I’m a journalist and author of a series of books recounting the misadventures of Alexander Strange whose weird news column is published by Tropic Press. The five books chronicling Strange’s adventures are are, in sequence, THE STRANGE FILES, FLORIDA MAN, GET STRANGE, STRANGE CURRENTS, and MISTER MANNERS. They are available as hardcovers, trade paperbacks and eBooks at all major online book retailers. MISTER MANNERS is also now available as an audiobook. Recently, STRANGE CURRENTS and MISTER MANNERS received top honors in the Royal Palm Literary Awards for Best Mysteries published by a Florida author.
When I’m not busy deciphering Alex’s notes and publishing his stories, I write and podcast regularly about current affairs, news of the weird, arts, culture, politics,, books, movies–basically anything that strikes my fancy. Those posts appear here and on other media including Facebook, Twitter, and Medium. I also capture the best of all that in my free newsletter. You should subscribe!
I first encountered Alexander Strange when we worked together at the Phoenix Daily Sun, which, sadly, like so many newspapers these days, has seen its shelf life expire. Alexander now lives in Naples, Florida aboard his fishing trawler, the Miss Demeanor. I live in a house. I was the journalist-in-residence at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and, earlier in my newspaper career, I served as an editor, managing editor, or reporter at, among other places, the Naples Daily News, the Dayton Daily News, the Austin American-Statesman, the Longview News-Journal, the Mesa Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post, the St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times) and the Tampa Times (now deceased).
Once, I even served as the press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a congressman who ended up getting indicted and sent to prison. This job hopping has allowed me to experience varied swaths of our great country, sometimes without flashing blue lights in the rear view mirror. (Next to the law of gravity, my favorite statute is the one about limitations.) At various times along this journey, I nailed down a Master of Arts degree from Antioch University Midwest, a bachelor’s degree from St. Edward’s University, and I also served time at the University of South Florida.
A perpetual joiner, I’m a member of or have been a member of various professional organizations including the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, the American Society of News Editors, the Society of Professional Journaists, Investigative Reporters and Editors, and the Société pour L’étude des Nouvelles E’tranges et des Phénomènes Paranormaux. (I just made that last one up.) I’m a former director of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and a former director (and lecturer) for the Antioch Writers’ Workshop. I’ve served as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes and the National Journalism Awards, and am a member of American MENSA, which I like to mention so you’ll think I’m smart. And last week I scored a word worth 134 points in Word Chums.
DJ Kristoff is a world traveler, adventurer, seeker of truth, and award-winning science teacher extraordinaire. The locations in her story are real. The science and history are real. She earned the nickname Dino Diane on a dinosaur dig with the Museum of the Rockies at Camposaur in Montana, the excavation site of the real Dr. Alan Grant of Jurassic Park, paleontologist John Horner.
Kristoff has backpacked and rafted the Grand Canyon, scuba-dived the Great Barrier Reef, ridden a camel around the Pyramids at Giza, cruised the Nile, and explored the tombs of the pharaohs. She’s trekked the outback of Australia and the tropical rainforests of Hawaii, ventured along volcanic lava flows, gone on photo safari in Tanzania, helicoptered over Victoria Falls, walked with lion cubs in the African bush, hot-air ballooned over the Maasai Mara, witnessed the male elephant gathering on the Zambezi River, and much more.
Currently living in Fort Myers, Florida, DJ Kristoff began her education career teaching eighth-grade science in Tempe, Arizona. There she founded and directed the Students for Environmental Awareness Club. Kristoff guided as many as 50 adventurous eighth graders hiking and backpacking into the deserts and wildernesses of Arizona and Utah, teaching geology, biology, anthropology, paleontology, and ethnobotany. Now, as a children’s author, she inspires middle-grade students to love nature and science with her magical books.
Kristoff has inspired hundreds of adventurers to learn how to survive in the wilds, become self-reliant, and appreciate and respect nature, and each other. As a result of her years of teaching as a master educator, she was awarded the prestigious Silver Apple Award by Channel 3 and the Dial Corporation and was the recipient of the Science Teacher of the Year by the Salt River Project for the state of Arizona.
Dino Diane’s Adventures is a magical science adventure cloaked in a historical fantasy that chronicles the author’s real-life experiences and fanciful inspirations. Saddlebags of Gold and The Secrets of the Five Rays of Light are the first two books in the Dino Diane’s Adventure series by the famous children’s author and educator. There are more adventures to come in Hawaii, Australia, Africa, and Egypt, with lots of new characters and amazing magic!
