I am so happy to be spotlighting Diane Yates this month! I met Diane at an Ozarks Writers League conference. It was my very first writers conference, and I was one big bundle of nerves. Her kindness toward me, in a crowded breakfast room in a moment when my social anxiety was raging, immediately endeared her to my heart.
As I mentioned earlier, this happened at my first writers conference. I didn’t know a single person of the probably one hundred who were squeezed into that hot little breakfast room. I only knew two people at the entire conference, but neither one ate at the hotel. I was so far out of my comfort zone that I couldn’t even see it in the rearview mirror.
I’d gone through the buffet line and scooped scrambled eggs and a biscuit with gravy onto my plate when I turned to survey the room. I couldn’t see a single empty chair. I also didn’t see the woman behind me until she plowed into me, causing me to spill my scalding hot coffee all over myself. She didn’t even apologize. She just walked off like nothing had happened.
I grabbed a handful of napkins and attempted to remove the coffee before it soaked all the way through my shirt. I was on the verge of giving up and running back to my room when Diane approached me. She’d introduced herself the previous evening at our awards banquet, so I knew who she was.
She smiled with all the kindness and compassion a person can show. She asked, “Do you have someone to sit with?”
Fighting tears, I shook my head.
“Then Rick and I would love for you to join us.” She turned and gestured to a two-person table where her husband was already placing a third chair.
I gratefully joined them for breakfast at their little table. They soothed my nerves and chatted with me like I was a long lost friend. It was during that meal that Diane taught me about pitches. In fact, she shared more wisdom with me during our breakfast than I could successfully absorb. What had begun as as horrible experience turned into one of the most pleasant and educational meals I’ve ever had.
Over the course of the next year, I watched her lead our organization with patience and love. In fact, when I assumed the role of president a few years later, I turned to Diane for guidance.
It’s my great pleasure to introduce my friend, Diane Yates. Her interview will be posted on Thursday, so be sure to check back here at Ozarks Maven for that.
Diane Yates writes inspirational romantic fiction and nonfiction. Her Fate Series, published by Forget Me Not Romances, an imprint of Winged Publications, begins with Melissa’s Fate and continues with Impossible Fate. The third book in the series will release in the near future.
Diane is the author of two biography/memoirs, Pathways of the Heart and All That Matters, both with settings in the Ozarks, published by W&B Publishers. She has served two terms as President of Ozarks Writers League and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and the Columbia Chapter of the Missouri Writer’s Guild, Boonslick Creative Writers and Clean Fiction Writers. She teaches writing workshops and has spoken at various organizations.
She and her husband, Rick, work in youth and adult ministries in their church, where she writes plays and skits as well as Sunday School curriculum and Bible studies. She has three children and eight grandchildren who are the crown of her life.
Check out her website at http://www.dianeyates.com for her schedule and contact information and her blog at www.dianesponderings.blog. You can also visit her author page https://www.amazon.com/Diane-Yates/e/B00FH1IDH4/ and BookBub page https://www.bookbub.com/profile/diane-yates-3a88289e-c079-4a79-8720-165bcdd74235.
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