanting to read! I am a very fast reader and sometimes I used to get frustrated when I couldn’t get to the library and my book buying budget was all spent. That’s when I started writing for myself, rather than trying to write what I thought might sell. The series I am currently working on is exactly the sort of thing that I like to read. A strong female protagonist, with an exciting job as a super spy, sexy men that come in and out of her life, a setting just a bit into the future so that I can play around with things; all of those things come together into one (I hope) fascinating package.
Tell us about your writing process.
I’m a much more organized writer now that I was when I started. I used to just sit down and write, which was great practice, but usually resulted in half-finished novels with confusing plots. Now I do a very rough (usually on notebook paper) chapter by chapter outline of the whole book and then character sketches of the main characters before I even start with chapter one. Sometimes this works out better than others. Sometimes my first three chapters turn out to be only 2,000 words and I have to adjust accordingly. More likely, however, is that the characters decide to take the story in a slightly (or very) different direction than I had planned and I have to adjust things for them. (In the first book, for instance, the murderer turned out to be someone different that I thought it was!)
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
All the time! I’m not sure my main character and I would get along since she has led a very different life to my own but I would love to meet any of the men in my books in real life! 😉
What advice would you give other writers?
The more you write the better you get.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
After years of writing books in numerous genres and sending off a few query letters here and there and then giving up for long spells only to start again, I finally wrote something that I was really excited about. But I didn’t know to do with it. A few query letters got nothing positive back and I was really discouraged until my husband said “just publish yourself on Amazon and see what happens”. The kids had just gotten Kindle’s so I was able to fully see how the system worked and got excited about writing again. I have discovered that writing is a lot more exciting if you know your work will be going somewhere, even if it never find a big audience, at least it will be available and I live in hope of finding my own little niche in the market for readers just like me!
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
It is a very exciting time to be writing and I’m thrilled with the new self-publishing options that are available. Having said that, I still love paper books, so for me, they will still always have a place. I think the beauty of the self-publishing arena is that you don’t need to sell a million copies in order to be a success and get your next book published. There are lots of little spaces in the market that independent authors can fill that the big publishing houses just can’t afford to even consider.
What do you use?
Beta Readers
What genres do you write?
Fiction, crime, mystery, suspense, spy
What formats are your books in?
eBook
Website(s)
Author Home Page Link
Link To Author Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
https://www.facebook.com/DianaXDunn
