Author Spotlight: Diana Wynn Jones

Most people know Diana Wynn Jones for her book Howl's Moving Castle and the Studio Gibli movie that was made from it. But she actually wrote a lot of books. I'll admit, I've barely scratched the surface of her writing, and yet I'd still say she's one of my favorite authors. I haven't done an author spotlight in a while and I realized I haven't done a female author yet, so that's why I picked Diana.

Biography

Diana Wynn Jones was born in London on August 16, 1934. When WWII started, her family moved a lot, eventually settling in Essex. She attended Oxford University (where she went to lectures by both C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien!) and married John Burrow.

She started writing children's books in the 1960s because she didn't like the ones she saw. Mrs. Jones published a book a year for over forty years during her career as a writer. She got cancer and died in 2011.

Books

Since Mrs. Jones was such a prolific author, I won't list all of her books here. I'm going to stick to her more popular ones. If you'd like a complete list, try this Wikipedia article.

Howl Series-
Howl's Moving Castle
Castle in the Air
House of Many Ways

Chrestomanci Series-
Charmed Life
The Lives of Christopher Chant
Conrad's Fate
Witch Week
The Magician's of Caprona

Enchanted Glass
The Game
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland
Hexwood

What I Enjoy About Her Work

For starters, she's an excellent fantasy writer. Her works show the influences she had from some of England's greatest writers, as well as her own spin. From what I've heard, A Tough Guide to Fantasyland takes a go at fantasy and all it's tropes and cliches.

Second, her writing is very engaging. As I said, I've only read five or so of her books, but I love them to death. She keeps you turning pages, wanting to know what happens next. Sadly, she's not as known here in the States, and the libraries don't have a lot of her books.

Lastly, she's an inspiration for how many books she wrote. A book a year for forty years is nothing to sneeze at. I'd love to be able to say I published that many books in my life time someday.

Let's talk! Have you read any of Diana Wynn Jones's books? Do you have a favorite? Tell me in the comments.