Author Crush Month: Jacqueline Diamond

I’ve been reading Jackie Diamond’s romances for years. They always make me laugh and smile – real “feel good” books! Her characters always seem like real people to me, and I always find myself genuinely liking them. Just like I genuinely like Jackie! She’s just the nicest person you could hope to meet – friendly, willing to share, and always smiling. If you ever get a chance to meet her at a conference or an author event, I’m sure you’ll agree. Till then, I hope you find her tips a big help in your own writing routines!

Tips That Keep Me Sane

by Jacqueline Diamond

I envy novelists who have the leisure to spend a year or more on a book. To keep up with my publisher, my readers and my bank account, I write three or four a year.

That means that at any given time, I’m writing a novel, coming up with proposal ideas, handling revisions or proofs on another, and publicizing the books I wrote the previous year. That’s a lot to keep track of.

This month, for instance, Harlequin American Romance is releasing The Would-Be Mommy, the first book in my Safe Harbor Medical miniseries. The basic idea is that a reporter confuses Safe Harbor Medical Center with California’s Safe Haven law, which allows mothers to safely surrender newborns at a hospital, fire or police station.

Believing there’s a special connection to this hospital, distraught young mothers come pouring in to relinquish their newborns. Some members of the staff provide temporary homes – and fall in love with the babies. And, of course, fall in love in other ways, too.

I’m publicizing Mommy while awaiting revision instructions on the third book (a December release – the second, His Hired Baby, comes out in August). Meanwhile, I’m delighted to report that my editor just bought three more romances set in and around the hospital, so I’ll be starting the first of those momentarily.

Here are some organizational tips that keep me from going completely off the deep end:

1) Above my computer I’ve posted a sheet headed “Projects.” It lists the deadlines for each of my new books – the date the first three chapters are due, and the date for the completed manuscripts.

It also lists dates for sending publicity releases, dates when each book comes out along with key information such as the ISBN numbers for quick reference, and a reminder about other work I do, including teaching via Long Ridge Writers Group. Just a quick reference in case my brain fogs over.

2) Okay, this isn’t totally great organization, but I have a short (frequently weeded) stack of papers on the right side of my desk with reminders about what to put in my next Web site update (I maintain my own site at www.jacquelinediamond.com) and notes about other stuff that’s coming up within the next few days.

3) Maybe someday I’ll use an electronic organizer, but for now I have a pocket-size calendar with everything: doctor appointments, Romance Writers of America chapter and local board meetings, dates to pay my credit card bills, even when to check the oil and water in my car.

By the phone in the kitchen, I copy out each day’s scheduled events and tasks on a separate sheet of paper, a couple of days in advance (so, on a Wednesday, I might have three sheets, one each for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday). Then I cross things off as I accomplish them.

4) I still keep paper file folders for financial matters and for my writing students, but most of my stuff is in virtual folders on the computer. For my books and other projects, I’ve set up a system of folders and subfolders. For example, there’s a main folder for Safe Harbor. Inside that are folders for each book. Once I’m finished with the series, I’ll move the main folder into my Old Books master folder, which will keep it out of sight but still available if needed.

5) In each book’s folder, in addition to a file per chapter, I have files called Characters, Plot, Notes, Research (sometimes numerous research files) and one of my handiest inventions, Time. In the Time file, there’s one paragraph for each chapter, including the day, how much time (if any) has passed since the last chapter and basically what happens. Ever discover that you’d written a weekend with two Sundays in it? Or you can’t remember how many weeks it’s been since the hero and heroine met? Or you want to find the chapter where Finicky the Cat escapes out the window? A matter of moments with a Time file.

I clean up this file when the book is done and send it to my editor with the completed manuscript. That saves a lot of questions from the copy editor, which always seem to come in months later when I’ve practically forgotten what I wrote, along the lines of: “Wasn’t it Monday when Alois told Boris about Hermione’s lingerie issues? And was it two or three days later that Simone dropped her drawers in Harrod’s?” (Okay, I’m making this up, but you get the idea.) No more thumbing through chapters, cursing.

Does this mean I never forget anything, never get confused, and never feel (just a little) overwhelmed? I wish! But there’s something very satisfying about crossing things off lists.

Now what was I supposed to do today?

The daughter of a physician, Jacqueline Diamond has always been fascinated by medical subjects, which is why she writes a lot of books about doctors. Plus they look so cute in their white coats! She’s sold 87 novels, including romance, mystery and fantasy, and is a former Associated Press TV columnist and reporter. You can read more about Jackie at www.jacquelinediamond.com.