About Diana Rose:
Diana Rose is a Russian native who lives in New York. Her stories transport readers to the fantasy filled worlds where she brings royalty and magical beings to life, with colorful romantic scenes and characters that her imagination creates. She fuels her creativity while reading romantic novels. When Diana is not writing, she enjoys spending her time with her family and friends.
What inspires you to write?
My inspiration for writing comes from different places. Inspiration can come to me from a movie I watched, a book I'm reading or just talking to a friend of mine about my book. To be honest, recently I have been listening to a podcast called Word Play with Kristine Raymond where different authors talk about their lives and writing and that seems to encourage and inspire me to write.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Oh wow!! My favorite authors, there are so many!!! My favorite authors are Jessica Lauryn, Jessica Wayne, Alyson Noel, Kristi Cook, Nicholas Sparks. I read a lot, Jessica Lauryn is my "comfort read" when I haven't read anything in a long time, I read her books. My reading list keeps growing with so many author friends. One of my new favorite authors is Thetta James. You have to read her books. I mean, most my authors send me signed books so….of course I read. Monica Murphy just sent me a book box.. I haven't got to that. Also, Roni Denholtz sent me a signed copy of Lights of Love. I have a very big author friend list and a big reading list.
Tell us about your writing process.
My writing process is a bit hard to explain. I don't outline, I hate structure and once when I was asked to create an outline of my book, I couldn't do it. Once I think I have an idea, I go and start writing as much as I can. Then, when I get to a point where I come to the end of my idea (writer's block), I try to focus on something else.
I watch a movie or read a book and sometimes a sentence just pushes me in the direction I want my book to go and I start writing again. As I don't outline, it's often enough that I lose my idea. For example, my recent release, Book 6: Arranged Love was an idea that was born during my edits for Book 1. I took one look at a sentence from a conversation my main character had with her mother and instantly thought, "Why not make this into a book?" So, I started writing the novella right away. Of course, I had to stop and start again but I realized that if I have inspiration, time and a good enough idea, I can write anything.
I write in little bits, a paragraph here and a scene there. I don't have a set amount of words, I write on my phone or my computer which is why I use Google Docs for my writing. My writing progress depends on my moods too because some days I will not be able to sit and write at all. But, I want to say that I try my best to finish my books no matter how long it may take me.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
As a fiction writer, yes! I listen to my characters a lot. This is why I may have writer's block too. But, I try to let my characters tell me what they want. I think for me, I interact with them through my dreams when I am asleep mostly or when I am writing a really intense scene I would think, "Well, how would my character act here?"
What advice would you give other writers?
My advice to other authors is write the words that are in your heart. Don't follow trends (what's popular right now). Write what you know, it may seem cliché but it's true. I have learned a lot over the years as I tried to publish my book.
I learned to find an editor who understands your book the way you do, who doesn't make you delete the book's "soul" because they think it doesn't fit the story. I learned that writing and publishing should be a fun process not a stressful one that you dread. I also want to say that you should be able to choose your own covers after all, covers are "the face" (the first thing people see) when they look online or on a library shelf. I am still learning some things about this but the more I think about writing, the more I feel that you should pick a genre that you feel comfortable with. For me, writing YA Fantasy Romance, was as natural as breathing though I did not know anything about genres at the time, I just wrote.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
Honestly, at first I dreamed of being published by a publishing company. But then, after many stressful months, even years (two years of being contracted with a publishing company), I quickly realized that I couldn't do it anymore.
My best friend, Author Karen D. Neal told me about self-publishing. I was terrified of it. I thought it was thousands of dollars to do self-publishing. But I was wrong. In the end, I switched to self-publishing and to tell you that I am happy is to say nothing because I am FREE to do what I love, however I want. I control everything during that process from writing to editing to the cover design and producing the book. It wasn't easy to make this decision and I still believe that I have a lot to learn but I love being self-published, a stress-free life.
My advice to new authors is if you found a great opportunity with a publishing company that can help you publish your book the way you want, go ahead and do traditional publishing. However, I know that it can be hard to find a publishing company. My advice is do a lot of research, listen to your heart and do what you feel will benefit your book.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think that with the growth of self publishing and the strict guidelines of publishing companies, self publishing will grow even more. After all, people want the control of every aspect of publishing. I'm not saying that publishing agencies will disappear completely, I'm just thinking about all the authors I know who have decided to self publish their own work. Every day I see more and more books coming from self published authors.
What genres do you write?: I write YA Fantasy Romance.
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Diana Rose Home Page Link
Link To Diana Rose Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
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Twitter
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
