Greetings!


"And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us...full of things that have never been..."

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

And with this new year I present to you my 14th book, to be released January 15, 2024. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Click here today to pre-order your copy!

Click here to pre-order on bookshop

Click here to pre-order from Barnes and Noble
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An excerpt from HUMMINGBIRD:


From an early age, I have been obsessed with storytelling. As an only child growing up in a hardworking family of Eastern European immigrants, I was often alone and left to fend for myself. During that time, the peace I found in reading and writing which sparked my lifelong passion for memoir writing.

This passion intensified when I was ten and began keeping a journal after my maternal grandmother's death—which, because of our deep connection, was an extremely traumatic loss. Afterward, journaling helped me through
my troubled adolescence as a hippie in the 1960s, my enforced bed rest when pregnant with my three children, my grief over the losses of other loved ones, and my struggles with how to cope with two cancer diagnoses. Journaling has also led to my becoming a published author of numerous books and a writing coach in workshops designed to inspire and help others with their own memoir writing.

My grandmother's spirit often visits me at crucial times in the form of a hummingbird, symbolic of our connection and the sense of joy and comfort she bestowed on me. I take great comfort in such visitations and encourage you to search for a symbolic messenger of your own.

Please feel free to use this book as a guide as you would if attending one of my workshops. In the book, I share examples of memoir writing and tell stories of some of my ancestors and explore my own life in the light of those who have influenced my life, whether they were relatives, mentors or places.

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Examples of reflection/writing prompts from the book:

  • Describe what healing methods you have turned to during challenging times.

  • Is there intergenerational healing that needs to occur in your family?
dianaraab.com


  • Write about your New Year intentions.
  • Write a letter to an ancestor (a relative, mentor or place).
  • Write about any special plans for 2024.
  • Write a poem beginning with, "I remember."
The Jacaranda. (poem) Leaf: Journal of Daily Haiku. November 2023.

6 Ways to Find and Write About Harmony During the Holidays.” (article) Psychology Today. December 5, 2023.

6 Ways to Find and Write About Harmony During the Holidays.” (article) Medium. December 6, 2023.

6 Ways to Find and Write About Harmony During the Holidays. (article) The Good Men Project. December 14, 2023.

“Dog Rituals.” (poem) Drip Lit Magazine. December 22, 2023.

"Holiday Refrain." (prose) MockingOwl Roost Blog. December 24, 2023.

Before You. (poem) Paper Dragon Journal. December 26, 2023.
January 13, 2024
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
HUMMINGBIRD: MESSAGES FROM MY ANCESTORS
Book Launch Party + Reading
Tecolote Bookshop
1470 East Valley Road
Montecito, CA

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January 23, 2024
5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
“Writing Rituals for The New Year”
Santa Barbara Public Library
40 East Anapamu Street
Santa Barbara, CA
For information, click here

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January 25, 2024
"Journaling for Healing and Transformation"
Private Event
Seattle Study Club
National Symposium
The Ritz-Carlton Bacara Resort

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January 27, 2024
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
“Connecting with Your Ancestors in 2024: 
Book Launch and Writing Workshop"
NEW BOOK: Hummingbird: Messages From My Ancestors
Sacred Space
2594 Lillie Avenue
Summerland, CA
For information, click here
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay (essays)

This is such a delightful book to begin 2024! As Time magazine says, it's "sustenance for the soul." Ross Gay is a fantastic poet and now essayist. This book was a New York Times bestseller. It's one of those books that you can read in one sitting, but can also be read over and over again. One day, some years ago, an idea came to him—in the way that ideas sometimes spontaneously come to creative individuals—to write an essay per day about something delightful. As a poet, Gay has had keen observation skills, so for him this was a tangible task. Each essay is only a couple of pages long, but also gives the reader a snippet of his life living in New York City from so many angles. As he deftly says, "...I originally walked through my day attending to my delights until I arrived at the one that felt irrepressible and then sat down to wonder about it with a pen and a notebook." (p. 107)

Of course, I was delighted to read a chapter called "Hummingbirds," and how he had a couple of incidences of visitations which opened his eyes—something I could easily relate to, and you'll have to read my book to figure out why!

Great book to read during difficult times, offering a nugget of bliss and a sense of hope. This is a highly recommended daily tincture and if you love it, do check out his follow up book which came out last year, The Book of (More) Delights.
Top-selling course!


Write. Heal. Transform:
A Magical Memoir-Writing Course

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Therapeutic Writing


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