Brilliant

Genre Happenings

Author By Night

Making A Scene

For Writers

For Readers

DiAnn Direct

DiAnn Direct

Welcome to DiAnn Direct

Welcome to “DiAnn Direct”! Over the next several months, we will learn how to write quality fiction. Come along on the journey. It’s an uphill climb, but I know you are up to the task. Grab your backpack and slide in your laptop. Make sure you come equipped with a teachable spirit and lots of determination.

For Readers

Spring into Coming-of-Age Novels

When I think of spring’s approach, my mind turns to “Coming of Age” novels. I love reading these stories—youth discovering their wings and edging closer to leaving the nest. Usually these stories contain common elements...

For Writers

The Homeless Have Stories, Too

One of the advantages of using the great city of Chicago, where I live, as the setting for my novels is that I get to do “on site” research! I mean, how else could I claim my first-ever manicure and pedicure as a business expense? If one of my characters was getting her first ever “mani-and-pedi” at a black-owned beauty shop, I had to know what it was like, right?

Making A Scene

Third Person POV, Part I

Most novels are written in third person point of view (POV). But did you know there are different types, or levels, of third person? I label them (1) close, (2) removed, and (3) omniscient. This month and next we’ll look at the differences in these three types, with an example of each.

Author By Night

Living in Two Worlds

I lead a double life. By day, I’m your typical home-schooling mom who makes sure my three kids do their homework, eat enough vegetables, and still have time to hang out with their friends. By night, though, I exchange my stack of tests and red pens to forge the jungles of Africa, risking my life as I take on the world in the pursuit of justice.

Genre Happenings

Life Experience Fiction

I remember well my argument with God. I stamped my foot and cried, “I don’t want to be the poster child for the sexually abused. I want to write, but not about that.” I was the rebellious child who’d asked my Father for direction, then refused to follow His way.