Not the usual professional photo! But I felt this more accurately reflected my preference for informality—and a fondness for enjoying a cup of tea with friends.
Now, a little bit about me and my path to writing historical romances.
The first library in my life was located in the school basement, was about the size of the average living room, and hummed continually with the low rumble of the building’s boiler. It was wonderful. Books, books, books, and to my eight-year-old eyes the most entrancing thing I’d ever seen. It progressed steadily from there; to a high school library that actually had windows and on to a charming local library that welcomed baby carriages and was small enough to at least imagine reading from A to Z. I never made it all the way through, of course, but it was there that Jane Austen entered my life. Georgette Heyer, Elizabeth Cadell, D.E. Stevenson! All these wonderful stories, exotic places (for a small town Jersey girl, England was exotic.) I was hooked on a non-stop roller coaster ride of romantic fiction, historical fiction, a side swing to science fiction, and history, history and more history. Hey, give me a good book about the Peninsula War anytime.
College English was another epiphany for me. Faulkner, Steinbeck, Hesse, Camus— yet another, different world opened. I was fortunate to have a dynamic teacher whose goal was to get us to write, write, and write some more. The realm of possibility appeared. I could do this if
I tried hard enough, studied the craft, learned and practiced. And I wanted it, badly, but as it has a habit of doing, life interfered. Marriage, children, parents, grandparents—all the usual. No excuse, of course. I could have stuck to the writing but let it fall to the wayside.
Life sometimes has a way, however, of throwing out wake-up calls now and then. For me, it was the discovery—during a mundane garage clean-out—of two musty old manuscripts, which I promptly sat down and read. Surprised to find them better than I remembered, the desire to do something with them was irresistible. So I did. Several years later, after multiple writing classes and workshops, several complete rewrites of the manuscripts, and much collaboration with my sister, Diana, (we created these stories together, many years ago) we heard the exciting words from our editor "I want it!" Thus, the publication of "A Deceitful Widow" and "The Angel and St. Clair" under the pen name Diana Hussey. (Both books have now been republished under new titles.) We write independently now, as voice, style and story ideas have diverged over the years. But the parting was amicable and we both look forward to writing more historical romances in the future. My first solo title, "An Inconvenient Wife" was published in October 2012. This was followed by "A Love Laid Bare", the first in a four book series. The second book, "Trusting Lord Summerton", and the third, "A Cornish Connection", are available. The fourth and final book of this series, "Lydia, A Tale of Love and Courage" is also now available. It was the most difficult of the four to write, and subsequently the most time consuming, but I think you will find the wait worthwhile.
Along the way, I’ve managed to stay married for 60 years to a patient and incredibly supporting man—my own personal hero—and raise up a bunch of kids who all turned into excellent people that kindly gave us delightful grandchildren. Although a 'Jersey girl', we've since spent 16 years enjoying life in North Carolina and now reside in Florida, where, when not glued to the computer, I enjoy gardening, cooking, walking, swimming and relaxing on the back porch with a glass of wine and a good book.
The first library in my life was located in the school basement, was about the size of the average living room, and hummed continually with the low rumble of the building’s boiler. It was wonderful. Books, books, books, and to my eight-year-old eyes the most entrancing thing I’d ever seen. It progressed steadily from there; to a high school library that actually had windows and on to a charming local library that welcomed baby carriages and was small enough to at least imagine reading from A to Z. I never made it all the way through, of course, but it was there that Jane Austen entered my life. Georgette Heyer, Elizabeth Cadell, D.E. Stevenson! All these wonderful stories, exotic places (for a small town Jersey girl, England was exotic.) I was hooked on a non-stop roller coaster ride of romantic fiction, historical fiction, a side swing to science fiction, and history, history and more history. Hey, give me a good book about the Peninsula War anytime.
College English was another epiphany for me. Faulkner, Steinbeck, Hesse, Camus— yet another, different world opened. I was fortunate to have a dynamic teacher whose goal was to get us to write, write, and write some more. The realm of possibility appeared. I could do this if
I tried hard enough, studied the craft, learned and practiced. And I wanted it, badly, but as it has a habit of doing, life interfered. Marriage, children, parents, grandparents—all the usual. No excuse, of course. I could have stuck to the writing but let it fall to the wayside.
Life sometimes has a way, however, of throwing out wake-up calls now and then. For me, it was the discovery—during a mundane garage clean-out—of two musty old manuscripts, which I promptly sat down and read. Surprised to find them better than I remembered, the desire to do something with them was irresistible. So I did. Several years later, after multiple writing classes and workshops, several complete rewrites of the manuscripts, and much collaboration with my sister, Diana, (we created these stories together, many years ago) we heard the exciting words from our editor "I want it!" Thus, the publication of "A Deceitful Widow" and "The Angel and St. Clair" under the pen name Diana Hussey. (Both books have now been republished under new titles.) We write independently now, as voice, style and story ideas have diverged over the years. But the parting was amicable and we both look forward to writing more historical romances in the future. My first solo title, "An Inconvenient Wife" was published in October 2012. This was followed by "A Love Laid Bare", the first in a four book series. The second book, "Trusting Lord Summerton", and the third, "A Cornish Connection", are available. The fourth and final book of this series, "Lydia, A Tale of Love and Courage" is also now available. It was the most difficult of the four to write, and subsequently the most time consuming, but I think you will find the wait worthwhile.
Along the way, I’ve managed to stay married for 60 years to a patient and incredibly supporting man—my own personal hero—and raise up a bunch of kids who all turned into excellent people that kindly gave us delightful grandchildren. Although a 'Jersey girl', we've since spent 16 years enjoying life in North Carolina and now reside in Florida, where, when not glued to the computer, I enjoy gardening, cooking, walking, swimming and relaxing on the back porch with a glass of wine and a good book.
