Interview with Author Diana Jay - Part 1

Diana Jay is the author of the books The Drums of Siyapila and A New Beginning at Mokweni. Both these books are free to read on this blog and I thought that it would be a good idea to find out a little more about her. Below are some of the questions she answered for the blog.

Q: Where do you currently live and have you lived there all your life?

I currently live in Austria, Europe, but I was born in South Africa, and worked and lived in Namibia and China.

Q: When in your life did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

When I was ten years old, I was fortunate to have a wonderful primary school teacher who travelled the world and who told us all about her experiences. She also encouraged us to read, and that opened up new horizons for me. I wanted to see the world and then tell people about it.

Q: At what age did you start writing novels?

I wrote my first story (for children) when I was eleven.

Q: Any chance that the readers will be able to read that first story?

I only showed it to my best friend to read after she insisted. At school, I always had to read my essays aloud and she wanted to read what I wrote in the exercise book. At that age, the fear of rejection was too much to have anyone else read it. The handwritten story disappeared after a couple of years.

Q: Where do you get the inspiration for your characters in the novels?

It is actually the places that I have visited which inspire me to write a story. The characters then fall into place.

Q: Can we expect more novels from your pen in the near future?

Yes. I am currently re-writing my first novel set in Kenya. It is, after The Drums of Siyapila, my favorite. I am also busy with a new story that will take my readers to the South China Sea.

Q: Who is your favorite author(s) and why?

I enjoy any romance novel, but my favorite author is Nora Roberts.

She is a versatile writer that pushed the boundaries of genre writing by impressing her own style on all her books.

*****