ROMANCE AND MYSTERY AUTHOR JACQUELINE DIAMOND ON THE BEAGLE WHO (ALMOST) WASN'T

Today we welcome back award-winning and USA Today bestselling romance and cozy mystery author Jacqueline Diamond, author of more than 100 novels. Jackie is also a former Associated Press reporter and TV columnist. Learn more about her and her books at her website.  

The Beagle Who (Almost) Wasn’t

In the early stages of writing a book (and I’ve written more than 100), my brain goes through several processes, more or less simultaneously. If that sounds confusing, it is. I have to do a lot of organizing and backtracking as ideas come into focus.

 

There’s the premise or basic idea and how it fits into the genre, since I write both romances and mysteries. There are the characters, and why they do what they do. In a romance, what draws the hero and heroine together and what drives them apart? In a mystery, what crime was committed, by whom, and how do I build a trail of (sometimes misleading) clues?

 

An image of a setting or character may help to bring the story into focus. In the case of my latest romance, The Secrets She Learns, in which a major subplot involves the cold case disappearance of a con man, that image was a dog.

 

While browsing through a stock photo site that I use for cover and promotional images, I came across a really cute dog with a magnifying glass held up to one eye. What a perfect partner for my detective hero!

 

It wouldn’t be a talking dog, since this isn’t a paranormal, but a pooch who helps propel the romance while uncovering clues. Twists and turns sprang to mind in connection with this mischievous companion.

 

I immediately licensed the use of the picture. After featuring it in a mock-up cover, I got back to work developing the storyline.

 

In my mind, the dog became a beagle named Digger. He entangled my hero and heroine, won over the hero’s estranged stepdaughter, and showered everyone with his lovable personality.

 

Even after more than forty years as a novelist, I’m still in awe of how plot threads interweave, emotions develop and, almost miraculously, there’s a startling turn of events that helps build to a satisfying conclusion. And that’s what happened with The Secrets She Learns. Ultimately, questions were answered in surprising ways, and the heroine and the craggy P.I. discovered they’d fallen in love.

 

Then a problem arose. And it was a big one.

 

When I sent my completed draft and mockup cover to my Beta readers, they reported back that the cute dog with the magnifying glass wasn’t a beagle. It was a terrier.

 

Excuse me, what?

 

(In case you’re wondering, a Beta reader is a friend, fan, subject matter expert or other reliable person willing to do me the huge favor of poking through my draft and identifying its weaknesses.)

 

 Should I make the pooch a mixed breed? Change its breed entirely? But I really loved Digger just as he was.

 

Back to the stock photo site I went. More browsing. More dogs with magnifying glasses. And there he was—my beagle!

 

Why do photographers create these funny pictures of pooches? I guess because they appeal to a lot of people who pay for the images, like me.

 

As for my fictional beagle... After a career of running away from various homes and being locked up in a shelter, Digger has found his forever family. I hope you enjoy his adventures!

 

The Secrets She Learns

A Sisters, Lovers & Second Chances Romance, Book 4 

 

Shocking secrets, unexpected love, a cold-case mystery—and a nosy beagle! At age 50, nurse Anni discovers she has two half-sisters, both of whom were hurt by a con man who has disappeared. Determined to unravel the past, she hires a handsome P.I., and gets more than she bargained for. That includes his newly adopted dog, who isn’t shy about fostering a romance or digging up evidence.

 

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#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--AUTHOR JACQUELINE DIAMOND FINDS INSPIRATION IN CRAFTY TREES

Mendenhall Glacier Gardens

Crafts come in all different mediums, including ones you'd never suspect. Today we have a return visit from USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Diamond, here to talk about the inspiration behind her latest Safe Harbor Medical Mystery. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

From Strange Trees, a Mystery Grows

In the course of writing more than a hundred romances and mysteries, I’ve drawn inspiration from many sources. Sometimes I get the sense that there’s a key plot twist waiting for me, if I look in the right place... and that I’d better grasp that fleeting bit of inspiration before it escapes.

How to account for this instinct? I consider it a partnership between my conscious and subconscious. That’s what happened when my husband and I took our first trip to Alaska.

In my Safe Harbor Medical Mysteries, a young widowed physician in a small California town teams with his detective sister-in-law to solve murders that affect patients, colleagues and friends. There’s danger and humor, centered on the hospital where he works. 

The dramatic landscape of Alaska hardly fit into the picture. Yet I kept sensing that it might.

We were touring Mendenhall Glacier Gardens, a strikingly landscaped setting created in the aftermath of a landslide, when some remarkable trees caught my eye. They were upside-down, with the roots serving as a kind of flower basket.

Our guide explained that, while one of the owners was clearing away rocks and trees that had tumbled down a mountainside, an expensive piece of rental equipment was damaged. Frustrated about the large repair bill in store, he used the equipment to yank up a tree by its root ball, invert it and slam it down.

Instead of shattering as expected, it lodged in the mud. Struck by a vision of the roots as a petunia basket, he filled the root ball with netting, soils, mosses and flowers. The result was so beautiful that, each year, he creates about 75-100 of what he calls Flower Towers, to the delight of visitors.

photo copyright Dmitriy Raykin,
licensed from Shutterstock 

  

As I snapped photos, I imagined the face of a woman peering at me from one of the trunks. Who was she?

My brain whirled into action. Suppose seeing those unusual trees sparked a memory in a girl who didn’t know she’d ever been here before? Suppose that discovery led to the unearthing of a woman’s murder, with clues that pointed to my hero, Dr. Eric Darcy?

In constructing the mystery, everything had to be turned around so that the reader learns of events through Eric’s point of view. Being falsely accused of murder forces him to unravel the truth behind the disappearance of a woman from his past, and to the stunning realization that he might have a daughter he never knew about.

WhileThe Case of the Long-Lost Lover is the fourth mystery in the series, it stands on its own. It’s an old-fashioned puzzle mystery, with fast pacing, clues for the reader to follow, and carefully researched medical and forensic details.

After the initial spark, the hard work of writing a novel lies in developing a story with twists and turns, and characters you care about. But in this case, the mystery was literally rooted in the inspiration!

The Case of the Long-Lost Lover 

A Safe Harbor Medical Mystery, Book 4

When Dr. Eric Darcy is suspected of killing his former girlfriend, the young widowed physician teams with his PI sister-in-law to uncover the truth. Can they succeed before a murderer closes in on a child who might be his? USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Diamond’s new Safe Harbor Medical mystery is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat until its shocking conclusion!

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#TRAVEL TO AUTHOR JACQUELINE DIAMOND'S FICTITIOUS TOWN OF SAFE HARBOR, CALIFORNIA

Safe Harbor Medical Center

Following a career as an Associated Press reporter, USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Diamond has sold more than 100 novels. She is especially known for her 17-book Safe Harbor Medical romance series and is currently writing the fourth book in the spin-off Safe Harbor Medical Mystery series. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

My Town: Safe Harbor

No need to bring an umbrella or put on sunscreen as we stroll along the harbor, linger over a cup of tea at the Sea Star café, check out the latest paintings at the Wine Arts Gallery, or adopt a pet at the Oahu Lane Animal Shelter. While you won’t find it on Google Maps, the town of Safe Harbor, California, has become more real to me than many places that actually exist. 

We could also take a floor-by-floor tour of Safe Harbor Medical Center and the adjoining medical offices. There are up-to-the-minute laboratories, an extensive fertility program with its own egg donor project, and that centerpiece of staff gathering and gossip, the indoor-outdoor cafeteria. 

Creating a fictional town presents many advantages, but I never expected to develop one with such depth. My file describing it runs to seventeen pages, while my desk drawers contain half a dozen maps in varying degrees of detail. 

What are the advantages of constructing my own community? Real towns and cities pose logistical problems. There isn’t always an appropriate bus service or school or shop to fit fictional needs. Furthermore, if I stir up trouble at a police department or a hospital, I could step on someone’s toes, perhaps even invite a lawsuit. And as the years pass, towns change so that descriptions in novels may no longer match reality. None of that is a problem when I “own” the place!

This isn’t the first town I’ve dreamed up over the course of writing more than 100 books, but it’s by far the most complete. Initially, I planned to write three books, but minor characters kept demanding that I tell their stories. New staff arrived, and the hospital’s personality evolved as it grew. If you watch Grey’s Anatomy, you’ll know what I mean. 

Although my series is set in and around the medical center, my heroes and heroines sometimes fall in love with people from the wider community, including police officers, attorneys, and private detectives. My maps expanded; more supporting characters sprang to life, and some insisted on finding love, as well. My file of characters, with backgrounds and descriptions, has bloomed to more than 100 pages in its own right. 

Does this mean I achieved perfect consistency during the nearly ten years I’ve been writing these books? Well, no. Occasionally, I find small glitches. Fortunately, I’ve been able to reedit the earlier novels. While the series was originally published by Harlequin, I have regained rights and reissued nine of the romances under my K. Loren Wilson imprint. The mysteries—I’m currently working on the fourth—are all self-published originals. 

Each book in the series can be read as a stand-alone, from the first romance, The Would-Be Mommy, to the latest mystery, The Case of the Desperate Doctor. In Safe Harbor, the welcome sign is always visible on the main boulevard and the doors of the medical center are always open. Stop by any time! 

The Would-Be Mommy 

A Safe Harbor Medical Romance, Book One

When reporter Ian Martin stirs trouble with his story about a hospital welcoming abandoned babies, he ignites a firestorm around public relations director Jennifer Serra. Now she faces losing her heart to a baby she can’t keep, and losing her job due to a scandalous secret. To help her, Ian must choose between his ambitions and his unexpected love for her.

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GUEST AUTHOR JACQUELINE DIAMOND ON #SURROGACY

USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Diamond is known for her mysteries, romantic comedies, medical romances and Regency romances—102 titles as of 2017. A former Associated Press reporter, Jackie received a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award. She currently writes the Safe Harbor Medical Mysteries and is reissuing her classic romantic comedies. Learn more about Jacqueline and her books at her website. 

Choosing a Surrogate Mom: Friend or No?

When 29-year-old Cress learned she couldn’t conceive or carry a baby, she was thrilled by her best friend Tanya’s offer to serve as the surrogate. Her husband, Wes, was delighted by the chance to save money.

Although many parents choose commercial surrogates, and most such women are at least partly motivated by an altruistic desire to help complete a family, the cost can rise into the tens of thousands of dollars. And that’s in addition to medical expenses.

Cress’s obstetrician, Dr. Eric Darcy of Safe Harbor Medical Center, agreed to the arrangement as long as all parties signed a legal agreement protecting their rights. In California, where they all lived, surrogacy is well established medically and legally.

Cress and Tanya believed the experience would bring them closer. Instead, it had the opposite effect after someone murdered Cress’s husband. As the circle of suspects widened and evidence indicated Wes had been cheating on his wife—possibly with the surrogate—the pair began fighting about the future custody of the unborn baby, which had been conceived with Tanya’s own egg.

These women’s situation is fictional, but the issues are real. Often there’s a happy outcome when a friend or relative carries a baby, but complicated issues can arise. While these rarely involve murder or infidelity, unanticipated emotions and tensions can change a relationship.

The surrogacy process requires a long commitment by the birth mother, and is physically invasive. A volunteer, who has not undergone the rigorous screening of a commercial surrogate, may underestimate the impact on her.

Regardless of whether the surrogate is a friend or a stranger, medical professionals advise against using the surrogate’s own eggs. If the intended mother can’t provide viable eggs, these can be obtained from a separate donor—at a cost, of course. But this reduces the risk of the surrogate feeling as if she’s giving up her own child.

Also, everyone involved needs to consider how they’ll interact after the baby is born. What role will the friend/surrogate play? Are there expectations of greater closeness with the new baby’s family or will there be a power struggle?

In The Case of the Surly Surrogate, Cress and Tanya must sort out their issues under the glare of the media and mounting concern that whoever killed Wes may target one or both of them. Their obstetrician, Eric Darcy, proves a major source of support as he stands by them and risks his life to help catch the murderer—just as the baby makes her entrance into the world.

The Case of the Surly Surrogate

After Dr. Eric Darcy discovers the body of a patient’s husband, he lands in the midst of a murder investigation. Was the photographer killed because he was cheating on his wife, or was he using his photos in a blackmail plot? And how did he antagonize the surrogate mother about to give birth to his baby? The puzzle pieces snap together in a fast-paced climax that could cost Eric his life.

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FAVORITES, FAILURES & FRUSTRATIONS--GUEST AUTHOR JACQUELINE DIAMOND

A former Associated Press reporter and TV columnist, USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Diamond has sold 100 mysteries and romance novels to traditional publishers. Her 101^st book, The Case of the Questionable Quadruplet, launches her Safe Harbor Medical Mystery series. Learn more about Jacqueline and her books at her website. Today Jacqueline joins us to talk about her talent for failure.

A Talent for Failure

“How many books have you written?”

That shouldn’t be hard to answer, right? I’ve published 101 novels. Problem is, I’ve written way more than that—thousands of rejected pages, including a few complete books plus unsold partials and proposals.

Chalk them up as failures. But only in a sense.

Throughout my twenties and thirties, I turned out plays, screenplays and novels while working as a journalist. My bed rose into the stratosphere as unsold manuscripts piled up underneath (this was in the days of typewritten manuscripts). It sometimes felt like I was receiving rejection slips from publishers I hadn’t even submitted to.

At last, I sold a Regency-era romantic comedy called Lady in Disguise, followed by another three. Success at last!

If that had been the end of my rejections, this would be a very short blog. But as it turned out, failure is an option, even for published authors.

My editor rejected my fifth Regency, A Lady’s Point of View. She said the plot was too complicated and didn’t even request revisions (more about that book in a minute).

I moved on to writing contemporary romances and other genres. Gradually, more books sold, including a mystery (The Eyes of a Stranger) and a paranormal thriller (Echoes). But others, equally loved by me, didn’t.

Looking back, I came up with a few lessons worth sharing.

1) Although rejection hurts, I learned from it. Sometimes, the concept just wasn’t strong enough. Or the characters weren’t deep enough. Or the storyline didn’t fit what the publishers or readers were looking for at that time.

2) Failure isn’t forever. After a rewrite, my fantasy novel Shadowlight found a home at DAW and my offbeat mystery Danger Music sold to Five Star Mysteries. A Lady’s Point of View, after revisions, sold to another Regency line. All three are now available as ebooks.

3) When life gives you lemons, open a fruit stand. My Gothic romantic suspense Touch Me in the Dark endured multiple rejections before selling to an epublisher named Triskelion. The month it was published, Triskelion went bankrupt, and I didn’t receive a penny. Eventually, I regained my rights, updated and self-published this book, which has done well in its new digital life.

4) When life doesn’t even give you lemons, plant your own lemon tree. My favorite unsold book was a science fiction thriller called Out of Her Universe, about a woman with no idea that, as a baby, she had been brought to this world from a parallel Earth. Then, without warning, her life and those of people she loves are thrust into danger. I loved writing it and published it as an original ebook that has received outstanding reviews.

5) Taken together, lessons add up to an education, which can pay off in unexpected ways. Take my latest writing venture.

For my 101^st book, I was eager to return to writing mysteries with puzzle plots and offbeat characters. As my experiences had shown, I no longer need an editor’s permission to publish my work.

Rejections also taught me that a concept has to be strong to appeal to readers. Being a fan of Grey’s Anatomy and the author of a 17-book medical romance series, I decided to feature a doctor as my amateur sleuth.

Thus the Safe Harbor Medical Mysteries were born. I’ve published the first book, The Case of the Questionable Quadruplet, and am well into writing the second, with several more plots on tap. Without my failures, I might never have developed the confidence or the market awareness to write and issue this series.

We all enjoy hearing of people who succeeded in spite of their failures. In my case, I may very well have succeeded because of them.

The Case of the Questionable Quadruplet

A Safe Harbor Medical Mystery, Book 1

Eric Darcy, a young, widowed obstetrician, is stunned when the mother of triplets claims to have borne a fourth baby, a quad, that was stolen from her years ago. When someone murders his patient, Eric believes the police are dismissing a vital clue, and teams up with his PI sister-in-law to investigate, never imagining his own life might be in danger. This medical cozy is the first in the Safe Harbor Medical Mysteries.

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