Brilliant

For Writers

Hidden Blessings in the Harvest

At a Chicago airport, I overpaid for a fancy travel pillow, and for good reason: I was desperate to sleep on the flight. Bone weary from media appearances, I boarded the plane and noticed the woman seated behind me. She explained to the flight attendant that she’d had a neck injury and needed several pillows to get comfortable. “I’m sorry, we don’t provide them anymore,” the attendant answered.

Genre Happenings

What Genre Speaks to You?

I have a secret. Okay, well, not much of a secret, because you can Google my pen name and easily discover this fact. You see, I used to write cozy mysteries. Totally different genre from historical fiction. Cozy mysteries are fun, less about the crime and more about the people who set out to solve the mystery. On the other hand, historical fiction is serious, a lesson waiting to be taught about a place readers most likely have never been, or an event they find interesting.

DiAnn Direct

The Best of the Best

I’m always looking for the next best writer quote, a twist of a phrase that fires me into my writing project. The right quote makes me giggle, and other times a quote sobers me to my calling. Or causes me to work harder. This month I want to share with you a few of my favorite quotes from writers I admire and respect. These are in alphabetical order—I’m the organizational type. Wonder if there’s a quote for my disease?

The Well Writer

Amish Wellness by Serena B. Miller

I am fascinated with what I’ve learned about the lives of my Amish friends. Like many outsiders, I expected the women to be downtrodden and overworked. I expected their days to be filled with never ending drudgery brought on by too many children and too few conveniences. I felt sorry for them in so many ways. That they weren’t allowed to drive cars, use electricity, or wear pretty clothes saddened me.

Author By Night

Dreaming Big

As for being an author by night, I don’t normally wake up past midnight to write down book ideas, but that’s exactly what happened with my new thriller, Fear Has a Name. In fact, it was such a vivid dream, it sat me straight up in bed and demanded I take notice and, yes, even write it down for future reference. While snoozing that night, I had the most realistic notion that there was a large, blocky man with pasty skin standing outside the front door of our house.