Click Here To Purchase Deedee Divine's Totally Skewed Guide to Life 

Author: Diana Estill

ISBN: 13: 978-0-9799708-1-8:  10: 0-9799708-1-4

Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest, Diana Estill author of Deedee Divine’s Totally Skewed Guide To Life and Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road: Humorous Views on Love, Lust, & Lawn Care.

Good day Diana and thanks for participating in our interview.

Norm:

When did you first consider yourself a writer? What do you think over the years has driven you as a writer?

Diana:

I recall sitting at a pretend desk, at age five, and playing as if I were writing. It seems I’ve always known what I was born to do. In junior high, I was a ghostwriter for girls who didn’t want to pen their own love letters, and I won my first writing award in eighth grade. Not for the love letters, though. Those were pretty unremarkable. I won a regional essay contest. However, I was 40 before my first newspaper columns were published in The Dallas Morning News.

Norm:

Why have you been drawn to writing humor? As a follow up, are there aesthetic advantages and disadvantages peculiar to humor? Does it even have a form?

Diana:

I started this profession by writing opinion columns and features. But readers often wrote and told me how hilarious these pieces were. This made me question their judgement. I didn’t think I was funny. Over time, I began to see what others had tried to point out. My brain doesn’t function the way most do. I connect dots that don’t, on the surface, seemingly connect.

The advantage of writing humor is that it comes naturally and suits my personality. The disadvantage is that humor is subjective. What makes one person double over with laughter might offend the next individual. And sometimes the offended reader is a relative. 

If humor has a form, I doubt I’ve followed it.

Norm:

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books and articles?

Diana:

Oh, from daily life! I’m a magnate for calamities, so I always have plenty of writing material. When I decide to write about something news related, then I’ll conduct research. Only I’ll be looking for the weird connections--like the link between studies that use nurses to test the health benefits of drinking wine and current nursing staff shortages--rather than informative facts.

Norm:

How did you go about creating your narrator Deedee and is there much of you in her?

Diana:

One day in early 2007, I thought how much I’d like to make a YouTube video from one of my humor pieces. I’d created a monologue from one of my essays. But I needed a character to deliver it. My grandchildren have always called me Deedee, so I added the “Divine” part because I thought it sounded funny. The name sort of screams attitude, which Deedee certainly exhibits. The video I made, which was about the Super Bowl, received far more views than I’d imagined—and not just from my mother. When my husband saw it, he said he never knew I had that in me. But Deedee has always been there. She’d just been repressed.

I’ve continued to tweak the character. She now has a penchant for all things zebra print! (I’ve always loved wearing together the colors black and white.) And I’ve added some funky sun glasses to her attire. I took some acting classes along the way too. So Deedee Divine has fully evolved. I think she’s me, stripped of any need to be regarded as stylish or sane. She definitely has more fun and cares less about what people think than I do.

Norm:

What do you want your work to do? Amuse people? Provoke thinking?

Diana:

I want to inspire readers to find the fun in their frustrations, to laugh at life’s absurdities and to take themselves and their circumstances less seriously. I’ve been a high school dropout and an impoverished single mom, so I know hardships can be real. Keeping a light attitude helped me go from there to where I am today. Without a sense of humor, I don’t know how I’d have made it through those earlier years. If my books can lift the spirits of others who are struggling through stressful situations, then they’ve served their highest purpose.

Norm:

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Diana:

Phone management. I abhor a ringing telephone. There’s nothing worse than having my concentration broken by someone who says they’re conducting a “courtesy call.” I tell these intruders, “Do me a courtesy and don’t call.”

Norm:

What is your work schedule like when you're writing? 

Diana:

My writing takes place at every conceivable hour of the day and night. (It is 4:00 a.m. at the time I’m writing this.) Life happens, and I fit my writing around it. I envy folks who have recurring schedules. They must have more manageable lives than the one I lead.

Norm:

Do you feel that writers, regardless of genre owe something to readers, if not, why not, if so, why and what would that be?

Diana:

Oh, yes, I do believe writers who publish owe something to their readers. If you are writing a journal entry or something for yourself, then that’s a different matter. But when a writer publishes work that others pay for or take their valuable time to read, the work should offer value. This value could be something as simple as entertainment or as significant as life changing suggestions.

Norm:

Can you tell us how you found representation for your books? Did you pitch them to an agent, or query publishers who would most likely publish these types of book? Any rejections? Did you self-publish?

Diana:

My latest book, Deedee Divine’s Totally Skewed Guide to Life, is published by Corncob Press, which I own. The manuscript wasn’t shopped to agents, though I did query a few. The agents I contacted wanted to know how many syndicated radio and TV shows I regularly appeared on. No. I’m kidding. I think the responses were more along the lines of “what is your platform.” And no one was impressed to learn that my blog was receiving hundreds of hits per day, primarily from someone named “Cheap Viagra.”

To be truthful, I felt a need to quickly get this book to print because the economy was showing signs of a steep recession. Could there be a better time to release a humor book?

Publishing Deedee Divine’s Totally Skewed Guide to Life was a team effort. The book was edited by Matthew Dewald, director of the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, University of Dayton. The title is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year nominee. I’m guessing that after I’ve sold 100,000 copies, the right agent and publisher will find me.

Norm:

In the last several years or so have you seen any changes in the way publishers publish and/or distribute books? Are there any emerging trends developing?

Diana:

I’m still a newbie in the publishing industry. What I’ve observed is a trend toward more print-on-demand titles and e-books. These publishing methods eliminate the need for costly storage and reduce or entirely eliminate shipping fees. They also reduce the chances of books being remaindered or “pulped.”

Norm:

How have you used the Internet to boost your writing career? If so, how?

Diana:

The Internet is an important marketing tool, but it doesn’t replace face to face communication. I use both methods. The Internet allows me to reach readers whom I couldn’t meet in person. I’m on Facebook and several other social networking sites, and I manage two websites. I’ve networked with other authors via the Internet, and that has proven to be a great advantage.

Norm:

Do you recommend other writers find a niche or specialty? What have been the rewards for you?

Diana:

It all comes down to writing what you enjoy writing. I can write many things well, but few with passion. I’d tell other writers to write what they feel inspired to write. Anything else will lack authenticity.

Norm:

What are you upcoming projects?

Diana:

I’m collecting story ideas for a book about navigating midlife. And I’m working on a screenplay.

Norm:

Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered and where can our readers find out more about you and your books?

Diana:

Deedee Divine has her own Facebook page. My website is www.TotallySkewed.com, and my books are available from Amazon and other booksellers. Thank you for asking. And thank you for interviewing me.

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.

Click Here To Purchase Deedee Divine's Totally Skewed Guide to Life

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