in general . By the time she was done with that program , she was ready to write her own things . “ At the same time , I liked the learning , so I applied for a Ph . D . in literature .”
She wrote on her dissertation until she got stuck and then go work on her novel . At the same time , she started going to science fiction conventions . Still , her first love is fantasy , and especially urban fantasy .
About that time , she moved to Montana . A friend called her and asked if she would like to write a book in a week . She felt she could carve out a week and let everything else slide .
“ It ’ s not always possible , but the goal is to spend as much time as you can on writing ,” she explained . At the end of the week , most writers would have the beginnings of a good draft . Or they would work on something and discover they really didn ’ t want to write it , and they could toss it .
Diana had the idea of the beginning of her first novel , “ Path of Fate .” She was so excited , she wanted to send it to everyone . Some friends , when they read the manuscript , gave her ideas of what to fix . She revised it and worked on crafting the synopsis and the submission letter because she knew those things were critical to traditional publishing .
Previously , she had been published in an anthology . She wrote a story about how things were not quite equal for vampires . She couldn ’ t find the submission information , so she wrote a letter reminding them they had published something of hers before . She copied the email to Jennifer Huddle , the other editor , and she got a request back for the whole manuscript .
She decided to attend World Fantasy Con , which was smaller than some of the other cons but allowed her to meet writers , editors , and others in the publishing business . She made an appointment with Jennifer , and they talked for about 20 minutes . A couple of weeks later , they made an offer on “ Path of Fate ” and the other two books she had planned for “ The Path Trilogy .” The first book was published in 2003 .
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