NZ for the UK aged eight—living at various times in England and Scotland. We then moved back to this side of the world to briefly live in Australia before returning to New Zealand. That was all before I was 15. At 15 I left home to live in the far north of Western Australia, before heading back to England.

QueerLit101.com: What caused you to leave home at 15?

Wood: I guess the short answer is the fear that at some time or another I would take a knife to my father—either to defend my mother or myself. This was a man full of contradictions—a man who was intelligent and funny, who didn’t drink, worked hard and brought his money home to the family—a man who cared about others and could be kind. Nearly everyone who knew him believed him to be charming and easy going. But there was a dark side shown only to those who knew him intimately.  To us he was a man with a very short fuse, who would become volatile and violent over the slightest thing, a man who disliked being disagreed with in any manner and who harboured a lot of anger and bitterness. He had also received serious head injuries during WWII and as an adult I can now see that this may have left him with a certain lack of control over his temper. As a teenager, I wasn’t willing to continue putting up with the physical violence and the emotional toll that living in a war zone was taking on my brother and me.  I was becoming afraid of my own anger.

QueerLit101.com: What was the “gay life” in London like?

Wood: It was the ‘70s and in those days there were a couple of thriving lesbian clubs, the most well known of which was the Gateway Club in Chelsea. It was small and noisy and not always salubrious, but it was an oasis where you could simply be who you were.  And it was a place where, during my various periods of being single, you could go to meet women.  Later, after I left the army and joined the UK Prison Service, I was stationed at Holloway Prison in North London. The job came with single and marital accommodations right in the heart of London. Given that close to two thirds of the female staff was lesbian, it was permanently party night in our blocks of flats.  It wasn’t at all uncommon for the women to have serial romances, and if we weren’t partying at home we’d sample all the London restaurants, shows, cinemas, galleries—whatever took our fancy.  I absolutely loved the London scene, had some great friendships during that time, some great affairs and a couple of good longer term relationships. To this day my partner and I are still very close friends with my first girlfriend from the London era and her partner—a 44-year friendship.  I earned excellent money, was young, brave and in the best place in the world.  London and the UK in general will always own a huge chunk of my heart.

QueerLit101.com: What was the inspiration for Web of Obsessions?

Wood: Firstly, my experiences in maximum security prisons, both in the UK and in Australia.  This work experience allowed me to meet at close quarters serious offenders from all walks of life.  It gave me an insight into their lives and mentality.  I also experienced working incredibly long hours as an under-trained, sometimes under-educated, and definitely under supported officer, in a dangerous pressure cooker environment. All of which taught me that very little about human nature is black and white—and that the grey in our characters is probably the most interesting and contradictory.  Some of the most damaged and flawed people can be some of the most loyal and generous, while some of the most privileged and supposedly “normal” people can be the most soulless and manipulative. As a prison officer, I heard a lot of stories first-hand from prisoners, escorted a lot of serious offenders to court matters and trials in Britain, and as a case manager in a maximum security juvenile justice centre, read a lot of background, welfare, psychological and psychiatric reports on violent and dangerous inmates.  Parts of all of these experiences allowed me to develop the characters for Web of Obsessions and from this platform, the basic storyline.  The inspiration for some of the storyline and characters outside the prison environment were taken from the very eclectic bunch of friends, acquaintances and even ex-girlfriends I have known over the years.

QueerLit101.com: What was the inspiration for The Fortune Teller’s Daughter?

Wood: The inspiration for this storyline was the mother of a friend of mine. She was nowhere near as evil as the mother in this story, but she was a fortune teller, and she certainly wasn’t a pleasant character. Her treatment of her daughter bordered on abuse and she would do next to anything for money. Her house was very similar to the one described at the start of the novel,  and after spending time in this house I always knew that someday I would have to write it into a book.  The rest of the characters and story however were purely my imagination woven loosely around a hybrid of “real life” individuals and situations I’d come across over the years. Again, my experiences with offenders and their offences also played some part in the story development.

QueerLit101.com: You’ve said that, “My books are definitely not your run-of-the-mill sweet lesbian romances.” What do you mean by that?

Wood: Just like many women, I enjoy a great lesbian romance, and these are the books that are popular and sell well, but I’m not the person to write them. Many years ago I used to wonder why I could buy mainstream novels that included serial killers, kidnappers, rapists, forensic specialists, flawed or corrupt detectives, caring or sympathetic criminals, love stories that involved murder and other nasties, yet at the time, it was almost impossible to find a lesbian novel with the same depth and along the same vein. For me, my only option seemed to be to buy mainstream and read the lesbian books when I wanted something lighter.  I think that’s when I decided to write the type of book I wanted to read.  I knew when I first started writing that the chances of ever being a “popular” lesbian writer were very slim.  My books are about the darker and more difficult side of life—how this effects my female characters, how they live with or overcome this darkness, and how love can survive in even the worst situations.  Life experience has taught me that this darker side is not just in the imagination of fiction writers.  For many women it’s their reality—and yet it seems to be something many women prefer not to read about.  And I do understand this.  If you want to read something relaxing with a good straight-forward romance, then you probably won’t enjoy my writing. Things have changed considerably in lesbian fiction over the years and the range of books on offer now is far more diverse.  Even so, my subject matter can be unsavoury, my characters can be terminally flawed and my outcomes are not always wine and roses. And many simply don’t enjoy this. It’s definitely not an indictment of the reader—it’s just how it is.

QueerLit101.com: Are any of your characters based on real people, including yourself?

Wood: I don’t think that any one character is based on me, although there is a small part of me invested in both Jordan MacKenzie, from Web of Obsessions and Alex Messner, from The Fortune Teller’s Daughter.  I’m not sure how it’s possible for an author to write a novel and not project something of themselves into it, whether it’s a belief system, moral values, passions or just some of your own peculiarities.  As for the other characters—yes, many of them are based on real people I’ve met, but hopefully I’ve managed to disguise them enough that nobody would recognize themselves.

QueerLit101.com: Tell me something about Diane Wood that’s not in her bio.

Wood: When I was 10 years old, I told my very Catholic aunt that I believed that this planet was nothing more than a training ground and learning experience for your spirit—a way for it to accelerate the learning that the spirit needs to evolve.  I told her that this is why life on this planet was so harsh.  I also told her that our true lives are lived in spiritual realms and that this is where we return to in death—not heaven and hell—just different spiritual worlds. My aunt immediately began investigating who would have told me such rubbish—suggesting to my mother that she seriously monitor who I came into contact with.  But there was no mystery person—I was born with these beliefs.  Interestingly, my beliefs have never changed, but over time, my aunt’s views did a complete reversal.

QueerLit101.com: When do you find time to write?

Wood: I still work, have a reasonably full social life, and a relationship that is of paramount importance in my life.  Writing, as much as I love it, is something I have to fit in around these competing priorities. Presently most of my writing happens after work and on weekends, but it is often hard to continue the momentum on a regular basis. This will be addressed around the middle of next year, when I plan to retire. I very much enjoy writing in the mornings (don’t ask me why), so hopefully after retirement I will be able to get into a permanent routine.

QueerLit101.com: What advice would you give to young writers who hope to be published someday?

Wood: Read, read and read some more—investigate what it is about the books you enjoy that make them enjoyable, and do the same with the books you don’t like.  Then try to fit the positives into your own style of writing, while avoiding the things you find annoying or boring. Be true to your style and passion. Writing only for the sake of popularity may get you published, but in time it may cost you your love of writing. If possible, try to keep a balance that offers the publisher and reader what they want, while satisfying your own creativity.

QueerLit101.com: What kind of books do you read?

Wood: I enjoy thrillers, murder mystery, drama, anything with strong characters and a good storyline—but I also like there to be a touch of romance included. I want to know what motivates the protagonists. I want to know about their private lives.

QueerLit101.com: What was the last book you read?

Wood: The Devil be Damned, by Ali Vali

QueerLit101.com: What are you reading now?

Wood: Orphan Maker, by D. Jordan Redhawk

QueerLit101.com: Tell us about getting kicked out of the Army.

Wood: It was 1974, in England, and it was illegal to be homosexual in the British Army.  As a young person I was never very good at following rules, or living communally, both of which were prerequisites of being a soldier. So, while I loved the physical and mental challenges of army life, I never really felt at home there. After basic training, I was accepted into the Military Police.  It was interesting work, but part of this role was investigating allegations that someone was gay.  I could never reconcile this with being gay myself, so I applied to leave the MPs. I was returned to the training barracks to await reassignment and began a brief affair with a nurse there.  We both decided we wanted to leave the army, but as we were contracted for five years, we made it known that we were lovers.  As a consequence we were unceremoniously kicked out. The main reason we wanted out was because we would have had to pretend to be something we weren’t.  I’m too open a person for that, and I hated the thought of spending my life lying.

QueerLit101.com: Describe the space in which you write.

Wood: I have my own study which overlooks the back garden and plenty of trees. There are often Kookaburras and lots of other birds to look at, and because the room is tucked away at the back, it is lovely and quiet.  I’ve very much made this room my own, with files, and reference books and lots of photos of those I love.  My office chair is the most comfortable seat in the house and I have hundreds of albums on my iTunes to listen to while I work. I truly love this space, it’s my own little world of creativity and thought.

Note: For the review of The Fortune Teller’s Daughter, simply go to the "authors/editors" page and select "Diane Wood."