Writing is how Diane Dean-Epps makes sense of the world: She writes all the time - in her head, on scraps of paper, when she's at home, even while she's driving.

"My family comes from a tradition of hilarious story tellers," she said. "We never inherited money, but we inherited a lot of stories."

Dean-Epps, an English instructor at Nevada Union High School, recently published her third novel titled "K-I-L-L TV," which draws upon her experiences as a former broadcast journalist.

The protagonist of the novel is a news director who's a recovering alcoholic and whose husband is leaving her. To add to her misery, her boss - with whom she disagreed in public - is found murdered on April 15, which hindered her from filing her taxes on time.

The 224-page "humorous mystery" took Dean-Epps about a year to write. It's now available at The Book Seller in Grass Valley and online at www.dianedeanepps.com.

Dean-Epps' earlier novels, "Maternal Meanderings" and "Last Call," are sold on amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble Books.

"What feeds my creativity is nature and my family," Dean-Epps said. "My core values and my unconditional love for my family sustain me because it allows a process that can flow freely. I'm able to grow as a writer because I'm right in the moment where I need to be. I'm not concentrating on the unimportant."

Broad inspirations

Dean-Epps is inspired by Tibetan Buddhism. Her favorite poets include Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Bishop and Mary Oliver. She's captivated by the works of William Faulkner and Langston Hughes, she said.

"I really started taking writing seriously when my oldest daughter was born in 1988," Dean-Epps said. "That's when I realized I had this little girl, and I didn't want to tell her I wanted to pursue this dream but never followed it."

Dean-Epps lives in Alta Sierra with her husband, Gary Epps. They have two children - 14-year-old Kelsi and 19-year-old Nicole.

To contact Soumitro Sen, e-mail ssen@theunion.com or call 477-4229.