Ask the Author: Diana Johnson
Answered Questions (8)
Diana Johnson
A women's fiction novel about two very different girls who grow up together, closer than sisters and then after a misunderstanding go in two totally different directions only to be reunited in the weirdest way. Just DIY will be out in autumn 2020...that is if I get back to work this morning!
Diana Johnson
I would love to get lost on the moors in Wuthering Heights with a young Sir Laurence Olivier as my Heathcliff! Stone walls and misty fields on horseback sounds delightful!
Diana Johnson
I read about the plight of Tanzanian albino children being maimed and killed for their body parts to be used in voodoo and black magic. I had a visceral reaction to both the barbaric actions against them and the open hearts of the survivors themselves for being rescued from a life of fear and pain. I wanted to celebrate their spirit, so I made one of the main characters in my novel Cold Daughters a survivor of the Tanzanian albino hunters. Dr. Nia Bomani is warm, loving, brilliant, and courageous, and I love her!
Diana Johnson
People inspire me.
I've met so many interesting characters in my life and they all fit into bizarre and wonderful concepts in my head. I start with one or two of them and the ideas creep in around them.
I've met so many interesting characters in my life and they all fit into bizarre and wonderful concepts in my head. I start with one or two of them and the ideas creep in around them.
Diana Johnson
Read Julia Cameron's The Artists Way. Do the exercises. Do the work on yourself before you get out there and let your inner critic and every other Tom, Dick, and Harry tell you what you're worth. Art is the defining element in any culture. Without artists, we have no shape or color to our civilization. Writers are important. Writers are necessary! Write from you heart and guts if that is your calling. Write!
Diana Johnson
Creating a new world, new people, is the most amazing thing about writing. I get to play God! This world didn't exist before I wrote it. These people aren't here one moment and then I write them into existence. But that also means that I feel everything that happens to the characters and in that setting. It can be emotionally exhausting. Its a powerful thing...and I LOVE it!
Diana Johnson
I pick an ordinary object and through it into my story at random. An apple does great things. A paper airplane. Something totally aside from my main flow. It breaks things up and can add a beautiful red herring as well.
Diana Johnson
I'm going to give the Savage Detectives another try this summer when I have more time. I tried to get into it recently but I'm afraid I was too distracted. It seems like a long days, in the shade of a tree in Lincoln Park kind of book!
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