Publications

 Breast Cancer Saved My Life: The Wisdom of 12 Years of Survivorship

Are you or someone you love dealing with breast cancer? Read one woman's story to see how she faced her breast cancer journey and came out the other side stronger and more alive.  Diane Davies, breast cancer survivor/thriver, shares her private confidences and secrets of survival in Breast Cancer Saved My Life; The Wisdom of 12 Years of Survivorship. In this book, you will discover: comfort, love, faith, prayer, family, friends and gratitude

Read about how Diane used these simple values to move her through the trauma of diagnosis, surviving the medical ordeal and back into the happiness and joy of thriving.

Review from Lisa Valentine, Breast Cancer Survivor:

We can face a frightening diagnosis like cancer with fear or faith.  Diane Davies clearly chose faith then and continues to now in her years of survivorship.  Faith doesn't wipe out all the fear, but it builds a firm structure of support.  In her second book, Breast Cancer Saved My Life, Diane shows us the silver lining of gratitude in life's toughest times.  That is a true act of faith.

From There to Here: A Breast Cancer Journey

From There to Here: A Breast Cancer Journey deals head-on with life’s messy issues when a person is diagnosed with cancer. Diane Davies, trying to deal with her own diagnosis of breast cancer, kept a 302-day journal to record her thoughts, feelings, and interactions with her husband, family, friends, doctors and other medical staff. With honesty and wit, Diane discusses many of the issues people are most afraid to talk about—anger, denial, fear, the loss of a breast, rejection, pain, advocacy, treatment and reconstruction options. This reassuring, intimate journey shows that cancer need not be the end, but the beginning of meaningful, loving relationships, both with ourselves and those closest to us.

Review from Dr. Joseph Ardolf: 

Diane's book illuminates the emotions, challenges, insights, and prayers common to people when faced with a serious medical disease.

Jeannie Ann's Grandma Has Breast Cancer

Finalist Book Excellence Award 2021 and Mom's Choice Gold Award Winner 2019.

Jeannie Ann is a typical six-year-old. When she learns her grandma has breast cancer, it brings up the fears, questions, emotions, and misunderstandings that come with facing a medical challenge. With her family by her side, Jeannie Ann learns about what cancer can bring - tumors, mastectomies, chemotherapy, pain, and loss, but also hope. Jeannie Ann's Grandma Has Breast Cancer is a story written with honesty, love, and understanding for children of all ages.

The Moving Words Review: 

Cancer. The mere mentioning of the word can bring people all assortments of feelings: fear, dread, sorrow, despair. We live in an age where there is just too much information about the disease; unfortunately, most of it comes from websites that preach the horrors of having cancer at the very first headache you have. Now imagine how it can affect a child’s mind – they have easy access to the web and will rush to it if they learn that cancer is now a part of their everyday life, especially when its painful claws grasp a loved member of the family.

It intends to reach out to that public – the children who have relatives or friends who suffer from cancer – that Diane Davies lovingly wrote the book Jeannie Ann’s Grandma Has Breast Cancer. Its pages do not bring a cold, medical point of view and words; instead, as you read, you’ll get to be much like Jeannie Ann’s playing buddy, as you will hear the little girl speak of the harrowing situation from her own perception. It is a very reachable choice of language that literally speaks to children in a better way than we adults can try to elaborate.

In fact, the book tackles very difficult matters and questions in a way that explains all that has to be understood without pretenses of blind optimism. Davies masterfully weaves the innocence of Jeannie Ann along with her own experience as a survivor of breast cancer herself. That allows for a sensitive yet very informational and even soothing take on one of the toughest topics that anyone – namely a child – has to absorb. But be not disheartened: Davies’s and Jeannie Ann’s story is one of realism, but also of very well-grounded hopes, all of it embraced by the wholesome drawings by veteran illustrator CA Nobens. A must-read book, because the reality of cancer can always be a factor - perhaps not the deciding factor - in our lives.

Life in the Neck Advent of Christmas

Learn the meaning of advent in a simple gentle way on the porch of Fort Eli in the Neck among the forest animals. Two children celebrate the coming of Christmas with an advent wreath, lanterns for candles, Bible verses and a manager explaining the significance of each as they move forward bringing His light into the world.

The Moving Words Review:

Storytelling is a delightful way to introduce young children to the wonders of the Christmas spirit and its significance. Children can participate more fully in the festivities when familiar with the customs surrounding this joyous occasion. What better way to prepare for the holidays than to set up the warming home decorations? Join Eli, Elsie, and their animal friends in the third book in the Life in the Neck Series by Diane Davies.

Life in the Neck: Advent of Christmas is a great book to guide children practicing religion. With the help of this book, children can learn about Christmas from a more religious perspective. It expresses the solemn practices of Advent as Eli and Elsie prepare their fort for the upcoming weeks. Curious as they are, Delaney, Rocket, old Coyote, the squirrels, and all other kinds of animals from the Neck watched Eli and his sister as they made the wreath, created from evergreen branches that they’ve collected. Each week, they’d hold their Advent observances on the front porch, each light lit by battery-operated lamps.

This book serves as a token of inspiration for children who love the season of good cheer. Practicing solemnity and devotion, Eli and Elsie actively offer Biblical readings as they light the advent wreath.

Written with meaningful paragraphs, this book leads you through the winter wonders of the Neck using radiant imagery. Good humor is sprinkled throughout the book's pages as well. The author did a splendid job of showing readers what Life is for Eli and Elsie in the Neck as they celebrate Advent, a time for the preparation of the coming of the baby Jesus into the world. Definitely an easy and worthwhile read for children who love the holidays!

Are you looking for a way to inspire your children towards the spiritual side of Christmas? This book is one way to indulge your kids in the beautiful story of Christmas!

Life in the Neck Squirrel Trouble

Welcome to a new adventure in the Neck, a beautiful place where animals and humans live together in harmony - most of the time. In this book, a young boy named Eli builds a log fort with his dad, but it's not long before mischievous squirrels Chatter, Whistle, and Squeak move in and take over. As the nuts, acorns, and pinecones pile up inside, Eli realizes he's going to have to get creative to get them out. Will his plan work, or will the squirrels win?

The Moving Words Review:

In a world where children are introduced to media at almost every second, there is little to no assurance as to what kind of message they’ll receive – the chance of enjoying a lighthearted story while learning valuable lessons is practically non-existent. Coming from a generation that grew up with books in their hands, it can be harrowing to think that such experience may not be available to kids anymore.

That is why I was delightfully pleased to read Life in the Neck: Squirrel Trouble by Diane Davies, a children’s book that has everything right. As the second book in Davies’ growing collection of excellent children’s books, Squirrel Trouble extends upon the small yet wholesome universe created by the author – the Neck, a peaceful home to humans and forest animals – and fascinates readers of all ages with idyllic, bucolic illustrations by Margarita Sikorskaia.

In that beautiful scenario, we read about Eli, a young boy who finishes a big project with his dad: the construction of their own wooden fort! The idea catches the attention of three little squirrel siblings, who see the fort as the perfect place to store all their nuts, pine cones, and acorns for the incoming winter. The result is a whole lot of trouble for Eli, as the new dwellers aren’t really keen on keeping the place clean and tidy! He asks his dad for help – and together, they muster up a plan to make the invaders leave.

Not everything in life goes as planned, though – and Eli learns that lesson when the squirrels just keep coming back. In the end, the boy understands that perhaps the solution had to be towards tolerance and acceptance, just so everyone can enjoy the fort together. An excellent and necessary message, which will be taught through very enjoyable reading for kids of all ages, illustrated by the colors in Sikorskaia’s magical brush and Davies’ masterful choice and usage of words that inspire and immerse the reader in the relatable world of Life in the Neck: Squirrel Trouble.

Life in the Neck New Friends

Welcome to life in the Neck, a beautiful place where animals form unbreakable connections. In this book, Delaney, Rocket, and Cardinal Red meet and learn about friendship, cooperation, and the busy world around them. But when danger comes to the Neck, will their bond be strong enough to beat it?

The Moving Words Review:

New Friends is the first book of the Life in the Neck series of children’s books by award-winner Diane Davies. Davies is the lovely grandmother that tells the stories of the idyllic spot of nature she lives in: the Neck. As the foundation of the series, New Friends sets the path and tone for the tender adventures that follow.

As the title suggests, this tale is about a little newborn fawn called Delaney meeting the other inhabitants of the peaceful woods. She and her Mother Deer discover good, real friends for Delaney: the superfast cottontail rabbit Rocket and the zealous soon-to-be father, Cardinal Red. They play together and share experiences - and dangers. The presence of a natural predator, Old Coyote, makes everyone run for their lives.

When a more significant threat reaches the Neck - a fire caused by a lit cigarette - the animals use their friendship, trust, and compassion to help each other get to safety. That includes Old Coyote, who could have taken advantage of the chaotic situation to fill his belly. However, he ends up valuing Delaney’s life more than his own hunger so that they can both survive. An excellent message for child readers!

And while the book is indeed full of great lessons, that isn’t the only gem we can find when reading it. Davies partners up with prolific illustrator Margarita Sikorskaia to deliver a book that not only feels like those of our own childhood but also looks magnificently similar to the classics of the past. New Friends: Life in the Neck is a safe read for kids of all ages, who will be able to feel the magic of a pure, innocent tale such as those of times past. It’s an especially great gift for kids aged 5 to 7.