Interview With Author Diana Wallach — Mirror, Mirror
Diana Wallach — Mirror, Mirror
Cara: Tell me about your most recent title, Diana.
Diana: Mirror, Mirror is a short-story collection based on the myths of Narcissus, Nemesis, Nyx, and Dionysus, only in a modern high-school setting. My goal was to reimagine myths that most people, and teens, would know very well. And honestly, within seconds of my brain contemplating Narcissus, I came up with the idea of a paranormal organization that traps Narcissistic souls by judging their reflections in silver compact mirrors. I wish I could pinpoint what part of my brain came up with this idea and how it happened so quickly, because there are times when I’m slugging through a revision and would love to manually click that switch.
Cara: Do you have a secret dream writing project that you’d love time to hide away with?
Diana: Sort of. I’m currently writing my first YA mystery. Or I guess I should say I’m rewriting it. I started it five years ago, and I’ve been working on it ever since. It’s my first crack at a mystery, and even though it’s still YA, there’s a lot more that goes into it. It’s been a long, slow process to learn how to properly craft a good mystery/thriller; and thankfully, I have a very generous editor/beta reader who is currently offering support as I muddle through. Hopefully, one day I will finish this book and see it in print.
Cara: I’ll look forward to reading it! Now, tell me something about yourself that most people don’t know.
Diana: I love football. I’ve been to two Philadelphia Eagles games so far this season, I play in an all-girl Fantasy Football league, and I spend most Sundays watching Red Zone. I blame it on cheerleading. My parents signed me up to cheer for Peewee football when I was seven years old, and I went on to be a competitive cheerleader. Ultimately, you spend that much time standing on the sidelines of a sport, and it sinks it like osmosis. I think I could ref a game professionally.
Cara: What does your family think of your writing? Do you include them in the process?
Diana: Interesting question. Mirror, Mirror, my short-story collection out now, is based on Greek Mythology, so I didn’t dip into my personal background for any inspiration. But my first novel, Amor and Summer Secrets (Kensington Books), was heavily based on my family history.
Mariana, the main character in Amor, shares my ethnic background. There aren’t a lot of Polish Puerto Ricans out there, so that’s a dead giveaway, and many of the experiences that Mariana faces while coming to terms with her multi-cultural identity are similar to my own.
Additionally, the town in Puerto Rico where Mariana spends the summer, Utuado, is the same town where my dad grew up. And I gave Mariana’s father, Lorenzo, some biographical tidbits from my dad’s life, including a few of his childhood anecdotes. So when my dad first read the Amor and Summer Secrets, he kept saying, “I can’t believe you were listening!” However, their personalities are completely different. Even still, I was a little worried when he first read it. But my dad, and the rest of my family, has always been very supportive.
Cara: Who is the first author you remember being aware of?
Diana: I used to devour every Christopher Pike book as it was released. I loved all of them: Remember Me?, Fall into Darkness, Chain Letter, you name it. I think that strong connection with young adult literature is one of the reasons I felt drawn to write in the genre.
About the Author
Diana Rodriguez Wallach is the author of Mirror, Mirror, a short-story collection based on the Narcissus myth, which includes Reflecting Emmy, Nara Gazing, and Shattering GiGi (Buzz Books 2013). She is also the author of three award-winning YA novels: Amor and Summer Secrets, Amigas and School Scandals, and Adios to All The Drama (Kensington Books).
In 2011, she published a highly regarded essay in Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories (HarperCollins), and in 2013, she will be featured in the anthology Latina Authors and Their Muses (Twilight Times Books). In 2010 Diana was named one of the Top Ten New Latino Authors to Watch by LatinoStories.com, and she placed second in the International Latino Book Awards. She hold a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University, and currently lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter.
Connect with Diana on: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Amazon
Diana Wallach –Mirror, Mirror
