Fantasy and horror author Dianna Gunn has known she was a writer since age 8. Writing has carried her through poverty, bullying, the loss of her father at 12, alternative school, chronic illness, and a publishing industry that gets harder every year. 

Rich Wright sits down with the Toronto author, freelance tech writer, and founder of Weeknight Writers for an honest conversation on creative resilience, ADHD, self-publishing, and why writing is who she is.

Dianna grew up in deep poverty in the Toronto suburbs, an only child with two disabled parents. With a learning disability in math and a spatial awareness disorder, she built worlds with stuffed animals, action figures, and inherited Lego. She did her first NaNoWriMo at 11 and finished her first novel 24 hours before her dad's cancer diagnosis. His death shortly after her 12th birthday remains the worst day of her life.

KEY TOPICS

• Growing up poor, bullied, and neurodivergent
• Celtic dance, Clan Gunn heritage, and spreading her father's ashes in Wick, Scotland
• Moving in with her grandmother at 15 and dropping out for two years
• Contact Alternative School and the teacher who made history feel lived in
• Oasis Skateboard Factory: building a skateboard brand, sanding decks, an Anomaly art installation, and workshops at the Art Gallery of Ontario
• ADHD, the interest-based nervous system, and why real-world learning keeps kids from falling through the cracks
• Building a freelance tech writing career to fund a fiction career
• Self-publishing vs. traditional publishing in today's market
• Generative AI, stolen creative work, and the em dash debate
• Building a kind, engaged online writing community

THE BOOKS:The Moonshadow world began as a homebrew tabletop RPG her parents created. Dianna first wrote Moonshadow's Guardian at 15 and published it in 2018. The Moonshadow Rising duology (Moonshadow's Guardian and Moonshadow's Champion) is complete, and a six-book Moonshadow spinoff series is in progress. Woman of Sorrow and Blood, her gothic horror novel, grew from a pre-made book cover a friend gifted her for Christmas. Killer Debt: An Anthology of Murder collects custom-written death scenes commissioned by readers.

WEEKNIGHT WRITERS What began as a Twitter chat is now a social enterprise for fantasy, science fiction, and horror writers, with virtual conferences, a structured Discord, nightly accountability check-ins, weekly write-ins, writing sprints, Story Crafting Sessions, and First Draft Fall.

THE TRUTH ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING "Go in knowing it is incredibly hard." Dianna explains how shrinking organic reach, paid ads, and AI-generated content changed the indie author landscape, and why most writers need another income stream for years.

ADVICE FOR WRITERS Decide what your writing dream is. Know what you're willing to sacrifice. Then pursue it relentlessly. "You only fail when you give up."

Connect with Dianna:

Website: https://authordiannagunn.com

Support and Shop Art Rec Merch: ⁠https://www.artrecshop.com⁠ 

Join Podmatch: ⁠⁠https://www.joinpodmatch.com/artistre..⁠. 

Dyslexia Classes: ⁠⁠https://www.skool.com/dyslexia-classes⁠⁠

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