Welcome to Proud Book Nerd for today’s stop on the blog tour for Diane Chamberlain’s The Good Father. I have a guest post followed by a snippet that is part of the first chapter scavenger hunt. (If you’re just joining us on this tour, you can find the previous parts of this chapter by starting on the tour page HERE.)

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How do you continue to find inspiration after writing so many novels?

If anything, writing so many novels has made it easier for me to find inspiration rather than harder, because I’ve learned to see it in the everyday. Inspiration is everywhere, but as with most things in life, it can take practice to recognize it. When it’s time for me to think about writing another book, I become a sponge. Everything I see and hear is fodder for a new story. I listen in on conversations in restaurants (sorry!). I go to museums and study the paintings of people, looking into their eyes to imagine what they’re thinking. I watch movies to help me hone my story-telling skills. And I pay attention to my dreams, which often offer fascinating dilemmas I can use to test my characters, even if those dreams are so scary I have to turn on the light and play computer Scrabble until I can clear my head!

One thing I tell new writers is that they need to live in order to write. It know how much it helps me to get outside of my writing cave and move among people. I pay attention to what they say and do. Sometimes I go to the airport and simply watch the reunions. Some are joyous occasions. Some are borne of tragedy. I imagine the stories of those people–and of people wherever I go. Not only does it feed my story-telling imagination, but it makes me feel more empathy for people in general, and that can’t hurt either in the creation of fully dimensional characters or in living my day to day life.

The Good Father was inspired by observing a young man and his little daughter in a coffee shop. If I hadn’t been there at the moment they walked inside, I would have missed this story I had the joy of writing. Tomorrow I might spot an old man in a restaurant or a teenager at a bus stop, just waiting to inspire me. All I have to do is pay attention.

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Thank you so much for sharing, Diane! I can’t wait to read The Good Father! There is a LIVE CHAT with Diane Chamberlain scheduled for May 31. And you, my readers, are invited. For more information – and to RSVP – check out this post HERE.

About The Good Father

Four years ago, nineteen-year-old Travis Brown had to make a life changing decision. While his friends were out partying and meeting girls, Travis was at home raising his newborn daughter on his own – changing diapers and working to keep food on the table.  But he’s never regretted his decision. Bella is the light of his life – the reason behind every move he makes – and so far, she is fed.  Cared for.  Safe.

But when Travis loses his construction job and his home, the security he’s worked so hard to create for Bella begins to crumble…

And now for the Scavenger Hunt! First, again, if you’re new to this, or a PBN regular who hasn’t seen the first snippets, I suggest you visit the tour page linked above to get the beginning of this. Enjoy!

My hands were like a guy with DTs and I mostly let Bella brush her own teeth. It was all I could do to brush mine. I didn’t bother to shave.

Erin had moved the book to the arm of the chair by the time we got back.

“I think you’re going to love this one, Bella,” she said. She held her arms out to my four-year-old daughter, who climbed into her lap like she’d known Erin all her life.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s excerpt, which will be at The Book Buff.
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