FAQs
Q: When will the next Esther Diamond novel be published?
Abracadaver, the newest Esther Diamond, is available now. I haven’t yet got a release date for the 8th Esther Diamond novel, Goldzilla, which is set on Wall Street.
Q: What is the order of the Esther Diamond novels?
(1) Disappearing Nightly
(2) Doppelgangster
(3) Unsympathetic Magic
(4) Vamparazzi
(5) Polterheist
(6) The Misfortune Cookie
(7) Abracadaver
(8) Goldzilla
Q: In Unsympathetic Magic, why does it say that Esther played Ophelia in Othello? Desdemona is the female lead in Othello, not Ophelia (who is in Hamlet).
Oops. Mixing up two hapless Shakespeare heroines is the sort of mistake that I often make. I usually catch such errors during the many passes that I make on each scene during my writing process. But I never caught this one. The editor and the copy editor usually catch the mistakes I miss. In this instance, they didn’t. Because of that, obviously, they now eat only cold gruel and sleep on a bed of thorns.
Q. How many Esther Diamond novels will there be?
I don’t yet have a fixed or final number of books in mind for Esther Diamond. The series is currently contracted through book 10, and I hope to write many more after that.
Q: Are you going to write any more books in the world of the Silerian Trilogy?
I hope so, but it depends on various other factors, such as finding time in my writing schedule and also resolving business problems that have stalled some of those books for years.
Q: Are you going to write any more Laura Leone romances?
I’d like to, but I have no current plans to do so. For the foreseeable future, I have too many other writing commitments.
Q: Where do you get your ideas?
From everywhere. Ideas are the easy part of writing. Execution is the hard part: sitting down day after day to write a 100,000 word tale, and honing it until it’s compelling enough that total strangers will spend their hard-earned money and hard-won free time to read it… That’s the hard part. Not getting ideas.
Q: Do you get to choose the covers of your books?
One of the many reasons I am so happy with DAW Books, the publisher of the Esther Diamond series, is that they include me in the cover process, so that I have active involvement and input in the packaging of my own work. But this is unusual in the publishing industry, and most publishers exclude most writers from the cover process. However, a major change in this area is that many writers now self-publish their own books, and writers do get to choose the covers when they are the publishers of their own editions.
Q: How long does it take you to write a book?
Somewhere between a few weeks and several years. A very short book with a simple story that involves little-or-no-research takes much, much less time to write than a very long book with a complex story and a subject that involves lots of research.
Q: Do you have specific a daily or weekly schedule, or an exact amount of pages or hours per day that you write?
I’m always trying different work processes, in hopes of becoming more productive. And I’m also always falling off the wagon and being less productive than I intended! As a result, anything I say in response to this question usually isn’t still true a few few months later.
Q: Will you read my manuscript and tell me what you think?
No, I don’t read books as a favor (or for payment). I don’t coach, edit, publish, or teach, so I can’t offer any help with your manuscript, whether it’s fabulous or weak. And since I’ve disliked any number of bestselling, well-reviewed, and/or award-winning books, who cares what I think of your manuscript, anyhow? Finally, I don’t even have time to read all the books already in my to-be-read pile, so I’d never get around to yours, no matter how fervently I promised to take a look at it.
Q: Are you any relation to Mike Resnick?
Yes, he’s my dad. I taught him everything he knows.
Q: How did you start your career?
I read a book many years ago called How To Write A Romance and Get It Published by Kathryn Falk, founder and publisher of Romantic Times Magazine, and I thought that writing a short novel about two likeable people who fall in love was something I might be able to do. I wrote several manuscripts, started submitting them, and eventually got pulled out of the slushpile at Silhouette Books. They offered me a contract, and I began my career by writing about a dozen books for them.
Q: What do you read?
I read a lot of research for my own writing. For pleasure-reading, check out my blog, where I recommend books I’ve recently read and liked, as well as audio books, movies, TV shows, and radio plays (to which I am slightly addicted).
Q: Which book is your favorite of your own work?
Whichever book I finished writing last.
Q: Which book is your least favorite of your own work?
Whichever *@!$*%#*! book I’m working on now.
