Rain caused the freeways to be a bit slippery at 8:00 this morning, but I drove into Houston to my WHRWA meeting. What kind of group is that you ask? The acronym stands for West Houston Romantic Writers of America, and today we were privileged to hear DiAnn Mills, a talented writer and speaker. Here are a few credentials I copied from her Amazon page.
Award-winning author DiAnn Mills is a fiction writer who combines an adventuresome spirit with unforgettable characters to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels. DiAnn's first book was published in 1998. She currently has more than fifty books published.
Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists and have won placements through the American Christian Fiction Writer's Carol Awards and Inspirational Reader's Choice awards. DiAnn won the Christy Award in 2010 and 2011.
DiAnn is a founding board member for American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of Inspirational Writers Alive, Romance Writers of America, and Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. DiAnn is also the Craftsman mentor for the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild.
She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.
DiAnn spoke about backstory—the reason characters do
what they do in a novel. Actual people have a past, and those by-gone days
are the bones that cause certain current behaviors. Some of us may want to keep
the skeletons in the closet, but as writers, we want our readers to gradually learn
of a hero’s former lifestyle. Knowing why a character acts and thinks the way
he or she does makes them appear real to us.
Here's a picture of DiAnn giving her presentation.
Here's a picture of me with DiAnn
It was a good meeting, and I'm happy I went. DiAnn has a plethora of good books for us to read, and she serves in the RWA chapter of Faith, Hope, and Love. I'm a member of that chapter and I always look forward to the topics DiAnn brings each week. She sent this theme for discussion that past week: "What made you choose fiction as your writing focus?" I don't always respond, but I enjoy reading the answers from other members.
How has your day been? Is it cooler where you are? I'm always excited when September comes, it usually means cooler weather down here in this part of the country.
Stay tuned. In a day or two, I'm going to show you the cover of my latest Sarah book. Sarah really does some screwy things in this one. Sarah and a Dad for Mandy culminates my last two novellas. In case you've forgotten their order, Sarah and the Internet Dating Service was followed by Sarah and the Scary Ferris Wheel. A dad for Mandy will be book three. The books stand alone, so you can read them in any order, but all three novellas have the same characters.
Hope all of you find your pew tomorrow! Stay cool and dry!
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