Reflections (37 page)

Johns, W. E., 51

Johnson, Dr., 178

jokes, 53, 109, 345

Jones, Diana Wynne,
263
,
271
,
291
,
294
,
298
: advice on writing, 255–59; ambitions as a writer, 4, 297; Anglo-Saxon tutor,
294
; appearance, xi; at university in Oxford, 47, 58, 85, 120, 127, 186, 203, 344; Aunt Muriel, 262, 264, 297; childhood, xxiv, 80, 120–23, 134, 164, 182, 189, 223, 260–92, 299–310, 315–19, 348; cousin Gwyn, 262; dyslexia, 120, 181, 335–36; early writings, 100, 120–21, 127, 135, 187–88, 245, 286–87; father, 121, 122, , 125, 182, 186–87, 202–03, 218, 223, 260,
261
, 274–77, 285, 286–87, 289–90, 301, 309, 319; father-in-law, 312; goddaughter, 155–56, 239; godmother, 130; grandchildren, 175, 230, 353; homes and houses, 157, 175, 189, 295, 311–14, 321; husband, 38, 119, 171, 199, 266,
291
, 292–97,
294
, 312–13; ideas for stories, 115–16; illnesses, 65, 222, 277, 287, 289, 293; influence on other writers, xv, 159; influences on and inspirations, 60, 118, 123, 202–03, 296, 315, 332–33, 337–38, 344–46; learning to write, 294; method of writing, 37, 108–09, 127–28, 135–41, 172, 206–07, 237–38, 335, 347; mother, xxv, 101, 120–21, 159, 166, 169, 182–83, 185, 223, 224, 226, 260, 265, 269–70, 274–77,
278
, 279–81, 284, 285, 286, 293, 297, 298, 309, 316, 348–49; mother-in-law, 175–76, 178, 312; neglect by parents, xxiv, 80, 134, 182–83, 224, 277–80, 284, 286–87, 348; on being edited, 338–39; order of writing books, 153–54; personality, xi–xiii, 344, 350; planning to be a writer, 120, 181, 274; plotting stories, 116–17, 136–37; principles of writing, 108–09; schooldays, 47, 62, 105, 264, 272–73, 274, 282–84, 341; sisters, xxiv, 104, 121, 122, 135, 182–83, 186, 187, 224, 260,
263
,
265, 272, 274, 278–79, 287–90,
288
, 292, 293–94, 299–310, 312, 348; sons, xxvii, 38, 47, 104, 120, 145, 163, 166, 188, 189–90, 218, 251, 293–97,
296
, 312, 323, 343; travel jinx, xii, xxv, 79, 99–100, 297–98, 326, 344; wedding, 293

Jones, Aneurin:
see
Diana Wynne Jones, father

Jones, Isobel (Armstrong):
see
Diana Wynne Jones, sisters

Jones, Marjorie:
see
Diana Wynne Jones, mother

Jones, Ursula:
see
Diana Wynne Jones, sisters

joy of writing, 117–18, 137

Joyce, James, 85

Jung, Carl, 145

 

Kay (in “The Snow Queen”), 91

Kendrick School, Reading, 251

Kim
,
190, 201

King's College, London, 293

Kipling, Rudyard, 11, 131, 190, 200

Knights of the Round Table, 80

Lake District, 116, 134, 223, 265–70,
271

Lane Head house, 265–66

Langland, William, 205–06, 334

Lawrence, Anne, 106

Leander, 80, 95

Lee, Tanith, 106

Let's Pretend games 1–5, 104

Lewis, C. S., xiii, xix, xxvi, 47–50, 73, 74, 95, 103, 120, 162, 290, 332, 344

Lion and the Unicorn, The
, 79

literary agents, xxviii, 74, 105, 191, 296, 336

“Little Mermaid, The,” 183

Little White Horse, The
,
189

Lively, Penelope, 106, 120, 292

Lives of Christopher Chant, The
,
151–53, 154, 218; Christopher, 151–53, 154; Christopher's parents, 152, 154; Dr. Pawson, 152; Dright, 153; Goddess, 152–53; governess, 152; Tacroy, 218; Uncle Ralph, 152

logic of a story, 118, 128, 172

Loki, 55

London, 134, 224, 260, 265

Lord of the Rings, The
,
7–32, 42, 87, 101, 127, 190, 295, 345, movements in, 7–10, 13–14, 17–21, 25; themes in, 11–12, 18–19

Lynch, P. J., 233

 

Machine Gunners, The
,
248

magic, xx, 53, 106, 130, 152, 159, 162, 208, 209, 216, 227, 231, 247, 249, 335, 344–45; in fantasy, 49, 129; in stories, 101–02, 106, 116, 129, 246, 343–44

Magic City, The
,
345

Magicians of Caprona, The
,
210, 338

Magpies Magazine,
142

Malory, Sir Thomas, 11, 121, 201, 205

manuscripts, unfinished, 137, 341–42

maps in fantasy books, 42, 113, 238–39, 242

Mary Poppins Comes Back
,130

Masefield, John, 73, 163, 171–72

McKinley, Robin, 237

Medea, 84, 143

medieval literature, 10, 48, 203–10

Medusa: The Journal of the Pre-Joycean Fellowship, The
, 33

Meredith, George, 216, 333

Merlin, 82

Merlin Conspiracy, The
,
xix, xx, xxi, 230–32, 335; Grundo, 335; Nick Mallory, 231; Roddy Hyde, xix, 231–32; Romanov, 230, 231

metaphors, 54–55, 129–30, 180, 327

Middle Ages, the, xxix, 196, 201, 203, 210, 232

Milton, John, 15, 81, 350

Miyazaki, Hayao, 330, 347

Monster Garden, The
,
41

Moondust Books, 311

Morte d'Arthur, Le
,
11, 80, 121, 274

Mrs. Dalloway
,
xxii

myths, 125–27, 147, 173, 183, 214, 328–29; Celtic, 74; Charlemagne cycle, 83; Greek, 80, 121, 328; Niebelung cycle, 83; Norse, 55, 56, 88, 144, 203, 209, 328

 

Narnia, 162–63

Narnia, The Chronicles of
, 47–50, 73, 103, 162–63, 247

narratives, 7, 60–61, 77–78, 92–93, 204–07, 221

National Gallery, London, 202, 208

Nazis, 116, 135, 266, 267, 269, 273

Nesbit, E., xviii, 49, 102, 345–46

New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA), 99

Nexus
magazine, 33

Nix, Garth, 330

 

Odysseus, 82–84, 89–90, 97

Odyssey, The
,
81, 85, 89, 91, 96–98

Ogre Downstairs, The
,
xx, 53, 61, 146, 157, 162, 218, 247, 296, 323, 339; Casper, 54, 218; Douglas, 218; Gwinny, 146; Johnny, 54; Malcolm, 54; Ogre, 54, 162

Old English, 24, 58

“Orpheus and Eurydice,” 92, 209

Oxford, 9, 157, 322, 335

Oxford University, 47, 85, 290, 292, 293, 344, 349

Oxford University Press, 105

Oxfordshire landscape, 9

 

Pandora, 91

Paradise Lost
,
81, 245

“Pardoner's Tale, The,” 7, 127

Peake, Mervyn, xxx, 233–36

Pearce, Philippa, 41

Penelope (in
The Odyssey
), 84, 89, 90

Percival, Sir, 11

Perseus, 91

Pierrot, 91

Piers Plowman
,
200, 206–07, 334

Pilgrim's Progress, The
,
80

“Piper at the Gates of Dawn, The,” xxv, 72, 102, 129, 159, 163, 165, 166

planning a book, 116

plots, 6–7, 29, 34, 37, 42, 52, 172, 247, 255, 257, 327–28, 336–37

poetry, 327

politics in books, 39

Polyphemus the Cyclops, 91

Pontardulais, Wales, 134

Poppins, Mary, 130

“popular” fiction, 175, 178

Potter, Beatrix, 135, 269

Potter, Harry, 238, 250, 344

Power of Three
39, 88, 154, 247, 296; Gair, 88

Pratchett, Terry, 180

Pre-Raphaelites, 208

Pride (Spenser's allegory), 91–92

Pride and Prejudice
,
208

Prometheus, 91

publishers, 74, 106, 110, 160, 161–62, 207, 214

Puck of Pook's Hill
,
121, 200, 286

Puffin Books, 247

Pullman, Philip, 237, 245

puns, 53, 89

“Puss in Boots,” 126, 174

 

quests, 6, 7, 10, 25, 127, 198, 205, 208, 344

 

racism, 248

radio interviews, 211

Ransome, Arthur, 36, 72, 121, 135, 161, 187, 223, 265, 268, 292, 319

readers' expectations, 150, 238; experiences from reading, 56–57, 195

“Reeve's Tale, The,” 205

religion, 47, 84, 86, 120, 262, 272, 275

Renaissance, the, 48, 60, 252

responsibilities of writers, 56–57, 72–78, 108, 158, 160, 174

reviewers, 22, 101, 110, 147, 180, 238

rewriting, 140–41, 339

Robin Hood, 148

Romeo and Juliet
,
210

Rowling, J. K., 344

rules in fantasy, 74, 99–114, 161

Ruskin, John, 135, 265–66, 290

 

“Sage of Theare, The,” xx

sailing, 267

Scheherazade, 80, 90

school visits, 68–71, 87, 177, 251–54, 324–26

science fiction, 39, 74, 106–07, 110–11, 115, 208

Science Fiction Foundation, 115

Scott, Sir Walter, 239

Screwtape Letters, The
,
47

Sebastian, St. (painting), 203

Second World War, 116, 134, 223, 260, 302

Secret Garden, The
,
125, 193

sense of wonder, 72

Seven Stories, xxviii

seven-league boots, 129

Shakespeare, William, 85, 210, 215, 350

Shaw, Bernard, 344

Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 346

Siegfried, 84, 184

“Sir Orfeo,” 208, 209

“Sir Thopas,” 85, 204

slaves in fantasy novels, 113, 243–44

“Sleeping Beauty,” 147

“Snow Queen, The,” 91

“Snow White,” 91, 94, 147

Spellcoats, The
,
147, 354

Spenser, Edmund, 86, 91, 350

St. Anne's College, Oxford, 290

Star Trek,
107

storytelling, 43, 114, 118, 172, 204–05

Sudden Wild Magic, A
,
xx, xxi, xxvi

Sutcliffe, Rosemary, 72

Swallows and Amazons
,
135

Sword in the Stone, The
,
36, 173, 202

Tale of Time City, A
,
xxiii, 218, 298; Keeper of the Silver Casket, 218; Sempitern Walker, xxiii, 218

“Tam Lin,” 88, 89, 90, 91, 93, 96, 126, 147, 207, 214, 215, 329, 344

teachers, xiv, 39, 70, 76, 79, 87, 117, 136, 156, 160, 167, 176–81, 183, 195, 244, 274, 282

Telemachus, 91

tennis, 142–44; stars 142–43, 145–46, 150; Wimbledon tournament, 142, 144

Thaxted, Essex, 275–76, 289, 348

Theseus, 82, 143

“Thomas the Rhymer,” 89, 93, 147, 214

Three-Formed Goddess, 92

thriller stories, 110

Time of the Ghost, The
,
147, 182, 186, 218, 224, 288; Fenella, 186; Himself, 218

time travel, 42, 107

Times Literary Supplement, The
,
51, 58

To Tame a Sister
,
36

Tolkien, J. R. R., xiii, xix, xxvi, 6–32, 86, 101, 190, 238, 242, 330, 332, 344; influence of landscape on, 9–10; lectures, xxvi, 6, 120, 127, 290; narrative skill, xxviii, 9, 15, 25, 28, 31–32

Tom Jones
,
85

tomboys, 4, 87

Tom's Midnight Garden
,
41

Tough Guide to Fantasyland, The
,
xx, 196-99, 204, 238–44, 327