Diane Hammond

A native New Yorker, Diane Hammond spent the majority of her school years in Upper Nyack, NY. After graduating from Nyack High School, she attended and earned a BA from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.

Hammond first began writing in Washington, DC, cutting her teeth on short stories and attending classes at the Glen Echo Writers Center in Glen Echo, Maryland, and joining a number of ad hoc writing groups. Her first short story was published in Woman's World, followed by others in Mademoiselle, Yankee Magazine, the Washington Review, and other periodicals.

In 1984, she moved to tiny Newport, Oregon (pop. 9,000), on the central Oregon coast, a writer's paradise with its relative isolation, constant winter storms and harsh beauty. She began maturing artistically there, discovering themes and settings that have resonated in her writing ever since.

Hammond's first novel, GOING TO BEND, was published by Random House/Doubleday in 2003, with particular acclaim in the Pacific Northwest, where the book was set. HOMESICK CREEK, her second novel, followed in 2006. Her third novel, HANNAH'S DREAM, was released by Harper Perennial in 2008 and was informed in part on her experience as press secretary for a killer whale--Keiko, the orca star of the hit movie FREE WILLY. Its sequel, FRIDAY'S HARBOR, released by William Morrow on October 15, 2013.

Her fifth novel, SEEING STARS, was also released by William Morrow in 2010, and was inspired by the two years she and her family lived in Hollywood while her daughter pursued a career as a professional actor.

She currently lives in Michigan with her husband Nolan and two Pembroke Welsh corgis.