Fontana Regional Library is welcoming Diane Kelly to the Cashiers and Highlands libraries Friday. In Cashiers, Kelly will speak about the latest book in her house flipper mysteries series “Four Alarm Homicide.” In Highlands, her talk will cover the appeal of Appalachia. Kelly will be in Highlands at 11 a.m. and Cashiers at 3 p.m.
Kelly described her path through writing as circuitous, although she was always interested in that realm. Kelly said if she was asked about writing at a younger age, she likely would have shut it down, thinking she had little to say and she was just an average suburban woman.
“It’s all about having a good imagination,” Kelly said.
She studied accounting and later worked in the legal sphere as an attorney, where she connected the cases she studied to their own stories full of characters, scenes, and consequences. A large part of Kelly’s role as an attorney was handling the legal aspect of accountancy, such as IRS troubles. It was this world where Kelly found inspiration for her early entries in the “Death & Taxes” series. Kelly wrote what she knew, including the legal realm, and she found herself inserting humor into the folds of her crime tales.
“I didn’t even realize I would have a humorous voice when I set out to write, but everything I wrote came out a little sassy and then I had some fun,” Kelly said.
Kelly has noticed a shift in the publishing industry to self-publishing.
“I think it’s wonderful that people are no longer kept out of the market,” Kelley said. “There’s also a ton of books on the market, but I think it’s much harder to make a living at writing than it used to be.”
For her writing process, Kelly sets up a five outline to determine the scene, the time and day for chronology, information about the characters in the scene, the setting, and the details of what happens. She typically has the ending in her mind while working on the book, but she said sometimes details pop into her mind as she trudges through the writing. She also said it is crucial for writers to be alone with their thoughts.