{"id":980,"date":"2024-08-10T18:46:43","date_gmt":"2024-08-10T18:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/?page_id=980"},"modified":"2024-09-08T14:04:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-08T14:04:00","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/?page_id=980","title":{"rendered":"Bio Bits"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"980\" class=\"elementor elementor-980\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37fc8ae e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"37fc8ae\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a397a4e elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"a397a4e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.18.0 - 20-12-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"279\" src=\"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/II-DBlack-Headshot-KG-Aug-2024-w-blue-copy-300x279.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-1208\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/II-DBlack-Headshot-KG-Aug-2024-w-blue-copy-300x279.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/II-DBlack-Headshot-KG-Aug-2024-w-blue-copy.jpg 436w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6110788 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6110788\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.18.0 - 20-12-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>As a kid, I loved being silly\u2014making someone laugh with a crazy quip or roll their eyes after a pun, the lowest form of humor. It\u2019s still just the best.<\/p><p>So imagine that same silly person fascinated for as long as they can remember with death. A bit of a dichotomy, for sure.<\/p><p>Given that death is a fact of life none of us can avoid, the juxtaposition of being able to find something humorous in anything is what I believe makes our existence extraordinary.<\/p><p>In writing \u201cWaiting for Gabe,\u201d as the protagonist\u2019s intentions appeared on my computer screen, I had to lean into him and the story to find moments of levity and hope.<\/p><p>And while writing the novel, my own life took unexpected twists and turns, which deepened both my personal and my characters&#8217; journey and gave me opportunity to look even more closely for moments to lighten the heart.<\/p><p>\u201cWaiting for Gabe\u201d has also given me a platform to share a bit about hospice and foster care, two areas where I have career experience. I was honored to work in community development in Nashville, Tenn., at Alive Hospice, one of the nation\u2019s oldest nonprofit hospices. Now, I\u2019m humbled to be co-founder and Vice President of The Orange Duffel Bag Initiative (ODBI), an award-winning public charity supporting students experiencing foster care or homelessness.<\/p><p>I treasure every minute spent with my amazing daughter and granddaughter, my family and friends, and enjoy any time I can sneak off to read, golf, play tennis, or take long beach walks on the Florida barrier island I call home.<\/p><p>&#8211;Diana Black<\/p><p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1011 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/NEW-COVER-WFG-June-2024-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/elementor\/thumbs\/NEW-COVER-WFG-June-2024-qsf1blho6jvuoivg93ht8po8qsrx1loh1v4dp53m2g.jpg 199w, https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/NEW-COVER-WFG-June-2024.jpg 604w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f2121a7 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"f2121a7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e6163e8 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"e6163e8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;full&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-11d4b5e elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"11d4b5e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Waiting-Gabe-Diana-Black\/dp\/1950495566\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2J0M94B1R5L6V&#038;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.cHt6QWC8tNI3FFS90QNDTFOFf9xuYvthc3cb_-Om9kXUGnOu8Hk80VjP1mitw65fmCJhTGzwQrrjgX24Xyr7EXEFRj1N8zwIKA38j4jb5AisET2Boo86BF9udlmg9GtsheTS5HwzMTK5DtK8dAiseEkbFyZOHit1eFD8k5-0359tMrIcft1n88arGWlfGJmo-vhr6V7AeWZ8Ruo0dOnmWpNAJDcAIJxhoo8AIJbpcTjsQKHIvssPMx36uTJ-nV9kj72uEI3IC3WhsMZT9gFYck2I-ofkYkLlYCeCeNpAFqc.df8ExDQ_3XCMAYKbFY6tWnkkWQ3ObmqjaX2jgv8rb00&#038;dib_tag=se&#038;keywords=waiting+for+gabe&#038;qid=1725119742&#038;sprefix=waiting+for+gabe%2Caps%2C135&#038;sr=8-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"288\" height=\"96\" src=\"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/amazon-resized-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-1647\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-407b9b5 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"407b9b5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;full&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1a13e64 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"1a13e64\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"378\" height=\"265\" src=\"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Waiting-for-Gabe-Pre-Order-PG2-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-1846\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Waiting-for-Gabe-Pre-Order-PG2-1.jpg 378w, https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Waiting-for-Gabe-Pre-Order-PG2-1-300x210.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 378px) 100vw, 378px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ee0866d e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"ee0866d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;full&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7733956 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"7733956\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/waiting-for-gabe-diana-black\/1146227105?ean=9781950495566\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"555\" height=\"91\" src=\"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/BN-logo.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-1627\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/BN-logo.jpg 555w, https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/BN-logo-300x49.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 555px) 100vw, 555px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a kid, I loved being silly\u2014making someone laugh with a crazy quip or roll their eyes after a pun, the lowest form of humor. It\u2019s still just the best. So imagine that same silly person fascinated for as long as they can remember with death. A bit of a dichotomy, for sure. Given that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-980","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=980"}],"version-history":[{"count":107,"href":"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1870,"href":"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/980\/revisions\/1870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dianablackauthor.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}