Interview with Diana Raab, author of 'Lust'



Diana Raab, Ph.D. is an award-winning poet, memoirist, educator, transpersonal psychologist, and author of eight books, including four poetry collections and two memoirs, Regina’s Closet and Healing With Words. Her latest poetry collection, Lust, is available in softcover wherever books are sold and on Audible.

She is also editor of two anthologies, Writers and Their Notebooks and Writers on the Edge: 22 Writes Speak About Addiction and Dependency. She is advocate of writing for healing, transformation and empowerment and teaches workshop around the country. She also teaches memoir writing. She has been writing and publishing her work for more than 45 years.

She blogs for Psychology Today; The Huffington Post (Huff50) and BrainSpeak.
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About the Book:

A passionate journey through private emotional moments, Diana Raab's LUST voices the pain of loneliness and the heart's yearning for love while transcending the depths of human desire. In her fourth book of poetry, Raab employs narrative verse that is alive, titillating, and seductive. LUST examines the emotional and physical complexity of love, helping readers navigate the risks of intimacy as we move toward the realization that every experience enriches our lives, whether we perceive it as joy, pain, or out of the ordinary. Yet for all their psychological richness, the poems's simplicity and accessibility will resonate with women and men across all walks of life. LUST is a book you won't put down and won't soon forget. 

"Diana Raab's poetry collection, LUST, will make you fall head-over- heels in love with words. Words that are strung together, knotted like a perfect strand of opera length pearls. Some read like heartbreaking short stories. Some read like pieces of your soul. Some read like scented love-letters. Some like tearful, regretful voice messages. If you want to have a love affair with the written word, please, read this collection. It will make you a believer. Or maybe ... just maybe, it will make you a believer in the pure absolute beauty of Diana Raab."--Amy Ferris 

"In the lyric tradition of Song of Songs, Rumi, Lady Murasaki, and Anais Nin, poet Diana Raab sings of carnal desire. The themes of LUST, the transcendence of sexual ecstasy, the range of its expression, the sorrow of its temporality, they surprise of its renewal in maturity, the physicality of its intimacy, are, at once, timeless and as contemporary as Raab's short leather skirt and an espresso shared at Starbucks."--Tristine Rainer 

"Diana Raab in this daring book offers what shouldn't be so remarkable, yet is, a fearless detailing of intimacy, of blissful 'acts of kindness,' of that worshipful sexuality which forms our birth- and adult-right. LUST celebrates the sacred 'everlasting eros' that we must admit most interests us, the giving and taking, the ultimate bonding, the very enlightenment through glories of the body. She sings 'your oasis in the midst of me,' and bless her for it!"--Barry Spacks

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Can you tell us what your book is about?

Lust is a passionate journey through intimate emotional moments, The poems voice the pain of loneliness and the heart's yearning for love while transcending the depth of human desire and need.

The poems have been described as alive, titillating, and seductive. The poems' simplicity and accessibility resonate with women and men across all walks of life, and will make you fall in love with life, love, and the magical beauty of words. To give and to receive love--and to touch one another on an emotional, psychological, and physical level--this collection provides tools for helping us navigate through intimacy and helps us realize that nothing is out of the ordinary, but that everything is an experience that enriches our lives whether perceived as joy or pain

Why did you write your book?

For me, deciding upon the genre is the challenge for writers like myself who write in multiple genres. I chose poetry for this book because it is the voice of the soul and it is the most intimate voice, perfect for the subject area.

What kind of message is your book trying to tell your readers?

That no matter what you do, always have passion and lust for life.

Who influenced you to write your book?

Anais Nin has been a great admirer of mine.

Have you suffered from writer’s block and what do you do to get back on track?

Not really. I don’t believe in it. If I am stumped, I just read my favorite writers or do anything else which might inspire me.

Which holiday is your favorite and why?

Thanksgiving because I have a lot to be thankful for.

What do you like to do for fun?

Yoga, Meditation, walking of the beach with my dog. Reading. Journaling.

Can you tell us about your family?

I have been married for 37 years to a wonderful man who has always been supportive of my professional and creative life. We have three creative children, ages, 31,29 and 25. As  a two-time cancer survivor my husband always encouraged me to follow my dreams and I feel very blessed by this.

What do you like the most about being an author?

Being creative. Being a writer chose me, I did not choose it. I have no choice. I have been writing from an early age. It’s where I find peace and passion.