About A Writer’s Life
A Writer’s Life is a place where I explore being an author and a person navigating the second half of life. I write about change, uncertainty, and taking chances again after stumbling or falling down, often through writing - themes found in my fiction writing.
Most posts are from lived experience. They deal with identity, fear, persistence, and the doubts (and eventual excitement!) that arise when figuring out what comes next.
Other pieces touch on writing and indie publishing, some to share what I’ve learned from the process, as well as how writing is part of the life I’m now living.
Much of what I post here connects to the same questions I explore in my fiction, such as how we live with our inner voices, how fear and power shape us, and how we find our way back to ourselves over time.
If you’re drawn to stories that move between the psychological and the imaginative, this space and my novels might speak to you.
Some readers choose to support this work through an optional paid subscription. Paid posts offer a closer view of how I’m thinking about writing, publishing, and creative decisions as they unfold. There’s no program or promise, just more proximity to the work as it happens.
If you’re navigating through, or interested in, the second phase, and you see writing as part of life, please subscribe or follow me for articles once or twice a month.
The Mind Monsters Series
If you’re interested in checking out my books, you can find them all on Amazon and basically all other online retailers.
I’ve written a free short story prequel to introduce you to main character Alex Scott and set the stage for the adventure that continues across the four books.
Book 1: Rock Gods & Messy Monsters
Book 2: Fallen Spirits
Book 3: The Light of Wounds
Book 4: The Journey Home
The four-book series is a genre-bending journey that blends absurdist satire, surreal fiction, and hard-won emotional truth.
Following Alex, a woman whose hair shifts color with her every feeling, across four volumes, the series follows one ordinary person’s extraordinary quest to find happiness, reclaim her identity, and face the monsters that live both in the world around her and deep within herself.
The series opens in Rock Gods & Messy Monsters with Alex navigating the surreal chaos of an alien-owned record company in the 1990s, and it doesn’t slow down from there.
Through inter-dimensional spirits, cross-country car chases, billionaire tyrants, and a dark force that feeds on shame and self-doubt, each book peels back another layer of Alex’s psyche and the absurdity of the world she inhabits.
Hatz writes with the wry, winking energy of Terry Pratchett and Kurt Vonnegut, wrapping sharp social commentary on corporate culture, power, trauma, and the human need for connection inside a story that is genuinely funny, surprising, and at times deeply moving.
The Mind Monsters series has earned an Eric Hoffer Award, a #1 Amazon Hot New Release designation in Absurdist Fiction, plus other accolades, as well as praise from Kirkus, the US Review of Books, and the Independent Book Review, among others.
Whether you’re drawn to absurdist comedy, surreal fiction, or stories about women refusing to give up on themselves, this is a series that rewards readers who like their adventure with a side of soul.
Who is Diane Hatz?
Diane Hatz is an award-winning author, organizer, and inner activist. Her debut novel, Rock Gods & Messy Monsters, earned numerous honors, including first runner-up for the 2024 Eric Hoffer Award and Grand Prize Shortlist Finalist as well as #1 Amazon Hot New Release in three categories. She has since written three additional books, completing the Mind Monsters series.
Through visionary fiction that blends satire and social commentary, Diane explores power, consciousness, healing, and the unseen forces that shape human behavior. Though fictional, her stories are rooted in lived experience, observation, and a lifelong spiritual inquiry.
Diane was Impact Producer at film company Participant, mentor for artists working on projects related to food with Creative Capital Foundation, and executive producer of the award-winning animation The Meatrix. Her early career was spent working in the music industry, and her fanzine The Relay can be found in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
Diane received an Individualized Master of Arts with a focus in Creative Writing from Antioch University in London, England.
After thirty years in NYC, Diane moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she currently lives and writes. When not creating, you can find her wandering the desert, road tripping, and helping abandoned dogs find homes.
If you want to learn more, you can check out her author site or company site Whole Healthy Group. Whole Healthy Group is Diane’s indie publishing imprint and a consulting company.
You can also find and follow her on:
Author Website DianeHatz.com
A Writer’s Life YouTube podcast
Facebook author page - @ dianehatz.author
Instagram: @ dianehatz.author
TikTok (I’m not sure how active I’ll be here…)
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