Yearbook photo

Yearbook name: Diana Lee Johnson (Irish)

Bio:

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 25 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!

Photos:

Diana Johnson and Tina Johncox Dean (’65) at the GCM 2000 combined reunion