Hey, There! I'm Diana!

     Diana Farrar grew up looking at the stars. Her first published work appeared in a nationally syndicated newspaper column in 1965, an inspirational poem about the Gemini 4 mission and the first historic spacewalk. She was fourteen. Her father, a brilliant scientist contracted to work with JPL and the NASA Apollo Space program, taught her to think outside the box. Her childhood imagination was shaped by the stories of Mary Shelley, Jules Verne, Orson Welles, Rod Serling, Gene Roddenberry, and other such minds that introduced her to ‘what’s beyond.’ Her favorite Saturday matinees featured creatures that ‘thrilled and chilled’ her. It is no accident that the main characters in her first novel were named for her favorite matinee villain, Vincent Price.

     As a young adult, she spent time reading articles from her father’s magazines, such as Scientific American, Popular Mechanics, the AIAA Journal (aeronautics and astronautics), as well as National Geographic and history books. While not understanding everything she read, it broadened her mind to think about possibilities beyond man’s current place in the universe. It also taught her to always try and learn something new.

     Physics and chemistry turned out not to be Diana’s strong suits, but writing, music, and composition were. She soon discovered her most successful pieces combined inspirational themes with stories of ordinary people. This set her work apart from the science fiction worlds she drew her own inspiration from. Newspaper articles she authored, such as a human interest story on women’s shelters, earned her a Wall Street Journal award. More recently, she received a first place award for the true story of a military man’s crossroads that led him to make a crucial life changing decision. The story was published in The Virginia Writers Club 2022 Golden Nib Anthology.

     Diana realized years ago her work might help someone in a personal crisis, in relationships with others, or with God. She has authored numerous inspirational short stories, poetry, a Hollywood screenplay with an option from HBO for the future, and an original musical with story, music, and lyrics. Large churches have sought her out to write holiday stage plays drawing thousands of people to hear devotional inspiration through her imagination. But her unique ability to successfully combine science fiction and faith has produced stories of interest to fans of multiple genres and age groups.

     As a musician and classical violinist, she has performed on stage countless times as a soloist, with duets, trios, quartets, and multiple orchestras. She sang with The National Christian Choir and numerous local groups, and acted in, and directed community theatrical plays. Her professional memberships and affiliations include Screenwriters Guild of America West (WGAW), James River Writers, Agile Writers, Chesapeake Bay Writers, The Virginia Writers Club and lifetime memberships in the International Thespian Society, Civil Air Patrol Ohio, and the Ohio Order of Job’s Daughters.

     Diana’s working career included some years with the Federal government and over forty-five years in the business side of book and magazine publishing, where she once again had a chance to revisit her early life's interests. She worked with such magazines as Smithsonian/Air & Space, Caribbean Travel & Life, and Colonial Williamsburg’s Trend & Tradition magazines, to name a few. Now retired and living in Williamsburg, VA with her husband, Edmond, and feisty Pomeranian, Theodore Roosevelt (aka Teddy Bear), she’s concentrating on writing novels. Her current work includes a sequel to Vincent and the Grief Masters, called, Forbidden Fruit, and a third book of personal short stories entitled, Who Comes to the Table? And still, Diana enjoys picking up a science journal or astronomy magazine now and then, just to learn something new.

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