Publisher’s Weekly has a great Q&A with Diana Wynne Jones, talking about her books, the world of Howl, and House of Many Ways.
Full Interview
(interview might contain what some people consider spoilers about various of her books)

Some of my favorite highlights -

You’ve said you don’t start out with a thoroughly plotted-out book. What do you start out with, when you begin writing?
I start out with people very often. Also some very, very clear scenes from the middle of the book. And usually a notion of how it’s going to go in the end, but that isn’t always the case. But it’s the clear picture from the middle that’s the important bit, I think. In the case of House of Many Ways, it was the bit when Peter first comes in out of the rain into all the bubbles in the kitchen and Charmaine reaches out and shuts his mouth with a clop. Because that for some reason was a very enduring image and I knew that was in there somewhere. But as I say, the Lubbock, which came just before that, was completely uncharted.

Over the past several years, you’ve returned to the world of the Chrestomanci stories frequently. Is this an easier place for you to return to, than Howl’s world?
Well, no. It’s just that—or perhaps it is. It’s not a matter of returning to the place. It’s the kind of stories that fit there. It’s very difficult to make sure that Howl is in his own kind of place, that isn’t in any way coinciding with the Chrestomanci books. And that’s the thing. You have to keep them separate, because they are very separate kinds of universes. And yes, I suppose I’m generally more at home in the Chrestomanci world, but only because so many stories seem to fit there, not because of the nature of the world at all. I don’t know what it is, really. But I was very glad to be able to return, because I had always felt that there were several more Howl stories in there, somewhere.

Well, I was delighted that you returned there.
Yes, I was ever so pleased, too. It was enormous fun to do. There’s another Howl story that I’m sort of darting about with. I don’t know whether it will ever come to anything. I’ve had about three tries at it now. And that is my own take on The Tempest. I really want to do this. Because it seems to me that poor Miranda gets such a raw deal. One of my daughters-in-law is called Miranda and she thoroughly agrees with me.
And I think Prospero was horrible. Very few people seem to agree with me on this. What a managing, crude man he was. You know, enslaving creatures and things. And I don’t like that, and I want to have a revolution there. But I don’t know whether I’ll ever get that done, but Howl would certainly come in there.

Trackback Post

Related Posts