Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Split Personality

Tomorrow, author Diane Fanning will be here. Diane is not only a friend and a best-selling author who’s published in multiple genres, she’s had a fascinating career as a writer. If she’s ever in your town talking about writing or her true crime books, go listen. I heard her speak at the University of Texas on serial killers and she has stories that will make you triple check the locks on your doors.

She writes -- in addition to true crime -- mystery. She has two mystery series, one starring police detective Lucinda Pierce and one with officer Molly Mullet. Tomorrow, she’s going to talk about what it takes to write both nonfiction true crimes and fiction mysteries.

Authors often struggle to get one book out each year. Diane puts out multiple books each year. She has at least two scheduled this year. The latest is a Lucinda Pierce mystery called Mistaken Identity. With that many books due, Diane has to work on both nonfiction and fiction at the same time. To do that, she has to have, in a way, a split personality. One which lives in a world or research, details and reality. One which thrives on imagination.

She’ll tell us how she handles both. Be thinking about what questions you might want to ask her.
While you're thinking, here's the trailer for Mistaken Identity
TweetIt from HubSpot

24 comments:

  1. It'll be interesting to learn how she could juggle so many things so successfully. Thanks Helen for the heads up.

    Steamy Darcy

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  2. Cool trailer. I'll be here to check her out!

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  3. Verey good trailer. Multiple book per year - wow - that's envious. I start multiple books a year, but my muse, the one that really kicks ass, only finishes one about every two years. I'm on a roll right now, though. Thanks for this heads-up on Diane, sounds like an author well worth checking out, and will look forward to her being here on your blog tomorrow.

    The Old Silly

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  4. Sounds very interesting, I'll be curious to know if one genre helps inform the other in any way.

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  5. Multiple books a year - I must come back tomorrow to see how she does it.

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  6. Wow, multiple books. I'm still lucky to get one written. But I know other writers who are like that.

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  7. I'm looking forward to her visit tomorrow.

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  8. Looking forward to tomorrow.

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  9. I'm thinking you either have to be very organized and disciplined or both to pull off multiple books, esp with the research and interviews she has to do for the true crime.

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  10. Diane's book is one I look forward to reading as well as her post tomorrow.

    I'm amused that you think those of us who write fiction and nonfiction concurrently have split personalties. :) Could be.

    Jean
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fans-of-Jean-Henry-Mead/334147262834?filter=3

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  11. Diane, that's great you can put out so many books a year. Me, I'm working on getting one out a year.

    Stephen Tremp

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  12. Two a year? Maybe if I quit my day job...

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  13. Jean, I could be thinking of myself. I sometimes wonder if I have a split personality since I write fiction and nonfiction and also edit fiction.

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  14. I have a split... wait, no, that's a splitting headache...

    Will tune in tomorrow!

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  15. Really looking forward to seeing how she produces so much! That's amazing.

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  16. Diane, I guess that why you had to split. ;-)

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  17. Very cool! Thanks for posting about this - looking forward to hearing more about this author tomorrow!

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  18. It's always interesting to hear what such productive authors have to say especially for those of us with other full time jobs struggling to find time to write.

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  19. I feel like a split personality quite often, and i makes a lot of fun >:)))

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  20. I admire proliffic authors and yes, there are times I wonder how they accomplish it. I know a few. One day they're talking about the adventures in the current MS they're working on and the next cursing revisions and copy edits from their publisher's editor.

    For sure takes discipline. Must pop by and say hi and see how this SP works. :-)

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  21. Sounds really interesting!

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  22. For many years, while she wrote, Diane was also Executive Director of a non-profit. I know she's left that job and, I believe, she now writes full time.

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  23. I look forward to her visit, Helen! Sounds like a very fascinating and focused woman. :)

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