Hi, I’m Dawn — a fantasy and science fiction writer working toward publishing my short stories and novels.
My life revolves around my day job, my kids and my husband. Oh, and the furballs too. I suffer from an addiction to pens, paper, and making up stories, so it only makes sense that I write.
I was born in Queens, NY and grew up in Brooklyn, the second of five children. Thanks to the internet, I met my husband and made my home in the Chicago suburbs. I don’t like the snow and the cold and I dream of retiring early and moving to someplace warmer with a beach nearby. There’s something magical for me about the roar of crashing waves on the shore, the taste of the sea in the air, and the physical pull of the ocean when you dig your feet in and the waves rush by.
Writing is like breathing to me. I can’t have a conversation with someone that doesn’t affect my writing in some way, whether it’s the way you speak that I can translate into a character’s style of dialogue, or a fact that you innocently pass to me, and I get to turn into some element of a story. I have other hobbies, though I haven’t recently been able to spare time for them. I love music, mostly 80’s type rock, but I enjoy classical and movie soundtracks that tend toward the instrumental. I played piano in high school and college. I draw, a little. My skill is enough that it helps my writing. If I made more time for it, I could probably do better, but I choose my writing first.
My writing fluctuates between fantasy and science fiction; I love creating worlds and races and giving them problems to solve. I’ve been playing with children’s fiction, mostly as an activity with my daughter. I wrote some picture books for her, with other ideas still spinning in my head. I have notes and outlines for suspence and thrillers, but haven’t yet ventured into writing those.
My ultimate goal is to make a living off my writing. To that end, I devise intense goals to push myself forward every year and constantly reevaluate those goals and what I need to do to improve my skill. I love writing, and though the learning is work, I can’t imagine not doing it. So, why do I write? Because I do. It’s in my heart and blood. It might have started as a hobby all those years ago, but I took my love for writing and trained my brain to take stray thoughts and ideas, and to churn those into problems and characters. I write because I can’t help myself.
DAWN BONANNO 