Diane Sherlock

  • guess who’s on iTunes

    My first novel, DEAD WEIGHT, is now an iBook and available on iTunes. Please spread the word! And as always, thanks for your support.

  • how to finish a novel

    A friend who’s writing a book – a ‘publish or perish’ tenure track type of book – asked me if I have any tips on finishing. Well… not really. I mostly need help in the great chaotic middle when it looks like the entire book is going to fall apart and I’ve just wasted months…

  • file under less is more

    A hand, a foot, a leg, a head, Stood for the whole to be imaginèd. (Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece, ll. 1427-8) What if you write a scene of sex, violence, or intense emotion and focus only on one of the character’s body parts? Oh stop, not the obvious ones either. And yeah, I’m being silly…

  • work habits

    Last week I finished revisions on my latest novel and sent it off to a reader I trust. Note: always have a couple of people who will tell you the truth look at something before you send it out. Agents and publishing houses don’t have the time and money to edit you the way they…

  • done done

    Well, done for now. The problem with novels is that you can tinker with them endlessly and it’s not always clear at first when it becomes counterproductive. HOWEVER, for now, I am done with Wrestling Alligators. I gave it to four trusted readers. They only had light notes, so I’m getting better at revisions. Then…

  • writing habits

    Oh dear. I just figured out what I need to do to be done with this novel before my vacation. I really need 5 good pages a day. That seems daunting at the moment. Here is a roundup of writerly habits. It runs the gamut – no big surprise there. No formula, except finding what…

  • Thanks, Stewie, we needed a laugh

  • new again

    Writing is fun again! Yesterday something shifted when I was working on the novel, filling in thin places – things clicked back into place. Helped even more when I took a long walk through Fryman. Solved a few problems – I tend to write through a draft and leave sections to fill in later, hence…

  • Chateau Hotel Domaine de la Tortinière

    Attention, Patrons of the Arts! I could write a very good novel if you put me up here for a few months! hee I stayed here years ago and still remember the carpet of flowers in the woods and oh, the food! The concierge at a hotel in Paris recommended it as his favorite vacation…

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