Well, I’m bummed! I only now found out that today is National Ice Cream Day. It’s nearly 9 pm and I already had my Breyers light brownie ice cream sandwich for dessert, which frankly is no substitute for a bowl of Edy’s Slow-Churned French Silk. If I’d known it was National Ice Cream Day, I would have run down to the nearest store (which happens to be one of those little stores connected to a gas station. Not pretty.) and bought a couple of pints of Ben and Jerry’s and not felt guilty about it, but now I’m full and it’s too late. 

My curiosity was piqued. What other holidays are coming up? I checked out this week and here’s the lineup: Tomorrow is National Daquiri Day, but since I’m a non-imbiber, I’ll sit that one out. Tuesday is lollipop day. Did you know that lollipop machines make nearly 6,000 lollipops a minute? Wednesday I’m definitely going to celebrate! National Junk Food Day! I am unbelievably neurotic about food safety in my kitchen. I drive John nuts with the hand washing, the not-using-the-same-utensils-on-raw-and-cooked food, the sniffing of the milk, etc. But put me in a Taco Bell (burritos!) or Bojangles (biscuits!) or Wendy’s (taco salad!) and I’ll never give their kitchen a thought. (Please don’t tell me horror stories. Let me live in blissful ignorance!)

Thursday is National Hammock Day and I wish I had one. When I need to go to my Happy Place in my head, it’s in a hammock hanging under tall green trees. Instant relaxation. Friday is National Hot Dog Day, and I have to admit that’s another edible that I eat without thinking about what’s in it and how long it’s been rolling on those long, hot metal tubes at Target.

I just realized that Wednesday–National Junk Food Day–is the day I’ll be part of an event at the Silver Coast Winery near Ocean Isle, North Carolina, so I think I’ll be sipping club soda and nibbling something very non-junky there. You’re all invited to join me! I understand it’s a lovely location. There’s no cover charge, just a chance to meet and chat and sip. There will be a few other writers on hand and the Pelican Bookstore will supply books for a signing. If you’re anywhere near the area between 1-4 on Wednesday July 21st, I hope you’ll stop by.

Right now, I’d like to proclaim this evening “National What Are You Reading Evening”. As for me, I’m enjoying Karen White’s On Folly Beach. Now I know how to answer when people ask who I write like! I feel as though I’m reading one of my own books, probably because Karen and I both love mixing past and present and we love to keep our readers guessing. Also the beach setting, of course, and dipping back into coastal Carolina history during World War II. I think Karen and I must have been separated at birth. Obviously, I’m enjoying this book a great deal and highly recommend it.

How about you? What are you reading now?

This is the view from my hotel window in Wilmington, NC. I love being on the river. . . the river that floods in The Lies We Told. Makes me glad I’m way up high!

I’m here doing a couple of days of promotion.  Yesterday was a huge Luncheon With NC Authors, a fundraiser for the creative writing scholarships at Cape Fear Community College. The place was packed and it was a wonderful opportunity for me and several other authors to meet new readers.

Then bright and early this morning (6:30 am is way early for me. Not sure how “bright” I was), I was interviewed on WWAY, a Wilmington TV station. Last year, I had a wardrobe malfunction prior to that interview, and this year the same thing happened. Well, almost the same thing. I was caught in a downpour last night and my “TV clothes” were soaked. Plus the hem in my black pants somehow disappeared. But I was able to come up with an alternative outfit for my 60 seconds of fame this morning!

Quick nap, and then I went to the NPR station where I was interviewed by Jemila Erickson, one of the finest interviewers in the business. Jemila knows how to get to the heart of a book during an interview. Then my publicists, Tori and Kim, took me to lunch at Jester’s Corner. Yum!

I had an hour to catch my breath before my signing at Two Sisters Bookery. Thank you to my local readers for stopping by and to the new readers willing to take a chance on my books. Finally, I had dinner at Tori and Kim’s, where I played with Kim’s Sheltie, Brody–one of the highlights of the trip!

It’s been a rewarding few days. Any time I can communicate with my readers, my friends, and an adorable dog is a good time for me.

I truly don’t know what happened to today. I got up early with great plans, but one thing led to another and the day disappeared with only two pages in the can. I accomplished non-writing things, but that wasn’t part of the pledge, was it? And tomorrow we leave, so I doubt I’ll get much done before we take off, but I’ll try. Clearly, I need not only a pledge but a full-fledged New Year’s Resolution.

So what did I do today? Well, our new little beach condo needs some serious sprucing up, so my friend, interior designer Elizabeth Samuels, came over with a carpenter/electrician/knows how to do everything sort of  fellow who took measurements and will come up with an estimate for the work. Liz brought her pup Sam over, so the dogs needed to play together on the beach. Then I had to enjoy the view from the deck for a while and before I knew it, it was time to meet friends for dinner.

On my first research trip to Topsail Island a couple of years ago, I had an appointment to meet with Ken Bogan, the Surf City fire marshall (I think that was his title) to help me figure out details of the arson fire in Before the Storm. Ken turned out to be a real gold mine, and he and his wife Angie spent hours with me so that I could pick their brains on all things Fire. We became friends–they are delightful people–and tonight we met them for dinner. We had a great time.

 Once we left Ken and Angie, we went to visit our friends Glen and Sterling. Those of you who have been reading the blog for a long time may recognize Glen’s name, since he’s a frequent commenter. We quickly became friends and he and Sterling have been so supportive of me and myTopsail Island writing. You can see above that Glen gets into decorating for Christmas! I wish I’d had a video camera with me, because this light show is timed to music! 

It was a great day, filled with wonderful people and a lot of fun, but not much work. We’ll be home some time tomorrow and then I’ll have a serious discussion with you–and myself–about resolutions.

The original title for this blog post was “I Give Up,” but when I mentioned that to my significant other, John, he nixed it. He said I’m a positive person who has overcome adversity and embraces change, totally shaming me into taking a different slant on my topic. Until then, I was sounding like quite the curmudgeon in this post. Now, I feel much lighter. At least, I’m trying to feel more like the change-embracing woman John believes me to be. 

The first thing I planned to gripe about was grammatical abominations that have become commonplace:

• “Me and Joe went to the movies.” 
• Omitting the comma before the conjunction that introduces an independent clause. (Do I own the last copy of Strunk and White?)
• Apostrophes used in plural words. As in “Apostrophe’s used in plural word’s.”

The other day, I heard the BBC World News commentator sign off with “Good day, from me and BBC,” and I decided to give up. Whoops. I mean, to embrace change. As John pointed out to me, English is a dynamic language. Accepting the changes will be so freeing! I’ll let you know how I make out.

Then I planned to discuss my war against the sale of used books. I never did mind the mom-and-pop store on the corner selling my books used, but when gigantic Amazon began pushing used books on the same page as the new books–on the same day those new books were released–I joined my fellow writers in fighting back. It’s a losing battle, and while I rue the loss of income to myself and other authors, I’ve stopped fighting it. Nevertheless, I can’t help but whisper to you, “Do you know where that book has been?”

E-books. “I will never read an e-book.” I’m sure I said that as recently as last year, proclaiming, “I need the feel of paper in my hands.” I now own an e-reader and I love it, but not without guilt. Authors make less money on e-books, and I can’t bear to think about what this shift in the way we read will mean to my beloved booksellers. But the times they are a-changin’, and I hope we can all find ways not only to endure what’s happening in the book world, but to actually thrive in spite of it. I have no idea how, but the change-embracing Diane is also an optimist! 

Then we have social media. Facebook. Goodreads. Twitter. MySpace. I resisted, wondering what was wrong with all those needy people who befriended strangers. Now, though, I’ve radically embraced this change. Social media rocks. What a fabulous way to keep in touch, not only with my “real” friends and family, but my readers as well.

So how about you? What changes are you resisting? Shall we embrace them together?

When I decided to set Before the Storm and Secrets She Left Behind on Topsail Island, I never dreamed how important this place would become to me. From my very first research trip,  though, I knew I’d discovered something special. It reminded me of my childhood at the Jersey Shore and of my early adulthood on the Outer Banks. Like most coastal areas, it has way too many houses crammed together along the beach, but now with the purchase of my own oceanfront condo I’m part of the development, so I guess I can no longer complain! In spite of the wonderfully eclectic hodgepodge of homes, Topsail retains its away-from-everything charm. Just a few restaurants and shops and only one stoplight. It makes a perfect setting for my books– an area where everyone knows everyone else and where a tragedy and a mystery have an impact on all.

This has been our first visit to the condo, which I purchased after seeing it for only 5 minutes. It’s wonderful! It needs a little TLC and I’m looking forward to making it mine. It’s less than three hours from our home in the Raleigh area and is a perfect getaway. Keeper and Jet had never seen the beach before and after three days here, they’re still a little perplexed, but at least their ears are no longer flattened against their heads! John hasn’t taken his camera from his face since our arrival. I doubt he’ll ever get tired of photographing the island.

As for me. . . I have a simple, incredible, unexpected joy. As my frequent readers know, I have rheumatoid arthritis. It’s under very good control, but my left foot and ankle have a great deal of damage sustained before the “good drugs” came along. It’s hard for me to walk and impossible for me to walk on uneven surfaces, such as the beach. But a year ago, I had a brace made which is built into my sneaker and guess what? For the first time in about ten years,  I can walk on the beach! I’ve been overdoing it like crazy the past few days, and enjoying every sandy minute.

The other night, I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking about my next book, and the characters wouldn’t settle down inside my head. I got up and went out to the deck and lay down on the broad bench you see here in this picture. I listened to the sea while staring up at Orion and the three-quarter moon and thought about how lucky I am to be able to have homes in two places that I love, to be surrounded by the people (and animals) that I love, and to be able to do the work that I love.  My hope is that you, my readers, feel equally as lucky in your lives.

The contest continues! Win a vacation on Topsail Island and help me celebrate my 20 years as an author by clicking here to learn more. You may enter once a day.  

We just returned from a wonderful weekend in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, NC. I’d never been to either place, and since my current work-in-progress is set in that area, I thought it was about time I got down there to explore. Actually, I should say that my current work-in-progress will destroy the area (via a couple of nasty hurricanes), which is really a shame because it’s beautiful. Wilmington is a lovely little city full of history–some of it not pretty; the sort that teaches lessons for the future. But the Wilmington of today is a stunner with three of my favorite things–a riverwalk, yummy seafood, and Spanish moss–and it’s considered the Hollywood of the east coast, where nearly 200 movies and many TV shows (Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill, etc) have been filmed.

The highlight of our visit to Wilmington was meeting my publicists, Tori and Kim, (above) of Clove Marketing. They were spirited and enthusiastic and I feel so lucky to have them in my corner! 

Then it was across the bridge to Wrightsville Beach, where our hotel room had a fabulous view of the harbor, where a lobster dinner awaited us, and where our next adventure was about to unfold. 

To be continued. . .  

When did people start using the word “hey” instead of “hi”?

I remember when I first heard this word used in casual greeting. I was researching my fourth novel, Keeper of the Light, in the early ’90s and contacted the woman who was heading up the renovation of the keeper’s house at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla, NC. She was a fabulous help to me in my research. One of the first things I noticed about her was that she always greeted me with “hey.” I thought it must be a coastal North Carolina thing. Over the years, though, I realized “hey” had crept into general conversation throughout the country. It’s on TV shows, in the movies, and in our daily lives. As I look back through my books, I seemed to have shifted from “hi” to “hey” in my characters’ greetings to one another around 2000.

I like this trend. I like the friendly, casualness of it (although I keep hearing my first grade teacher’s voice in my head, saying “Hey is for horses!”

So, have you noticed this shift in our vocabulary? Are you a “hey” or a “hi” person?

(By the way, the pic of the lizard, who sits by my front door, was taken by my significant other, John Pagliuca).