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Exploring the path to the inner core . . .
Lost and Found
New Release!
A romance anthology.
Nine authors, nine romance stories from today, yesterday, and in the future; from this world and beyond. Discover love that has been lost and found again in this collection of sweet, spicy, and hot romances.
My story, “The Promise of Spring,” is one of the nine stories.
Available only on Amazon.
Award-Winning Writer
An award-winning writer…wait, awards?
Yup, as a new writer, I entered my books, short fiction, nonfiction, and screenplays into contests: local, state-wide, and nation-wide. I did well, considering I was unpublished and unproduced, winning first and second prizes, along with a semi-finalist and a few quarter-finalist placements.
The two placements I’m most proud of were in screenwriting where I placed in the top 100 in two different years with two different scripts, and where both years had over 12,000 entries covering nine categories. That’s a lot of entries to compete against!
Later, when I returned to school with my writing concentration in playwriting, I entered nation-wide contests, both winning and placing; plus, taking first and second place in separate years for the Western Michigan University’s English Department Creative Writing Award for Drama, with two different plays. One was judged by New York playwright, Jeremy Dobrish.
Now, I’m an indie publisher. To see the entire list of my awards, click here.
P.S. To you new writers who may be wondering…yes, I entered far more contests than is on my list. Years of submissions. And then, finally…well, the list shows what persistence can achieve.
Grendel’s Mother
An Epic Fantasy – Available as eBook, Large Print & regular print from Amazon, Barnes & Noble. and your favorite bookstores.
Set in the late-5th, early 6th century in Denmark, Grendel’s Mother is the journey of a girl who dreams of freedom, with a desire to marry the young many she loves, when her father tells her that she’ll wed a widower with young children instead. Then, a horrific event changes her life forever. Pregnant and having brought shame to her family and community, she is sacrificed to the dragon for death, but the dragon saves her instead, unbeknownst to her family and the community.
Grendel’s Mother is the story of social injustice, a girl’s love for Nature where she discovers special skills that enable her to survive, to give birth, and to raise a baby—deemed a monster—in the wild, entirely on her own. From his birth, she battles to keep Grendel safe from himself and, then later, from others who would do him harm.
That child is Grendel, and she is Grendel’s mother.
Read how this story originated and my journey as I wrote the book via my Behind the Scenes blog in Part I and Part II.
A cookbook…
The Super Simple Basic Easy Cookbook
Now available as an eBook and print from Amazon. Also available in print from Barnes & Noble and other booksellers.
My criteria for cooking is that it doesn’t take long to fix, doesn’t require special ingredients I don’t have, and was something the kids would like when they were young and living at home. I use many of these recipes even though I’m an empty-nester, living alone.
Are you willing to try something new? Something simple?
The Blogs –
Behind the Scenes – This blog conveys the thoughts, musing, revelations and even some of the no-so-well-known secrets of one writer’s experiences, revelations, and the gritty truth about the business of writing and what life is like as a writer.
Into the Core: One Woman’s Mystic Journey – What happens when a writer discovers she is an intuitive, animal/plant/death empath, medium, and can find lost items? Trusting her instincts–that little voice within–has been quite the journey.
Behind the Scenes with Diana Stout & Featured Guests – Learn more about your favorite writers, editors, publishers, producers, and other featured guests.
Laurel Ridge novella series
Shattered Dreams – Amazon E-book.
His voice always had been her undoing. Especially in the dark as they were now.
“I bet you didn’t know that the best way to create heat is to run two people together. Remember?” he asked.
“You mean sticks.”
“You do it your way, I’ll do it mine. Let me show you.”
The first novella in a series of seven: * 7 couples, * 7 conflicts, * 7 stories, * 7 romances–classmates, best friends, cousins, new & former relationships–all occurring in 15 days.
… in a small Georgia community where nothing remains hidden forever. What could possibly happen?
Click on the covers to learn more about each story’s progress.
Determined Hearts
“There is danger, drama, and sizzling romance in this book, and it kept me turning pages until the end.”
– Amazon reader
Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers.
He’s half Indian and a former romance cover model who left New York at the height of his career to restore eagles into his ancestral homeland, wanting no publicity.
She’s a wildlife photojournalist with a deal to get his elusive story in exchange for a promotion, purposely getting herself stuck on his mountain for two weeks.
She’s determined to get the story. He’s determined her photos and story will stay with him. Neither is willing to compromise and poachers threaten to destroy everything—including their new-found feelings of the heart.
Screenwriter, author . . . who’s exploring her path to the inner core.
When did I start writing? At age 19.
Why did you start writing? It was cheaper than therapy.
What do I want for you as a reader? I want to provide a spot of humor or pure entrainment.
Would I be writing if I had no fans? Yes, I would. In the beginning…there were no fans. My goal was to make myself laugh or be entertained. I love when I can reread my own work and still like it with every reading.
What do I like to write? Screenplays & fiction (short!): drama, mystery, comedy & romance. Nonfiction: how-to, inspirational, informational.
What am I working on now? My 7 romance Laurel Ridge novella series. 7 stories, 7 romances, 7 conflicts, and a canary yellow Volkswagen Beetle found in Book #1 in the lake, and which touches every story until the big party, surprising end. Book #1, Shattered Dreams, is published. And, all 7 couples move in and out of each other’s stories. I’m going to insert the cast of characters into the beginning of each book and post the cast here on my website, too!
What else should you know about me? I travel with a crowd: characters clamoring I write them next and spirits—friends and family members—who push me to write, as well.
Check out my About page. Check out the Classes Taught and Contests & Awards pages, too. I’m considering teaching some online classes again. Would you be interested? If so, what kind of class are you most interested in taking?