The Beginning

I loved books before I could read and scribbled thoughts before I could write. Throughout my childhood, crayons, pens, and pencils provided some of my favorite entertainment.

My senior year in high school, the local newspaper published a Christmas story I wrote as a class assignment. I thought little more about publication until after college graduation. One of my professors suggested I send writing samples to a church bulletin service. Lifeway published those articles, but my attention soon shifted to work, family, and church obligations. Although I wrote for each of those, I published nothing else until 2005.

About Diana Beginning Again

Once again I wrote for church bulletins. In addition, I tweaked and submitted monologues and poems I had shared in church services, backyard Bible clubs, and mission trips. Those appeared in several program books. Although my publications list grew, writing remained nothing more than a hobby.

One day I ran across an advertisement for the 2008 Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. I walked into that conference with fear and trepidation. I knew I didn’t belong with real writers. However, I decided to listen and learn. What a game changer.

Along with encouragement, information, and lasting friendships, I discovered the definition of a writer: A writer is a person who writes. That’s it, plain and simple.

I was a writer.

About Diana Moving Forward

The more I wrote, the more I loved to write. Some people stick with one genre. I remain all over the board. From children’s work to senior adults, drama to devotions, magazine and newspaper articles to planning guides, Bible studies, and poetry, I love it all. I do prefer nonfiction over fiction.

My scribbling has been accepted more than 1,200 times by 70-plus publications. I write mostly for the Christian market, such as The Upper Room, The Secret Place, Missions Mosaic, Clubhouse, Christian Devotions, and Guideposts’s Strength and Grace. Secular publications include Chicken Soup for the Soul, Country, Kentucky Monthly, and Kentucky Living. I also write radio dramas and television life issue question-and-answer programs for Christ to the World Ministries. I am a contributing author to several anthologies. My poetry has received first prize awards from the Kentucky State Poetry Society.

Surprise Beginnings

The first time an editor initiated contact to request my services, I did a happy dance. When a publisher offered a book contract on dramas I originally submitted for a multi-author compilation, I happy danced again. I loved becoming an accidental author with Beyond Bethlehem and Calvary: 12 Dramas for Christmas, Easter, and More!

An international student’s request for a new slang expression and its definition every day led to my blog, Words, Wit, and Wisdom: Life Lessons from English Expressions. You can find that story on my welcome page.

Daily Beginnings

I can’t imagine life without writing, and I thank God for this incredible privilege. My adventures as a social worker, adjunct professor, mission team member, youth Sunday school teacher, caregiver for my husband, and friendship family for international university students supply a constant flow of ideas. Traveling with my husband, singing in the church choir, and taking long walks in the country refresh my soul and ready me for what each day holds in store.

“Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life” (Psalm 143:8 NIV).