Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

3/14/23, Happy Saint Pat’s

Posted on March 14, 2023

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I hope all is well with you and rolling along and that life is treating you well. I haven’t done anything too exciting in the past week. I’ve been finishing the research for a book, which actually was exciting. It’s a modern-day contemporary book, with some complicated technical details in it, which was interesting to research. And now I’m working on a new outline. Sometimes I go straight from one book to the next, and sometimes I take a few days’ break, or even one day off to clear my head. And sometimes I can’t wait to leap into the next book, if the outline is really all set in my head. There is always a little resistance to starting a new book, and I look for projects around the house to stall me. It’s hard taking that first leap into starting a new. A favorite past time seems to be rearranging my nail polishes by color, or my clothes. Last weekend I sorted through my glasses and then put them all away by color. And eventually I run out of excuses, and sit down to work, roll that first page into the typewriter, and the book takes off, with a life of its own. It’s exciting starting a book, it’s like a leap into a pool, freezing cold at first, and then you get used to it, and you feel the rhythm of the book, and the story.

 

And on Friday, there will be Saint Patrick’s day, it’s a national holiday I can lay no ancestral claim too. I don’t think there is a single Irish person in my family. The Irish have a strong sense of family, and they are amazingly civil and friendly in their pubs, no matter how much they drink. You don’t see physical fights in pubs in Ireland, the way you would in bars in the US. And they are naturally friendly, gregarious and welcoming.

 

So, enjoy St. Patrick’s day on Friday, drive safely or take an Uber if you party. And have a great week!!!

 

love, Danielle

2/7/23, Working Hard

Posted on February 7, 2023

Hi Everyone,

I hope that all is going well for you, with peaceful times, not turbulent ones. And time to do things you enjoy. True confessions: that is one of my weak spots. I am a work horse, extremely disciplined, and always do the “homework” first, all the things I should be doing, and then there is never time left over for “fun”. My work ethic always takes over. I meet all my deadlines, and finish my to do list, but I’m not good at just relaxing, doing nothing, and having fun. I have to really make a point of taking time off, and don’t do it often enough!!!

In line with that, I’ve been working on 4 different books, editing, outlining, writing first and last drafts, with a fifth one in my head that I will outline soon. It’s a major juggling act, and I have done nothing but write for the last month or so, with another month of it up ahead. And then I plan to take a couple of weeks off, before I start another book. The only time I am good about taking time off is to spend time with my children. And I am still playing catch up after the two months I took off at the end of the year to visit them. But it was well worth it!!

I find it easier to work hard in the cold winter months, with bad weather, I’m happy to stay home and write. Once the weather warms up again, it will be more tempting to get out and play!!!

I hope that things are going well for you. And that you’re taking time out to have some fun!!! And I will try to take my own advice on that!!! Have a great week!!!

love, Danielle

1/24/23, Writing…

Posted on January 24, 2023

Hi Everyone,

I’m busy writing, see you next week!!

love,
Danielle

10/17/22, Writing…

Posted on October 17, 2022

Busy writing stories! Back to you soon!

9/6/22, Sailing into Fall

Posted on September 6, 2022

Hi Everyone,

I hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend, to celebrate the end of summer, and now we all get back to ‘real life’ in the fall. The summer vacation is over, kids are back in school, and the pace will pick up quickly as we slide into September. I love the fall, the energy, and the excitement of getting back to work!!!

In the fashion world, everyone involved in fashion is preparing the shows for Fashion Week, which I always say is really fashion month, since it begins in New York, then moves on to London, Milan, and Paris at the end of the month, with a week in each city dedicated to the designers of each country, with fabulous shows on the runway. Preparations are happening now with fittings on the models, and the final touches on the collections. Two of my daughters, Vanessa and Victoria are hard at work on their shows, working incredibly long hours, to show fashion editors and buyers the collections for next season. It’s an exciting time in fashion, and happens twice a year, in fall and Spring. And the Haute Couture shows are in June and July. It’s always exciting to see the new collections, and what each designer is showing for next season. It’s a dazzling way to start the fall, with runway shows by all the big designers, and new ones, and parties to celebrate the event!!

And I’m working on a new book, which will keep me busy, and get the fall off to a good start.

My new book “The Challenge” has been out for two weeks, and was #2 on the New York Times bestseller list this past Sunday. I love that book, and hope you’ll love it too, about the rescue of 7 young teens lost on the most dangerous mountain in the US, and the daring rescue to find them and bring them home, and the impact on their families and the town of Fishtail, Montana, as even the National Guard is brought in to try to save the missing kids. I hope you’ll find time to read it. And my next book will be out in October, “The High Notes”, about a young girl with an incredible voice, who began her singing career at twelve, in bars, in the dusty small towns in Texas, and her arduous climb to success. It’s a behind the scenes look at the hardships of the music business, and what it takes to reach fame and stardom. And I hope you love that book too.

Have a great week as we sail into the fall. I hope it’s a great week for you and gets the season off to a great start!!!

lots of love, Danielle

8/29/22, Ready for Fall!!!

Posted on August 29, 2022

Hi Everyone,

I hope you’re enjoying this very last week of summer before Labor Day and summer will be officially over!! I’m flying and travelling, and things have definitely calmed down compared to a month ago, when airports were jammed and it was utterly crazy trying to get anywhere. I think the kids going back to school has brought people home and calmed things down.

I have a mountain of work on my desk for the fall, and am ready to roll up my sleeves, get to work and hit the typewriter. It will be nice to settle down. I’ve been running into heat waves everywhere I travel, and am ready for cool fall weather somewhere!!! And now I’m ready to tackle all the projects I didn’t do this summer and have been saving for the fall, and now here we are.

It’s not a subject anyone wants to hear anymore, but Covid is still out there, among us, it was rampant among my employees this summer, some light cases and some bad ones, all among people who had been vaccinated and bolstered, so we can’t ignore it yet, and I still wear a mask when in crowds, and travelling, and I eat outdoors. Everyone has to find their own comfort level, and the right balance for them personally. I hope the day comes soon when it’s no longer an issue and a dim memory for all of us.

I hope the summer gave you a much needed rest, some fun, that you got beach time or mountain time, or just some peaceful time, so that you’re ready to face the fall with new energy, and excitement about some new projects. I hope it’s a fantastic fall for you, so bye bye Summer until next year…..and I hope the coming months will be great for you and for all of us!!!

love, Danielle

8/1/22, It never gets old!!

Posted on August 1, 2022

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I hope that all is well with you as the second half of the summer gets started on August 1st. I hope you have some fun plans for the month ahead, days off, or a vacation, and a break from work.  Back from my week of vacation with three of my kids, I’ve been working on three books, as I often do, at different stages. And I finished one of them on Sunday, which was so exciting. It always is!!!

 

Writing is arduous and solitary. Not lonely because the characters in the books keep you company, but you have to be alone to do it. I can’t work with any kind of noise, distractions, or interruptions. If something interrupts me, it stops the flow of the story, and it can take me a day or two even to get back “in the groove”. And when I finally finish the book, it’s an AMAZING feeling—like flying. Writing is like climbing a mountain, it is hard work. And sometimes you feel like you’re crawling up the mountain and you’ll never make it. Along the way, there are some beautiful views, of sunsets and sunrises, or peaceful moments in the middle of the night, when the story is just the way you want it to be, and you’re on top of the world. And four hours later, you have four flat tires and you’re at the bottom of a ravine, and you can’t see your way up the cliff again, and you think you’ll never make it. It’s a rocky path along the way.

 

So when you do make it, and you finish that last sentence on the last page, you feel as though you just made it to the summit of Everest. YOU MADE IT!!! It’s the most incredible feeling and it never gets old. I love it, and I hope you love the book I just finished!!! Now on to the next one….there is always another mountain to climb. I love the challenge!!! Have a great week full of victories and fun moments and things you love to do!!

 

Enjoy these last days of summer!!

 

lots of love, Danielle

7/26/22, Hard at Work!

Posted on July 26, 2022

 

Hard at Work on a new book for you!! Have a great week and hopefully some time off to relax and have some fun!!!

Love, Danielle

 

6/28/22, Catching up!!

Posted on June 28, 2022

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I hope you are all doing well, and I owe you an apology, for not writing the blog for several weeks. I’ve been on the road again, threw a wedding for my daughter, whose wedding was cancelled three times during the pandemic, which was heart breaking at the time, and we finally managed to do it now, and it was a beautiful wedding, in a see thru tent with the ceiling covered with tiny lights that looked like stars, and beautiful flowers everywhere. They were married under an arch of exquisite white flowers, and she was a gorgeous bride. And it was wonderful to see all my children in one place, which is difficult to achieve these days.

 

And I did some house work and got our house in order for the wedding. And then spent a week in New York, for meetings and took some time off. And after that I had two books to edit, and I’ve just come up for air now—-so I haven’t been idle while not writing the blog. And this weekend I played hookie when I finished editing, and had The BEST time watching the new Downton Abbey movie, “The New Era”, all the familiar faces were there (except Lady Mary’s husband, Henry Talbot, played by Matthew Goode). It was like meeting up with old friends. I loved this movie even better than the first one after the series ended. Downton was the first series I fell in love with, and I was crushed when it ended after six years. It is so beautifully written, researched and acted, and perfectly balanced among the actors and many subplots. It’s a wonderful show, and I highly recommend the movie. I liked it so much, I watched it again the next day. SOOOO Much Fun.

 

And now it’s back to work for a while. Have a wonderful week!!! I hope you have some vacation time planned. I just finished a new book, and might even take some time off myself before starting the next one. And my new book comes out today “Suspects”, it’s a spy book and a thriller, full of intrigue, and I hope you love it!!!

 

love, Danielle

 

5/31/22, Mort Janklow

Posted on May 31, 2022

 

Hi Everyone,

 

There have been some hard events in these last days. The tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, and on a more personal level, my beloved friend and extraordinary literary agent, Morton Janklow, who really built my career, for forty years, passed away peacefully in his sleep last week. Yesterday would have been his 92nd birthday. After publishing my first book at nineteen, I met Mort a few years later, and he became my agent, my champion, my mentor and close friend, and a father figure to me. He helped me build a remarkable career. He was brilliant, kind, warm, funny, erudite, eloquent dignified and a gentleman, with a deep love of family and the publishing world he shared with me. He worked until the very end, and I will be forever grateful for the years we shared, and all that he did for me. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him, and so very much by me. I thought you might be interested in the NY Times obituary about him. I will miss him forever, personally and professionally.

 

with much love, Danielle

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/books/morton-l-janklow-dead.html?referringSource=articleShare

 

 

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