Sunday, December 15, 2013

Diann Hunt - A Legacy in Grace, Humor, and Faith


I have been AWOL from this blog for about two months or so. Blame it on a packed schedule of editing my current WIP, preparing for the ACFW 2014 Genesis Writing Contest that I oversee, and life in general.

One very precious and important lady has drawn me out of hiding. Today, a number of ACFW members are paying tribute to fellow author, Diann Hunt, who recently passed away.

Diann was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer about five years ago. For a short while, she went into remission, and then it returned. I lost my best friend to the same cancer about ten years ago. Mary Ann died eleven months, almost to the day, after her diagnosis. I thought with Diann it would probably be about the same

But it wasn't.

God's timing is always what prevails, and He kept her alive for several more years. How long? I can't remember exactly, but during that roller coaster time of good and bad spells, she wrote several more books, including contributions to the Smitten novella anthologies, published by Harper Collins/Thomas Nelson. The other authors in that series are Di's nearest and dearest friends, Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, and Denise Hunter.

She also ministered to many, often writing emails to them from her sickbed, encouraging them in their own struggles with cancer and
other ills. Diann was not only an author and dear friend of many, but a wife, mother, and grandmother. Many are grieving, but none as much as her daughter Amber, son Aaron, and husband Jim. Please keep them all in your prayers. Christmas was Di's favorite time, and their loss will be strongly felt this Christmas.

The number of books Di wrote are too numerous to mention here but Ane Mulligan managed to list quite a few on her blog http://www.anemulligan.com/2013/12/diann-hunt-my-tribute.html .

The covers shown here are a couple of Di's books I've not read, but ordered after she died. For Better or Worse is being made into a Hallmark movie and will be on the Hallmark channel in July! Love Letters in the Sand is set during World War II, and then later in the 50s. 

Check them and other Diann Hunt books out for yourself and maybe pick up a few to read . You won't be disappointed.