The Spell of Summer update at 26,800 words in.

I LOVE this story!!! When I got the idea for The Spell of Summer, I loved it then, but it all seemed to change when I started writing it and the vision altered and it wasn't what I thought it would be. That infuriated me a bit, but in the end I went with it, and I'm now in a place where I'm in love with what's happening. It's soooo very different from writing my paranormal stories and I feel I'm growing as a writer through this, solely because stretching yourself is necessary for learning and growing.

I've mentioned before that it reads a bit like women's fiction - it does, but it also reads a bit like a contemporary romance and it does have a paranormal flair to it, although nowhere near as much as my other books. This story is not only about a woman's journey - it's a journey for all the characters. I tried to keep it just about the hero and heroine - honest I did! I failed. It's just not me. I have to write about all the people - they are all so interesting, they all feed the hero and heroine's stories, and their stories will also unfold over the next few books...

Oooo ... did I just say that? Yes, I did! I envision, currently, four books in the Once Times Thrice series - all of them standalones, but with characters that overlap. And I am so over trying to 'categorise' this book and series now (even though I'll need to when to comes to publishing it) - it just is what it is.

Here is the latest visual teaser, as I am now 33% in - I am one third of the way to completing this book :D

(Click image to enlarge.)

Lastly, if you have not yet read my Witching Pen series, please grab it right now. For the first time ever, the entire series is available in a boxed set for ONLY $0.99 / £0.77 until the 17th February, and this offer is exclusive to Amazon. Here are the links:  AMAZON US   AMAZON UK

Have an awesome Friday and weekend!

Dianna xxx

The Spell of Summer update at 18,000 words

Okay, yes, I have another update for you and boy, I didn't realise things could move so quickly. I felt like I didn't get anything done this week, but it turns out I have :)

Firstly, because the story is evolving in surprising ways (it sometimes happens), there is a blurb change for the book, which I'm posting below with the cover, and below that, you'll find visual teaser number two (click to magnify). Enjoy!

The Spell of Summer

Meredith is leading a straight-laced life in London with her straight-laced fiancé, determined to forget her reckless, wild-child past. They're about to get married.

Jamie is an old, poetic soul with a broken heart returning home to Cornwall to get his life back in order.

What binds them?

One chance meeting thirteen summers ago; one innocent spell spoken after one perfect night...

And now history is unravelling; the past and present, merging...

Words can change everything, but can it change your destiny?

And in the messy world of magic, what part does love play?

It's summer all over again, but the spell has only just begun.

Pre-order from: AMAZON (UK ONLY) / BOOK DEPOSITORY (WORLDWIDE)

Visual Teaser #2

The progression of The Spell of Summer (10,000 words in).

I'm going to postpone my question from Elizabeth for a week and instead, I'm going to tell you a bit about The Spell of Summer and how it's progressing.

I'm slowly starting to fall in love with Meredith (Merri) and Jamie.

I had quite a strong idea for this book when I started writing it. As is almost always the case, one sentence leads to another and suddenly, things that you didn't quite expect to happen are happening (namely, the characters rebel and want to do things their own way).

I can now safely say that (for the purposes of categorisation) this book will fall into Contemporary Romantic Fiction. The "thread" of magic is there, but way more subtle than I originally thought it would be, to the point that I can't really call this book a paranormal romance.

This might also end up being a 100,000 word book. I've estimated at 80,000 so far, but there's a lot of background to cover in the beginning of the book so we can understand events better as they unfold. I don't actually like writing "background". It's always a challenge to write it and not make it boring, especially when it includes some flashbacks, which this does. It has to not be confusing and it has to not be boring. I think I might succeed, but it's also one of those things you'll never know for sure until the novel is complete and you read it in its entirety, so we shall see. I might be in for some brutal editing, although I hope not.

So, yes, there are flashbacks in this book. We mostly flash back to when Meredith was sixteen years old - just sixteen, actually - we flash back to the events of the day after her sixteenth birthday, and in case you missed the teaser, they go something like this:

You can also view the image here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=670024649702791&set=a.321274827911110.72074.144058758966052&type=1&theater

There will be a teaser posted up on my Facebook page (which I'll also get round to adding to my site) at every 10% mark that I hit. I'm on 12% at the moment. Fun and games :) The light-hearted novel that I'd intended to write is turning out to be not so light-hearted after all, but hopefully, it will be heartful.

You can keep track of the novel's progress here: http://www.diannahardy.com/the-spell-of-summer.html

Dianna x

It's a good thing I write fiction because...

I've come to think that it's a good thing I write fiction, because I don't know how good I am at the real life stuff. I find it hard to see it as real life - most of the time, I feel like I'm living other people's reality. Is this my world? It doesn't feel like my world...

I can be a bit of a clutz. I get things wrong.

I call people (who I am trying to acquire a service from) by the wrong name - did it today. Ah ... at least my little hole is comfy...

I never know what's going on half the time. I hate interrupting conversations that people are having, so often I'll be the one at the edge of some social gathering trying not to look uncomfortable and like I don't belong. My thoughts are so weird most of the time, that I often find conversation either difficult or pointless. I hate formal occasions. Sometimes I can get into the role and pretend this is "me" for an evening, but it is a pretense - give me my worn out jeans to wear any time.

Growing up, ever since I can remember, I often felt like an alien, or like I was born in the wrong time and place. As if The Powers That Be chucked me out of the proverbial plane by accident and I ended up ... not where I was supposed to be.

Still I feel like this. Even as an adult, I have not been able to shake it.

Yeah. Thank god for the ability to write my own reality fiction.

Dianna x