Patti Diener

I recently sat down with romance author Patti Diener to discuss her debut novel After the Fire and to learn about her next project.

JM: When you wrote After the Fire, it was in response to the Valley Fire that swept through Lake County in 2015, right?

PD: Yes, it was devastating to my community and I admit I was a bit traumatized. My husband was a battalion chief in the district at the time and I’d never been more concerned. We have been together a very long time and the entire time he’s been in fire service so I was used to him being out but this was very different!

 
JM: What response were you hoping to receive from the community upon release of this book? What was the actual response?

PD: I was hoping to pay tribute to the emergency response people for their services & to all the people that lost homes, pets, and basically their whole lives right up until the fire. Everything changed from that day forward for many people. There were over 1,000 homes lost. 


JM: Was your intention known to the community? How did they receive it?

PD: Yes, I started blogging about my writing project in March of 2016, and put it all out there for folks to follow along. I had links on FB, Twitter & LinkedIn. I let people read my interviews (some), and shared the local pain & healing of Lake County for four years on my blog pattidienerwrites.com. It was well received. People started commenting on my social media accounts and left some comments on my blog. All very supportive. The local businesses that have started carrying my paperback books have been thrilled to be a part of this project. We are all a very supportive group here in our small county. We are all still healing together. 


JM: Are Gabriel and Sarah based off of people you know or people you spoke to as you were writing and gathering info for the book?

PD: Actually no. They are completely fictional, all my imagination. The other characters though all have stemmed from someone I knew or know. I used fictitious names or tweaked some people a bit for the sake of the book, but most everyone else was based on someone that I either interviewed or I’d known in my life. 


JM: For readers who want to check in with Gabriel and Sarah, is this the last we’ll see of them or is there a sequel planned?

PD: I’m not currently planning a sequel because writing about fires pretty much wore me out! However I know better than to say “never,” about anything. I’m really in love with Gabriel & Sarah, and they became part of me. But I’m really having fun with my new project and it will be a three book series so unless I get a ton of requests, Gabriel & Sarah might just stay in the reader’s imagination as to what happened with them. 


JM: What impact did the fire have on you and your family?

PD: Well it was the beginning of about 4 years of terrible fires. The Valley Fire was by far the worst in MY community but it set off a chain of PTSD for me and many others. We have learned a lot though during those days. We rely on each other before we rely on outside sources for help. Last summer I had a better mindset. I vowed to LET IT GO. Basically, LET GO & LET GOD. Because I was tired of being sick inside all the time. Miraculously, it was the quietest fire season as far as BAD fires, in a long time so maybe that’s the key. Just keep moving forward with your life and try to trust it will all be ok. 


JM: How did writing this book help you work through your own emotions after the fire?

PD: I never worried much about fires before because my dad was a volunteer firefighter & my husband was a veteran firefighter with more than 30 something years in at the time. But when I was compelled to write ATF, I wanted to clear my head of it. Get a “handle on things” so to speak. But I couldn’t just leave it at that. I knew if we ALL got some healing together, we might ALL be able to walk out of this mess with some kind of peace. You don’t ever GET OVER IT. You get through it. That’s what I’ve learned the most. It’s like any other trauma. People can’t tell you to GET OVER IT.
These things change you. Stay with you. But if you find some way to find peace, and find the people you trust to lean on, you GET THROUGH IT. I was extremely fortunate that my home didn’t burn down in either the Valley Fire, or The Clayton Fire, (although the Clayton Fire blew windows in both my house & guest house so very close). It was just the gut wrenching feeling again & again of living on edge and in survival mode for so long. I don’t want to go back to feeling like that ever again.... the worry. I am so grateful for my husband. He’s an incredibly amazing man! 


JM: I know when you started writing this, you were working on another book. Did the story you were writing transition into this one or was it something completely different? If it was different, are there plans to write that other book?

PD: I was writing a family saga that had nothing to do with AFTER THE FIRE. Very different. No that book I was writing has taken residency in a filing cabinet and thumb drive to someday... maybe long from now, be completed and see daylight again. 


JM: What is your current project/what can we expect from you next?

PD: I’m writing a contemporary romance about two couples from different generations that live in a town called MAPLE CREEK. The book is right now called THE CLOCK TOWER OF MAPLE CREEK. It is first written about a couple 57 years ago that had a falling out. Present day, the granddaughter of the once young girl, is now mayor of the same town. I’m working on a summary but haven’t nailed it. The idea is the town’s clock tower hasn’t been working in nearly 75 years and they are trying to get it fixed.

You can read the opening scene on my blog. I’m going to eventually post the whole first chapter of my book there... of course I’m sure once my editor gets ahold of it some things will change though! 


JM: I love a female as the mayor!

PD: I love a female mayor too. 


JM: Writing is not an easy career. It takes time, lots of editing and redrafting. You offer a lot of advice in your blogs and on your YouTube channel. What is something you learned after you published After the Fire that you didn’t know before publishing you wish you had known?

PD: I wish someone would have told me how vulnerable it is! How you have to get comfortable with being uncomfotable. I still get the jitters reading my work, posting it, talking about it, and wonder how will I handle the criticism. 


Patti was an absolute delight to talk to and I could have spent the entire day with her! I found out some fun facts about her before we said good-bye!

 

JM: Do you have pets?

PD: Yes! Two dogs. An obnoxiously adorable Walker Hound, and a little mutt dog that's a Chihuahua, Pomeranian, Dachshund. They are THE BABIES!

JM: What's your favorite food? 

PD: That’s really tough! I LOVE FOOD! I eat at all types of restaurants & 

cook many different kinds. I think if I had to really narrow it down I’d say fresh Italian.... if that’s a thing...or Mediterranean...I love wine!! I love coffee!

JM: What is something you're not good at but want to be? 

PD: I’d love to play my piano. I have one and don’t play... I mean I TRY but I need lessons. Music is a big deal with me. I always have something playing.

JM: Do you have a favorite kind of music? 

PD: That’s like the food question. I listen to literally everything. My playlist you’d wonder how old I am or what sex because nothing I listen to would give me away. When I’m writing it’s usually French music, soft rock, or 70’s. I LOVE Patty Griffin. 


Patti lives with her family and works as a librarian in Lake County, California. She's a writer of fiction, memoirs, and inspirational short stories. 

For writing tips and to read her blogs, visit www.pattidienerwrites.com or check her out on YouTube.

After the Fire is available for purchase on Amazon in both paperback and eBook. 

                   Two grieving people, a tragic fire, and one small community that won’t be defeated.

                   After losing his fiancé in a car accident, embittered contractor, Gabriel Hart, is sent to Lake 

                   County to aid in the clean-up effort after the Valley Fire burned more than one thousand homes. 

                   Local girl Sarah McKinney, struggled with a failing marriage when she was suddenly widowed 

                   with the loss of her young husband. Neither was looking for love but for Gabe and Sarah, it’s 

                   attraction at first sight. Only the opportunity to meet passes them by. Second chances are fortuitous 

                   when Gabriel is working to clean the home site of a fire victim and sees Sarah again. With each 

                   having experienced unimaginable loss, the two form a bond that soon ignites into passion. But will 

                   haunting pasts, long distances, and a secret Sarah keeps stand between their true love? In this story 

                   of catastrophic loss, community support, and renewed hope, two souls try to mend their broken 

                   hearts while assisting those who lost virtually everything in the fire.

  

**Book cover and formatting by Damonza.

***Author photo credit: Patti Diener