Dana Dargos (Author of Einstein in the Attic)

Einstein in the Attic has won 4 award: the Literary Titan Book Award, the Firebird Book Award, and two honorable mentions at the prestigious San Francisco Book Festival and New York Book Festival.

What life experiences have shaped your writing the most?

There aren’t specific life experiences that have shaped my writing, although, many of them sketched out the blueprints of the goals of my writing. When I write, I have many goals I hope to attain. However, there are certainly a few important ones that come to mind. The first one is empathy.

Growing up, I discovered that not a lot of people had compassion or empathy for one another’s struggles. It was suffocating and isolating, both from a personal standpoint and an external one upon witnessing family and friends going through the same thing.

Sometimes that lack of empathy was intentional, other times it wasn’t; even if one were to share their story with others, they just wouldn’t understand. It always got me wondering, “How could I really make them understand?”

To counter this, an important goal of my writing is to influence the reader to develop empathy by capturing every detail of the character’s personality, experiences, and everyday life that encapsulate that individual and his/her struggles. In addition to empathy, this also causes the reader to causing the grow compassion, learn not to judge a person, and understand how life isn’t just black and white; it’s complicated. Everyone has a story.

This brings us to two other goals of my writing: to spread awareness about issues not commonly spoken about and to inspire others. There are so many issues that people of different backgrounds deal with that are hardly spoken about in the media or even in everyday conversation. These are important, eye-opening issues that I believe may change one’s perspective on life and inspire them to make a difference—whether it’s in their own lives or the lives of others.

What aspect of writing have you most improved in over time? What resources helped you most in this area?

One aspect of my writing that has greatly improved over time is using more active sentences as opposed to passive ones. The second aspect of my writing that has improved is learning how to sparingly use flowy, descriptive sentences to not to overwhelm the reader and lose their interest.

The last aspect of writing that I have improved in is creating external challenges for the characters in my stories, rather than just internal ones—thus greatly improving the story’s structure.

The first resource that has helped me in this area is reading. Reading as much as I could helped me improve my writing; I would pick up new vocabulary, pay attention to the authors’ use of language, syntax, and structure, and extract certain linguistic elements that appealed to me.

Taking classes with some of the best English professors at UC Berkeley certainly helped, as well.

What is the best investment you ever made in your writing?

Marketing.

Marketing is a must for a novel.

You could have the best novel in the world in your hands, but if no one knows about it, then it could remain that way forever.

What inspired you to create and write the book Einstein in the Attic?

Said, (my co-author), and I were having a conversation one time about six years ago about spirituality and faith and how each of us struggled with it prior to the time we had the conversation. By then, we each had our own beliefs.

However, upon having that conversation, we came to realize that a lot of people have had that same internal struggle with trying to understand whether there was an intelligent designer or not.

And with all of the problems going on in the world at the time, (and even more now), we figured that a lot of people would find the topic relatable--especially when it came to wondering why there was so much evil and negativity in the world if a god did exist--and how science could tackle that theme if it took a fair stance.

From there, we each wondered aloud how the world would change if one were to zap some of the most intelligent minds from the past and ask them those questions--how would the philosophers respond to those questions, (with logic and evidence), and how would their opinions influence the world? From there, Said and I kept adding more and more to the idea until it became a storyline.

Does this story have a soundtrack? A playlist that inspired you while writing it?

Einstein in the Attic doesn’t exactly have a soundtrack, but I always imagine James Horner’s A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics, (from the film A Beautiful Mind), playing throughout the story during intense moments of discovery and awakening.

What would you advise young writers trying to build a publishing history or an author platform?

I would recommend investing in a marketing plan/marketing. That is the number one way to build your platform. And if you’re on a budget, don’t worry—there’s plenty of free ways to build your stand. Nevertheless, the most important thing is to remain consistent and to not give up, as it takes a while before you see any results.

What Memory Instantly Makes You Smile?

Seeing John Legend live and up close in person last year.

If A Genie Granted You 3 Wishes Right Now, What Would You Wish For?

I would wish for all of Lebanon’s problems to be solved and returned to its former glory, (as one cannot describe the heartbreak of their country crumbling before their eyes and being told it won’t be fixed for a long time),

to magically become rich so I can help out the people and causes I’m passionate about, and to become a happy, successful, and well-known author.

What’s Your Favorite Thing About Yourself?

My favorite thing about myself is realizing that I’ve grown a lot compared to what I used to be, that I’m aware and proud of it, and that I’m continually trying to figure out how to improve myself and grow.

Buy the book here:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Attic-Dana-Dargos/dp/B09RNWBBGT

Author Profile:

Website and Social Media: https://danadargos.com/