Diane Elizabeth Karlstrom, pen name Dai Darell (October 5, 1952 – July 8, 2024) was a Swedish-American comic writer and young adult novelist.

Biography

Darell was born in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

, and grew up both in the United States and in Sweden. As a teenager, she was an avid reader of the comic series

The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The char ...

"Fantomen". After writing to the series editors, she was encouraged to submit a script. Her first published Fantomen story was Nr. 5/1983 and she became the first female Fantomen writer. It was then she adopted the pen name Dai Darell. She would write for The Phantom until 1986, contributing 16 stories. In 1984, she met Swedish comic writer

Claes Reimerthi Claes Göran Reimerthi (12 January 1955 – 23 July 2021) was a Swedish comic book author. He was most well known for his Swedish language version of ''The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee ...

at the Seriefrämjandet, the Swedish Comics Society and encouraged him to begin writing Phantom stories. Reimerthi would go on to make a significant impact on The Phantom. From 1983 to 1986 Darell wrote the series "" "Ödeshandsken". She would contribute to a number of comic and magazine publications, including ''Starlet'', ''Min Häst'', "

Tom & Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...

", ''

Wendy Wendy is a given name generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain during the English Civil War in the mid-1600s, a male Captain Wendy Oxford was identified by the Leveller John Lilburne as a spy reporting on his activit ...

'', "

Pellefant Pellefant is a Swedish comic book character, a blue living toy elephant. He was created by Rune Andréasson. Pellefant's first appearance was in Andréasson's book ''Pellefant i Gottlandet'' ("Pellefant in Candyland" or "Pellefant in Tastyland"), ...

" as well as several

Disney comics Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck. The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with t ...

Young adult writing

In 1997, Darell connected with Swedish writer Carola Haglund with whom she would have a longtime writing collaboration. Together they would write a number of series set in pre-Viking Scandinavia, as well as a series for young girls interested in horses, "Stall Silverlyckan". In 2003, Darell moved to Canada with her husband Michael Karlstrom. There, she continued to write young adult novels under various names, including Diane Karlstrom, Saga Borg and Teo Troy. Many of her young adult novels and series featured equestrian themes.

Return to The Phantom and later life

In 2019, Darell returned to write two stories for The Phantom alongside Magnus Carling. Her last two stories for The Phantom appeared in 2019. Darell died on July 7, 2024, in Canada.

Bibliography

Series

* "

" * "" "Ödeshandsken"

Novels

Written as Diane Karlstrom * ''Zero Tolerance'', 2010. * ''Keine Nachsicht'', 2010 * ''Auf Wiedersehen, Trockadero'', 2013

Stable Silverlykkan "Stall Silverlyckan" Series

Written with Carola Haglund. * ''Annelies önskedröm,'' 2002 * ''Farväl Rufus,'' 2003 * ''Rädda Rackarns Fridolf,'' 2003 * ''Vilsna vänner,'' 2003 * ''Stallets busigaste häst'' * ''Upp i sadeln igen!''

Jarastavens vandring Series

Written with Carola Haglund and Jesper Svensson under the name Saga Borg. * ''Völvans dotter''. Malmö : Richter, 2000. * ''Ondskans tecken''. Malmö : Richter, 2000. * ''Vindens öga''. Malmö : Richter, 2001. * ''Urlas skugga''. Malmö : Richter, 2002. * ''Mörkrets makter''. Malmö : Richter, 2003. * ''Dödens vingslag''. Malmö : Richter, 2004. * ''Livets källa''. Malmö : Damm, 2005. * ''Vargens lya''. Malmö : Damm, 2006. * ''Tertors vrede''. Malmö : Damm, 2008.

Blodsbröder Series

Written with Carola Haglund and Jesper Svensson under the name Saga Borg. * ''Tiggarens förbannelse''. Stockholm : Schibsted, 2006. * ''Den mörka hemligheten''. Stockholm : Schibsted, 2006. * ''

Brödraskapet Brödraskapet ( Swedish for ''The Brotherhood''), shortend BSK, is a Swedish prison gang that was founded on May 27, 1995 by inmates inside the maximum security prison in Kumla, Sweden. The police in Sweden consider The Brotherhood to be a crimin ...

''. Stockholm : Schibsted, 2006. * ''Finnvedens Orakel''. Stockholm : Schibsted, 2007. * ''Änglamakerskan''. Stockholm : Schibsted, 2007. * ''Liemannen''. Stockholm : Schibsted, 2007. * ''Skärselden''. Stockholm : Schibsted, 2008. * ''Den sjunde duvan''. Stockholm : Schibsted, 2008.

Den svarta kristallen Series

Written with Carola Haglund and Jesper Svensson under the name Teo Troy. * ''Landet bortom,'' 2001 * ''Fruktansvärdet,'' 2001, * ''Kristallens kraft,'' 2001 * ''Pantaurernas halvö,'' 2001 * ''I Fördärvets våld,'' 2002, * ''Eldhäxans gåva,'' 2002, * ''Spegelsalen,'' 2003 * ''Hedins valv,'' 2003

John Romeo Series

With Magnus Carling. * ''The Artist (Konstnären),'' 2017 * ''Crucified (Korsfäst),'' 2017 * ''Dahlia's Wheel (Dahlias hjul),'' 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darell, Dai 2024 deaths 1952 births Novelists from Illinois American women children's writers American women novelists Swedish women novelists Swedish women writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century Swedish women writers Swedish women children's writers Swedish expatriates in Canada Writers from Rockford, Illinois