Buy Diane's Books   Sign Up for the Newsletter   Contact Diane   Follow Diane on Twitter Subscribe to the RSS Feed
Diane Whiteside, Inveterate Romantic

Archive for December, 2007

Harmony and Choices

December 30, 2007 | Me, myself,Quirky notions

Well, Christmas is past and my family’s now knee-deep into putting away presents. We all know which one is the most popular – our Keurig K-cup brewer. Thanks to it, everyone can drink their favorite hot beverage at the same time! Very smooth Columbian decaffeinated coffee, extra bold organic coffee from Indonesia, chamomile tea – anything! Just choose a K-cup containing the variety you want, pop it into the brewer, press a button, and voila! There’s also a nifty little adapter if you want it to brew something that doesn’t already come in a K-cup. (Yes, this family is all about choices, choices, choices.) We’ve used the little darling every night since it arrived – and no, I’m not being paid for this endorsement! LOL

In fact, we’re having so much fun that we’re actually finding excuses to hang out in the family room, close to the K-cup brewer for our second cup. I usually indulge myself in an orgy of movies and books when I finish a book but this year’s version is pretty spectacular. We’re actually making a list of which movies to see first – which means what is everyone else willing to see twice, since I saw almost none of this year’s new releases. (Hey, I wrote two books in ten months, including a first draft in 3 ½ months!)

So far we’ve managed LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD and TRANSFORMERS. THE ILLUSIONIST, THE HOLIDAY and STARDUST are on the list. Last night we saw SWEENEY TODD (Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were wonderful but be prepared for a lot of blood) then came home and watched football! NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS is coming up soon (New Year’s Day, anyone?). Now we’re discussing whether ENCHANTED is best watched in the theatres (ooh, wide-screen and big speakers!) or on video (replay whenever you want). ALIENS VS PREDATOR: REQUIEM has been ruled out as a group activity. And I get to watch 300 as many times as I want. Whoopee!

We’re even reading books together. I’ve cracked a few research books for the next Devil romance, and even managed to read some romances, thus cutting down my To-Be-Read pile. Meanwhile, the rest of the family is comfortably sitting across the room with their book, and their cup of coffee, also enjoying life.

Harmony through different choices. Isn’t that a huge part of what makes for the good life?

5:42 pm | 5 Comments  

Breaking the Rules

December 28, 2007 | News,The stories,Tuning the instrument

Hullo, friends!

I’m blogging today over at Romance: B(u) the Book at Lifetime TV about BOND OF FIRE, historicals, romances, and the apparent rules in writing them.

You will need to register at LifetimeTV.com to be able to comment. This isn’t a sales tool, but is a way of allowing comments, and disallowing offensive commenters. 🙂

You can reach “Let’s Talk Romance” through the blue “Blog Box” in the lower left-hand corner of “Romance: B(u)y the Book” at LifetimeTV.com . Register in the blog comments area to take part in the discussion. (Tips: Leave no spaces in your UserName. Non-U.S. viewers, use CA/90210 as state/zip code).

Please stop by and join in!

Diane

7:00 am | Comments are off  

Hanging Out Today at Brava

December 27, 2007 | Me, myself,News,Quirky notions,The stories

Hullo!

I’m blogging today over at Brava Authors about pre-New Year’s Eve fun.

Please stop by and let me know what you like to do!

Diane

8:00 am | Comments are off  

Off and Running

December 18, 2007 | Me, myself,News,The stories

I just delivered BOND OF DARKNESS, the Texas vampires trilogy volume 3, to my editor! Wheehaw!!!

Next step: Christmas cards! We took photos at Disney World (duh!) and had a particularly holiday-ish one translated into a wonderfully festive card by Snapfish. Now I’ve just got to figure out how to print address labels from Outlook 2007, since all my addresses currently exist only on my Treo.

It’ll give me time to listen to some new music. My sister gave me Celine Dion‘s latest album, Taking Chances.

Or Ruderial

Or Brad Paisley

Fun, fun, fun. 🙂

Diane

7:40 pm | 1 Comment  

When You Want to Push the Envelope – Motivate Those Characters!

December 15, 2007 | News,The stories,Tuning the instrument

I’m blogging over at Circle of Seven on motivating your characters – especially when an author wants to try something new. It really helped me write THE IRISH DEVIL.

Check it out!

Diane

3:25 pm | 1 Comment  

Sean & Beth Phone In

December 5, 2007 | The stories

Judy, a reader, emailed to ask what Sean and Beth have been up to since The Switch was over, asking for another contemporary novel. Hoping others might be interested in the answer, I’m blogging about it here.

Actually, I know a fair bit about what Sean and Beth have been up to since the end of The Switch. But it’s more like getting occasional phone calls from friends, than enough to fill out a book let alone a novella. Maybe a couple of short stories, though.

Beth is still very, very much a Treasury agent and Sean is right there by her side. Having finally found and claimed his lady, he’s not about to do anything, which would take him away from her. They were in Baghdad when Saddam Hussein was deposed and sent me a very scary vision of some things which happened to them.

Sean was rather melancholy when they took Mike to West Point but Beth successfully distracted him. (I had no idea you could have such fun with goodies snuck past airport security!)

They’ve had at least one baby. No, I don’t know the sex but I’m sure they’re both doting parents. (Told you it was like getting phone calls from a friend!) They’re currently based in Washington, DC but I’m not sure that’s where the Treasury Department has stationed Beth.

And no, I still don’t know what Mike is up to!

Diane

11:48 am | Comments are off  

Happy Birthday – from Publishers Weekly

December 1, 2007 | Better than chocolate,News

Wow, did I have a great birthday! My foster sister hauled me off to Disney World last week so she wouldn’t have to do the dishes on Thanksgiving Day.

(I like the way she thinks, don’t you? I’m not sure the men in our extended family did, though. Frankly, we put out a great Thanksgiving spread and can usually count on a lot of folks showing up. But that does translate to a ton of dirty dishes, though.)

While we were there, my agent sent me Publishers Weekly’s review of Bond of Fire. They bestowed on it words like “audacious,” “compelling,” “impressive,” and “shockingly heady brew”! Wow!

I literally fell over in the restaurant when I read the message. I did manage to whoop and holler and celebrate large! Us Scorpios do know how to party when we’re given a good reason and this was a spectacular one, however totally unexpected.

May all your birthdays be just as glorious!

Diane

7:19 pm | Comments are off  

Subscribe

Watch

Newsletter

Categories

  1. Better than chocolate
  2. Me, myself
  3. News
  4. Quirky notions
  5. Serendipity
  6. The stories
  7. Tuning the instrument
  8. Uncategorized

Archives

  1. April 2012
  2. March 2012
  3. February 2012
  4. January 2012
  5. November 2011
  6. October 2011
  7. September 2011
  8. August 2011
  9. July 2011
  10. June 2011
  11. May 2011
  12. April 2011
  13. March 2011
  14. February 2011
  15. January 2011
  16. December 2010
  17. November 2010
  18. October 2010
  19. September 2010
  20. August 2010
  21. July 2010
  22. June 2010
  23. May 2010
  24. April 2010
  25. March 2010
  26. February 2010
  27. January 2010
  28. November 2009
  29. September 2009
  30. April 2009
  31. March 2009
  32. February 2009
  33. January 2009
  34. December 2008
  35. November 2008
  36. September 2008
  37. August 2008
  38. July 2008
  39. June 2008
  40. April 2008
  41. March 2008
  42. February 2008
  43. January 2008
  44. December 2007
  45. November 2007
  46. October 2007
  47. September 2007

Meta

Copyright © 2007-2024 Diane Whiteside | Privacy Policy and Disclosures
Web Design and Hosting by Swank Web Design | Photography by Anastacia Campbell | Powered by WordPress