Good afternoon folks. I'm proud to feature one of my author friends this week, the talented Diana Rose! Enjoy her interview, get to know her and support her new book!
Author
Diana Rose
 |
| Author Diana Rose |
Q. When did you first realize
that you wanted to be a writer?
Honestly, it was a suggestion....let
me explain. When I was twelve years old, I met a woman who used to be a doctor
in Russia. Her name was Irina Danilchenko. One day, we were talking and she
said, "You have so many ideas in your head. Why don't you try writing them
down so you don't forget them?"
That struck me as brilliant at
the time so at twelve years old with a limited vocabulary in English, yes, I am
a Russian native, I started writing in short paragraphs at first. As I
continued to do that, I realized that I liked writing. But it was when I read
my first Danielle Steel book, “Journey,” that I realized I wanted to write, become
an author and build a career.
Q.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Writing energizes me. I can
write and feel fulfilled. This is what I dreamed to do since I was a teen. But
what exhausts me is promoting. I like it but doing it every day and not having
time to do what I love-writing- is hard and exhausting.
Q.
Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?
I believe all people have
emotions and it doesn't have to be emotions, it can be a belief, a thought, an
idea you want to express and argue. Yes, I believe anyone can write, you just
need to find what feels right to you. Some people can write short stories but
not novels. Others can write novels but not short stories. Another thing I
know...write what you know. If you feel something is wrong, write about it. It
doesn't have to be a strong feeling, just a feeling is fine too.
Q.
If you could tell your younger writing
self anything, what would it be?
Oh, I might have a lot to say,
knowing what I know now. But, most importantly I would say, "Never stop
believing in your writing. Keep writing
because one day all those words will bring you to something great. Dream big and never give up on yourself.
" I would have never have dreamed that my writing could take me as far as
it did when I was starting out with an idea in my head, two names, Princess Amy
and Prince Darien and two places: The Moon Kingdom and Earth Kingdom.
No, sir, I couldn't have dreamed
that those unconnected things would turn into a book and my book would turn
into a series. Back then, I thought I was just writing for myself. But
now....everything I dreamed came true.
Q.
What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
An early experience with
language would have to be when I was reading Danielle Steel's book Sisters, in
the book she wrote about a car accident that left a girl blind but that did not
stop her from doing what she wanted, to travel to Paris. Another experience was
with Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook, though I only watched the movie, it still
shocked me to my core to see the kind of love in a movie.
Q.
How many hours a day do you write?
I usually write as much as I can
unless I'm upset and then I can write longer hours into the night. Usually, I
write two three hours or four hours. But when I am not upset, I try to write at
least a few hours a day and if inspiration hits hard, more than a few
hours.
Q.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
Ah, the dreaded male point of
view!!! I'm a woman, I have no idea what men think. In my first book, Book 1:
Forbidden Love, I had a little hard time getting into Prince Darien's mind at
some moments because men are typically all about action and no emotions
(apologies to the men who read this). Also finding good motives for the male
characters is harder because I had to really think on what kind of motivation
would make a man have to do what he is going to do.
Q.
How do you select the names of your characters?
Names are generally hard for me
since I'm writing fantasy romance. A
good name would have to be something memorable that people can remember after
the book is done. Now, choosing my royal family names, it had to fit with the
tile of King, Queen, Prince and Princess plus it had to sound good. I mean King
Jack, does not sound royal to you, does it? Now, King Gabriel sounds royal.
The royal family names are the
most important. Then, I choose the secondary names, the "subjects"
the regular people. Though these can be anything, they still need to be easy to
remember.
Q.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
So far, I only got one review for
Book 1: Forbidden Love. It got five stars. Good reviews make me happy, it
finally feels like I did something good.
I'm sure I will learn to deal
with bad reviews too. But I know one thing, no amount of bad reviews will ever
make me want to give up. Being an author is what I love and giving up writing
is like not being able to breathe. Of course, this is my first book, I plan to
write and develop my skills so bad reviews would happen less if they do happen
at all.
Q.
What was your hardest scene to write?
I would have to say, the scenes
with Pond Water Prince in Book 1: Forbidden Love...where he is talking to
Princess Amy and also when Prince Darien fights him. I'm not great with writing
bad guys so I hope I don't disappoint my readers with Pond Water Prince's
character.
Q.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
Book 1: Forbidden Love took me
from when I was twelve to twenty three years old or a little more since I was
new to it and I had to rewrite a lot. My original file with all my ideas still
exists. Book 2 took me 3-4 years because of the emotions tied into it. But I
try to write faster now.
Q.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
Yes, yes. I have writer's block
from time to time now. In fact you caught me right in the middle of my writer's
block period. I do hope I get back to writing soon. In fact, this interview is
the most I have written in weeks. Sad but true.
Q.
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
The most difficult part is
always getting through edits but I am grateful to both my editors, Susan Ednie,
Professor of Psychology at Kingsborough Community College and Alyssa Nand who
pushed me to be a better author. These women are my heroes for having to deal
with my writing. Yes, Ms. Ednie saw the
truly bad first draft but she encouraged me to write and do better and she is
now proudly owning her copy of the book that has been her baby to edit since I
met her in 2005.
Q.
Does your family support your career as a writer?
Yes, my family does. My
grandparents who passed away, my grandma always wanted to see my book but she
passed away before it got published. My grandpa wanted me to be successful and
now he can be proud even though he passed away two years ago. My mom thought I
needed a real job but now she is supportive.
I hope you guys enjoyed the interview. Click the links below to order copies of her latest release!
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