About the Author

Chaya Diane Hager

Once you begin to flip through the pages of my books, I am sure that you will notice how the places where I’ve lived, Bogotá, Lausanne, Madrid and Jerusalem, have become a constant inspiration for my writing.

     When did I begin writing, you may wonder? Well, would you believe me if I say that I know the exact date? It was on November 10, 1965, the day of my 8th birthday, when I opened the present my mother gave me. It was my first diary. “Many more diaries followed that first one- diaries which listened to everything I had to say; diaries which never interrupted, contradicted or grew bored with what I was telling them; diaries which slowly helped me discover that I was searching for something different, the true essence of my life.”, “From Bogotá to Madrid To Jerusalem”, ( p. 20, Israel Book Shop 2006).

       I began studying History and Sociology in the Universidad Complutence de Madrid, but since I had studied in American schools, I decided I preferred to continue in an American university. So I applied to a few, with my first choice being Rutgers. However, during the months that I was waiting for the reply, I met my husband to be (at the traffic light!). One day as we entered my house, I saw the mail on the entrance table. The letter had arrived. I looked at Max before I opened it. “What is it?” he asked. “Rutgers University. The answer to my application.” When I opened it. I held my breath as I looked at him. “So?” he asked. “I’ve been accepted!” Not in a million years would I have thought that what was enclosed in Rutgers’s acceptance letter was my fiancé.

      A few months later we got married and, honestly, even though I became pregnant shortly, I did continue to study. However, my first son was born on June 19, which was just in the middle of my exams. I tell you, I did try to study for the second round of exams in September, but my baby wouldn’t stop crying, I was such an inexperienced mom, and…I became pregnant of my second child! So, how could I go back to class and finish my degree? I decided to pursue another career, that of stay home mom, and I honestly can tell you that if grades could be handed to us stay-at-home-moms, I think I would have gotten pretty good ones. Of one thing I was sure, my BA had evaporated between diapers, and Lego blocks. But it was fine, perfectly fine, because when I would put my kids to sleep, I always had my writing, and that gave the stability I needed when at the end of the day I would notice that I was speaking…and thinking all day in toddler language. I enjoyed those years tremendously, and I don’t regret at all haven left my studies. What I never imagined that one day…

      ….I would go back to college! Actually, it wasn’t really something I had planned. It was because of how overwhelmed I felt after I finished writing my novel, “Upon the Wings of an Eagle”. It slowly became so much more than I had ever thought it would be. I needed to get out of my desk, out of the library. I was not ready to begin writing again, I really felt that I needed a break. However, it had to be something that would let me continue living in a world of books. So I thought, what could be better than to study Literature? To dive into Shakespeare, Milton, to learn how to read poetry and discover new authors! And so, today this is where I am, enjoying last courses of my BA in English Literature at Bar Ian University. And so happy, because my plan did work. I now feel ready, even anxious, to begin my next novel.

      So now you know quite a bit about me. How about if you let me know a bit about you? Do contact me, so that we may start sharing sweet-scented, rose petals of our lives.

Your friend,
Chaya Diane