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Back to Featured Interviews >> MEET DIANA RAAB
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| Diana Raab |
I have been writing ever since I could hold a pen. I was an only child and spent a great deal of time alone writing. My journal was both my best friend and sibling. I shared secrets with my journal, and also drafted my earliest stories inside its covers. When I went to sleep-away-camp my mother always packed a few boxes of stationary, so at an early age I got in the habit of corresponding through letters. Sometimes I even wrote letters to imaginary friends. In high school, I edited the college newspaper. In university, I minored in journalism and while studying nursing I founded the hospital’s first magazine, Nursing Horizons. I knew at an early age that writing would be an important part of my life’s work. I was happiest with pen and paper, and always expressed myself best on the page.
What are the topics of some of your books?
My first book, GETTING PREGNANT AND STAYING PREGNANT: OVERCOMING INFERTILITY AND HIGH RISK PREGNANCY , is a book which began as a journal about my bed rest experience but evolved into a self-help book for women going through similar experiences. Next year (2008) the 20 th anniversary edition will be released. MY MUSE UNDRESSES ME is my first collection of poems and was released earlier this year. My memoir, REGINA’S CLOSET: FINDING MY GRANDMOTHER’S SECRET JOURNAL is a memoir/biography based on my grandmother’s life. The braided narrative shares the story of her life during World War I and our relationship in the 1950s and 1960s, until 1964 when she took her life in my childhood home. My writing is frequently inspired by personal experience. I am currently working on a journaling anthology. Most of my projects have some connection with the art of journaling.
Do you focus on fiction or nonfiction? Which do you prefer? Do you find one easier than the other?
My main focus is creative non-fiction although in my prose and poetry I do incorporate fiction technique. I have written a few short stories and mentors encourage me to write fiction, but I am simply more compelled to
write nonfiction.
Have any of your books earned special recognition?
My book, GETTING PREGNANT AND STAYING PREGNANT: A Guide to Infertility and High-Risk Pregnancy won the Benjamin Franklin Book Award for Best Health and Wellness Book (1992). REGINA¹S CLOSET: Finding My Grandmother¹s Secret Journal (2007) was the recipient of numerous awards, including, The Mom¹s
Choice Award for best adult nonfiction, The National Indie Excellence Award for Memoir, and The Allbooks Award. REGINA'S CLOSET was also in the 2009, 2010 Senior High California Collections.
My poetry book, DEAR ANAÏS: My Life in Poems For You was also the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Poetry and the Reader Views Literary Award.
How did your life change when you got married? And had children? Did is make it easier or harder to find time to write?
Although I welcomed marriage and starting a family, there¹s no doubt that women writers need to master the juggling act, particularly if they are married and have children. Prior to having a family, my writing was a
priority, but while raising my three kids it had to slip to the back burner.. My family¹s needs came first. The good news is that writers can make their own schedule. I would usually wake up at 5am before the chaos began, and
work for two hours and then work for two more hours late at night when everyone collapsed in bed. Now that all three of my children are grown, life is less complicated and I am able to create a more flexible writing
schedule.
Do you work on more than one book at a time?
I¹ve always worked on more than one book at a time. I don¹t like to put all my eggs in one basket. Plus, it keeps things interesting to have a few things going on at once.
When I discovered poetry writing a few years ago I figured out that I craved instant gratification and poetry is a great option for this, something which there is not always a place for in non-fiction. I like the contrast between non-fiction and poetry, they both transpose me into different aspects of my literary realm.
What kinds of things inspire you to write?
It doesn¹t take much for me to be inspired to write. I always have too many ideas for the amount of hours in the day. I do get more inspired while traveling. I do my best writing in airplanes and I haven¹t yet figured out
why except that there are less distractions, particularly cell phones and computers.
I also enjoy speaking with interesting people who spark my creativity. My journal is always packed with nuggets of writing ideas.
Do you write every day and do you have set hours that you work?
I write every day. Some days are devoted to clerical work such as sending out stories and poems, while other days I forge ahead on my current projects.