Interview with Dinah Jefferies, Part II

TS.  Dinah sits in one of the far-flung places that inspires her storytelling.

Q. Please tell about your fascinating life and the countries that you have lived in.

DJ. As I said I was born in Malaysia and have lived in England, Italy, Spain and, briefly, France. For my books I have travelled to Sri Lanka, Vietnam and India on research trips. I have another research trip coming up soon. Before I was a writer I was a painter which is why my novels are so visual.

Q. Do you have a new book coming out soon? If so tell us about it.

DJ. Before The Rains (1930) is set in a Princely state in Rajasthan, India. So it’s an epic love story between my main character, Eliza, a 29 year old widow and photo-journalist, and an Indian prince called Jay. She has been sent to Rajasthan to produce a visual record of life there over the course of a year. They come together when they attempt to do something to alleviate poverty, but the book also explores the differing attitude to women, especially widows. Not everyone approves of them being together and eventually they have to make a choice between following their hearts and doing what’s expected.

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

DJ. I began to write eight years ago and have written seriously ever since.

Q. How long after that were you published?

DJ. Four or five years.

Q. What makes a writer great?

DJ. If I knew that I’d be able to make a lot of money teaching people. There are a lot of reasons and it really depends on what you’re looking for. I like an original setting, a fascinating story and characters I can care about.

Q. and the all-important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like for you?

DJ. It looks like a lot of work: writing the first draft, followed by a great deal of editing and then a wait as you head towards publication. There’s nothing like holding the finished book in your hands and at that moment all the struggle feels worthwhile.

Q. How has your life experiences influenced your writing?

DJ. My life experiences have provided the themes of my novels. Loss, identity and so on. Is there any way your life experiences don’t influence your writing?

Q. Have you or do you want to write in another genre`?

DJ. Not at the moment, but you never know.

Q. Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?

DJ. By the time Before The Rains comes out in the UK it will be my fourth published book and I am currently writing the fifth. My second, The Tea Planter’s Wife, now out in the US, was a Sunday Times number 1 bestseller in the UK and has been published in 24 territories. 
Click here to read Part I of this Interview
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MY BLOGS feature INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!   Did you miss the past few months? October Author, Lisa Jackson.  November was best selling author, Grace Burrowes and in December, Reed Farrel Coleman, contributing writer for Robert B. Parker series

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Interview with Best Selling author, Dinah Jefferies

TS:  I discovered Dinah recently in my routine search for authors I might enjoy reading. What a treasure!  My favorite genre’ , a good story based in historic fact.  She is currently research and writing her next book so, understandably, her answers are short and sweet!

 

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? (please provide a photo/s of your shed, room, closet, barn….) Or tell us about your ‘dream’ work space.

DJ. I have recently had a garden room built and that’s where I do my reading, writing and where I have an exercise bike. I have no photos of the room yet but it’s very peaceful and I have music at hand whenever I feel like it. It feels like a little oasis that’s just for me.

Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)

DJ. A cup of coffee and my latest notes on the left of my keyboard and if the room is warm enough, then I’m ready. I don’t do any social media when I’m writing. If the room is cold I get on my exercise bike to warm up.

Q. Could you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know?

DJ. When I first came to live in England it didn’t feel like home. I was born and brought up for the first nine years of my life in British Malaya and saw that as my home, so I was what they call a Third Culture Kid. Not quite one, not quite the other and it left me with a feeling of not properly fitting in.

Q. Do you have a set time each day (or night) to write?

DJ. I write in the mornings and use the afternoons for editing, reading, taking the dog for a walk and any household chores that need doing.

Q.  What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?

DJ. You overcome procrastination by sitting down and getting on with it. You make a choice. You work or you don’t.

Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters? Before or after the idea of a story?

DJ. They begin to pop into my head at the research stage. As I read about a place and a time I begin to think about the type of people who might have been there at the time and the kind of story I want to write.

Q. What first inspired you to write your stories?

DJ. Having time on my hands. We were living in a tiny medieval village in Andalusia, Spain and once the restoration of our house was complete I began. Writing a novel is very labour intensive.

Q. What comes first to you? The Characters or the Situation?

DJ. The place comes first and then the characters and the situation arise simultaneously.

Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing?

DJ. Absolutely, especially when it’s going well and I’m in the ‘zone’. When I’m struggling it’s much harder, but I try to keep going anyway. You can’t edit a blank page.

Part two will appear January 28th. Don’t Miss it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MY BLOGS feature INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!   Did you miss the past few months? October Author, Lisa Jackson.  November was best selling author, Grace Burrowes and in December, Reed Farrel Coleman, contributing writer for Robert B. Parker series

Check out more Motivational Moments…for Writers!

To receive my posts sign up for my blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  On the home page, enter your email address.  Thanks!