This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Award-winning author Diane Chamberlain’s storylines often offer an irresistible combination of romance, family drama, intrigue and suspense. Here, Diane talks about her new book, Pretending to Dance, while sharing how she whips her manuscripts into shape.
Tell us about your latest book.
Pretending to Dance is the story of Molly Arnette who, along with her husband, is trying to adopt a baby. As the home study proceeds, she grows increasingly nervous that lies she’s told her husband about her past will be revealed and cost her not only the adoption but possibly her marriage as well. Most of the story is set during Molly’s fourteenth summer when she lived with her extended family on 100 acres in North Carolina. The events of that summer color everything else in Molly’s life and she must come to grips with them to move forward as an adult.
Where do you find inspiration for your books?
When I’m ready to begin a new book, I become ‘open to the universe’. Everything I see and hear goes into my creative well to see if it might be fodder for a story. So far, that system has worked twenty-four times!
Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?
It all depends on what part of the book I’m working on. Early in the process, I’m sitting around looking as though I’m doing nothing as I ponder my idea. Then I’ll start doing some research into the setting or the events that are coming to my mind. After that, I begin outlining, usually at a Starbucks or the library. Finally, I write. I write everywhere I go. The closer to deadline, the more I write until finally, I get to type “the end”.
What is your favorite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?
Oh, there are so many, but the one that comes immediately to mind is Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Brilliant!
What female writer has inspired you?
The names that rise to the top are Geraldine Brooks, Anne Rivers Siddons, Alice Hoffman, and Barbara Kingsolver.
What authors have you been recommending recently?
I’ll be honest. These writers are friends of mine, but they are fantastic writers and storytellers nevertheless and I love recommending them: Pam Jenoff, Barbara Claypole White, Barbara Davis, Sarah Shaber, Alexandra Sokoloff, Brynn Bonner and Margaret Maron.
What is your writing process? Do you plan first or dive in? How many drafts do you do?
I outline in great detail, but once I begin writing the first scene, the characters take over and I may as well toss the outline away.
I believe in a team approach: my characters and I work out the story together. They often seem to know better than I do what should happen next, so I listen to them. I generally have 4 or 5 drafts by the time I turn a book in to my editor. She’ll make lots of suggestions at that point and then I’ll have one more draft to do. 
What was your journey to being a published author?
My journey took place so long ago I can barely remember! I started writing as a hobby thirty years ago while I was working as a hospital social worker. I finished a novel three years later and decided I wanted to try to get it published. I found an agent and collected many rejections over the course of a year. At the suggestion of my agent, I made some major changes to the manuscript and then it sold right away. That book is Private Relations. I’ve certainly had my ups and downs over the course of my career, but in general, I’ve been able to publish about one book a year.
What advice can you give our readers who want to write a novel of their own?
Don’t rush it. Writing a good book takes time and many, many drafts, especially when you’re a new writer. A mistake I often see new writers make is thinking that once they have a few hundred pages written, they have a book. You’ve only just begun at that point!
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m starting my 25th novel, as yet untitled. It’s set during World War II and is about a polio epidemic and a psychic. Quite a combination!
Thanks, Diane!