Today we’re interviewing Phyllis C. Johnson, the author of Being Frank with Anne- a poetic interpretation of Anne Frank’s diary. (She’s also co-author of inkBLOT, the suspense novel written with Nancy Naigle under the pen name, Johnson Naigle.) Read to the end of the interview to find out out you can get a free Kindle version of her book.
Interview with Phyllis Johnson:
Phyllis, why did you write a poetic interpretation of Anne Frank’s diary?
One summer I started to re-read the diary. It moved me so much that I picked up a notebook and started expressing my feelings about the entries in poetic form. Each poem is headed by the chronological date that corresponds with the diary entry.
How long did it take you to write the book?
I wrote it over the course of a summer in several spiral bound notebooks. They stayed in my filing cabinet for years and once I published my first poetry book, I pulled out those notebooks and decided it was time to publish the book.
You said you’ve had an interesting journey with this book. What do you mean by that?
While getting reviews for the book, I contacted the Anne Frank foundation. The CEO of the Anne Frank Fonds in Basel, Buddy Elias, read and reviewed the book. He said that Anne would have liked it very much. That thrilled me. When I got the letter from him, I didn’t realize he was her first cousin. I learned that later on the internet.
I’m sure that was a real boost coming in contact with Anne’s cousin. Has anything else happened with this book that was interesting?
The book was archived at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and was requested by Miep Gies in the Netherlands. She was age 99 when I emailed her. Surprisingly, she emailed back and asked for 3 copies of the book. She mailed one of them back to me with her signature and a short note inside. That was both exciting and humbling for me to have come in contact with such a brave and remarkable woman. I had the first edition of the book posted at the New York Anne Frank Center website bookstore so that was really awesome too.
Obviously reading Anne Frank’s diary had a big impact on your life. Tell us about that.
When I read her diary as a young girl, I was impressed by someone who had such an optimistic outlook. She had the ability to find the silver lining in the cloud and I wanted to have that same tendency. I was never able to shake off the feeling I had when reading the book and it haunted me. I had to write my book in tribute of her memory and philosophy and to express my own feelings about her words. Although she was Jewish and I am Christian, I felt connected to her in some way. It’s hard to describe. Her words touched my soul and moved me.
I understand this is the second edition of the book. Why did you make a second edition?
I wanted the new cover to have Anne’s photo on the front. I wanted immediate recognition that the book was about Anne Frank and I’m not sure the first edition did that. Also, the original publisher hadn’t made the book into an ebook and that was a direction that I wanted to take with it. It has since been out as an ebook and just last week, it made #18 Kindle Holocaust/Anne Frank book.
The original edition had an abridged version that was recorded on audio CD. Do you plan to sell those too?
I need to have those packaged with the new cover image on them. I also had lesson plans that coordinate with the book and CD. There are seven of them. The book has been used in classrooms from grade five through high school, both in English and social studies. Students either drew pictures or wrote me letters expressing their feelings about the book.
What plans do you have for the future with this subject?
I am currently collecting poetry about Anne Frank for an anthology. I’ve gotten poems from poets all over and when I have enough for a book length work, I will get them published. It’s great seeing what other people have to write about Anne. In the spring, I may be doing a presentation at a media specialists’ conference about interpreting nonfiction into poetry.
Do you have plans for other nonfiction turned into poetry?
I have briefly written some about Helen Keller and Maggie Lena Walker. It’s not published yet.
Do you have other poetry books out?
I have four poetry books: Hot and Bothered by It (midlife humor for women), Poetic Dreamer (inspired by art, photography and life in general) , Twelve is for More than Doughnuts (based on the Bible) and Being Frank with Anne.
What other kind of writing do you do?
I’ve been a freelance photojournalist for twenty years, writing for newspaper and magazines including Virginia Teacher and Woman’s World and numerous others. I’ve been a weekly columnist and a food writer as well. I have some romantic comedy online under a pen name and have told people that my Muse has many voices. I think it helps keep me fresh.
My method of writing is whenever the Muse hits. If it’s photojournalism, it’s often by assignment. If it’s creative, I have to be inspired by something to get the wheels turning. If I’m writing a short story or novel, I’m often a pantser rather than an outliner. I’m weird like that. I like to be surprised myself and the ending will have a twist or some surprise if I “fly by the seat of my pants.” We’ll see what approach I take with the next novel. As for poetry, writing that is something that comes from deep inside of me. All I have to do is open a vein. :.)
Being Frank with Anne, http://www.amazon.com/Being-Frank-Anne-Poetic-Tribute/dp/1467951439 $9.99 in print at Amazon, $2.99 for Kindle book
Readers can contact me at pjwriter7@aol.com
Would you like a free copy (Kindle version) of Being Frank with Anne? Send a request to Phyllis at pjwriter7@aol.com.
Did you know that Phyllis is collecting an anthology of poems about Anne Frank from poets all over the world? If anyone would like to contribute some send her an email at pjwriter7@aol.com
Visit her website: www.phyllisjohnson.net
Visit her website: www.beingfrankwithanne.com
On Twitter @phyllisCjohnson
