Welcome

Diana Cosby,

International Bestselling Author,

HIS DESTINY,

4th book in the MacGruder Brother's Series

After retiring at 36 from my job as a Navy Chief Meteorologist/Oceanographer, I dove into my passion – writing romance novels. With 33 moves behind me, I was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people I’ve met throughout the world. Nine and a half years later, I received “The Call” from Kensington and sold the first two books in the MacGruder brother’s series. I have many passions, but one that resonates most in my life is that of giving. I firmly believe that each of us can make a positive difference in another person’s life. With each book I sell, I tithe 10% of my royalties to a charity of my choice. I’m currently working on the next book in the award-winning MacGruder brother’s series, and look forward to the years of writing ahead and meeting the amazing people who will share this journey.

NOTE FROM MARGIE:

Diana Cosby attended my first master class for writers in Virginia (2004). They brought me in to present two full days of Empowering Characters' Emotions. Even though I've presented 70 full day master classes since then, I remember meeting Diana. I remember where she sat. I remember her smile. And I remember being impressed with her questions.

I am THRILLED for Diana's success. Check out these honors:

His Destiny appeared on Amazon's Best-Seller list two days before its release, and it's still there. 21 October, day #20.

-All of the books in the MacGruder brothers series have appeared on Amazon's Best-Seller list, with His Conquest remaining on Amazon's Bestsellers in Historical Romances list for 145 days straight!

-His Woman is listed as one of the "Best Romance Novels of 2010 and Others!"

-Foreign rights sold for several of Diana's books, which are now released in five different languages, making her an International Best-Selling Author.

Interviewed for Woman's Day Magazine:

-Appeared in the April 17th issue of Woman's Day Magazine in a story about, "Achieving Your Dreams Over 40!"

-Quoted in the article, "7 Life Lessons from Romance Novels," on WomansDay.com.

Other magazines:

-Interviewed for FIRST for Women magazine about how I started the annual International Food Bank Food drive. The article will be a one-page and is scheduled to hit newsstands on 11/21/11 and run until 12/12/11.

-Appeared on the July/August 2009 cover of Texoma Living Magazine.

-Diana sold a story for an upcoming Scottish vampire anthology with NYTimes Best-Selling author Hannah Howell! Title/release date TBA.

FOR FUN -- Here's a picture of Diana during her last enlistment in the Navy before retiring . . . on a camel in Africa.

Please visit Diana's web site to read more about this amazing person and talented writer.  www.dianacosby.com

Deep Edit Q & A for Diana Cosby

1. What’s your writing process?

Pantser?Plotter?

Both:

~I’m a major plotter and love to write a synopsis first to ensure I have solid motive throughout my story. During the writing of the rough draft, I often find my characters taking me in directions I hadn’t considered. As long as the motive is solid and ups the story tension, I embrace the change.

Do you strive to complete a first draft in a certain time frame?

~When I’m writing new pages, my goal is 5 pages a day from Monday through Friday, which gives me 400 pages in 4 months.

How long do you allow for deep editing a complete manuscript?

~I go through a manuscript approximately seven times before I submit it to my editor. The time frame is 8-11 months.

2. What are some deep editing tools you learned from me, and how did they make a difference in your writing?

Using the deep editing tools during your class opened my eyes to several things:

-Using the respective colored markers to highlight Emotion – Dialogue – Internalizations – Tension/Conflict – Setting/Description showed a clear breakdown of the use of each on the page.

Upon completion of using the EDITS system on my manuscript, I could see with a glance where issues existed. For example, a reflective area in the story without much yellow = internalizations. I needed to fix that.

-I appreciated the detailed breakdown of each topic in the EDITS System. To discuss emotion in-depth as well as the other scene components for me, translated into more awareness when writing.

-I also found it interesting that I learned I’m a whole brain thinker. Yes, both the questionnaire and the ballerina who turned both ways was proof. Neat.

3. Your opening of HIS DESTINY draws the reader into this woman’s terror, and into Patrik’s soul.

A woman’s terrified scream rent the air.

Sir Patrik Cleary MacGruder whirled. Sweat from his grueling pace this summer morning soaked his skin as he scanned the gnarl of elm, ash, and fir.

“No, do not touch me! Please!” a woman begged.

Men’s crude laughter echoed nearby, rough, ugly, and thick with menace.

A muscle worked in Patrik’s jaw as he touched the writ secured beneath his tunic. He must reach Bishop Wishart without delay.

Her next scream, raw with the terror of the brutality yet to come, pierced him as if a well-aimed sword. Nae, it struck deeper, into the pit of his soul.

The whole piece has strong imagery and cadence and power. The last paragraph, only 30 words, touches the reader’s heart. You hooked the reader on page one. You made your book unputdownable.

Margie Asks Diana:

Did you always start the book with this scene?

~Yes.

Is this version close to your first pass? What changes did you make?

~Yes, the final version is close to my first pass. This is my first draft:

A woman's terrified scream rent the air.

Sir Patrik Cleary MacGruder whirled. Sweat from the hard pace he’d traveled this summer morning soaked his skin as he scanned the gnarl of elm, ash and fir.

“No. Do not touch me! Please!” Fear dredged the woman’s plea.

A man's crude laugher echoed, rough, ugly and thick with menace.

Jaw set, Patrik touched the writ secured beneath his tunic. He must reach Bishop Wishart without delay! Neither could he allow the lass to suffer.

*The final opening is similar to the initial draft, but I tightened the rough draft to remove any telling, to shorten sentences and add white space for pace/impact. I also went deeper into my characters head so the reader is emotionally ‘there’ with the character as they struggle.

Comments:

-Rough draft: “No. Do not touch me! Please!” Fear dredged the woman’s plea.

-Final: “No, do not touch me! Please!” a woman begged.

*Personal preference. I thought, “a woman begged,” evoked more emotion.

-Rough draft: A man's crude laugher echoed, rough, ugly and thick with menace.

-Final: Men’s crude laughter echoed nearby, rough, ugly, and thick with menace.

*I changed A man’s to men’s. More than one man is perceived as a higher threat = raises stakes.

-Rough draft: Jaw set, Patrik touched the writ secured beneath his tunic. He must reach Bishop Wishart without delay! Neither could he allow the lass to suffer.

-Final: A muscle worked in Patrik’s jaw as he touched the writ secured beneath his tunic. He must reach Bishop Wishart without delay.

Her next scream, raw with the terror of the brutality yet to come, pierced him as if a well-aimed sword. Nae, it struck deeper, into the pit of his soul.

*This is a critical story point. Without hesitation, I needed the reader emotionally hooked, to understand the importance as emotional impact to Patrik of the English torturing a Scottish woman. To do this, I need his gut response, for the reader to ‘see’ his thoughts, to ache with him as this supposed rape peeled away his memories to another time when he’d watched his family murdered by the English. I needed Patrik’s response, emotions strong enough where it’d wash away normally asked questions about who the woman was or why she was there.

**An important story note. At the opening scene, I give Patrik a subtle clue that the heroine isn’t Scottish. She uses no vs. nae. I did this with intent, to show the reader that the English brutalizing a Scottish woman is such a dynamic/personal topic for Patrik, a man lauded for his attention to detail, that he misses this critical clue that under most other circumstances he would have caught.

4. I’m impressed with the powerful hooks you have at the end of almost all your chapters. Here are the first seven.

Chapter 1:

She turned toward the handsome Scot, a man as intriguing as he was dangerous. A man who, if he learned the truth—that her real name was Emma Astyn, a woman acclaimed as one of England’s top mercenaries---would kill her.

In the muted light, the flicker of flame exposed her distress. “My hu-husband?”

“What is it” From the fresh pain within her voice, and the stiff set of her frame, he knew.

And prayed he was wrong.

Chapter 3:

A man’s concerned voice beckoned to her from a distance. Panic riding her hard, she struggled against the pull and jerked her eyes open.

In the murky light, Sir Patrik stared down at her.

Chapter 4:

Blood pounding hot, Patrik lifted his head.

A blush heated her face. “I —” She glanced to the side. Frowned. “What is that?”

Patrik looked over.

A pace away, sprawled within the tangle of grass and leaves lay the writ.

Chapter 5:

Bedamned the consequence. However wrong, for this one night, she would hold what destiny would deny her.

On a shaky breath, Cristina reached up to kiss him.

Chapter 6:

His gaze darkened, hardened to that of a predator. He caught her face in his hands. “It is already too late.”

Chapter 7:

He took in the woman before him, a woman who at every turn proved herself not the person whom he believed her to be. But then, she knew not the truth about him either. Whatever her secrets, he doubted they could be as dark as the actions of DubhDuer.

Margie Asks Diana:

Are there times when you cut paragraphs or pages so you end a chapter with a hook?

~Absolutely. It’s critical that your chapter endings leave the reader on emotional edge where they’re so deep within the character, so caught up in the character’s plight they must turn the page to find out what happens next.

What recommendations do you have for writers to add power at the end of their chapters?

~Make the end of the chapter emotional, the stakes high, where the events occurring are story-life changing. Look at the words you’re using at the end of your sentences. Do they give your sentenceimpact, underscore the emotions you’re trying to achieve? How about sentence length? White space? In addition to choosing the right words, you create a visual story with how you use white space within your pages.

5. HIS DESTINY is your fourth book published. What have you learned to do differently since book one?

~I’ve learned to follow my heart, to dare to spill my emotions on every page, to make the story personal. As Nora Roberts says, “You can’t edit a blank piece of paper, but you can edit crap.”

What do you know now, that you wish you knew then?

~That only I can tell my story. Not to edit out my voice, it’s a major part of what makes my story unique. To throw all emotional caution to the wind and dare to emotionally bleed on every single page.

DIANA WROTE:

Margie, over the years I’ve taken so many of your classes on writing, some twice. Each was fabulous, and each taught me many valuable lessons. And I say from the bottom of my heart, the lessons learned are one of the reasons I’m published today. My sincere thanks for having me on your Pubbed Grad Blog. It’s a sincere honor. *Hugs*       ~ Diana Cosby, AGC(AW), USN

DIANA - - THANK YOU!  I'm pleased to have contributed to your writing success!

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