What readers are saying

From The Oregonian,
Portland's daily newspaper

[H]eated glitz seeps from the pages of Seeing Stars, which doesn't so much follow as it spies on, or traipses after, four tweens and their parents engaged in various stages of catapulting down a potholed yellow brick road toward an ephemeral Oz. In a rare act of literary tightrope-walking, Hammond builds her characters into believable, empathic common folk while simultaneously painting the town and its denizens schmaltzy. By overlaying morals -- love of children, support of family -- with the lure of possibility (wealth! fame!), she makes the vacuous nature of covetous ambition palpable and reprehensible, yet somehow equally understandable.

With razor-sharp insight, Hammond grabs us by the wrist and dives into the child-actor world, whirling us fluidly into the lives, and perspectives, of every character -- the children (drifters, naifs, 13s-going-on-30), the parents (those in tow, those left behind), the brokers (agents, managers, casting directors). Love it or hate it, this is an untarnished look at the spoils of fame, the residue of unbridled longing and the lengths too many go to for those 15 minutes of marquee-made joy.

From the
New York Journal of Books
by Joseph Arellano

Diane Hammond arrives with another lovingly told family novel, Seeing Stars.  Stars is the tale of several families of acting children and their stage mothers who are seeking the fame and fortune that only Hollywood can provide.   Is the pot of gold they’re seeking real or just an illusion?  In part, it’s both.

Hammond puts all this together with charm and style.   This is an easy – and thus surprisingly fast – read because she so well cushions tension with humor.   In a sense, Hammond’s writing is like Anne Lamott or Anna Quindlen with blinders on.   That’s OK, sometimes we need a bit of a break from the harsh light of reality.

It all ends stunningly and smoothly – and must be experienced by the reader rather than explained here or elsewhere.   At the end of Seeing Stars, all of our protagonists both win and lose.   They all – each and every one of them – learn to take what they need out of life and to leave the rest.

Upcoming Events
(See my website for details)

June 23
Inklings Books,
Yakima, WA

June 24
Riverwalk Books
Chelan, WA

June 25
Leavenworth Library
Leavenworth, WA

June 26
A Book for All Seasons
Leavenworth, WA

July 2
Canyon Way Books
Newport, OR

July 3
Cannon Beach Books
Cannon Beach, OR

July 9
Paulina Springs Books
Sisters, OR

Seeing stars!

I'm seeing stars myself after book tour events in Bellingham, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Santa Rosa and Oakland. As always, I met some fabulous readers and booksellers, and loved appearing in northern California as a writer for the first time. I was especially honored to meet again some readers who'd attended my Hannah's Dream presentations a year and a half ago in both Portland and Seattle.

And it's not over yet. I'll be making a sweep through central Washington in late June and a trip to the Oregon Coast during the Fourth of July weekend, so check my website for details about where and when, and join me if you're in the neighborhood!

In other Seeing Stars news:

1. Seeing Stars was featured as an Indie Next pick for April by IndieBound, an organization that supports thousands of independent bookstores nationwide.
    
   
2. Seeing Stars was chosen as a recommended book club pick by Ingram, the nation's largest book distributor.
   
   
3. Seeing Stars has been nominated for a 2010 Pacific Northwest Booksellers' Association book award.
   
   
4. KATU-TV in Portland has chosen Seeing Stars as its May-June book club pick.

 
Seeing Stars joins Hannah's Dream
at book clubs

How cool is this: I'm starting to make book club appearances for both Stars and Hannah! I'm having a ball talking about both books in person, by phone, or via SKYPE. In fact, I'm hoping to have a summer and fall that's full of book group discussions, so if you or anyone you know is searching for a book club choice, please keep these books in mind! Seeing Stars is an especially good choice for clubs interested in issues including parenting, marriage, raising and providing opportunities for talented children, and the true nature of Hollywood and its effect on young actors.
 

And speaking of book clubs . . . .

I'm thrilled to be a charter member of Book Club Cafe, a new, free, online service that connects great readers with great writers. If you've participated in a book club discussion with your book's author, you know what fun it can be. Writers love to talk about their work, and they can give you insights you won't get any other way. Thanks to SKYPE and speaker-phones, your visiting author can be anyplace; most will come to your meeting in person if your club's within an hour's driving distance and the date is available. Check out the Book Club Cafe website and, if you want to be notified when new authors join the Cafe or there's other big news, email and ask to be placed on the mailing list.
 

Seeing Stars Q&A (you asked)

Q:  Does Hollywood really put kids under the kind of pressure Bethany, Allison, Quinn and Laurel experienced?

A:  What my characters experienced was, if anything, milder than the norm. Imagine this frenetic lifestyle, with all its rejection and hope, lasting for years. Some young actors and their families handle the pressure better than others. In our experience, the families that moved to LA lock-stock-and-barrel seemed to cope best. The families that sent one parent and young actor to Hollywood while the other parent and siblings remained at home seemed to feel the pressure and distance more keenly.

Q:  What's the difference between a talent manager and a talent agent?

A:  Talent managers (like Stars' Mimi Roberts) are professional advocates for their clients, fighting for auditions and callbacks, scheduling work, and recommending classes, showcases and other professional development opportunities. Talent agents (like Stars' bit-player Holly Jensen) negotiate contracts when their clients book jobs. Some also pitch their clients for auditions and other professional opportunities.

Q: Why couldn't Stars' Bethany, Allison, Quinn and Laurel go to "real school" and pursue acting at the same time?

A:  Most schools won't excuse the absences that are required when a child actor is even moderately successful. Commercials may shoot in one day, but theatrical roles (movies, TV) usually require multi-day commitments that, cumulatively, are guaranteed to get the student actor cross-wired with a traditional school's policies.

Send me your questions about the Hollywood experience in Seeing Stars and I'll include as many answers as I can in upcoming newsletters!