Today we’d like to introduce you to Diane Covington Carter
Hi Diane, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been a freelance writer for 30 years and as I devoted more time to my writing, I began receiving awards in the last 7 years.
I no longer live in the San Diego area, but I grew up there and lived in North County till 1990. I still love the beaches there and visit each year.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As a writer, you have to believe in yourself and in your message and the contribution it will make to others. That is what motivates me.
One of my books, Finding Gilbert, a Promise Fulfilled, tells how I found the French orphan who my father tried to adopt during World War II. I found Gilbert at the 50th anniversary of D-Day in France, where I had gone to receive a medal in my father’s honor.
That book won a prestigious award in 2019, a year after it came out and has touched and inspired many readers with its story of the power of love.
Their positive reviews keep me writing.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a member of the post-war Baby Boomer generation and began to excel in writing at the age when most people are retiring. Now I hope to never have to stop writing as I love the creative process so much.
I have published four books, three of which are memoirs and one young adult fiction book.
One of my memoirs won an award as did my young adult novel, Beautiful Courage, A Young Woman’s Journey West, 1852.
That novel won a “Willa Award” named after the Pulitzer Prize Winning novelist Willa Cather, awarded by the Women Writing the West organization.
I am also an award-winning journalist and enjoy Travel Writing, experiencing and sharing about the wonders in the world.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
When I wrote my Young Adult Novel, “Beautiful Courage, A Young Woman’s Journey West, 1852” I took a risk, I wrote the novel as the young heroine’s journal and letters back home to her cousin, who did not make the trip west.
I am not aware of other novels that use this format, but it felt right to me, so I trusted that. When I won the ‘Willa Award’ for the novel, it validated that risk.
I took off for eight months to live in France at the age of 50, and my memoir, “Eight Months in Provence, A Junior Year abroad 30 Years Late,” came out of that experience.
I risked going to a town, Aix-en-Provence, where I had only visited one time for 2 days and knew no one, trusting that it felt right. I found a beautiful apartment with sunlight, windows and a bathtub, exactly what I wanted, made friends and wrote every day for several hours before going out and to discover and enjoy Provence.
My journals from that time allowed me to recreate the experiences I had into my book, which has inspired readers to follow their dreams and to take risks to do so.
I discovered that my ‘Junior Year Abroad’ was not 30 years late. It was right on time.
Pricing:
- $14.99 for paperbacks
- $4.99 for e-books
- audible books coming out soon, starting with Eight Months in Provence.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dianecovingtoncarter.com/
- Instagram: Diane Covington Carter
- Facebook: Diane Covington Carter and Diane Covington Carter Award-Winning Writer
Image Credits
Beautiful Courage, Illustration by Susan Whiting.
