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BURIED HEARTS |
Introduction
I’m
Diana Stout, and I live in the historic community of Marshall, Michigan. With
15 years of teaching experience (classes for writers), at mid-life, I became a
non-traditional college student. My goal was to teach accredited classes. I
became an English professor of writing classes, which allowed me to marry my
two passions of writing and helping others become better writers.
Today,
I write full-time and still help writers become better writers through
presentations, workshops, and classes. In early 2015, I created Sharpened
Pencils Productions LLC, from which I publish my books: screenplays, novels, novellas, and nonfiction
that includes a cookbook and the first of my how-to series.
My
newest release is Buried Hearts: A Laurel
Ridge Novella (Book 4). The series involves 7 books, where 9 of the 14
characters are classmates and another 3 are best friends. Additionally, there’s
a VW beetle that was fished out of the lake in Book 1 (Shattered Dreams)
and so began the mystery that touches each book in the series.
Because the characters are in and out of each other’s stories, my spreadsheet became mammoth, making it both fun and difficult—especially when I had someone in two places at the same time! I’ve spent so much time with these characters, they’ve become good friends that I’d love to hang out with. If only.
A
quick rundown of the series published so far.
Shattered
Dreams #1 – High
school sweethearts, Mason and Shelley, meet 12 years later and the sparks still
fly, but Shelley won’t cooperate. Soon, both are shocked to learn the truth of
their high school breakup and who was responsible. Is it too late to rekindle
the love once shared or will their dreams be shattered forever?
Burning
Desire #2
– Once a bubbly teenager, as a senior Eddie (Edwina) Taylor withdrew, spurning
everyone, keeping a secret that could destroy her. Now a decade later, when
firefighter Aaron Rhett Sinclair Renoux—a man who hates liars—investigates a
fire in her grandmother’s farmhouse, she’s guarded, fearing he has the
potential to blow up her world completely.
Arrested Pleasures #3 – Can Cutter, the bad boy
womanizer of Laurel Ridge, ever win the heart of game warden Annie Martin, who’d
rather see him in handcuffs? They had dated once in
high school and once was enough for Annie, and now they’ve best friends. Can
Cutter ever get beyond the friend zone?
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He’s an academic archeologist who digs up the past. She’s an
on-the-road psychic balloonist who lives in the clouds. Can they meet in the
middle and shed their walled-up exteriors to expose hidden longings and
buried hearts?
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Excerpt
“Would—”
“I read
you? Wanting to discover your future so you can satisfy your parents?”
He
snorted and laughed. “That’ll never happen. Not in my lifetime. Mom just likes
to be contrary.”
“She
wants to be right.”
“Remind
me to never try to surprise you.”
“You
already have, with dinner, this conversation.” She paused, cocking her head,
looking at him. “You’ll end up married much to her delight.”
“How—”
“I see
you at the altar, surrounded by friends—”
“What
does she look like? Can you see her?”
“No.”
“What
about you? Will you get married?”
“I never
get that sense about myself. Besides, I’m a realist. People marry for selfish
reasons. Money. Security. Status. Power.—”
“So, what’s
my reason for getting married?” he asked.
“Love.”
“Not
lust? Isn’t that what attracts us to each other?”
A
statement and phrase she always touted, too.
He
continued. “You’re right. I want to be one of those who marries for love.
Otherwise, count me out. Mother will just have to be unhappy.”
The series is available as eBooks only through Amazon, but once the series is completed, the series will appear in one print book made available at all bookstores.
Research Tidbits
Once I had everyone in position properly, I typed up each day's activities per each book into one long outline/story log document.
From there, I decided to write the first draft of all the books before I published #2 to ensure I hadn't written myself into a corner that I couldn't fix. I'm glad I wrote those first drafts because I encountered logistical errors that did need fixing in several books that weren't on the spreadsheet.
Interview Questions
At one time, I had what I thought was severe writer’s block. Now, I no longer believe in it. I write about how I came to destroy that writing myth in my Finding Your Fire & Keeping It Hot book, and what I do now to avoid from ever having that situation happen again.
2. What type of book have you always wanted to write?
Ever since watching Somewhere in Time, The Two Lives of Jenny Logan, and reading Constance O’Day Flannery’s romance time-travel books, I’ve wanted to write a time-travel story. I’ve had a story in mind but am still working out the plot. In my mind’s eye, I see it as a screenplay, but that’s not to say I couldn’t write it as a book, too.
3. Please describe your writing environment.
I live in a small 520 sq. ft.
one-bedroom apartment where my living room is my office, where I’m surrounded
by books. An environment I saw in my mind’s eye decades before it occurred,
even while I was married!
Social Media / Contact
Readers and groups can contact Diana through email or message her through Facebook. Diana’s website contains links to her three blogs, newsletter, and social media.
♥ Email ♥ Blogs/Website ♥ Facebook ♥ Twitter ♥ Instagram ♥ Pinterest
Hugs~
Sounds like a great book, Diana! Good luck and God's blessings with it.
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