TO MY ABSOLUTE SURPRISE AND DELIGHT, THROUGH HER LOVELY ASSISTANT SUSAN, I WAS GIVEN A GO-AHEAD AND WE HAD A GREAT CONTEST ON APRIL 22 2016. HERE ARE THE RESULTS, COPIED DIRECTLY FROM OUR GROUP... THREE UNIQUE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
ADMIN: Almost 2 months ago I held a "WIN A PERSONAL REPLY FROM DIANA CONTEST (* see meme above) and Herself has now replied! We knew and understood that she would do so as her schedule allowed, so we are very grateful and honored that she chose our group to focus her precious time on. THANK YOU DIANA! And thanks to everyone on OS for your awesome questions!
I chose 8 finalists and then asked Diana to chose the 3 winners, as she would know better than I which questions were not asked as often, or at all. SO, CONGRATULATIONS GO TO: EW, Marcy Ann and Twila Allen for asking the winning questions! Here are your prizes... your personal answers:
Q1: EW M: If you lived in Jamie’s time, what do you think your occupation would be?
DG: Novelist, most likely. <g> Women wrote both novels and plays in the 18th century,, some of them quite successfully. And one of the benefits of being a writer is that —unless you choose otherwise— nobody knows who you are, or what you look like.
If I chose to write under a male name, or a sexually ambiguous one, I could. If I wasn’t able to make a decent living by writing, though, I suppose I’d be a printer and bookseller.
Q2: MARCY ANN: Diana, are you preparing to write another book series with an entirely different cast of characters?
DG: “Preparing” would certainly be overstating the case. <g> In the fullness of time (and if I should live so long, God willing), I do intend to write Master Raymond’s story. I only have a few bits of that at present, though, and no more than three or four characters show up in those bits.
Q3: TWILA ALLEN: How did you balance being a wife, mother of small children, and writing these incredible books all at the same time? What’s you work-life balance advice?
DG: You forgot the two full-time jobs (I was a university professor and wrote freelance (almost full-time) for the computer press).
Basically, I didn’t sleep, I didn’t do housework, and I didn’t watch TV. In other words, you decide what’s important to you, and then you figure out a way to do those things. This naturally means not doing other things, or finding ways of doing necessary-but-not-desirable-things more efficiently.
When my kids were very little, I’d put on children’s television on Saturday morning, lie down on the couch and sleep while they walked up and down on me. When they got a little older, I could make deals with them: “Look, I need to work. Don’t bother me for two hours, and after lunch, we’ll go to the zoo.” (Or, you know, you can just hide. For a few years, I’d leave through my front door as though going to my university office, then sneak back into the garage (which my husband had outfitted as an office when he started his own business. I inherited it when his business got going and he moved out to more official premises) and work undisturbed for the morning. The only problem was that while the door between the garage and the house locked, the lock was on their side. If they realized I was in there, they’d be on me in an instant. So at least once during the morning’s work, I’d have to leave through the outer door, get in my car and drive down to the mall so I could go to the bathroom.)
It’s just priorities and persistence, though. If your husband doesn’t like your going off by yourself to write, for instance, you just take him to bed and wear him out. Then when he falls asleep, you get up and work.
________________________________________________
BRILLIANT! HOW GREAT IS SHE? AS SMART AND FUNNY AS ALWAYS...BRAVO DIANA!
I want to thank Diana again for her generosity of time and a special thanks to her assistant Susan who was so approachable and helpful. 59,000 HUGS to you both from all the fans on OS! *and my husband thanks her for the last part of Question 3... *wink*
