​Diane Robinson is an Auckland based Accountant, Author and Able Public Speaker.

As a child I dreamed of growing up and writing novels like the ones I loved to read; especially Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books. Instead, I grew up and became an accountant! The love of books never went away. Over the years I’ve attended a number of writing courses as well as numerous book events. For many years the signed letter sent to me by the late Mary Stewart has sat on a frame on my desk. Hers were probably the first ‘adult’ books I read.

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One of the great joys of being a published writer is talking about writing to an audience. I’ve enjoyed speaking in schools and libraries and to U3A and various book groups. Being on a panel with other writers is another privilege and a dream come true. 

‘Nikolais Quest’ was the first novel I wrote and it was very much of the type that I remember loving when I was around 9-12 years old. I’ve been delighted to discover that today’s children still enjoy a good story. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed being read to as a child until I had the privilege of doing readings in schools. The two books I clearly remember having read to us were ‘I Am David’ and ‘The Silver Sword’. At 20,000 words ‘Nikolai’s Quest’ is an easy read for adults and with current events in the world the country of its setting is sadly, much in the news. The themes of identity and belonging that run through the book are influenced by my own experience of being the child of migrants.

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‘Hive of Lies’ is an adult whodunnit. Its style reflects my own writing preferences, e.g., M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series and Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody series. In Hive of Lies there is some intentional humour and nothing ‘too’ grisly. You won’t find an autopsy scene in my books. ‘Hive of Lies’ was inspired by my love of mysteries and my desire to ‘right a perceived wrong’. In fiction accountants rarely appears as characters. When they do, they are minor and devoid of personality. So, I wanted to write a whodunnit with the lead character an accountant with plenty of personality! Hopefully I have succeeded. To my mind fraud, audit and murder seem a logical sequence, (at least in fiction).

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Thanks for reading this. I hope you enjoy my books.