Meanwhile, Inside My Brain…

/ Diane Henders

3yrold cartoonTrue to form, Book 9 isn’t even out the door yet and already Book 10 is demanding my attention.  Good thing I love writing!  Speaking of Book 9, SPY HIGH is on schedule to be released this Friday, January 16/15.  As usual, it’ll be out on Amazon and Smashwords first, followed by all other channels within a week or two.  I’ll keep you posted!

68 thoughts on “Meanwhile, Inside My Brain…”

  1. Damn, I wish I could write as fast as you. Maybe my books need to take some nagging lessons from yours. *grin* Though my current WIP IS screaming at me pretty loudly right now … I better get to it, so I can reward myself with your #9, which is currently burning a hole in my Kindle.

    Like

    Reply

  2. Oh my! I just finished #9. It’s not too often, ask anyone that know me, that I am speechless. I don’t know where to begin. It’s a masterpiece would be o.k. I guess, but that doesn’t really describe it. Better than the last? Maybe? Of course? But the last one was then better than the one before that, and so on, all the way to the beginning. This one, this one had me going from page one. The suspense was superb. The description of the commune was spot on. How do I know? LOL I am a product of the 60’s and spent a wonderful week in Northern Oregon with some “close” friends. Been there, done that. Had my Aura read by experts. Diane, you are a Master of your craft. This had me with a tear in my eye at one point to laughing out loud so long I couldn’t focus for a bit, during the “meeting” in Ayden’s tent. I am still smiling at the whole story. Kudos, double, triple and if I could nominate you for an award I’d do it in a heart beat.

    Like

    Reply

    • Thank you so much! I’m pumped to hear I got the commune right. 😉 I had a lot of fun writing this one (but then again, I had fun writing all of them). And I giggled myself silly writing that scene.

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and thanks again for your kind words!

      Like

      Reply

      • I so remember what it felt like to sit and kneel on wet moss! The rain and dampness, the smell of mulchy leaves, water seeping into tennis shoes and in my case, sandals. Campfires were rare and basically quickly made and quickly put out. Rangers kept too close a watch on us for just that activity. LOL Oh yeah, reading about the scenery sure brought it all back. We didn’t have fancy snacks, just raisins and nuts and whatever else we could scrounge. That’s one of the things I love about your books, you do so much homework about your scenes etc. that it just makes it real. While I had fun then I’m glad I had enough sense not to embrace it as a constant way to live. I figured there’s still way too many other things to explore. Even now, it’s still true. So much more to explore. I have your books in order on my Kindle and am set to read them in order, again. That may take me through till you get #10 done. HA! OH! I’m kinda liking that British guy, MoonJava. I can see possibilities there. Hmmmm? hahaha.

        Like

        Reply

        • I love to visit the west coast rainforest because it’s so different than our dry mountainous climate here, but I don’t know if I could live there. I think your one-week sojourn would have been enough for me, too!

          And I was thinking there might definitely be possibilities for Orion. I’m not sure what they might be yet, but… hmmm… 😉 I have so many ideas for Book 10 right now I don’t know which way I’ll end up going!

          Like

          Reply

  3. Ah, Diane… you sound like me (or is it that I sound like you?)
    I have very similar thoughts, although in my case Book One still hasn’t been started… that’s doing some serious screaming, I can tell you!
    But, I’m sending you all of the energies needed to complete book 9 and start book 10 forthwith and distraction-free!
    By the way: Love your cartoon strip once again!

    Like

    Reply

    • Thank you, Tom! Your energies must have been good – Book 9 is out the door. I’m still in the throes of the release-date paperwork, but I’ll be starting Book 10 soon!

      In the meantime, I’m sending you the energies to get started on your book! The more you think about it, the more daunting it seems, so my best advice is to just jump in. I can’t face a whole book at once, so I just start writing and figure out what’s going to happen as I go along. If I begin to feel overwhelmed, I remind myself to just tell the story. The first draft doesn’t have to be perfect, so just relax and enjoy writing. Once you start to see words appearing on the page you’ll get a big boost! Good luck! 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  5. Here it is, the 16th. I’m at my computer, left hand tap, tap, tapping the desk, right hand hovering over the mouse. Amazon keeps wanting to time me out but I REFUSE to be ignored! I just refresh or sign in again. Hubby wants to eat and I holler at him “you know where the fridge is….go for it!” He knows by now that when your books come out I am useless around the house until I have the book and have read it. After 8 books he should know, right?
    LOL, it hasn’t really gotten quite that bad yet, but it’s really, really close.
    I can’t believe I slept 10 hours straight! That’s just never happened.
    I’m back to my other tab now and continue my watch at Amazon.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Thanks for the good thoughts Diane. We made it through the tests o.k. I guess. I say “we”, LOL, but while he had the tests done I had to battle the “guest” bed. Yes, there really is such a thing as torture. I have seen it and experienced it. It didn’t break me tho’, I stared it down and I won. I had no sleep of course, but I survived it.
    Your cartoons are so great. And here I thought I was the Queen of Procrastination! I bow to your superiority in that department. I’m still glad there will be a #10! Soon as I get a little sleep tonight I will be checking continually with Amazon for #9. Ahhhh, it’s so cool to know that good things are still waiting for me.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • I’m glad you both made it through the tests – I hope you get caught up on your sleep soon! I’m checking Amazon frequently today, too – I put the book up around suppertime last night, but I never know exactly when they’re going to get around to releasing it.

      Sometimes I get impatient with the whole process, until I remember that only a few decades ago none of this was possible. Ah, progress… 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  14. You go girl!! Soooooo glad you love to write, because I LOVE to read your books!! I still think Julianne Moore would make a great Ayden Kelly!! Come on Hollywood, give Diane a call!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Aw, that sucks! I don’t know what your editing process is like, but I know I’d be totally overwhelmed if I had to tackle my whole manuscript all at once. I edit as I go because I can’t write new words until I’m happy with what I’ve got, but when I’ve finished the whole thing I still go back and edit it over and over.

      The only thing that makes it less daunting for me is to concentrate on one thing per pass. For example, on the first couple of passes I’m only checking for continuity and accuracy of details. On the next pass I’m adjusting story arc and character arc. Then I’ll concentrate only on dialog tags and making sure my paragraphs are formatted to make it clear who’s speaking. On the next pass I’ll read for emotion, making sure each scene creates the feelings I want. Then authenticity of dialog to keep the words true to the character; then removing all extraneous details to only tell the reader what they need to know at a particular time; then cleaning up my own particular writing tics (I pull so many commas and instances of “just” and “that” out of each manuscript it’s almost funny); and on and on.

      Maybe for some people the thought of making that many passes through a manuscript is just as scary as tackling the whole thing at once, but breaking it down into manageable bites is what works for me.

      Hang in there, Nelson, you can do it! Just take it a step at a time. 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  18. Perfect! I totally get that! Every panel ringth true. You got it bad, thithter! But alwayth remember thith; you THO rock! Can’t wait for the thikthteenth! Looking forward to Thpy High!

    Like

    Reply

      • My sentiments exactly. I’m for sure getting older but I don’t have to think old! I am so happy that #9 is here, almost. I can finally quit fidgeting and getting antsy with worry. I’ll be spending the night tonight at the Biloxi VA while hubby goes through yet another set of tests and then the sleep test again. They screwed up the first one. Figures. I will be scanning over the #’s 7 and 8 books to bring me up to speed, salivating for the upcoming #9. AND, happy, happy, Joy, Joy, a #10 in the creative areas that is Diane Henders brain. This is what loving life is all about. LOL
        TYTYTYTY!

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

Leave a reply to Carrie Rubin Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.