Diana Black

Even as a kid, I loved being silly—making someone laugh with a crazy quip or roll their eyes after a pun, the lowest form of humor. It’s 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 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.

In writing “Waiting for Gabe,” as the protagonist’s intentions appeared on my computer screen, I had to lean into him and the story to find moments of levity and hope.

And while writing the novel, my own life took unexpected twists and turns, which deepened both my personal and my character’s journey and gave me opportunity to look even more closely for moments to lighten the heart.

“Waiting for Gabe” 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’s oldest nonprofit hospices. Now, I’m 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.

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.