An Interview with Diana Pharaoh Francis

The Reading Cafe is happy to welcome Diana Pharaoh Francis as our guest today.

Diana is here today to discuss her newest release, Blood Winter (Our review is posted below this interview), which was released yesterday, as well as to tell us a little bit about herself.

Let’s meet Diana.

Hi Diana.  Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions today.  We are always looking forward to reading about the author behind the book.

TRC: Please tell us about yourself?

Diana: I am the stranger your mother warned you about. Okay, maybe not. I’m easily amused, I have a morbid sense of humor, I enjoy some (a lot of) violence in my writing, and I love to torture my characters.

TRC:When and how did you become interested in writing?  Have you always liked to write?

Diana: I’ve always been a storyteller. When I was a kid, my friends and I would make up these long dramatic stories and act them out (with horses and on a ranch). We’d also have these complex and huge stories involving plastic horses, barbies, and many other things. We’d take over the houses in the winter and spread everywhere, and then we’d do the outside stories when the weather cleared. I didn’t start writing at all until high school when I tried some bad poetry. It wasn’t til college that imagined that I could write anything at all, and then it occurred to me that somebody has to write novels—why not me? And so it began . .

TRC: What was your first book published? Can you please tell us your reaction when you saw your book published?

Diana: Path of Fate was my first book. It was shocking. It was both overwhelming and underwhelming. Overwhelming because this thing that I’d made, that I’d worked on for so long, had finally arrived on the shelves with my name on it. It was underwhelming, oddly, because I was standing there alone in the store and I had no one to share it with. It was a strange mix of euphoria and bewilderment, like I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs and didn’t dare.

TRC: What is your writing process?  Do you have a favorite time, or place to work?

Diana: I prefer to work in the morning these days. I used to work best at night, but then I had kids and so my schedule wasn’t my own any more. So the morning became the best time to work. I get the most done then. Though not too early. I’m not at all a super early riser. But in the end, I work whenever I can.

I prefer to work on my iMac in my office. It’s purple, and it’s got a lot of weapons and maps and books all over the walls. It’s got a bank of windows overlooking the front of the house. I love this space. My “desk” is a the kitchen table I had when I was a kid. It’s made of white oak with a formica top and it’s impervious to all damage. I also have the most comfortable and supportive desk chair on the planet. Expensive, but given my back issues, necessary.

TRC: What is the most difficult process in creating your stories?

Diana: It really depends on the story, and it also changes with each book. Mostly because my process seems to be ever-evolving. Sometimes it’s keeping track of the plotlines and ideas. Sometimes it’s figuring out how everything weaves together. Sometimes it’s keeping track of all the details. Sometimes it’s figuring out that the book isn’t going to work as is and I have to start from scratch. Sometimes it’s not being able motivate myself to push through difficult scenes. Procrastination.

TRC: Can you please tell our readers who are new to your Horngate Witches series, the premise of this series?

Diana: I had been thinking about a couple of different things that came together in this story. The first was I’d been reading some post-apocalyptic novels and there was never any real explanation of how that apocalypse came about. The other thing I was noticing was all the devastating natural events that seemed to be piling up: hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, that mud volcano in Jakarta, the bridge collapse in Minneapolis . . . . What if those things weren’t natural, but purposeful?

I wanted to write the story of the apocalypse, but I also wanted to have witches. I had this idea for superstrong soldiers that were tied to the daytime and the nighttime and entirely bound to witch service. I wondered how they would like that servitude? And what would happen if one was caught between hating the witch she served, and her loyalty to doing the job she’d been created to do. And so Max was born.

TRC: Blood Winter is your 4^th book in the Horngate Witches series, and was released yesterday. Can you please tell us the premise of Blood Winter.

Diana: In this book, the magical apocalypse has happened, and the focus is on how to get through in the initial aftermath. Stir in a cult leader, some demons, and a bad winter, and Max is in trouble. Not to mention her love life has gone to hell.

Links to order Blood Winter: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

TRC: You have written in a few different genres, is there any other genre you are interested in writing or going back to?

Diana: I am working on a more traditional and dark fantasy right now. It’s difficult to write because it’s really stretching me, but I love it and if it turns out the way I imagine it, I think my readers will love it too.

I’m also working on a couple of contemporary fantasies. One of which has a mystery element. I am excited about doing a sort of magical mystery, but I don’t know if I can put together a mystery that will work. Especially given the other circumstances of the novel, which also stretch me. I hope I can pull it off.

TRC: What are you currently working on?

Diana: And see above :)

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Diana: I’d love for everyone to give Horngate a try. The first chapters are available on my website: www.dianapfrancis.com  They tend to be gritty and snarky and there’s an ensemble cast that I think you’ll all fall in love with. I know I have.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food:  It used to be chocolate, but then I had a surgery and I lost my taste for chocolate. I still like it, but I don’t go as nuts for it as I used to. So now I would have to say...pizza. I just adore a good Hawaiian pizza.

Favorite Dessert: cheesecake

Favorite Movie: Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth version)

Favorite TV Show: Whoa boy. I’m going to cheat and ignore all shows that are no longer on the air and say Castle.

Favorite Author: Charles Dickens. No, Jane Austen. No Dickens. No Austen . . . Oh. Dear.

Favorite Character from books you have read: Uriah Heep. He’s from David Copperfield and he is the most creepy obnoxious character and so fun to read.

Milk or Dark Chocolate: Well, you go back to my first question, and I would say dark. But better still, chai.

Thank you, Diana for answering our questions. The Reading Café wishes you the best of luck  with Blood Winter.  We look forward to talking with you again in the future.

If you would like to learn more about Diana, you can visit her at the following sites:
Website: http://www.dianapfrancis.com/
Twitter:
Facebook:
Goodreads:

Diana has graciously offered to give a member of The Reading Café a chance to win a copy of Blood Winter.

1.  You must be a member at The Reading Cafe. If you are not a member, please register using the Log-In at the top of the page, or by using one of our social log-ins.

2.  If you are using a social log-in e.g. Twitter, please leave your email address along with your comment.

 3.  Giveaway open to U.S.& Canada only.

 4.  Contest runs from December 27th – December 30th.