Born in Washington, D.C., Diana Lee Johnson has lived in Fairfax Co., Virginia, since 1955, considering herself a dyed-in-the-wool Virginian. As a direct descendant of one of the first women accused, tried and convicted as a witch in Salem in 1692, Diana takes history seriously. Sarah (Warren Prince) Osborne died before they could hang her. The house Sarah's first husband, Robert Prince, (Diana's grandfather) built around 1660 is still a private residence in Massachusetts.

In Municipal Government in Northern Virginia for 41 years, Diana served two Northern Virginia entities, and holds a professional certification (CPPO) recognized around the world. Extensive technical and business writing were part of every workday. After retiring from government in 2008, Diana did part-time technical writing and editing for an engineering firm for 3 years.

By night (and weekends) she was always a writer. Writing poetry since she was six, her poems and short stories appeared in school newspapers, and later in volumes of poetry as well as state and national magazines. She also had editorials published in two Washington, D.C. newspapers.

In the last 30 years, with children grown and gone, she's pursued fiction, which consumes most of her spare time and all the fire of her imagination. She revels in the challenge of researching to write historically accurate novels, particularly set in the 19th century. Weaving a little of herself into everything she writes, Diana admits stories flow through her mind, "like movies projecting behind my eyes, waiting for me to write them down."

Too Late for Tomorrow, the first in a Civil War family saga, was published in 1999 by Picasso Publications. Big publishers are difficult to reach and rather “cliquish”, so Diana turned to a new, small publisher.

Wings ePress has published eight of her novels in download and paperback. Waltz in Time is a time-travel set in Fredericksburg (Feb. 2002); Wrong Side of Love a Civil War novel set in Loudoun Co., VA (June 2002); Castle of Sorrows a modern romance with an historic flashback to the Jacobite rebellion in Scotland (Oct. 2002) and Tomorrow Came Early (Jan. 2003) the sequel to her first novel. Wings re-published Too Late for Tomorrow (Mar. 2004); and then Just Deserts, a contemporary romance (May 2004) and another contemporary romance, Hello, I’m Carolyn Nobody (Feb. 2005). Her eighth novel, and first Mystery-Suspense, Unraveled, was released in January of 2007.

Reviewers have been very positive as each new novel is released, often awarding 5-star reviews. Diana’s books have been featured in local and national magazines. She’s working on the third historical in the “Tomorrow” series. Try one and have a good read!  

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making up stories in my mind, making up imaginary heroes, and of course, I was always the heroine. There was never a time when I didn’t dream of being able to entertain others. I wanted to be a singer, I wanted to be an actress, I wanted to be a writer. I wound up being a Purchasing Agent, because I had a talent for it, enjoyed it, and because it is a good career. But once in a while along the way one of my own dreams came true, mostly in small ways.

I sang in my church and at weddings for over 30 years, and if I can believe the audience, I brought some measure of magic to them. The poetry I’ve written since the age of six has brought some personal satisfaction to me as a good outlet for my feelings. It has been enjoyed by friends and some have appeared in volumes of poetry.

In my forties a dream I had dreamed from my early teens finally came true. I fell for Robert Goulet when I saw him on the Ed Sullivan show when he was in Camelot on Broadway. His voice gave me goose bumps and still does. I was in seventh grade. I immediately started keeping a scrapbook on him, bought his albums with my babysitting money, and never missed a guest shot on television, his much-too-short-lived series Blue Light, or his movies.

I saw him twice when I was in my teens--when he appeared at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, and then at Shady Grove theater in the round (in a tent). My parents took me. I wrote to him each time, sending self-addressed, stamped envelopes with my letters (which my Dad sent via Special Delivery), and he was kind enough to write back.

I went to see Robert Goulet in the play South Pacific at Wolftrap around 1989 or 90. Before my friend and I left for Wolftrap, I happened to think to grab the letters out of the scrapbook I had kept on him for some 12-15 years.

When I bought a poster of the show, I got to talking to someone at the booth and told him about the letters in my purse. It turned out he was with the show, and he offered to take a note backstage for me. In the middle of the first act, an usher came to my row with a flashlight and Mr. Goulet’s invitation to come back stage after the show.

I was so flustered at meeting him, his wife Vera, and his grandson, I couldn’t even unroll the poster for his autograph. He had to do it himself. He looked at the letters and told me that some day he’d like to see the scrapbook.

The next time he was at Wolftrap was in Man of LaMancha. I dragged the scrapbook with me, but, unfortunately, Mr. Goulet had fallen the night before and broken some ribs. The pain was visible during the performance, but he went on and his singing was as strong and wonderful as usual. He did not, however, invite me backstage, though he did call my home phone number twice and leave me messages on my answering machine. Needless to say, I kept the tapes.

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I have also always loved history--all history, all over the world, but especially the 19^th century in America. I dreamed of dressing like a Southern belle and attending some ball on the arm of a handsome Confederate officer. (I am from Virginia, though all my familial ties are Union.) Well, I made the big hooped-skirt to sing songs from Showboat at a church benefit--no soldier, but it was fun. Then a few years later, the Virginia Association of Governmental Purchasing had a masquerade ball at one of our meetings. I dug out the skirt. A dear friend helped fulfill another of my dreams by renting a Confederate Officer’s summer uniform and accompanying me to the ball.

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Of course, being able to tell my stories and entertain other people is the greatest of my dreams to come true, and though there have been difficulties getting copies of my first published novel, Too Late for Tomorrow, out to the public, I have been gratified by the reader response.

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In 2002 my Odyssey began with my current publisher. Now I have seven other novels published by Wings ePress in several different genres as well as the republication of Too Late for Tomorrow. My eighth novel, and my first mystery, was released by Wings in January of 2007. That leaves the third in the “tomorrow” series that I’m now working on, the two other stories begun and waiting, not to mention a dozen other ideas jotted down.  Even though my family is grown and I have two grandsons and a granddaughter, my work keeps me away from my writing more than I would like. Hopefully, retirement in a few years will solve that, and I’ll be able to spin all those ideas into entertaining novels.

I am proof positive that dreams do come true. Maybe not always in the way we wish or when we expect, but I know they do come true. I can only hope my dream of entertaining other people continues to bring some smiles, some tears, some adventure, and some relief from everyday life’s problems to my friends--the ones I’ve met and the ones I have yet to meet.

Thank you for visiting my website. I hope you will return often for updates, and email me with your comments and your dreams.

Sincerely,