About Diana
I originally hail from Houston, Texas, but have lived in Portland, Oregon for about fifteen years. I hold a B.A. In History and Gender Studies from Lewis & Clark College and a J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School.
MY WRITING LIFE
When I was eleven, I won my first writing award for poetry, when I was named Poet Laureate of Thompson Intermediate. The prize was a book of poetry by Emily Dickinson. I took this as a sign from the powers that be that no matter how good a writer I might be, I could always draw inspiration from others and challenge myself to be a better writer.
From there, I proceeded to win more books, tiny medals, and plastic trophies for poetry writing. I now use these fine writing skills to make up hilarious parodies at work in an effort to get my coworkers to read and respond to otherwise boring emails.
In college, I took up personal essays as my preferred form after falling in love with the work of Annie Dillard, Alice Walker, bell hooks, and Dorothy Allison. These women shaped not only my growing voice as a writer, but also my views of the world and my place as an activist and writer within in. In law school, I learned to write briefs, memos, motions, and the like, before shifting into a career in technology as a business analyst where, yes, I also do a lot of writing. I have written commercial pieces on spec, and I have previously published short fiction through the Manchester Board of Arts in the U.K.
My debut novel, SPOOKED., was published through Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Publishing, an independent press, in September of 2018. The follow-up, BURNED., was published in October 2019. The third book in the series, CRUSHED., will be released September 2020.
While I am relatively new to fiction writing, my personal motto and life philosophy would be best described as "ABW -- always be writing."
MY NON-WRITING LIFE
I read books in all genres, but my favorite fiction genres tend to be science fiction, paranormal, and young adult novels, and in nonfiction, I tend toward social science and philosophy as they relate to pop culture, law, and/or feminism, popular physics, and American history. I'm also a sucker for a good political biography about the overlooked women of our past and the female leaders of our future.
I love road tripping, and tend to spend weekends traveling all over the Pacific Northwest in search of quirky small town festivals and rainswept cliffs I can stand on while staring moodily at the sea. I sometimes think I have salt water in my veins instead of blood. Because all this driving and brooding is really draining, these activities are often followed by massive quantities of Thai food.
When I am not plotting or writing, I am usually reading, cooking, watching TV, or filling up my phone with pet photos. I do volunteer work as an advocate for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. I collect perfume and have an obscene amount of makeup. I'm addicted to western-style boots. I have an inhumane tolerance for caffeine and recently tempered my coffee addiction with a new, semi-obsessive interest in tea.
My partner and I have two rescue cats and three rescue pitbulls. We all live in a small town outside of Portland, Oregon.