Daria Blackwell's Author's Bio

A convoluted evolutionary tale


Had Daria listened to her high school advisor, she would never have put pen to paper. "You'll never be a writer," she was told.  That was after she had earlier declared she wanted to be an astronaut, only to find out she was too short. "You'll never be able to reach the controls in the capsule," they told her. It's a good thing she didn't become an astronaut because she learned later that she is somewhat claustrophobic and more than a little introverted. So she became a scientist instead. Somehow, lo and behold, Daria traveled full circle and ended up a writer for much of her life. This is the convoluted story of her evolution.

As life often does, Daria's career has made some rather abrupt turns, always leading to some measure of success along that crooked path. Having started out as a scientist, she developed keen observational power through that discipline, yet she knew that she couldn't continue the routine, repetitious and monotonous existence that it takes to prove a theorem in today's rigorous scientific style. Doing repeat experimentation on animals didn't sit well, yet she really loved understanding the science of things. No, she was more of a naturalist at heart and working with animals in the laboratory made for sleepless nights.

And so she soon put her scientific background to work writing educational materials for physicians about new pharmaceutical and biotech products coming to market. Then she turned to creative writing, becoming a copywriter. Her biggest strength, however, lay in being able to sift through vast amounts of data and distill them down to the most significant kernels that set a product or service apart. So, at the behest of her clients, she took on marketing responsibilities.

Despite being an introvert, Daria became President of the company and then an even bigger company, which went through several mergers and acquisitions that made her head spin. She left there to start her own business. She was not only successful but also had time to start writing and flexibility to learn how to sail on her own, single handing the 41-foot boat she and her husband owned.

Sailing and skiing  had always been passions that provided an escape mechanism from the stresses of her career. And as she didn't have children, those activities filled her life with adventure. She eventually secured a USCG captain's license and other advanced certifications.

Now she was leading a double life. She was writing serious strategic marketing plans on the one hand and non-fiction books and articles about sailing on the other. A bit schizophrenic you say?  Not at all. Well, not really.

She and her husband and partner in everything worthwhile, Alex, then decided to sail across the Atlantic and build a house in Ireland. But rather than settle down, they sailed off to the Caribbean and then back again to Ireland, crossing the Atlantic three times in three years. That provided lots of blog entries and fodder for new book ideas along the way. Daria is now a dual citizen of Ireland and the United States.

One day out of the blue her husband started writing novels, which he persuaded her to edit. That gave her the idea to start writing novels, too. She has a novel, a book about the joy of sailing, and her mother's memoir all going at the same time, having just finished a cruising guide for the west of Ireland. The memoir she had to translate from Ukrainian first. Now, she's letting it 'rest' to decide if she wants to fictionalize it or present a historically accurate account.

"I am happier now than I've ever been," she says. "I get to do the things I've always wanted to do. Some days are terribly frustrating, others are wonderfully fulfilling. But one thing is for certain, no two days are ever the same. And every day with my husband in the west of Ireland is always an adventure. I don't understand people who are bored in their lives. I will never run out of new things to try."


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