From Tomoko

• Hello Broken English sorry. my name is Tomoko that send my question a half year ago, and reply Diana,thank you. Today. in Japan, we can read new Diana's book witch week, as "mahoutukai ha dareda". this book tell us "howl's moving castle will be movie by studio ghibuli"

  my english is so poor, so sorry, so i can't tell that word exactlly. in Japan ,this is first public news. but now, we can't know this news on by paper, radio. why? that may be "sen to cihiro no kamikakusi" is senstional hit, in Japan ghibuli`s movie is Social phenomenon.

  in Diana reply, she said to me you read another new chrestomanci book next year. i +but i am not japanese+ and japanese fans were very hopely, We have made Diana's words hope.

  today we thank Diana, so so so so thank you. we will read four chrestomanci book in the spring of next year. We are going to see a howl's movie in the summer of next year. We are very very fortunate.

  I will tell you about that the reaction in Japan to the book.

  love you, love you Diana! When a movie is shown for the first time in Japan, please come to Japan by all means. I am very anxious about your health.

From Maija

• I Loved Fire and hemlock it was amaizing book.When will your next book come?

From Janet

• Dear Ms. Jones, I re-read the Crown of Dalemark just last month and wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed it. This time through, I noticed for the first time that Maewen saw the great River at Dropwater (just like Mitt saw it near Adenmouth) and I thought that was a really cool detail...I'd never have discovered it if I hadn't read the appendix extra-carefully (and that was because I didn't want the book to end). Thanks again for giving us so much pleasure with your books!

From Meg F

• Dear Diana, I want to thank you for giving me some of the best books I've ever read. I devoured all of your books that I could find in the mid-80s. I've read everything of yours that you've published since. Then I discovered reprints of your children's books in my favourite bookshop. What bliss! What joy! I've bought 'em all and I'm about to start rereading them. You are one of the main reasons that I am a writer. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

From Penina

• Dear Diana, I am eighteen years old and am a student at Goucher College in Maryland, USA, and have recently began re-reading your books. Years ago, enough years that I don't remember how many it's been, I read all of your books that were carried by my local library and loved them. I read them multiple times. This summer I was in a bookstore and found a whole shelf full of your books; I bought some that were new to me as well as some that I had previously read but did not remember well. I have been pouring over them. I have a belief that books for younger readers can be just as beneficial for older readers and offer ideas that can have a great impact in one's life. The books that you have written have impacted my life, and continue to do so as I read them again. These are books that I hope to always return to. You have always been and continue to be one of my all-time favorite authors. Thank you very much.

From Lara

• Ms. Jones, I LOVE your books (of course, why else would I be writing?). I have become even more addicted, if possible, to your books when I started reading the "non-Chrestomanci" books, (such as Archer's Goon, Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Air, and Time of the Ghost.) I didn't read them so much as devour them. :-) two quick questions: 1. what's a cwidder? it's not in the dictionary or my book of unusual words. 2. have any of your books ever been made into movies? any of them? thanks, Lara

From Janni

• I'm so lost. I came to your wonderful books late. Now I want to read them all but am hopeless at figuring which came first, what order they should best be read in. Can you help a hopeless dunce? I'm old...40. *lol* Reside in New Jersey, USA.

From Mahvish

• Hello i am Mahvish i really enjoy your books they are the best! i especially like howls moving castle i can't wait till my parents take me to barnes and nobles to buy castle in the air. i would borrow it from the librar but i like to own books that i am in love with! I always talk about your books my friends and i have a circle were we trade around your books and others i am one of your greatest fans!

From Jennifer

• HELLO! I HOPE YOU GET WELL! I HAVE TONNES OF QUESTIONS TO ASK TOOOO! DID U KNOW YOUR MY FAVOURITE AUTHOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From Emily Busch

• I just wanted you to know that I think you are a great writer and I eniv you for being able to write like that. I have read many of you books. My foravite besides the Chrestomanic series is the Dalemark series. I love Mitt and Navis, they both make my laugh. Especially, Mitt, I was so glad when he got the crown. Anyway, good luck in the future.

From L.J.S.

• Can you please post up information about any new books please?

From Michelle

• What is the point of having that awful woman who's name begins with a Z in "Deep Secret"? Maybe I misunderstood, but it looked like she married Simon and had an affair with Rupert at the same time. Then she sleeps around with other guys. Is she really a nymph? Why doesn't Simon just dump her?

From Adele Veronica Mariadass

• Hi all, I do not wish to be selfish and demand Ms. Jones to come back just to answer all our questions again. I only wish she gets better; not just for the sake of writing more books, but for a good, long, happy life. She made our lives seem brighter, and everytime I was in bed with a horrible flu, her books are better than medicine (and sometimes better than mum's good ol' soup) I am still overwhelmed by the fact that she has answered my questions. I certainly will never, ever forget that. You don't get replied personally by your favourite author, everyday. God bless you, Diana Wynne Jones. Get better. Have fun. You will always have many fans and admirers. And if you read this (shameless begging, here): Come to Malaysia! Please do! (Also, you seem to dislike lawyers. Why? My father is a lawyer, and he loves your books. He is a great dad, too)

From Caroline Jones

• Hello, I have been a big fan of your books for years, I wrote to you twice as a child and got replies both times, for which I thank you, as it surpassed my expectations. You encouraged my to write and to become an actress, which I have combined by attempting to be a stand up comedian. You are a wonderful writer, which I'm sure you know, and after years of mocking me for reading 'children's books' I recentely persuaded my husband to read Cart and Cwidder, and now he has read all the books I own and requested the rest from the library. We wait with baited breath for you next masterpiece!

From Amanda Brass

• I'm really sorry to hear of your bad health this year - you do seem to have had a hard time of it. I know you won't be able to answer this, but it's something that amuses me everytime I read Deep Secret. Is Rupert really modelled on an archetypal Dick Francis hero? Or is it just the vaguely horsey Newmarket setting that makes me think so? I don't think it is: he likes to present himself as so upright, and he seems so unmaginative and straight - quite unlike what you'd expect from a magid. While you have had such a difficult time, I have had a wonderful year discovering all your books and introducing them to everyone I can. I asked for the Dalemark Quartet for an anniversary present in Decmber, and spent the Christmas holiday racing from one to the next. I don't think I have ever come across a book like The Spellcoats: its absolutely extraordinary. These are the only ones I didn't want to reread straight away: I want to savour the knowledge of them for a while first. I hope you were pleased with the republished editions of your books: they are a pleasure to handle. The illustrations are just perfect (for me - did you have much input as to how they should be?). My daughter thinks the cover of Howl is the best book cover she's ever seen. Anyway, very many thanks for your wonderful books, and I really hope you are feeling better now.

From Anne

• Just a short message to thank you for hours of enjoyment. Discovered the Tales of Chrestomanci this Summer, and am devouring paperbacks as I can find them. Must be rereleasing your books in the states a few at a time. Have been so amazed at how different from each other your books are. I find it very unusual. My other very favorite authors, whom I love, tend to write more in the same voice. Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey, Tanya Huff, and the much missed MZB. All wonderful writers,with much imagination. Anyway, didn't intend to make this so long. Thank you so much, and know that I am keeping good thoughts fo your return to health. Take care of yourself.

From Tyran Amiros

• Lara: A cwidder is the fictional musical instrument played in the Dalemark series. I just wanted to add that "Aunt Maria", which I've just finished, struck pretty close to home. When my family moved, they wanted us to finish the school year in that city, so we had to stay with this lady who really reminded me of Aunt Maria. I had shivers reading that book :) She didn't change us into animals or anything, though.

From Kiel Parker

• Hi, my name is Kiel. I am 19 years old and have been reading your books ever since I was 10 years old. The first one of your books that I ever read was Archer's Good. It was introduced to me by my librarian in school who thought I would appreciate a book that was much more than average. I have been addicted ever since then. The only problem has been feeing my addiction. I am from the states and your books are, as far as I can tell, not that widely known about. Which I feel is a shame. One of my missions in life is to introduce your books, just as that librarian did for me, to everyone I know who will appreciate them. I think you are a great talent and I am so thankful that you have shared your talent with all of us. Growing up with your books has shaped much of who I am in life. I can find a little bit about myself in each of your characters. The best thing about your books is that no matter how down or lost I am feeling, I can alwasy pick up one of your books and escape into one the worlds you have created for all of us. Thank you so much for that. This alone makes you a hero.

From Ellie4Howl

• I adore the two Howl's moving castle books and PLEASE coulds you write another soon? I also like Dogsbody solely because it reminds me of Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisinor of Azkaban-falsely accused by someone you thought was your friend, spending years as a dog and having a friend called Remus. I also like the Dalemark and Crestomanci books, which are brilliant as well.

From Philip Hesselman

• hi dinna my name is philip hesselman i love your Chrestomanci books i was wondering if you would write some more because i like to see what happens to cat (Eric) Chant and maybe you cold write another one on christopher chant i realy injoyed witch week it was wicked i think your stories are indevidual and i hope you keep on with the worlds of chrestomanci.

From Ian McLachlan

• i've been reading your books since i was about eight and they run pretty deep in me. i like your bitter- sweet stories best, the ones with the difficult endings; The Homeward Bounders; Charmed Life; Power of Three; Eight Days of Luke. Archer's Goon, Witch Week, Time of the Ghost, Magicians of Caprona, The Ogre Downstairs and A Tale of Time City have also been read and re-read. very often, i've found myself caught up like Tonino when he picks up the enchanted book. and i find i'm caught up like this even on the re-reads, even when i know what's going to happen. each book becomes a mad dash to the end, despite my stern assertions beforehand that 'on this re-reading i will savour it.' favourite moments include Nan Pilgrim failing to climb the rope, David's battles with Mrs Thirsk, Jamie's encounter with the she-chieftain, Eric Chant recognising the weakness and dishonesty in Mrs Sharp, the atomic bike, the iron and silver guardian when they meet, the construction kits dying in the box and Caspar being glad because it looked like they'd been growing wings. out of your books, my brother and i have developed a common language; for us, people "laugh mean, ogreish laughs" and "don't play fair like Uncle Bernard". like everyone else, i hope you write another Chrestomanci book. i want to hear more about Eric Chant. as the Norn's say to David, i don't think it will be easy for him. i think he deserves the bitter-sweet treatment. but perhaps that's just me. thank you for everything and all the best, Ian ps i'm glad you're not as well known as JK Rowling. as far as i'm concerned, she's the boy band of fantasy writing to your cool, complex, original, gifted indie band. stay cool and indie, Diana. it's what Indigo Rubber would have wanted, i'm sure.

From Lorelei Zan Chant

• Hello again.I doubt you remember me from all of the people you have answered on this site, but I just wanted to thank you for responding to my previous questions. I checked at this site everyday for a month anxious to see your reponses. I understand you are busy, and your work enriches the minds of the young population today, and also the old I'm certain. Since my encounter with the Chrestomanci series I've been a tremendous fan of yours. You are truly an enchanting author, and your work send me shivers at times. I'm very glad that you became an author, to spread your marvelous ideas in the minds of us all.

From Melissa Proffitt

• I'm so sorry to hear of your health problems! I do hope you get better soon. I just read that you resigned from the World Fantasy Award judging panel, which makes my question kind of moot. I had been wanting to ask if you'd consider writing a little bit about that experience whenever you get the chance to write a news bulletin for this site, but it sounded like you were pretty disgusted with the whole thing, so maybe that's a bad idea. But I did think it was interesting that you were on the panel and I also wondered if you'd discovered any really wonderful books in the process of reading the stacks and stacks they sent you for the award. My husband and I both came to your books as adult readers. You wouldn't believe--no, you probably would--how many grownups give me the strangest looks when I suggest they read something like Howl's Moving Castle or Archer's Goon (which is probably my favorite). What I love most, even more than the wonderful stories and characters, are the little background details that make it all come alive. Like bowls of whickering golden cornflakes, or perfumes that "shriek VIOLETS!" at one.... Sometimes I will be doing something completely normal and it will trigger a memory of a phrase from one of your books, and it leaves me happy the whole rest of the day. Thank you for that. I can't wait for my children to be old enough to read your books themselves.

From Finn Quiqley

• Hi My name is Finn Quigley and I enjoy all the books that I have read that you wrote. I especially liked the Dark Lord of Derkholm and The Year of the Griffin. So I was wondering when the next book of that series ( I hope there is a next book! ) is coming out. If you could tell me I wouldn't mind! Thanks Fin

From Katie Griffin

• Hello Mrs.Jones. I read the "Year of the Griffin" and loved it, when is the next book comming out? From Katie Griffin (yes it is my real name)

From Bob Wooten

• Diana, Hello! So good to talk to you. My name is Bob and I live in Kansas in the USA. I am 23 years old now, but was only 10 years old when I read my first book of yours, Witch Week. I must have read that book 75 times, and that is no exaggeration, as my parents would tell you. They tried to throw it away (unsucessfully) I read it so much and they thought that I simply must read something else. Haha, I've also read Charmed Life quite a few times (though only about 10, not near as much as Witch Week). I think I liked these books so much because of the characters Chrestomanci and Charles from Witch Week. I found a lot of myself in the both of them, and also things that I would always dream of myself being. I write to you now because I just finished reading Charmed Life again. I had just read the Harry Potter series and was in need of some more good reading until the next book came out, so I dug out my old worn copy of Charmed Life and read it in a day. Then I came to do a search on the internet on 'Chrestomanci' and was delighted to find myself here. I now see that there are some more Chrestomanci books which I shall be tracking down shortly. In closing I want to thank you for giving me some very happy childhood memories and allowing me to dream. Take good care and never stop writing. I shall enjoy reading some of your other novels now that I know about them.

From Christina Talbott-Clark

• Hello Diana! Like Bob, I am 23 and came to your books at about age 10 (elementary school library). My first, and therefore dearest, is Howl's Moving Castle (through the roof at recent news-I adore Miyazaki). I am ever so grateful for your books; I have been rereading them since that first time. Always more to find, always entrancing (and FUNNY!). My best friend Jessie Withrow wrote to you when in elm. school (10-12 years ago). It made a big impression on her to get your reply. Thanks on her behalf (she died last year, a drunk driver hit her). In reading replies to previous questions, I noticed you say boys tend to read later. Wish my mum had known-my brother was slow to read for fun-and it eases my mind for my future kids. Thanks! Also, I noticed you said the first thing to discover when writing is the FEEL of the book. I've never heard anyone who understands how I relate to books before. Amazing!! Thank you! If inspiration should strike you to elaborate on that (esp. HOW one deals with putting the feel into words- work or serendipity?) in future it would be wonderful. Meanwhile I shall continue my studies (Japanese and French). I hope to translate the feel of books into other languages someday. Thank you for providing such inspiring material! Please do take care of yourself. Best wishes and hugs (if you wish them) from Christina in Alaska.

From Weaver

• I have a story. The beginning of it is lost in the mists of time, but the gist of it is that the most tattered, dogeared and loved book in my house -- one I have read, reread and loved since I first knew A from B -- is also one I have never been able to find anywhere else, and since my faithful copy is dying, I'd love to know if the book's still available anywhere in Australia. I'm talking, of course, about Power of Three. Does anyone know...? Anything? About the Harry Potter situation - well, I love the HP world and fandom and everything, but... Honestly, I don't think JK Rowling is a particularly good writer, especially not compared to Diana Wynne Jones or Terry Pratchett. I'm happy for her success but I'm offended that she borrowed so heavily from so many people and didn't acknowledge any of them. And, well, the Harry Potter books you can read once and love them, read twice and still love them, live in the fandom and love them... but I personally will always pick up Diana Wynne Jones first. I'd love to ask, does anyone know if there will be a sequel to Power of Three? I love that book as much at 17 as I did at 3, and it never fails to enchant me thoroughly. A sequel... please...? would be fantastic. Unfortunately, in this wide brown land nobody seems to know who Diana Wynne Jones is. The public libraries have --nothing-- and the bookshops don't either. My old high school library was the only one ever to have copies of DWJ's books -- and may I point out that these are the 25- and 30-year-old copies, and they are much-loved and admired by generations of students. See, Di, we loved you before Harry intruded on the scene! I've talked for too long now. I'm outta here... --Weaver, who is 17, wants to be a writer, and is tall. Anything else you wanted to know?

From Diego McQuestion

• hi, I read your book Stopping for a Spell and if you could tell me where I could get a picture of Simon and Marcia from Chair Person. E-mail me if you know From: Diego McQuestion.

From Eva Forsom

• Hello Diana. I'm a 19-year-old fan from Denmark, I just wanted to thank you for writing. I first discovered your books when I was 12, browsing the local library for interesting books I hadn«t read yet when I found a Danish edition of "Howl's Moving Castle" - it was just everything I'd been looking for in a book and after that I read everything by you that I could find in the library, which only amounted to Dogsbody, Archer's Goon and Charmed life, plus Castle in the Air and I overcame my fear of talking to librarians by ordering Witch Week from another and bigger library. Though I enjoyed them all very much, my favorites were the Howl books, which i re-read and wanted to own so I could keep re-reading them anytime I wanted to - I tried to order them from a bookstore but found to my great disappointment that they were out of print in Danish. So I "lost" the copies from the library and paid for them - the library had several copies of both, so I didn't feel that bad about it. It was easier when I started to read books in English and discovered Amazon.com to the despair of my parents. It's even easier now because most of your books has been re-published, so now my collection is almost complete. I save some of your books instead of reading them all at once, so I haven't read the Dalemark Quartet and Dark Lord of Derkholm+Year of the Griffin yet, even though I own them. I loved Deep Secret which I bought on a trip to London a year ago, and it was especially spooky to read since I was staying at this really weird, old hotel where the hallways made no sense and I kept getting lost trying to find my room. I'm sorry I didn't find this page earlier but I hope you'll get better soon. Please continue to write your wonderful books..

From Jessica

• Dear Diana, I have read all of the "charmed life" books and "The Time Of The Ghost". I loved all of them! I can't wait to read your next novel. I am doing an "Author Report" about you. This website has been a real "life saver". I've beeen having fun learning about you.

From Diana Merritt

• Dear Diana, My name is Diana Merritt and Ilive in Kentucky. I also love cats. I just finished reading "A Charmed Life" and I LOVED it! I even named my new cat 'Fiddle' in honor of Cat's Violin-gone-feline. I'm totally into fantasy and magic, and your book was perfect for me! The way it was written was magical on its own. I can't wait to read the other books along with it, because I know they'll be stories I read over and over again! I want to be a fantasy author when I grow up, and I hope my books are as inspiring to others as yours are to me! Thank you for writing such wonderful stories! Sincerly, Diana Merritt Age 12

From Kayla

• I really love your books and I also really love the illustrations in the books and the covers. I have read all the information I can find about you, but can you give us some information about the illustrator or the cover designer (Tim Stevens, Paul Slater)???? The covers are so very colourful and fantasy-like, and I first started buying the books because I loved the covers. Now I enjoy the books immensely!! Kayla

From Zanna

• Hi! I just wanted to say thankyouthankyouthankyou for all your fabulous books. They are some of the few that make me laugh out loud no matter how many times I read them. I copy out bits of the Tough Guide to Fantasyland and tape them up in my room just to make me laugh. But then, the books aren't just fun and games. I love Dark Lord of Derkholm as much for its touching moments (poor Derk!) as for its sarcastic geese. Thank you for enriching all our lives!!! zanna.

From Margaret McCarthy

• Dear Ms. Diana Wynne Jones, I don't know where to begin. I am a seventeen-year-old American highschool girl, and from the first day I picked up one of your books about seven years ago, I have been an avid, loyal, dedicated, and happy fan. I used to check out your books from my local library so much they might as well have belonged to me. Now that I have a job and can buys things, many of them do. I reccomend your books fervantly to everyone I know. I have read "Howl's Moving Castle" more times than I can count. It is probably my favorite book of yours, although I adore so many others. I use it as therapy - whenever I am stressed or depressed, I read that book, and everything is right with my world. I turned one of your short stories into a skit for my drama class - I hope you don't mind. When I was younger and couldn't drive myself around, I once persuaded my dad to drive me to a library about an hour away just so I could check a book of yours they had there that they didn't have anywhere else. I am now worried that I am starting to sound a little bit crazy, but please understand that I have been such a fan of yours for so long, and that I am absolutely delighted at being able to tell you just how much I enjoy and admire my work. I refer to my car as being "unpoetic". I adore "Fire and Hemlock". I am going to stop now, really, I just wanted to say thank you thank you thank you, you are an incredible writer, you have a delicious sense of humor, and I know I will be enjoying your books for as long as I live.

From Cat

• Dear Diana, I JUST LOVE YOUR BOOKS! They are some of my favourites along side the Harry Potter series and the siries of unfortunate events. My favourites frome your books are the crown of Dalemark, magichans of Caprona and charmed life.my mum never can get my nose out of them. Thanks for the great stories. Cat. Thats realy my name.

From Sharon Kofoed

• Dear Diana, I just wanted to thank you for writing such wonderful books. I was at my University's library one day (I'm in the USA) and I found "Howl's Moving Castle." I checked it out and let me tell you, I couldn't put that down!!! Thanks!!!

From Nathan Bartlett

• Hi diana.My name is Nathan Bartlett.I absolutely love your books.I have not read many(yet) but they exceed my expectations.There truly is something magical about them.I am what my friends jokingly call a "readaholic." I'm not a bookworm or anything but give me a good booksuch as ,The Darklord of Derkholm, and a little bit of time and it will be done 3 hours flat.I get absorbed into the book and cannot stop reading.Your books were simply marvelous.It filled the hole that was dug from bad books.But now I need more of that series,the dark... of derk... and year of the griff...I strongly recommend that your next book be about that series.It would make me the happiest boy on Earth.Thankyou for reading my letter.

From Jennifer Bishop

• Dear Diana, I am so thrilled to read a little about you and the words of many fans like myself who have loved your novels for a long time. My favorite novel of all time is 'The Power of Three' and after studying 'serous' literature at university have never found a book that has given me so much pleasure. Jennife,r Seoul, Korea (transient English teacher)

From Michelle

• I realized that my earlier post sounds a bit childish and annoying, so I wanted to say that Deep Secret is my favorite book next to Fire and Hemlock; but that Z woman is simply irritating. I really hope that you feel better, Diana, and that your new book is going well.

From jojo taylor

• I know you swore to your sister that you would write a sequel to "year of the Griffin" but please hurry i need more the Derkholm are the best books i have ever read. i think it must feel great for you to know that you inspire so many people around the world.

From Bruce and Sue Rockwood

• In May of 1994 I took my wife and two sons, Alex (5) and Nate (9) to spend time in Florence, dragging them all over the city to see the things I remembered from my time there in the u.s. army (1969-71). Nights we stayed in a rented apartment near the market, and I read them to sleep with Redwall, and A Tale of Time City. After that, when we got home, I read them Dogsbody. Since then we discovered and read every book we could find, and I periodically would order hard back reprints from amazon.com, and picked up several british paperback editoins at the SF worldcon in Philadelphia this labor day weekend. We especially liked Deep Secret, it helped us motivate the boys to attend sf cons beyond star trek. Alex, the baby (Corwin, of course) and Sue and I attended the SF Research Association meeting in Schnectady NY this may, met Jane Yolen, etc, and Nate and I attended the whole worldcon. The one thing that wouldmake it perfect would be to meet you, and short of that I want to thank you for all of your work. It is insightful, marvelous, wonderful people you care about, and certainly a better set of worlds than the current timeline. Nate wants to be a SF writer, and to get involved in medieval/renaisaance reenactments. I hope some day to drag them through Britain as I did through florence, or at least the key parts thereof. My wife is a children's librarian three days a week at a local Quaker school, Greenwood Friends School, and has used some of your stories as read aloud there. www.greenwood-friends.org Must go to give a test. Poor kids... Best wishes, keep well.Perhaps you can use dragon naturally speaking software to accommodate the typing; somehow the name makes it sound appropriate. Bruce Lindsley Rockwood (Prof, Legal Studies, Bloomsurg University of Pa)

From matthew bonesteel

• hi diana i love ur books they are just what i like to read!!! i usualy don't like to read but i like ur books

From Cristina Allen

• Can you make an additional book to The lives of Christopher chant? I loved that book and I read it over and over again and alone I have writen 2 other books that could be made as an addition to it, but i know my books are what I think and they aren't as good as yours, thats why I would like you to write the next book.

From Luke K. Pinette

• You are one of my three favorite authors. (Tamora Pierce, Anne McCaffrey are the others) my favorite of your books is "Dark Lord of Derkholm," but I really like all that I have read of your books (every other author I've read who wrote as many books as you did I disliked at least one) and I am writing my own book (I've only got less than a chapter but you and the other two are the reson that I'm writing in the first place) I hope that your others are as exellent and that you become even more well knon then you are (I' m trying to get my brother to read "Howl's Moving Castle) P.S. When Rowling sold every book that she wrote into movies including the unwritten ones she became a fad and will pass like one but you wrote a lot of books and only sold one into a movie so you'll probably (almost garenteed) outsell her (your writtings better and you don't corrupt Myths like she does) Hope you keep writting!

From Kimberly

• Hi Dianna, I'm a 30 year-old female in the United States and I adore your books. I first read "The Ogre Downstairs," when I was 13 and I remember thinking in these exact words as a pre-teen, "this is brilliant!" After that and "Witch Week," I was amazed at the quality and imagination of your writing, and I felt a sort of relief and relaxation, like I had been looking for these stories and books all my life, despite my life being very short at that point. I remember literally sighing after I closed "Witch Week," and I remember thinking, "that's it, that's exactly how I'm going to write". I've always known that I would be a writer when I was an adult, although how and when I was not sure about. I'm happy to have read your biography and see that you were published near the age of 40 and that you've spent so much of your time thinking out your plots and stories. I've always gotten praise for my writing, but have always been very, very, slow about it, to the point of losing publishing contacts via editors moving from one house to another. I've found that after trying for quite some time, and despite my joy and exuberance at attempting to re-create the same kind of wonder that is in your books, I realized that I can only be my own kind of person, and hence produce works all-together different than the types I'd imagined after reading your books and others like it. I'm happy to see that a lot of your advice to writers is about writing in only the way that they can, and that everybody is different. I also enjoyed reading the comments about J.K. Rowling and your responses. I adore the Harry Potter books as well, but have some sympathy towards Rowling, because I too sometimes let slip an idea from someone else's work utterly unintentionally, and have no idea I've done it until much, much, later. So I sympathize with Rowling, and can tell that she simply adored and devoured your books when she was young, which I think is a wonderful compliment. I also think that it's a compliment that your writing and ideas are so powerful that they stick so hard to someone in such a way that they become part of the mesh of one's brain, unable to tell it apart from other bits and pieces. They're so strong that they become such a part of a person, to the point that one cannot imagine that these bits and pieces ever did not exist in your own brain, because they feel so real, like assumptions. It shows how powerfully you capture the imagination. I purchased, "The Ogre Downstairs," for an extremely high price (it was out of print) well before the Potter books came out, remembering it from my childhood and aching to have a copy. I'm happy to see that because of the new-found interest in fantasy via the spotlight on Rowling, that your books are all going back into print and flying off the shelves. I felt happy that the Potter books were published, because I just knew someone would somehow "notice" that your books had existed since the 70's, and that I was bound to be able to obtain my own copies (as well as copies for my nieces and nephews). Happily, I now have every one of your books, the second it comes out in print. I can't wait to buy even more as they hit the shelves. Thanks for inspiring a generation, and allowing others to come after you. I believe in synchronicity and perseverance and talent and hard work, and I can only pray that you are complimented again by other writers attempting, in any small way, to produce the joy and awe that you have created in your books. So if anyone else comes along and sweeps us away, as you have and as Rowling has done much later, I will be grateful, because anyone who writes like you is a master and someone I will devour. I can only hope that I am able to write wonderful pieces that inspire children one day. Thanks for being our beginning. Let's hope there's no end. K.S. from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, U.S.A.

From Jess

• Diana, thank you for your wonderful books. I have read nearly all of them I think! My favourites are the Chrestomanci books and I would be so happy to see a book about Cat when he becomes Chrestomanci. Congratualtions. You are an absolutely brilliant writer.

From Yasmin Z

• Hi Diana. my name's Yasmin and my eyes are now sore because I could not put your books down. They are addictive, especially Hexwood. It's my favourite, i've read it so many times that i've lost count. Once i get hooked into one of your books, my mum tries (emphasis on 'tries') to make me put it down but can never succeed. I cannot wait until Howl's Moving Castle comes out! Do you think you could give me some advice on writing? I like to write, and i plan to become an author one day...i'm only thirteen, but i really hope i can write books that lots of readers will enjoy.