Jacqueline Diamond

Jacqueline Diamond’s 90 published books include romances, mysteries, Regencies and paranormals, as well as How to Write a Novel in One (Not-so-easy) Lesson. A former Associated Press reporter and TV columnist, Jackie is a two-time Rita Award finalist and received a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times magazine. Her website, www.jacquelinediamond.com, offers free writing tips and news about her books. She’s currently reissuing some of her older favorites in digital editions, including half a dozen Regencies, a paranormal romance and several mysteries, priced as low as 99 cents.

Where to find Jacqueline: 

Website.

Twitter

The Surgeon’s Surprise Twins

Bailey Wayne, RN, is happy to be a surrogate mom for her sister. As for abrasive new department head Dr. Owen Tartikoff, he has a soft spot for the pregnant nurse. Then he finds out his sperm donation secretly went to her. When his half-brother--who's her brother-in-law--and her sister run afoul of the law, matters get very complicated for this unlkely pair who discover they have twins on the way.

CAT:  What was the first story you remember writing?

JACQUELINE:  I was five years old, and it went like this: The litle lame boy had fun.

Think about it: It incorporates empathy for the handicapped, economy of prose and an upbeat ending. Okay, the spelling isn’t so great. Did I mention I was five?

CAT:  If you were given a chance to travel to the past where would you go and specifically why?

JACQUELINE:  In all honesty, I wouldn’t travel to the past because I’d probably get zapped by a virus straight off. However, if I could travel to an imaginary past, I would pick the Regency period. I love the Cinderella feeling, the smart heroines, the gorgeous fashions (for which the money just appears when the heroine needs it--shades of a fairy godmother) and all the gossipy bystanders.

The first books I sold were Regencies and it’s a thrill to make them available to readers again in digital form. I’ve reedited and polished a bit, of course. One of my favorites, A Lady’s Point of View, has a heroine as nearsighted as I am who accidentally insults Beau Brummell and then, on her way home, gets into the wrong carriage and winds up pretending to be a governess. Happens all the time, right?

CAT:  What’s your favorite movie of all time?

JACQUELINE:  You will not be surprised to learn that it’s Sense and Sensibility. Emma Thompson is simply brilliant, both as heroine and screenwriter (well-deserved Oscar), and the rest of the cast is a total delight.

CAT:  Is writing or story-telling easier for you?

JACQUELINE:  I’m a story-teller. Ideas bubble up, demanding to be expressed, but oh, the writing can be a struggle. I hope my readers love getting lost in a story, because although I strive for effective images and well-toned prose, I’ll never be a literary stylist.

Fortunately, my interest in medical topics, my enjoyment of love stories and my straightforward writing have worked well for my 75-or-so Harlequins, including my current Safe Harbor Medical series. Each book stands alone, but there are continuing characters at this medical center specializing in women, babies and fertility.

CAT:  What’s something you’d like to tell your fans?

JACQUELINE:  For me, writing is often hard work, but at moments it can be magical. While there’s a lot of craft and planning involved, I can’t fully explain how the characters come to life. I suspect they’re actually living in an alternate reality and I just stumble across them.

 

In my mystery Danger Music, my heroine is an eccentric Hollywood freelancer who’s bipolar. Of course I did research, and I had a close relative who was bipolar, but this heroine simply jumped off the page and took over.

CAT:  What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?

JACQUELINE:  What I ought to do is eat chocolate, dance a happy dance with my husband of 33 years, or go shopping. What I actually do is reorganize my files.

CAT:  If you could interview one person (and it doesn’t have to be a writer) who would it be?

JACQUELINE:  When I worked for The Associated Press in LA, I interviewed a lot of celebrities. One of my special memories is meeting Raymond Burr in what turned out to be one of the last interviews of his life. What a warm, charismatic man! I also particularly enjoyed interviewing Patrick Stewart of Star Trek and one of my favorite comedians, Lily Tomlin.

I would have loved to interview Placido Domingo, my favorite singer for more than 30 years. I did get to cover a press conference of his, but he was too busy for an interview (sigh).

CAT:  What is something that not a lot of people know about you but you WISH more people COULD know?

JACQUELINE:  My favorite among my books is one that’s never been published. It’s the first in a science fiction trilogy about an alternate universe. The TV show Fringe touches on some similar ideas, although from a very different perspective. I would love to write the rest of the trilogy and publish them myself if I could afford the time.

Among my published books, my favorites include several that readers often miss because they aren’t romances. One is the supernatural thriller Echoes, and another is a fantasy adventure called Shadowlight. I also thoroughly enjoyed writing a Gothic paranormal romance, Touch Me in the Dark. And yes, they’re available in digital editions.

CAT’S  GOTTA ASK

If you were a t-shirt, what color would you be and why?

JACQUELINE’S GOTTA ANSWER The first answer that comes to mind is lavender so I’ll go with that. It’s a beautiful old-fashioned color and yet it’s youthful. It reminds me of the gorgeous cover on my family-oriented romance Old Dreams, New Dreams.

GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO ASK YOUR FANS?

What type of book do you love to read that you can’t find?

Jacqueline is offering a copy of her new Harlequin American The Surgeon’s Surprise Twins.