I knew of Diana Wynne Jones ever since my friend John introduced me to Howl’s Moving Castle (which, if you haven’t read, shame on you; if you’re banking on the Ghibli movie, double shame!) back in middle-school, and was a devout fan ever since. I’ve read every book she’d published and was mesmerized by each. We unfortunately lost her to illness several years ago.
When I was still a lad in my teens, I reached out to her, desperately searching for a copy of a then out-of-print novel called Fire and Hemlock, and the only one she could provide me with was in Japanese. Heh. See how it all connects? I was not only learning Japanese at the time, but my favorite author had just become a penpal.
Her nuance of tropes — eliminating the Mary Sue — and turning the mundane into magic tempered my style, which, while I’m still a huge D&D player, was a little too Vancian for my liking where witchery was concerned, so her lessons became invaluable.
What can I say, Diana? I dedicated my thesis at FDU to writing about your life, as much as I could glean, but I feel like I have to do more for you. Write more. Make my female protagonists even stronger, more independent…
…and, as my father once suggested, perhaps a little less drunk. But if you know Lenna or Jacob (read my works, darn it!), that not might be happening any time soon!
PS — if you want to read my essay, just leave me a note and I’ll either post it or send it! I thought twenty-some pages my be a bit much for a blog post…
