Interview with Diane Prokop, Book Reviewer - Part I

Years ago, Diane Prokop and I met while working in similar positions at a community college, but lost track of each other until just recently, when books brought us back together. 

We vowed to have coffee or lunch at the 2011 Wordstock Festival in Portland, but we had to settle for two minutes in between author readings and signings. Our love of writing and reading clearly dictates that we will  have a nice long leisurely catch-up lunch soon, but until then, I was too curious about her new passion—book reviewing. As a great follower of Maureen Corrigan and her crisply enunciated NPR reviews, I was eager to find someone other than the highbrow NYT Michiko Kakutani print reviews to follow. I appreciate Maureen’s combination of heart and critical analysis of craft and wanted to find someone similar to read, and now I have.

On her review site, Diane revels in her love of reading and her admiration for writers. I’m reading three books she’s recommended and am now a fan. After doing the following interview, I’m even a bigger fan. She has heart, she doesn’t box herself in, she’s honest, and she’s funny. So without further ado, here’s the first part of the interview with part two coming next week. Enjoy, maties!

Tell us a little about yourself.

Born and raised in Chicagoland - it will always be home. Won my first writing contest in grade school for a poem called “The Lighthouse.” Freelance writer for magazines. Public relations specialist at community college. Life-long student with degree in anthropology. Have taken years and years of art classes but am still just average. Certified computer programmer. Certified cabinetmaker. Earned First Aid card. Best memories - two years spent backpacking though Europe. Still friends with people I knew in grade school and high school. Am curious about everything. Always on the lookout for new authors and budding musicians. Love my dogs. Live in Portland, Oregon - home of Powell’s Books, food carts and rain.

Diane with Max and Jazz

What made you decide to become a book reviewer? How did you get started?

I started keeping bibliodiaries many years ago when I got tired of saying, “Oh yeah, I loved that book or I hated that book,” but couldn’t remember why. Also, I wanted a record of all the books I’d read to see where it was leading me, if anywhere. The journals also contain notes about interesting books I want to read someday and music that I want to check out. One day I decided it would be fun to put it online. At first, I thought only my friends and family would read it. It turns out, though, that my friends and family aren’t big readers, so they check it once every few months just to see if I’ve mentioned them or embarrassed myself. On the other hand, I’ve become really good friends with some of the people who follow my blog. I call them my imaginary friends and would like to meet them someday.

In addition to my blog, last summer I began writing occasionally for the Portland Book Review. It’s where most of my author interviews are posted because I can reach a wider audience. Publishers are more apt to approach me when they see me at multiple sites because it translates into more readers. I hope that eventually my reputation will allow me to write solely for my blog, but in the meantime, it’s working out really well.

You worked in public relations at a community college before moving to Portland, Oregon. How did that help?

Diane at her desk

That job really honed my writing skills. Besides writing press releases, editing copy, writing speeches and talking to TV, radio and print media, I had to produce a daily newsletter that was read by hundreds of academia. Some days it felt like their sole purpose in life was to find my punctuation and spelling errors, or worse. It was humbling. I also developed interviewing skills because of the profiles I did for educational journals, etc. I found that I really enjoyed listening to people tell me their stories. I got excited about what they were excited about. When I started interviewing authors, all those skills kicked in.

Why did you decide to make your book blog a “snark-free” zone as you call it, and why do you only review five-star books?

I have three, four and five-star books on my site, although you can’t see the actual star rating unless you visit me atGoodreads.com. There are several reasons for keeping it snark free, but the main one is that I do this out of love. To me, the most significant action I can take when I don’t like a book is to ignore it. When I get together with other book people, I do trash-talk books. In fact, I can get as emotional about books that disappoint me as I do about books that transcend my expectations. But since I rarely finish a book I don’t like, there’s really no way I can review it. One recent exception was The Help. I kept reading it in spite of the fact that with every page I read, I detested it more and more. Since I had heard so many great things about it, I expected to have an epiphany at some point. I never did. I still don’t know what all the fuss was about.

What’s the difference between you and other reviewers online? What makes you different?

I make it personal. When I read a book, I develop a relationship with the story and, in a way, with the author. Reviewing the book is an analysis of that relationship as opposed to literary criticism. As in life, when I fall in love with a book, I’m head over heels. My readers can see how much I love the book. I don’t hold back at all. In fact, I gush. I become a huge advocate for the author. I tweet them, FaceBook them, and cheerlead them so that they’ll garner a wider fan base. That’s where my PR experience comes in handy. It’s also why, in spite of the fact that social media is not my favorite thing, I am on Twitter and Facebook. I want to spread the word and that is how it’s spread these days.

Tell me about your process in selecting the books you review or feature. You don’t have a review policy on your blog, so I’m guessing you don’t take unsolicited books for review. Do you receive books from publishers? How else do you find them?

I don’t have a review policy, as such, because I never got around to it. I find books by reading Publishers Weekly, Shelf Awareness, Poets & Writers, the NYT and subscribing to e-newsletters from small presses that let me know when new books are coming out. Twitter and FB help me pick up on buzz, too. I don’t like to receive “unsolicited” books from authors and publishers, but I get them from time to time. I do ask for and receive a lot of books from publishers and a few from authors. Some weeks, a dozen books will arrive by mail, UPS and FedEx. I buy a lot of books, of course. I’m a huge first edition addict and belong to a couple of first edition book clubs.

I picture you with stacks of books everywhere in your house, and you have to read each one or at least read the beginning to see if you’re interested. How do you manage that?

Diane's First Editions

Every room in my house is a shrine to books. I have a first edition room, art book room, advance reader copy room, music, photo and film book room, books I will never read but were given to me by a well-intentioned friend room, and then several stacks by my bedside. Since I moved twice in the last ten years, I had to divest myself of a lot of books which was very painful. I’m trying to make up for that now. I need lots of books around me. I usually give each book the 40-page test and then make a decision on whether to continue. If I don’t like it, but I think some other reviewer might, I pass it along.

Can you give us a “picture” of what it’s like to do what you do, say, for a day or week when you’re working on your blog entry? I know you attend Powell’s Bookstore events (and for clarification, I know you do not work for them). How do you rustle up authors?

On average, I spend about four to five hours a day reading, reviewing, researching, posting, tweeting, FBing, and emailing. The spring and fall are my busiest times because that is when most books are released. Book events are scheduled every day of the week during those months. A typical week will have one or two author events that I’m interested in, usually at Powell’s, but at other venues, too. If I am interviewing the author, I read their book twice and prepare a list of questions. I spend at least one-half hour to an hour with the author. I also record their reading and Q&A and take pics. I like to synthesize the event into a few paragraphs for my blog to give my readers a sense of who the author is and what the event was like. If they tell a funny story or say something really interesting, I’ll make a short audio clip for my site and for YouTube. (My YouTube account is called buksr4u). If I interview the author, I get my books autographed at that time. If not, I stand in line to get them signed at the end of the event. The next day, I transcribe the interviews and readings and then write my posts. As far as rustling up authors, usually a publicist will ask me to interview their author. Once in awhile, I’ll reach out to the publicist. A few authors have contacted me and asked to be interviewed. If it’s someone I want to meet, I say yes.

How are the authors, especially the “famous” authors, to work with?

Diane with Sebastian Barry, Irish playwright, novelist and poet

It’s amazing to me how gracious most of the authors are. Alexandra Fuller, Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen, Bret Easton Ellis, Anne Enright, Andre Dubus III, Richard Russo, for instance, have all been very, very nice. A few others were a little peculiar, but not nasty. Some of the debut authors seemed dazed and confused, and I feel a little sorry for them. Quite a few authors live in a bubble so they don’t understand what bloggers do. I’m fairly certain there was one author who thought I was a stalker. Another author questioned me at length as to why I had an ARC. I don’t know if she thought I stole it or what exactly the problem was, but she was not happy. I think publishers need to explain to authors that, because book reviewers have been let go from print publications, bloggers are filling a much-needed gap in the publicity package. If a blogger has your ARC, that means your publisher thought they should have it. I’ve also had a couple of authors refuse to sign an ARC. Both relented when they saw I had first editions of their books, as well, but that was uncomfortable.

Some authors pick up their pen and don’t look up from the signing table until the last person has left the room. They have no desire to interact with their fans. It’s a little disappointing from the fan’s point of view, but for these authors the tour is one hundred times harder than writing the book. I’ve had authors confide in me that they spent the hour before the reading throwing up in the bathroom. I feel for them - that would be me.

(To be continued! More stories next week about Diane and her adventures with famous authors, her funniest moment, her most horrifying moment, and what advice she has for author readings and readers attending readings.)

Anne Enright

To follow Diane, click on any of these links:
Diane's Book Blog
Diane on Twitter 
Diane on Facebook 
Diane on Goodreads 



Diane's interview with Anne Enright is now up on her blog. Read it here!

Until then, keep reading and writing!

Your Shipmate in Life’s Adventures,

Captain Val

The Deep: Captain Val's Answers to Last Week's Questions

Gobsmacked: Celebrating Me Birthday Month with a Giveaway!

            For the month of May, I’ll be givin’ away a signed copy of my France, a Love Story, along with a surprise: a signed copy of a book by another author who … I'll just keep ye guessin’.

            Here’s me instructions: leave a comment on me blog, and your name goes into the end-of-the month drawin’. The more comments, the better your chances. If you subscribe by email, send your name and comment to valinparis (at) earthlink (period) net. If ye wish me to post yer comment to me Captain’s Log, tell me, and it’s done!

Bonus! Every captain needs followers and here’s how to serve yer captain. Bring a mate on board Gobsmacked by having them sign up to receive me blog. For every mate you bring aboard, your name goes into the drawing three times. I’m using the pirate’s code of honor for this. Just tell me you signed ‘em up. No cheatin’ now or it’s the gangplank!

The Deep: Captain Val's Answers to Last Week's Questions

Last week, I wrote ‘bout how a writer’s job resumé offers nothin’ but a skeleton of their experience. Writers ha’ to dig deep into personal experience to understand human nature and create living, breathing, believable characters. Some authors might disagree, but they don’t sail on my ship.

That’s why I suggest asking more personal questions of authors at readings. Depending on the nature of the book (‘cause you want to ask pertinent questions, not superficial, sensationalistic ones), the questions can be related to what the novel or memoir brings to the surface for you emotionally.

Here’s where I dive in deep water. Remember the questions I posed from last week?

“Ha’ ye ever been close to dying?”

“Ha’ ye ever taken a dark road and been lost?”

“What terrifies you and why?”

As promised, I’ll ask ‘em of meself and tell ye how they relate to life and work. A’right?

Ha’ ye ever been close to dying?

Job experience in me twenties:  drive-in restaurant waitress, telephone switchboard operator, movie theater ticket sales person, keypunch operator for a woolen mill (Ah, that dates me!)

Life experience and answer to the question:

Aye. At age twenty-three, I was beaten and had a knife put to me throat by a bi-polar, alcoholic Vietnam Vet who I was divorcin’ at the time. I’ve used that fear and aspects of the experience in me writin’. I’ve also used the characteristics that kept me alive—strength, determination, resilience, and street smarts. I learned first hand about PTSD, what war does, how it effects families, what violence looks and feels like, and can empathize with those who continually face the threat of violence and death during war and at home.

Ha’ ye ever taken a dark road and been lost?

Job experience during my thirties:  artist, editor of a literary arts magazine, graphic artist, cultural resource coordinator for the arts

Life experience and answer to the question:

No. I’ be lost a time or two, but ha’ ne’er taken a dark road. Even when I was wi’ me ex-husband, we had a child, traveled, and moved to Oregon from the East Coast. My son and Oregon were my greatest gifts from the ex, and I troll those waters, too, for me writing. The dark always yields to the light.

What terrifies you and why?

Job experience from forties onward: strategic planner at a community college; graphic designer and illustrator; writer

Life experience and answer to the question:

Nothing terrifies me, not after the experiences of my twenties, after the death of my best friend in high school, the suicide of my father, the terror of my ex. I follow me passion, have a terrific family, live in paradise, have the love of a great man, and if anything would frighten me, it would be the thought of losing any of my family, especially outliving the young ‘uns. But I don’t live there. I do however explore the possibilities, using those fears in the current work in progress “Parallel Crossings” where the five-year-old daughter of the main character is kidnapped by her ex-husband, and the girl is never found. That’s how I work the whole bloody thing into a story.

Guest author Erika Dreifus answers one of me questions

To show you scallywags what happens with authors when you ask questions like the ones above, I contacted Erika Dreifus, author of the brilliant debut short-story collection Quiet Americans. The connected stories about the Jewish experience during and after the Holocaust are so different and rich with characters who feel so real, I had to ask Erika the following question. Her answer follows.

Have you ever had a personal tragedy that gives you a strong empathy for your characters and what they had to endure?

“I think that the opposite situation may be true, that the immense good fortune and privilege with which I have been blessed are what have attracted me to the characters, themes, and events in Quiet Americans. It is because I find it so difficult to envision coping with the challenges that are woven into the stories that I have tried so diligently to do exactly that: envision. Then, too, the fact that certain characters and circumstances are so closely modeled on my beloved grandparents and what they did, in fact, have to endure does add a strong dose of personal connection to the mix.”

* * * * *

So there ye ha’ it! All told, if ye do one thing this month to celebrate me birthday, go to an author’s meet and greet, reading, or signing. No bones about it. They put their whole life into their work, and we benefit.

From the Gobsmacked ship to yours, a hearty hi-ho!

Captain Val

Captain Val's review of Erika Dreifus' QUIET AMERICANS

Coming Up!

May Giveaway!

“Platform, Flatform”

“A View of My Writers Room Wall: What Inspires Me”

“Oh, Google, My Name is …”

… and soon an interview with Jessica Maxwell of Roll Around Heaven