Diantha Jones is the author of Prophecy of the Most Beautiful and many other books that I have yet to read, but she agreed to do an interview with me via email.  So join us for a lively discussion about inspiration, hog-tying time and what aspiring writers should really do.

1. Where did you get the idea for Prophecy of the Most Beautiful from?
When I decided that I was going to start my series, I already knew I wanted it to be about Greek mythology. I picked the Oracle of Delphi as my focus (because you’ve gotta have a focus when dealing with Greek myth or your brain will explode). From there, I decided that each book would be a different prophecy that fed into a larger overall prophecy. The name itself (Most Beautiful) just came to me one night while writing and I was like, oh yeah. That’s it, baby.

2. Have you always loved Greek mythology or is this a recent discovery? What’s your favourite myth and why?
I have always adored Greek myths. Well, not always, but for a pretty long time. My favorite is the story of Cupid and Psyche and how they hooked up. I think it’s hilarious the part that Aphrodite plays in the story (the jealous goddess bit) because it makes such a valid point.  Women are such haters *lol*

3. Do you have any advice for the aspiring writers out there?
Stop aspiring, and write something.

4. What is the novel-writing process like for you? Do you plot things out or just go with the flow?
You know, funny you should ask that. I absolutely hate outlines. They suck. So for the first two books, Prophecy of the Most Beautiful and Prophecy of the Setting Sunrise, I just went with the flow. But for this third book Prophecy of Solstice’s End (due out in July) I had to write an outline because there are just so many things happening that I couldn’t keep it all straight and I HATED it. *le sigh* But it had to be done.

5. What made you decide to self-publish? Would you do it all over again if you had the experience you have now?
I love being self-published, though I would love to be traditionally published as well one day.  It’s a lot of work being self-published, but it’s rewarding. Every time I make a sale I know that God and my hard work made that possible. So yes, I would do it all over again if I had to.

6. How do you find a balance between work and your writing?
I have never been able to find balance. It keeps alluding me at every turn. When I do finally catch it though, I’m hog-tying it and stashing it under the stairs straight up Harry Potter style.

Thanks, Carrie!