Cut to the Quick
Published in Australia
April 2008

The second Nan Vining adventure, Cut to the Quick, has been published by Random House

Australia! Here’s the book jacket:

Cut to the Quick opens with the savage murders of a wealthy billboard tycoon and his trophy girlfriend in his Pasadena mansion, bringing Vining and Kissick perilously close to a psycho killer with vengeance on his brilliantly devious mind.

Meanwhile, Vining’s obsessive secret investigation into T.B. Mann threatens to derail her career.

The reviews are great. The Courier Mail says: “What to do for Dianne Emley after her killer
thriller The First Cut hit the U.S. bestseller charts than follow with another cut – this time
Cut to the Quick, an autumnal beach read if there ever was one.”

The First Cut has been reissued in Australia as a mass market paperback.
Thank you Australian fans for making Nan Vining a success.

Time Flies

January 2008

I’m not constructed for cyberspace.  I shudder at the thought of “instant messaging.”  I prefer reading a book, watching a movie, or taking a walk to surfing the Net.

How antediluvian.   

Which brings me to my next point.

I always plan to update this Website regularly.  And that’s only the beginning.  I’m told I need to blog, to have a presence on MySpace and Facebook, to make videos and book trailers, and get out that E-newsletter, and… and… and…  

Conjure an image of me cyber-hyperventilating.

Then, that thing called LIFE gets in the way and my cyber-presence sits frozen in time.  May 2007, to be precise.  That’s the last time I update this site.  Eons in the Cyber World. 

Conjure an image of me hanging my head in cyber-shame.

You might be wondering, what on God’s green earth have you been doing, since you sure as hell have not published another Nan Vining book.  Fair question.  To coin an old phrase, I’ve been busier than a one-armed paper hanger, writing, writing, and writing.  Nan Vining #2, Cut to the Quick, is done.  Nan Vining #3, The Deepest Cut, is nearly done.

Here’s the deal…  Cut to the Quick was originally scheduled to be published in January 2008.  Then my fabulous team at Ballantine came up with a terrific marketing plan.  The first three books feature an over-arching storyline in which Nan Vining pursues her attacker, the stranger she calls T.B. Mann—The Bad Man.  To capitalize on this, Ballantine will publish the three books (the paperback of The First Cut, then Cut to the Quick, followed by The Deepest Cut) in three consecutive months.  They are scheduled to be released at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009.

Why is my publisher doing this?  Not to torture you, gentle reader, or me, the careworn author.  They are doing it to launch the Nan Vining series in a big way. 

Why are they waiting so long to publish?  Because I have to finish the third book, The Deepest Cut. 

So, back to work for me.  Each time I write a book, it’s like embarking on a new love affair.  I can’t say it’s all sunshine and lollipops, but I do become enamored with the book I’m currently working on, feeling it’s my best, most beautiful book ever.  However, I must say that my love affair with Cut to the Quick has not ebbed, even though I finished it months ago.  I love, love, love The Deepest Cut.  Both of them are my creepiest books yet. 

Cut to the Quick did receive a glowing early review in Publisher’s Weekly.  An extract:

“Emley’s compelling follow-up to 2006’s THE FIRST CUT finds homicide detective Nan Vining faced with a grisly double homicide in a Pasadena mansion.  Physically but not psychologically healed from the vicious knife attack in THE FIRST CUT, Vining questions Mark Scoville, the homeowner’s business partner, who’s cooperative at first.  But when he suddenly clams up and asks for a lawyer, Vining’s suspicions deepen…  As she struggles to piece together the Scoville case, Vining also steps up her obsessive, private search for her assailant, whom she now fears is a serial killer…  Readers will look forward to seeing more of this edgy, unpredictable heroine.”

As far as my resolution to update this site more regularly…  I’m gonna do it this year (fingers crossed).

Measuring the Muse
May 2007

“How many hours does it take you to write a novel?”

After having published six novels, I’ve fielded lots of questions from people curious about the process of writing and publishing fiction. Yet, this particular question stumped me.

“How many hours?” I repeated, not certain I had heard correctly.

My interrogator, an earnest young man whom I’ll call Bean Counter, unblinkingly nodded.

We were at a cocktail reception following a business conference that my husband Charlie was attending. Charlie and I encountered Bean Counter and made polite introductions followed by friendly chit chat. Conversation naturally turned to occupations.

I told Bean Counter, “I’m the spouse, here for the cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.”

Charlie, of course, produced a postcard for my latest book—he’s not only proud of me, he ceaselessly promotes my work. This produced a flurry of conversation. Then Charlie spotted an acquaintance and was swept into another group, leaving me while I made what I believed to be concluding remarks.

Bean Counter held my postcard between both hands and studied it with great interest. Then he looked up and asked that question.

Now, I haven’t been in the novel-writing biz so long that I’ve forgotten what a mysterious thing it can be to the uninitiated. People want to know: when, why, what… And of course: how.

I’ve learned that none of the answers completely satisfy because there is no way to explain precisely how books happen.

Early on, when asked how long it took me to finish a book, I’d answer exhaustively. I’d describe how I wrote my first novel over three years while working full-time, then the next novel took this long, and the third… People often looked more confused than before they posed the question because I wasn’t answering it at all.

Recently, I’ve adopted a different approach.

“A year,” I say with a definitive nod. “Because that’s what my contract says.”

A glib response, but roundly the truth for my writing today. Many people are stunned by the challenging work schedule this suggests. Some appear deflated. The cold calculation of churning out an oeuvre by a deadline while under the pressure of a contract runs contrary to most views of the creative process.

I understand.

How can one corral the muse?

The truth is, those months devoted to taking a book from being a mere glimmer in my eye to a final work can be a wild roller coaster of a journey. There are grindingly unproductive days with little accomplished. There are marathons that stretch into the wee hours as I crunch to finish those last changes. And there are days in which everything just clicks and the hours melt by. The muse loves me and I love her and all hell may be breaking out in my life or the world, but in the world of my book, Heaven reigns.

Now, standing with Bean Counter, clutching my glass of chardonnay, I was the one with the deer-in-the-headlights gaze. No one had ever asked me to measure the muse so precisely.

When I didn’t immediately respond to his query, he helpfully offered a suggestion.

“A thousand hours?”

A thousand hours? It seemed like a lot of time, yet not nearly enough. A standard nine-to-five job consumes about 2088 hours per year. Okay. But how do I quantify the work I do? Clearly the time spent laying down words counts. Editing those words counts. But what about the rest of it?

How about when I’m on the treadmill at the gym and the niggling plot point I’ve been struggling with suddenly becomes clear. Do I count that? Or how about when I wake up in the morning with a chapter fully formed in my head. Do I count that? Or how about when I’m sitting in a restaurant or airport and overhear a bit of conversation that I jot down because it would be perfect for two of my characters. Do I count that?

Basically, when I’m working on a book, I’m always working on that book, whether I have some form of the text in front of me or I’ve left my office hours before. The book becomes my life. While the muse might reluctantly agree to the demands of a book contract, she will not remain within the confines of a standard measure of a work week.

To Bean Counter, I replied, “More hours than a thousand. A lot more.”

He accepted my response, nodding as he again examined the post card.

Relieved, I sought out my husband and was about to make a break when Bean Counter looked up.

“You have an editor, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“How many hours does your editor spend on your books?”

Dianne is the author of the bestselling thrillers featuring police detective Nan Vining. The paperback edition of the debut title, THE FIRST CUT, will be published in January 2008 along with the hardcover of the second in the series: CUT TO THE QUICK.

It’s a New Year

February 2007

Okay, so we’re well into the New Year.  As I put away the last of the Christmas decorations (there’s always that one Santa potholder or reindeer coffee mug I miss and that hangs around until next Christmas), I reflect upon 2006.

To quote that great Frank Sinatra standard, it was a very good year.  It was a very good year for Nan Vining, haunted homicide detective, and me.  The First Cut was published in September to rave reviews and hit the Los Angeles Times best seller list.  The book tour was a blast.  I met new friends and reconnected with old pals.  Hubby Charlie and I traveled to great places.  The Australian edition of The First Cut was published.  The French edition (to be titled Un Echo dans la Nuit, translation: An Echo in the Night) is in the works.  The Italian, Dutch, and German editions will follow.  I finished the big work on the second Nan Vining book, Cut to the Quick, which my editors love, love, love (I do too).  It was a busy, but very good year.

Even more meaningful to me than the accolades of critics is the praise of fans.  So many of you have taken the time to send me a note saying how much you loved The First Cut.  I’ve thanked everyone personally, but I want to express again how much it means to me to know that Nan Vining, Emily, Jim Kissick, and the rest resonated with you.  I love being part of their wonderful and often strange world. 

What’s next?  Cut to the Quick will be published in hardcover next winter.  The First Cut paperback will be published a month or so prior to that.  And I’ve started Nan Vining’s third adventure. 

Someone recently asked me a question that I’ve never been asked before.  Do I have a ritual when I finish a book?  What a great question.

Even though a book may be finished in the sense that it’s comprised of so many words and has a beginning, middle, and end, there are many phases of rewriting before it’s done done.  For me, those first rewrites are more challenging than writing that first draft.  Still, penning “The End” (the two most beautiful words in the English language) and printing out that first manuscript is a huge milestone and I do celebrate it. 

One of my end-of-draft rituals is immediately to book a massage with my fabulous masseuse who knows how to get the cricks out of my writing-crippled body.  All those hours at work take their toll.  The massage also eases me out of my head, which can be a scary place to spend too much time.  Then I drift through the day, floating along on the scent of the herbal-infused oil she uses.  Ahh…

But first, before I traipse to the spa, there’s an important piece of business to complete.  I print out the manuscript for the first time.  I don’t print it until it’s done.  For months, it exists as a computer file, words on my laptop monitor.  There’s a “wow” feeling seeing it printed, flipping through the pages and experiencing the story in paper and ink.  It’s a moment to celebrate, so I carry the printed manuscript from “the tower” (which is what my husband calls the sunny upstairs room where I work) and display it on the dining room table.  There it rests while I take a break for at least a week and sift through the stuff that has piled up around me while I’ve been completely consumed by writing. 

Then I carry it back up to the tower and the real fun begins.

Here’s your first look at the new Nan Vining book, Cut to the Quick. 

Yep, it’s sitting on a silver tray.  Well, a silver-plated tray.  Nan and I are both working class girls, after all. 

What can I tell you about Cut to the Quick?  I could tell you a lot, but I won’t.  I will say this…  My editors loved The First Cut however, they think Cut to the Quick is my best book yet.

  Members will have a chance to win advance copies of Cut to the Quick and some other great stuff that I will specially select for you.  Plus you’ll receive sneak peeks at works-in-progress.

Stay tuned.  2007 is shaping up to be a very good year.

Savoring the Moment

October-November 2006

My husband Charlie and I were in New York City, having traveled there after the Bouchercon convention in Madison, Wisconsin.  We’d had a leisurely morning, but it was time to get cracking as meetings and dates for lunch, cocktails, and dinner with my agent, editors, and our local friends stretched through the afternoon and into the night.  The first in my Detective Nan Vining suspense series, The First Cut, was doing well.  Everyone was in a celebratory mood.     

Standing at the window of our hotel room that faced the southern edge of Central Park, I took in the immensity of that public green space and the crush of people and vehicles all set beneath a bright, warm, Indian summer day.  I nearly broke into song.  “If I can make it there…”  

Instead, I checked my phone messages and was mentally returned to another great city, my hometown.  

I immediately recognized the gruff voice of an author friend.  “Dianne, congratulations on making the Los Angeles Times Bestseller list.”

My jaw dropped.  I was dumbfounded.  My mouth gaped.  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  I’ve used these terms in my books to describe such a moment.  None of them quite captured it. 

After managing to squeal the news to Charlie, he brought up the L.A. Times Web site on our laptop.  There it was:

BESTSELLERS

LOS ANGELES TIMES LIST FOR OCT 1, 2006

 #14. The First Cut by Dianne Emley (Ballantine: $23.95) Still recovering from a brutal attack, a Pasadena detective and single mom thinks she hears a cryptic message from the corpse of a vice cop.

The word pinged around my head like a steel ball in a Pachinko game.  Bestseller.  I’m a bestseller.  I made the L.A. Times bestseller list!

While relishing this win, I reflected upon the journey.

In the 1990s, I published four mysteries under my maiden name, Dianne Pugh.  It was exhilarating.  I wasn’t quite living the dream, but I had a whiff of it.  Turned out, that was all I would get.  The dream sputtered, then shorted out.

To make a long story short, just about every unfortunate event that can befall a mid-list writer’s career happened to mine.  My story was typical of many writers at that time.  Still, it was hard to take.  I soldiered on, but when my personal life was tossed like a salad at the same time, I decided the best thing to do was to take a break.

The break lasted three years.  I let all my ties to publishing fade away.  The chatter wasn’t helping.  It only clouded me.  I needed clarity.

Looking back, that was one of my smartest decisions.  I don’t believe I would have arrived in the place that enabled me to write The First Cut without it.

Everything about The First Cut felt different than my earlier books.  Hell, I was different.  A lot different. 

I felt as if there had been a sea change in my life.  I’m sure this had a lot to do with what I’d been through during those tumultuous years, from illnesses and deaths of loved ones, to finding love and finally marrying long past the time people were convinced I never would, to much smaller dramas.  I was simply older and wiser. 

Ironically, most others close to me also saw my second-time-around as a published novelist differently, finding it more special than my previous experience.  Most were truly delighted that I was to be published again and so brilliantly.  But a few administered cautionary lessons.  This “advice” didn’t always come from the usual suspects.  

I was surprised when such a lesson was delivered by a man whom I’ve considered a mentor, who was normally supportive of my endeavors.  He shared with me a story about Roman generals riding victoriously back into the city.  He said they were accompanied on the chariot by a slave.  The slave’s sole job was to whisper in the general’s ear, “Victory is fleeting.”

I have no clue whether that is a historical fact.  I did find it interesting that this gentleman greeted news of my book deal with this tale. Was he trying to protect me or himself?

Trust me.  I’ve been kicked in the teeth by life enough to know that joy fades more quickly than sorrow.  Happiness is an unwilling victim of pain.

Still, it should be some sort of a sin not to enjoy a beautiful day in spite of everything.  Not to savor a moment of triumph.

I am a bestseller!

How does it taste?  Sweet, baby, sweet.

 “Are you getting excited about your book coming out?”

            With the publication of The First Cut imminent, this seems to be the question on everyone’s lips.

            So, am I excited?

            If hyperventilation is a form of excitement, yes, I’m excited!

Seriously…  The answer is more complicated.  It’s about having a dream, one of thebig, life-altering dreams, fulfilled.  It’s about getting something I wanted so badly, I didn’tdare let myself fully embrace how badly I wanted it lest I risk paralysis.  It’s about having heard that little, evil internal voice whisper a zillion times, “Fuggeddaboutit.  Not gonna happen.” The evil voice only grew stronger with each setback until finally, it wore me down to the point where I nearly caved in.

            But I didn’t cave in.  I kept on.  Each morning when I sat down to work, I told myself

I might throw in the towel one day, but not today.

            So, am I excited?

            The only other experience I’ve had that comes close is my wedding day.  Six years ago, I got married for the first time.  Charlie and I had a formal wedding and reception.  Wonderful, lovely, memorable.  People cried.  People laughed.  And I, the blushing bride, was nearly hyperventilating.

            Writing and publishing a novel and planning and executing a wedding have somethings in common. In particular, there are a million things to handle and it’s easy to lose the big picture among the details.  Then, the day arrives. 

            The attendants were heading down the aisle where my groom waited.  I was standing at the back of the church, clinging to my big brother’s arm, taking it all in.  There were our guests we’d selected to celebrate our day all dressed up and pretty sitting in the pews. There were the beautiful flowers and candles.  There was the exquisitely played music resonating through the rafters. 

            Then it hit me.  This was no longer a bunch of crammed full manila file folders and scribbled Post It notes in my office.  This was real!

            The photographer caught me with a bare-toothed grimace of terror on my face that

now makes me crack up whenever I see it. 

            Something unexpected happened next.  In a pew toward the back of the church, not

far from where I stood with my brother, I spotted a dear buddy from high school days and his wife.  Just then, he happened to turn and catch my eye.  Spontaneously, I did a silly wave at him, fluttering my fingers beneath my chin, something we used to do in school. 

My friend cracked up.  I cracked up.  And I realized: this is fun.

I breathed a great sigh of relief and went down the aisle, smiling.

So, am I excited about my book coming out?  You betcha!  And if you happen to see me with that bare-toothed grimace, feel free to make a funny face to remind me that this is the good stuff.