Diane Greene

Diane Greene was born in Birmingham, England, two days before VE Day in 1945. She graduated in her thirties, as a mature student with two children, from The University of Birmingham with a first class honours degree in Social Science with English. She has since accumulated various post-graduate qualifications in Education and also Management. She now has two grandchildren, and seven step-grandchildren between the ages of eighteen and three years old.

Diane can't remember a time when she didn't want to write and read books. She has used her writing skills throughout her career, producing her own training materials and training manuals, and publishing articles in various papers, including The Guardian woman's page. She spent the last eight years of her career in management training, working for a large London charity for children and people with learning disabilities, before retiring to concentrate on her family and her lifetime ambition to write fiction.

'The Witchtree Journals: Emily's Story', grew from a short story entitled 'The Witchtree' about a strange shaped fir tree in the old orchard at the bottom of Diane's garden. It was initially told to, and then enlarged and written for her grand-daughter. The story was loved by her, and all her friends, and the other children in the family. After much pleading for more about the wood nymph characters in this tale, and inspired by the beautiful wooded area and the historical Hertfordshire town where she now lives, the granddaughter to whom it was first told, morphed into the 'Emily' of the title. Emily soon became a real 'person' in her own right, as did the other characters - boys and girls - in the book.

Four years later, the little story has become absorbed into this full length children's novel, a blend of myth, family saga, and time travel adventure concerning a thirteen year old on a journey of self-discovery as much as it is an adventure. A lot of people, adults as well as many children unknown to Diane but passed the book, have now read her debut fiction book - and from the letters she has received, and the verbal feedback, it seems to be an unequivocal success.

Diane is now writing a second book in 'The Witchtree Journals' series - Rosie's Story.