Interview: Laughing Along With I'm Sorry You Feel That Way Author Diana Joseph - Page 3

Yes, I have it listed as the annoying, yet unavoidable question.

I’m working on another set of essays, these are more about what it means to be a woman, things like what do you do when your kid moves out or you find yourself unexpectedly single. I didn’t expect a second failed marriage.

I didn’t expect to find myself here.There’s an essay, it will probably be the first or second piece in the collection that’s being published by the literary magazine Willow Springs; it’s in the current issue.

I do want to give a plug for this magazine. Literary magazines are dying. They’re so important; they’re where emerging authors can get their start. I think this is a great magazine; it’s put out by Eastern Washington University.

I’m Sorry You Feel that Way is striking in its candor. How was the book’s publication received by those around you; particularly the men in your life?

There’s no anger; there’s no hostility. It’s been well received. I don’t think anybody finds it surprising that I’d write a book that’s emotional, or emotionally vulnerable. Whatever the DNA is that let’s a person self-censor, it skipped me. I don’t have it.

My son was the person I was worried about most. He knew I was writing the book, but he was about 14 at the time, so he wasn’t interested. He thought it was weird that people would be interested in that stuff. It wasn’t until he read a review in Entertainment Weekly that he became interested and wanted to read it.

What worried me most – I wasn’t worried about embarrassing him… I think I was pretty clear and honest about how I feel about him. I worried about how he’d respond to the less positive stuff about me. I was worried that he’d be embarrassed by me, or judgmental, or not thinking well of me. I underestimated him.

There’s this version of your parents that they give to you as a kid. Then you get to know them as the people they are when you become an adult. Clayton got a stronger picture of me as the person I am earlier than most of us do.
But, do you know what he said? He read it and said “there’s some stuff about your sex life that I didn’t need to know, but otherwise I thought it was pretty good.” And he bought me a fondue pot.

Article Author: Christy Corp-Minamiji

Christy Corp-Minamiji is a livestock veterinarian, writer, and mother living in Northern California. She writes fiction and blogs on the eclectic range of topics that interest her.

Visit Christy Corp-Minamiji's author page — Christy Corp-Minamiji's Blog