Scooby Doo interviewed Diana Wynne Jones, author of Archer's Goon and Charmed Life.  We thank Katie Jennings for completing the interview on behalf of Ms. Jones.  We wish Ms. Jones a speedy recovery and look forward to her new book The Merlin Conspiracy.

Scooby Doo:  How did you come up with such a complicated plot for the book Archer's Goon?

Ms. Jennings:  In Archer's Goon, Diana just made up the plot as she was going along.  She had no idea what was going to happen next and she couldn't wait to find out!  Many of her stories are inspired by the bizarre things that have gone on in her life, and the unusual village, with its strange inhabitants, that she lived in as a child.

Scooby Doo:  Do you enjoy writing books a lot?  Why?

Ms. Jennings:  What a difficult question!  This is a a quote from one of Diana's past interviews, when she was asked a similar question: "I write because I enjoy writing more than anything else really.  It really is tremendously fun and I just love doing it.  You can get to feel as if you haven't seen anyone for weeks and it's all your fault and nobody loves you.  I don't enjoy that aspect, but the way things come alive under your hands and start to work as if they are completely independent is endlessly fascinating."  (Interview in 1993).

Scooby Doo:  Why did you choose to be a writer?

Ms. Jennings:  Diana says it wasn't so much that she wanted to be a writer, she just knew she would be.  It was almost as if, in the middle of one afternoon, at the age of eight, someone tapped her on the shoulder and told her she would be doing for the rest of her life.  Diana started writing her first books only a few years later, to read to her sisters, as they had barely any books as children.  Her father was very mean with money and her mother believed that fantasy was bad for you, so they were only allowed "classic" children's literature.  Diana says her first attempts at writing were awful, but it taught her that she could write a book all the way through from beginning to end.

Scooby Doo:  Why did you want to write fantasy books that included multiple worlds like in the Chrestomanci series?  Why did you want to write so many cool fantasy books?

Ms. Jennings:  This is also goes back to the fact that Diana had very few books as a child, and those that she did have, The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, and Puck of Pook's Hill for example, just made her more interested in the fantasy she craved.  It was not being able to read other people's fantasy, that caused her to want to create her own

Scooby Doo:  Where did you come up with the idea for the 9 lives of Cat and Christopher Chant?

Ms. Jennings:  I am not quite sure of the answer to this one, but I think it this is something to do with the fact that cats are supposed to have nine lives, this is not something that Diana made up, but it is quite a common idea in mythology.  Some civilizations, like the Egyptians, have worshipped cats for their cleverness, agility, and ability to survive when other animals might not have done.  Because of this, they have been believed to have "nine lives".  I hope this helps you!

Scooby Doo:  Is there a special place where you like to write or read?  If so, why?

Ms. Jennings:  In an interview, Diana said:"I write in the living room in the most comfortable chair there.  It is the only way I can concentrate on the story".

Scooby Doo:  Where did you come up with the ideas for the characters Elda, Howl, Sophie, Felim, Claudia, Ruskin, Olga, Isodel, Derk, Cat, Christopher Chant, Kit, and Janet?

Ms. Jennings:  When asked where she got the inspiration for the magical characters in the Chrestomanci books, Diana gave the following answer: "I think, intially, my inspiration for magical characters comes from the Essex village where I lived as a child.  Everyone there was at least wildly eccentric.  One made made a life-sized mechanical elephant in his back yard, another claimed to turn into a wolf at full moon: he stood in the church porch and howled; and at least three women claimed to be witches.  But I have never put them in any of my books.  It was more that they put into my head the possibility of magical characters.  I don't know where Chrestomanci came from - he just walked into my head when I was ready to write Charmed Life."