Diana Chambers—born traveler and writer

Diana Chambers says she was born with a book in one hand and a passport in the other. The author of “Stinger,” a script that was at one point optioned by a London movie producer, never saw the movie come to fruition, but did turn that script into a novel involving romance and mystery. In a Midwest Book Review by James A. Cox, “Stinger” was called, “A ripping good novel of page-turning suspense and plot-twisting intrigue.”

“I like a good mystery,” said Chambers. “I realize that my favorite part of travel/book research is exploration. I love to dig under the surface of different places and cultures to un-peel the onion. I don’t know what I’ll find; that’s the discovery. The issues find me.”

Chambers said that when she began “Stinger,” she had no idea the theme would resonate today—or that it would provide backstory to the events of 9/11. “There’s a well-known saying that Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires. ‘Stinger’ takes us back to the time of another Great Power’s misadventures there—the former Soviet Union. In ‘Stinger,’ we learn about the history and culture of the region, the independent spirit of its peoples, and their ethic of hospitality.”

“When Osama bin Laden went missing near the Afghan-Pakistani border—an area where loyalty is to the tribe, not the nation—I had a strong suspicion that he’d taken refuge there,” said Chambers. “The tragedy is they were compelled to do so by their ancient code of chivalry, even though most Afghans and Pakistanis dislike the al Qaeda ‘Arabs.’ It’s complex, but we’ve pushed some traditional and fairly easygoing people into the arms of dangerous ideologues.”

Chambers said she’s always been drawn to Asia. She’s studied Indian art history and traveled there frequently. “Thirty years ago,” said Chambers, “I had a story idea about an Afghan king’s buried treasure discovered via remote sensing—a new technology at the time. That led to studying Afghanistan which led to a more political story. I was fascinated by the brave mujahideen guerrillas who stood up to the ‘omnipotent’ Soviet Army, a dramatic and romantic tale. One of my characters was based on a handsome, ‘warrior-poet’ resistance leader who was assassinated by al Qaeda the day before 9/11.

“As part of its Cold War strategy, the US backed the rebels with weapons that included Stinger missiles to defend against deadly Soviet gunships. ‘Stinger’ is the story of the CIA covert op that supplied these missiles. At the time it really was David and Goliath, good guys vs. bad guys. After the US pulled out of the region—with the fall of the USSR—many of the ‘good guys’ became Taliban. Radical Islam squashed a music- and poetry-loving people.”

Chambers says that she’s drawn to faraway places, particularly the borderlands and is always wondering about several questions. “How does nationality define—and separate—us? How are we connected? What accidents or lines drawn on a map lead to our places of birth—and thus our fates?”

Her days of traveling led Chambers to wander the streets of Paris, work for an Asian importing business and in Hollywood costume design, and scriptwriting. She’s had television scripts produced for a US/Canadian/French coproduction and has also written film scripts.

With her penchant for travel, Chambers wanted to research the region in person. “For me,” said Chambers, “[the region’s] very remoteness was the big draw. My research is always the best part, the source of grand adventures. We traveled over the Karakoram Highway—the top of the world—from China’s Far West to northern Pakistan, staying at hotels that my fellow-traveller husband said were last cleaned after Marco Polo went through.”

Unfortunately, their efforts ran into another type of resistance. “We made it almost to the Khyber Pass but our efforts to get permits were thwarted by carbon-paper-pushing Pakistani officials, cousins of the notorious Indian bureaucrats. Among others, these travel tales are posted on my website, ‘Over the Top’ and ‘In Search of the Khyber Pass.’”

For more information

Learn more about Diana Chambers on her website at dianarchambers.com.