A lifelong learner, Dianna’s passion for storytelling led her to earn a BA in English from UMass Boston, followed by an MS in Television & Radio from Syracuse University, and later an MFA in Film from the American Film Institute (AFI). Starting in Boston, she embarked on her professional career in the film industry as a producer and then moved to L.A. where she spent most of her working career, living there three different times over four decades. In between, other film job opportunities brought her to North Carolina, Atlanta, D.C., and NH where she ran an international film festival. While attending AFI, she developed and produced her first short fiction film “Graffiti,” based on the short story by Argentinian author Julio Cortazar. Her film earned her an Academy Award nomination along with several national and international film festival awards. Later, she taught hands-on film production classes at UCLA while working as freelance producer and production manager. On the side, she wrote story treatments which she pitched to the studios, one of which landed a development/production deal at Paramount Pictures. Her interest in Nantucket’s maritime history and mysteries began while working summer jobs on the island, and she became fascinated with stories of its nautical past and resident ghosts. During a summer sabbatical working at an antique store, she wrote a screenplay inspired by Nantucket’s worst shipwreck. Many years later, she decided to turn it into a dual timeline historical mystery and now her novel, “Sea Across Time,” is ready for its debut. A true Pisces, her love of the ocean lured her back to Cape Cod where she finally put down roots as a “wash-a-shore.” Now she spends her free time hiking nature trails, taking sunset photos, and learning how to sail again while working part-time as a curator/archivist for a historical society, hoping to find the next story that will ignite her imagination and inspire her next novel.