Today we’d like to introduce you to Darlene Dziomba.
Hi Darlene, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have attended the Mystery fan conference Bouchercon many times. At the one, held in Toronto, I was inspired to write a mystery of my own. I listened to a panel of writers who each had a protagonist in a dog-related profession; dog groomer, dog walker, pet sitter. It occurred to me that I had never read a mystery where the protagonist worked in an animal shelter. I was volunteering at the Animal Welfare Association, walking dogs and cleaning. I wondered if I could write a book with a protagonist who works in an animal shelter. My journey to published author began.
I participated in a Writing Workshop, I joined Sisters in Crime and took a dozen courses, listened to numerous webinars, and lurked on listservs following writers’ thoughts about the craft and the business of writing. I meekly asked friend after friend to read my drafts and give me feedback.
It took years to go from an idea to a finely crafted book. Then I spent years trying to obtain a literary agent. From a hundred query letters, I had two requests for additional pages. Both agents told me that they liked my voice and my story, but did not think they could sell my book to a publishing company. At that point, I had a talk with myself about my goals. What I wanted more than anything was for my parents to hold a book in their hands that had my name on it. Mom and Dad were in their mid-eighties. I did not have twenty years to find the agent willing to sell my story, so I decided to self-publish and have not looked back.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I tell people to think about climbing the highest high dive they can find and jump off, not knowing how to swim. That is what self-publishing is like. Thousands of mystery novels are published every year. One has to design an intense marketing strategy. Marketing has been a huge struggle. I have tried many things, but none have really hit the mark. However, I am tenacious. I am going to keep trying until I do find the correct combination. I am incredibly grateful to the network of authors that I have built, who have given me their support..
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I worked for thirty-five years at the University of Pennsylvania in the field of Finance. I handled daily fiscal operations and five-year financial planning.
That career was in a field where no one logically expected a published author to emerge. I reached a point in that career where I had become stagnant. The work was not changing, and I was competing for new jobs with younger, vibrant, lower-paid individuals.
I drew on my ability to analyze data and logically draw conclusions in developing my books. Writers fall into two categories, plotters or pantsers. I am a plotter. My initial mechanism was paper. I started simply. What is the basic plot? Who is my protagonist? Who is my villain? My simple plotting burgeoned until the wall in my guest room was a wallpaper of loose-leaf sheets. I had a column for each day in the story. I connected theories with arrows. I noted things I needed to add on Post-its. This was not sustainable.
I took a course called “Plot Thickeners” with Simon Wood. This brilliant man plots his books in, drum roll please, spreadsheets. I don’t want to brag, but I was the star pupil. For me, a spreadsheet was about numbers, formulas, and macros. In my financial job, it was. In my writing, spreadsheets serve an entirely different purpose. There are formulas. For example, the percentage of scenes of each subplot to the main plot and the percentage of scenes in which the protagonist appears. The bulk of the matter, though, is verbal content. It is organized in neatly constructed blocks that can be edited and sized depending on the content. Now, I rely on my spreadsheets in writing as much as I depended on them for financial planning.
How do you define success?
One day, I hope to break even in sales vs. expenses. I am not there yet. However, I serve on two boards for writing organizations, I have built an incredible network and the people who read my books love them. Success for me is being at an event and having someone tell me that they enjoyed my books. It means that I have found an audience. I have made a fan.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ReadDarlene.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/ReadDarlene.7
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/read.darlene.7
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/darlenedziomba
- Other: @readdarlene.bsky.social
