I have known the name of Lucienne Diver for quite a while, as an talented and successful literary agent - but recently, at a convention on the East Coast in March, I had the pleasure of actually meeting her in the flesh for the first time, as it were, when we shared a panel at the con. This was when I also discovered that she was also an author in her own right - and I invited her to visit my blog with a guest appearance to tell us more about that.
Without further ado, I give you... Lucienne Diver.
How does your author hat mesh with your agent hat? Does one help the
other or do you find yourself looking at books and clients
differently?The hats don’t so much mesh like the crowns of upper and lower Egypt as
trade out, one for the other. I generally write first thing in the morning
before my inner agent wakes up. Once she does, I’m sunk. I’m thinking
about the pitch letters I have to write, the contracts I need to negotiate
or the checks I need to chase. That’s a different mindset all together,
completely separate from the creative impulse, though good writing is good
writing and as useful in writing pitches for my authors as for myself. Being
both a writer and an agent gives me special sympathy for what a writer goes
through with editorial comment, revisions, rejections, the nail-biting
period waiting for feedback. Therefore, I try to be especially good with my
response times and with providing feedback to my clients that not only
pinpoints what can be improved but offers suggestions on how to go about it.
I think that the best kind of agent and editor are those who help an author
fully realize his or her vision.
How did your book(s) come about? (in other words, where do you get
your ideas? )My books always start with character. One or two people talking in my head.
So far, thankfully, none of the voices have shouted “Kill, kill, kill”
(sorry, channeling Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant there for a minute),
but they absolutely refuse to be silenced until I commit them to paper.
Generally, the voices come from some real-world inspiration. Playing Nice,
the romantic comedy I wrote years ago as Kit Daniels, started with an
overheard conversation between two baristas at my local Starbucks. The
scene it sparked doesn’t even exist in the final version, but it provided
the inspiration.
Gina, my fashionista who goes from chic to eek when she wakes up dead with
no reflection (thus no way to do her hair and make-up) started out as the
big-haired girl from high school who tormented my sister. It was fun to
torment “her” in return, dooming her to eternal life without tanning
options, etc., but to give her a novel, I had to come to respect and love
her as well, and so the character mutated into someone who can really roll
with the punches and come up swinging (and more human than when she had an
actual hearbeat).
How many hours in a day do you REALLY need to do everything you do?You know the novel *The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything*? If ever I’ve
wanted fantasy to become reality….
What sort of thing do YOU read when you read fiction for pleasure - or
do you? What sort of books would you recommend to your own
audience?I’m a voracious reader. Unfortunately, I have less time these days to read
books that I’m not representing, but I’m a big fan of Joshilyn Jackson,
Janet Evanovich, Laurell K. Hamilton and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (including
any pastiches done based on his work). I also love books on forensic
anthropology and psychology.
For books I’d recommend to my own audience: I’m also a huge fan of Rosemary
Clement-Moore’s Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil books and Rachel Caine’s
Morganville Vampires series. I’m also a lover of the classics, *The Witch
of Blackbird Pond *by Elizabeth George Speare, *The Changeover* by Margaret
Mahy, *A Wrinkle in Time* by Madeleine L’Engle…not that I can hope to
compare to any of these writers!
__________
Lucienne Diver is the author of *Vamped *(think Clueless meets Buffy the
Vampire Slayer), a May 2009 trade paperback release from Flux. She’s also a
sixteen year veteran of the publishing business, representing over forty
authors of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, suspense and romance. She’s a
member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR), RWA, MWA and
SFWA. Further information is available on The Knight Agency website
www.knightagency.net. She also maintains a blog of agenting and authorial
musings:
http://varkat.livejournal.com and can also be found via her author
site:
http://www.luciennediver.com.
