About Diane EM Tegarden:
I’m a freelance writer living in Pasadena, with my husband and furkids. I’ve been a print journalist since 1992, writing on a wide range of subjects including; renewable energy, environmental concerns, holistic health, women’s issues, and Native Spirituality. I’ve been published in: The Pasadena Star News, Security Sales Magazine, The Pasadena Weekly, the West Coast Well Being, Health Breakthroughs and Associated Content. I was the National Renewable Energy Examiner at Examiner(dot)com from 2009-2012. To date I’ve written and published 5 books: “How to Escape a Bad Marriage: A Self-Help Divorce Book for Women”; “Light Through Shuttered Window- A Compendium of my poetry”; “Anti-Vigilante and The Rips in Time”, a sci-fi novel, “Budgeting on a Dime: 10 Steps to Financial Independence”, and “How to Do it Yourself…A-Z” which covers a variety of topics that will help your life become more manageable!

What inspires you to write?
I love to express myself with the written word, whether it be a touching poem, a well documented research article, or a fiery Op-Ed. Life, Nature, people, a shadow on a wall, most anything I can see or think about inspires me to write.

Tell us about your writing process.
How I write depends on what I’m writing. If I write a poem, most likely it’ll be a quick fire process, one that takes hold of me and I write it long hand in pen. I don’t write rhyming poetry, so there’s no work, and no rewrites when it comes to my poetry. It is a true expression within the moment, not meant to be perfectly formed.

If I’m writing an Op-Ed or research article, I’ll sketch out the general outline and then start writing. Later, I’ll do research and add in the numbers, statistics and examples I need to provide background and depth for the article. The last run through allows me to fill in any blanks in the narrative and double check for accuracy. I usually run it by several friends and other writers to help me spot the holes in the story, then polish it until it’s smooth and interesting.

If I’m writing fiction, I might use a cork board to keep track of my story lines and big events, that way if I want to change episodes around to make the story more fluid, I can do it easier on a cork board or white board than if it’s on a computer.

For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I don’t talk to my characters, they talk to me!

What advice would you give other writers?
Don’t give up on writing, even if your first novel or book isn’t a best seller. Some of the best authors struggled away in anonymity before the reading public realized the treasure in their midst.

How did you decide how to publish your books?
Since I write on a variety of topics, I decided it would be best to go into publishing and promoting my own books, rather than try to get several different agents to help me sell my work. I had previously made my money as the CFO of my own solar power company, but ill health due to lupus stopped me in 2004, so we decided to close down the company. I’ve always had a passion for writing, and decided to write full time because it fits my current lifestyle and my deep love of reading and writing literature.

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think that with the boom in e-books and do-it-yourself publishing venues (like this one), writers are blooming in every country around the world. The trick in making it as a writer will be in effectively promoting our own work.

What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer

What genres do you write?: Self Help, Poetry, Science Fiction

What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print

Website(s)
Diane EM Tegarden Home Page Link
Link To Diane EM Tegarden Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site

Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit, to allow you, the reader, to hear the author in their own voice.