I had the awesome opportunity of interviewing Dianna Hardy the amazing author of The Witching Pen Novellas. Below is my interview with her as well as my review for The Witching Pen (Book One in The Witching Pen Novellas).
Thank you Dianna for taking the time to answer a few questions for me. I am excited for others to know more about such an awesome series of novellas.
1. How
did you come up with the idea of a witching pen?
It was a domain name –
thewitchingpen.co.uk – before it was anything else. Over two years ago, I was
gathering all my old poems and stories that I’d written as a teenager, and I
had just started to write again. So I bought a domain name for my new website
that I thought encompassed everything about my writing at the time: poetic and
witchy. Then I started writing fiction again. And I thought about the name of
my website, and wondered what would happen if a pen was actually magical. How
would it be magical? What would it do? Why would it have been created? And in
thinking these thoughts, the idea for The Witching Pen Novellas
literally fell into my lap.
2. Did
you have to do any research for the book?
I had to research how people
got into the antiques business for some of Karl’s background, lol! The Wiccan /
Pagan aspects of the book are taken from elements of my own background, as
someone who has studies both witchcraft and shamanism, although it’s portrayed
quite loosely in the books. I don’t want to impose my own actual background on
my characters, so a lot of it is made up.
3. What
are you working on now?
I’m currently writing the
last book in The Witching Pen Novellas trilogy, The Demon Bride. This
will be followed by a spin-off urban fantasy novel, The Last Angel. And
I’m already planning another two-novel series for 2013/2014 – Project Veil –
which will focus very strongly on vampires, although not in the way you’re
familiar with ;)
4. What
is the hardest part of writing for you?
I think that being an indie
author is hard. You have so much flexibility over things, but you have to do
all your own marketing and … well … everything. So the hardest part for me, is
wearing all of the hats. Sometimes I just want to concentrate on writing, when
I’ll have to do something else instead, and then it can be a little difficult
to get back into the right mindset for writing. The best things for me are
keeping the books how I want them, and designing my own covers. The worst
things for me are organising
the promotional aspects and going through the whole formatting and publishing
hoo-ha. But you take the bad with the good ;)
5. What
can readers expect next in the series?
The Sands Of Time
(book two) is much more dark and gritty than the first book, and The Demon
Bride is even grittier still. In some ways that’s due to the different
characters, but it’s also because we’re heading towards darker times in The
Witching Pen World. Each book tells the story of a couple (as this is
paranormal romance series), but the books also have a strong urban fantasy
undertone, and this is felt more heavily as the series progresses, until you
get to the spin-off novel, which will actually be an urban fantasy (with some
sexy romantic elements in it, but an urban fantasy none-the-less, as the book
will be plot-focused and not relationship-focused). Throughout the series, you
can expect demons, witches, angels, magic, action, emotional upheavals, sexy
scenes, quirky dialogue, dark romance as well as lighter romance, and the
eternal struggle between dark and light.
6. What
question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you
answer the question?
In my head, it was never an
interview. When I was about eight, I used to imagine that I was winning an
Oscar as an actress, and my Oscar speech, I am proud to say, was always very
composed and dignified, even at that age! Of course, at that age, I could never
have done anything without my mum, so she was mentioned quite a lot.
7. If
you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be?
Two years ago, I would have
said The Witching Pen, only this book and series is not about my life,
so I’ll have to think of another. Something like… Hidden Between The Lines.
My Review of The Witching Pen
The Witching Pen by Dianna Hardy {Read April 2012}
This was actually a book I sought out and wanted to
read. I found it on Goodreads (great
place to connect with authors and their work) and I reached out to the
author. This is the first book I’ve read
by Dianna Hardy, but will not be the last.
This book definitely lived up to my expectations. The Witching Pen is book one of The Witching
Pen Novellas. The book follows Elena
as she discovers who she really is and her world is turned upside down. Elena learns that your heart and soul know
you better than your mind do. You also
learn that a lie and do more than damage lives it can change the world. I loved this book and loved the way it was
written. It was difficult to put down
and kept you guessing. It is great when
a book can make you go thru a full range of emotions. It is a great example of a magic romance with
a hint of demon. I can’t wait for the
next book in the series. I highly
recommend the book and give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Giveaway
One lucky winner who leaves a comment below will win an e-book copy of The Witching Pen, so start commenting. :) Good Luck!
Great interview! Thanks :) And I love books with pagan/Wiccan influences. Looks great!
ReplyDeleteHi! I love stories with/about Wiccans! When I was young I read a lot about this ''religion'' if we can call it a religion! LOL Well this series sounds exciting and pretty dark! I would love to read the first book! Thanks for this chance!
ReplyDeletePut on my HUGE TBR pile! LOL
Proserpine @ Proserpine Craving Books
proserpinecravedfor(at)hotmail(dot)com
Congrats ob the books. I cannot wait to add them to my TBR pile!
ReplyDeletebooks4susie@aol.com
Great interview, sounds like a great read. I've actually never read any of her books so hoping I win.
ReplyDelete