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MEET DIANA RAAB
by Bonnie O'Brian

Did you write stories when you were growing up? At school? Or at home as a hobby? As a young child, or as a teenager, or both?

Diana Raab

I have been writing ever since I could hold a pen. I was an only child and spent a great deal of time alone writing. My journal was both my best friend and sibling. I shared secrets with my journal, and also drafted my earliest stories inside its covers. When I went to sleep-away-camp my mother always packed a few boxes of stationary, so at an early age I got in the habit of corresponding through letters. Sometimes I even wrote letters to imaginary friends. In high school, I edited the college newspaper. In university, I minored in journalism and while studying nursing I founded the hospital’s first magazine, Nursing Horizons. I knew at an early age that writing would be an important part of my life’s work. I was happiest with pen and paper, and always expressed myself best on the page.

What are the topics of some of your books?

My first book, GETTING PREGNANT AND STAYING PREGNANT: OVERCOMING INFERTILITY AND HIGH RISK PREGNANCY , is a book which began as a journal about my bed rest experience but evolved into a self-help book for women going through similar experiences. Next year (2008) the 20 th anniversary edition will be released. MY MUSE UNDRESSES ME is my first collection of poems and was released earlier this year. My memoir, REGINA’S CLOSET: FINDING MY GRANDMOTHER’S SECRET JOURNAL is a memoir/biography based on my grandmother’s life. The braided narrative shares the story of her life during World War I and our relationship in the 1950s and 1960s, until 1964 when she took her life in my childhood home. My writing is frequently inspired by personal experience. I am currently working on a journaling anthology. Most of my projects have some connection with the art of journaling.

Do you focus on fiction or nonfiction? Which do you prefer? Do you find one easier than the other?

My main writing focus is non-fiction. I do, however, incorporate fiction technique when writing in both nonfiction and poetry. I have tried writing short stories—which people tell me is much more liberating—but typically return to true stories. It just comes more naturally to me. I suppose after years as a medical journalist, I’m more adept with nonfiction.

Have any of your books earned special recognition?

My book, GETTING PREGNANT AND STAYING PREGNANT won the Benjamin Franklin Book Award for Best Health and Wellness Book (1992).

How did your life change when you got married? And had children? Did is make it easier or harder to find time to write?

There’s no doubt that women writers are challenged by the juggling of their domestic and familial responsibilities. In many ways this juggling makes you more organized because you have to have designated time to write or no writing gets done at all. Prior to having a family, my writing was my priority, but while raising my three kids it slipped to the back burner. My family’s needs had to come first. The good news is that writers can make their own schedule. When my kids were small, I’d awaken at 5 a.m. before the chaos began, work for two hours and then work again for two more hours late at night when everyone collapsed in bed.

Do you work on more than one book at a time?

I’ve always worked on more than one book or project at a time. This ensures that I don’t have any opportunity to get bored and am always creating something. I believe that the change fires up my muse. Plus, I don’t like to put all of my eggs in one basket. Each form of writing offers something different in terms of satisfaction. Poetry, for example, offers instant gratification and when I need that I turn to poetry. It’s also a place I can go when I’m in the mood to delve into my emotions, something which there is not always a place for in non-fiction. I like the contrast between non-fiction and poetry, they both transpose me into different aspects of my literary realm.

What kinds of things inspire you to write?

It doesn’t take much for me to be inspired to write. I always have too many ideas for the amount of hours in the day. However, I must admit that I do get more inspired while traveling. I do my best writing in airplanes and haven’t yet figured out why that is, except that there are less distractions, particularly from cell phones and computers. I also enjoy speaking with interesting people who spark my creativity.

Do you write every day and do you have set hours that you work?

I write every day. Some days are devoted to clerical work such as sending out stories and poems and documenting responses, while other days I forge ahead with my creative work.