Diane E. Tatum is a Christian novelist. Her first book, Gold Earrings, is an outgrowth of a short story written in a high school creative writing class. She has self-published a 2nd edition of Gold Earrings, Mission Mesquite, and the first book in an American historical romance series, Colonial Dream, A Time to Fight.
Diane also recently published a Bible study guide for youth workers called Tatum’s Teen Themes for Today: Topics and Resources for Youth Bible Study. Diane has written many assigned pieces for Lifeway, including curriculum, devotions, and assigned articles for leadership magazines. She has also branched out into freelance publication including poetry, leadership articles, a story for teens, and helps for parents. Diane has two blogs.
In addition to her writing career, Diane taught middle school language arts for 11 years. She continues to work as a church youth group leader and worker since 1981. Her 2009 “retirement”
from teaching middle school allows her to focus on her own writing. Diane works as an Adjunct Professor at Motlow State Community College. She is teaching Composition in the dual enrollment program at Tullahoma High School. Diane and her husband, Ken, live in Tullahoma, Tennessee. They have two sons and daughters-in-law, one couple in Beaumont, TX, and one in Crofton, MD. They now have four grandsons: Ethan, Kellan, Paul, & Jonathan.
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Amalia Edgar flies from Charlotte, NC, every December to work in her family’s Dom Spekulatius (German spice cookies) kiosk at the Cologne Christmas Market. However, the journey becomes harder each year. Amalia, like her mom, has Multiple Sclerosis. She has seen how the disease progresses and has decided she’ll not marry any man to make him her eventual caregiver.
Justus Sullivan is a Charlotte lawyer who literally runs into Amalia on his way to business meetings in Cologne. He is immediately drawn to her and her deep sapphire eyes. He believes Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)
Does God’s plans for him include Amalia?
How can he convince her to reconsider her ban on relationships and marriage? AMAZON
Kate Winslow inherited her great-aunt’s Victorian house in Adams, Tennessee. She leaves her job on Music Row in Nashville to turn the old house into a bed & breakfast.
Kate reunites with her childhood best friend (& first love) Will Bell, who decides to partner with her in renovating the house. Almost immediately strange things begin to occur, and Kate and Will suffer multiple injuries. Some suggest that the Bell Witch is at fault.
Beginning in 1817, supernatural happenings bedeviled the Bell family subsiding only after the death of the Bell patriarch John Bell, Sr. The Bell Witch is the name given to that evil spirit that disturbed Adams, Tennessee. In 1819, Andrew Jackson spent a night at the Bells’ (as many apparently did) to witness the acts of the spirit. At the end of the night, he is quoted as saying, “I would rather fight the British at New Orleans than fight the Bell Witch.”
Who is at fault for the strange happenings at Kate’s Bed and Breakfast?
What mysteries does the old house have to share?
Are the strange happenings a figment of Kate’s imagination? AMAZON
Kate Winslow is beginning to think she has overcommitted to make Thanksgiving dinner for her guests four weekends in November. However, she’s sure that holding a murder mystery game with a family is bound to become complicated. In addition to four Thanksgiving weekends, Kate and fiancé Will Bell are planning their wedding at the house for December 23.
Once she and Will meet three generations of the MacGowan clan, they both fear the volatile nature of the family could become dangerous. In addition, the youngest member of the family, 12-year-old Murray, begins to have nightmares of the Bell Witch, whose predictions appear to come true.
How will family secrets affect relationships in the MacGowan clan?
Will the MacGowans all survive the weekend?
Will advice from the Bell Witch derail Kate and Will’s wedding plans? AMAZON
It’s finally December in Adams, TN. Time for Christmas and, finally, Kate and Will’s wedding. Kate has decorated the bed & breakfast for the holidays and for the wedding planned for December 23. Will has filled the house ceilings with mistletoe for any excuse to kiss his bride-to-be. While Kate and Will are excited and hopeful that the wedding be the most important event in December, intruders continue to break into the house destroying Kate’s wedding finery. In addition, Will’s wedding ring disappears. If all that wasn’t disruptive enough, Will inadvertently finds himself working for a biker gang on a Christmas deadline.
Will the weekends prior to the wedding be calm, relaxing, and merry?
How will Kate and Will’s relationship survive the stress of continual breaks in security? Will they be able to marry on December 23? AMAZON
With witness protection, Interpol, and a hot MI5 agent to watch over her, Cassie should be safe from the Irish Mob in the village of Broadmoor in the Highlands of Scotland. But someone is still trying to get rid of her. Cassie had been Janette McCaffrey, wife of Ian McCaffrey, Irish mob boss in the DC area. She had everything she could ever want, until his mob generals blew up his car one morning in their driveway. When she testified against the culprits, her “reward” was witness protection in Scotland.
Aidan MacAlister is the well-trained and seasoned MI5 agent assigned to watch over her. His job includes her personal security while also deciding if she really has cut her ties to the Irish Mob. Can they come to trust each other while escaping danger?
Who can they trust while falling in love?
Who knows their whereabouts and wants Cassie dead?
Will they survive a summer of secrets while Hiding in the Highlands? AMAZON
One day on his regular bike ride on the hills of Daelin, GA, Jamey Connor and his bike wound up under a car. Jamey sustained serious injuries including Traumatic Brain Injury with Expressive Aphasia, causing an inability to communicate professionally despite his three engineering degrees.
Noelle Etheridge, a certified Speech Language Pathologist, is hired by Jamey’s father and grandfather, owners of Sullivan and Connor Engineering, to aid Jamey in recovery of his communication skills.
After one week, Jamey’s father decides to put Jamey back on disability and fire Noelle.
After their dismissal, Noelle and Jamey fall in love. Amid a toxic environment at work, lawyers, and a new medical complication, how will they find a way to create a future together? AMAZON
When Cecilia finds a key hanging on her Christmas tree, she’s afraid someone has broken in. The truth is much more frightening.
When she opens the old oak chest in the attic on New Year’s Eve 1999, she is whisked back to 1900 because of an ancient family curse.
Cecilia finds her place and life in the past. After a disappointing relationship in 1999, she finally finds the love of her life. As a researching librarian, Cecilia becomes involved in a career-building venture with Mary and George Jones building their genealogy/research library in Lynchburg, VA. AMAZON
Jaymie Wycroft is CFO at her grandfather’s company, Wycroft Booksellers. She is surprised by her on again/off again boyfriend Dave Garrett with a proposal at her grandfather’s birthday dinner just before Thanksgiving. Grandpa is spearheading this rush to the altar because he has a secret and wants to see her settled. Jaymie reluctantly agrees to the proposal because she wants to obey her grandfather, and she’s always wanted a Christmas wedding.
When Jaymie meets Kyle Mason, sparks literally fly. He is their Realtor and also the grandson of Grandpa’s best friend Johnny Mason. Kyle’s mission is to find Jaymie and Dave a house but soon tries to keep Jaymie from marrying Dave because Kyle loves her.
Will Grandpa live long enough to see Jaymie wed on Christmas Eve?
What’s the secret Grandpa and Dave are keeping from Jaymie?
Will Kyle convince Jaymie that Dave is not the right bridegroom for her? AMAZON
Caroline Jennings never expected to live her own fairy tale when studying the lore and literature of England at Oxford. Eddie Martin, an anthropologist working on a doctorate, lives next door and is the future Lord of Oxfordshire. She must return to her classroom in North Carolina at the end of her sabbatical. He would give her his fortune if she would stay and become his Lady Caroline. How can they find their happily ever after? AMAZON
Dorie Hudson, reporter for the Daelin Beacon, is investigating a series of break-ins and burglaries across Daelin, GA. One witness identifies the culprit of an arson as chief of police Riley McDonough, escaping in a stolen purple car. Who is this look-a-like criminal who shares Riley’s DNA? He is targeting all the people Riley cares about, even his dog.
Dorie’s fiancé Ross MacAvoy is in California working for the National Forestry Service, hoping to earn a spot in Georgia’s Chattahoochee Forest come spring. Riley’s boyhood best friend, Ross is also targeted when he comes home for a couple weeks during California’s fire emergency.
What other secrets does Daelin have to offer about Riley’s Mama Mary and Ross’s childhood?
What secrets is Dorie hiding from herself as well as Ross?
Is anyone safe in Daelin with Riley’s ‘evil twin’ on the loose? AMAZON
Dorie Hudson, a new journalism graduate from Virginia Tech, moves to small town Daelin, GA, to work for the Daelin Beacon as the Lifestyles Editor. Within the first weeks of her time in Daelin, she finds the town up in arms about the kudzu ‘sculptures’ swallowing the loblolly pines on the road into Daelin. Why won’t the mayor allow the nursery man Ross MacAvoy to tear down and destroy the overgrowing vines? What’s hiding in the kudzu? As the mystery deepens, Dorie finds most people are like the kudzu, beautiful and polite on the outside, but dead and self-serving on the inside.
Ross and Dorie are planning a Christmas Eve wedding.
Someone wants Dorie out of the way, permanently.
Could it be his mother, escaped from Central State Hospital?
Ross really thought Dorie was imagining things while he was in California, but now that he’s home, though sleeping at Riley’s until the wedding, she continues to see things being moved and lights on in the attic. When someone steals his credit card and sends Dorie flowers from him with it, he just has to find out what is going on. Dorie finds out the secret about what happened with Ross’s mother on Ross’s 5th birthday party that Riley, Emmie, Jared, Bobby, and Joe attended. Planning for a Christmas Eve wedding after their trip to St. Louis at Thanksgiving makes the timetable tight while someone wants Dorie out of the picture, permanently. AMAZON
When Dorie and Ross MacAvoy return from their honeymoon in Scotland, much has changed. Police Captain Riley McDonough is dating Jenny Schaefer, the waitress at the Corner Café and server at the Doll House B&B for Dorie and Ross’s wedding. Dorie starts her new job at Daelin Police Department as a Liaison officer and researcher with Detectives Mavers and Akers. Ross starts a new job at the Chattahoochee Ranger Station with his new partner Felicity Johnson.
When a series of church burglaries begin in Daelin, Dorie is confounded by the lab results saying the burglary suspect is a pregnant familial relative. The only female relative she knows is her mom, who has no reason to burglarize churches in Georgia when she lives in St. Louis. What is going on? To complicate matters further, a red hatchback is seen fleeing one of the scenes and strikes and kills a young boy. The driver has a brown pony-tail, like Jenny’s.
What is the burglar looking for? Who drove the red hatchback? Is Jenny involved? How are they related to each other? AMAZON
Amanda, Colin, and Ben. All they ever wanted was to be in the Colonies, to escape the tyranny of the English aristocracy, to worship freely, to build a life together.
Colin Michael Browning dreams of a new life in the American colonies. He works in the family business as a blacksmith. Amanda Andrews is Colin’s soul mate who embroiders in her father’s tailoring shoppe. Benjamin Andrews, Amanda’s twin brother and Colin’s best friend, is a theology student who rejects the Anglican Church during a time of persecution of Protestants in England. Ben yearns for the religious freedom available in Colonial America. These three plan a wedding and a journey to the New World. Their plan is derailed when Colin is forced into joining the King ‘s Army.
The wedding interrupted, Ben and Amanda fulfill a promise to Colin to go to the Colonies without him while he begins his obligation to the King’s army. Ben and Amanda move to Boston just before the American Revolution begins. Colin’s unit is also moved to America to fight against the colonists. Colin will commit treason to be with the woman and nation he loves. Divided by loyalties and responsibilities, Colin, Ben, and Amanda struggle to begin their Colonial Dream. AMAZON
Michael Browning, a child of the American Revolution, becomes surrogate father for his four siblings after the early death of his parents. His Uncle Ben has also died, leaving the pulpit empty in the church he started after the war. Bitterness has overcome Michael as each of his siblings finds love with only his youngest sister, Louisa, remaining at home. When the new pastor and his daughter, Susannah, take over the rectory adjacent to the Browning home, he cannot accept Reverend Hawthorne as a substitute for his Uncle Ben. When Louisa falls in love with Susannah’s cousin Theo, Susannah encourages Louisa to elope and offers to serve Michael in her stead. Susannah enjoys matchmaking and sets out to find a match for Michael.
When Michael’s brother Isaiah is taken by the British Navy, Michael must leave his bride before the wedding to find and save his brother as the country begins a new war with Britain.
Can the beauty tame the beast and his bitterness to create a new relationship based on trust and love?
How will a second war for Independence from Britain affect their love? AMAZON
One man committed to serving God and country.
One woman committed to bringing slavery to an end.
Captain Andrew Browning’s new assignment is to head up security at the Lincoln White House. A Virginian and a longtime friend of Robert E. Lee, he must decide whether to resign from the Union Army. His long-time fiancée is a beautiful Southern belle whose father runs a plantation with slaves who were Andrew’s childhood friends. His choices will also affect his family: his blacksmith father, mother, and twin sisters.
Maggie Strickland’s mission is to bring a petition from Massachusetts abolitionists to Lincoln demanding an end to slavery. A Harvard graduate in political science and journalism, Maggie writes about her passions and the war under a pseudonym. She plans to change the South and give her heart to Andrew, a man who has made difficult choices and is embittered by his former relationships. Impetuous and driven, Maggie’s passion for her family, justice, and God determines her choices.
A Time to Choose is a Christian historical romance set in Washington, DC, during the Civil War years.
Can two people make the world a better place to raise the next generation of Americans? AMAZON
Daughter of a bordello madame and an Italian captain of the seas, Angelina Mercy longs for a new life, free from the condemnation associated with her mother’s home in Boston. A former navy man, Jonathan Thomson has accepted God’s call and become a minister of a small congregation. Adrift from his Yankee heritage in the Missouri plains, Jonathan longs for a family of his own. Pursuing Alice, the daughter of the town’s wealthy patron, Jonathan believes he can tame her wild ways and accomplish more as a preacher once so established.
When Angelina’s guardian and Jonathan’s seminary professor learn of Jonathan’s misguided intentions, he seeks out a solution to aid both individuals, providing a new home for Angelina in St. Joseph.
Can Jonathan ignore Angelina’s Gold Earrings, a constant reminder of the implications of her less than pristine parentage? And will Alice succeed in keeping Jonathan from Angelina? The resilient heroine of Diane E. Tatum’s novel will inspire you in this touching tale of love against the odds. AMAZON
While Kate Lawrence ‘s parents served in Cote d’Ivoire as career missionaries, Kate’s education came in a French boarding school and American University in Paris and Georgetown. Now a Foreign Service Officer for the US State Department, she wants nothing to do with the missionary lifestyle. When she finally agrees to visit their new mission post Mission Mesquite, the rodeo church at the Mesquite Arena in Dallas, Kate meets Tyler Hawkins, attractive All American Cowboy who has since been crippled by a bull trampling. They have an instant connection, but Kate doesn’t know that Tyler has just completed seminary and mission training and is poised to take over Mission Mesquite once her parents retire. How can Kate resolve the conflict between her and God and her heart? Will Tyler’s past as a free-wheeling cowboy cut short his ministry? Mission Mesquite is a contemporary Christian romance. AMAZON