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Dawn Brown mixes folklore with mystery and romance, creating stories that keep you spell-bound while sending icy chills down your spine. Her books have an air of the supernatural even though ghostly things may or may not actually be going on.
Growing up in Mississauga, Ms. Brown often gathered her friends and told ghost stories in her garage, laying the foundation for her future as a writer.
Once, she dreamed of a woman trapped in a house with ghostly shadows moving all over the walls and thought it would make a great scene in a book. Now some of the dream’s details are finding their way into her work-in-progress.
When she’s not writing, she draws and paints as a means to unwind. She also collects thimbles—two of her favorites are a medieval thimble from England and a pewter thimble from Boston.
Though she’s not crazy passionate about much outside of her writing and family, some of her favorite things are: chocolate, thunderstorms, her laptop, Alfred Hitchcock movies, funky jewelry and purses, tea, chocolate, books, her e-reader, and chocolate. (hmmm could she be crazy passionate about chocolate?)
On Writing in Dawn Brown’s Own Words
What or who inspires you to write?
My characters bring me the most inspiration. They drive the stories forward. But when they aren’t cooperating, I have a card my grandmother sent me about 15 years ago encouraging me to enter a writing contest. The last line in her note reads, “I have every faith in you.” I didn’t enter the contest, but I kept the card. When the writing gets hard, I read that line and push on.
Why did you begin writing?
I started writing because I had these ideas for stories and characters, and it just made sense to write them down. For a long time, I wrote as a hobby and had a number of unfinished stories. After my son was born, I decided to get serious about writing and see if I could make a career of it.
Which author inspires you?
When I was 13, I read a book by Phyllis A. Whitney called Dream of Orchids. I loved the mix of mystery and romance, and I knew that was the kind of story I wanted to write.
What do you find most rewarding about writing?
For me, the most rewarding thing about writing is creating characters, the worlds they live in and losing myself in the story. I love watching the story evolve from a spark of an idea into a completed novel.
Have you experienced writer’s block? And if so, how did you cure it?
Usually if I have writer’s block, it’s because there’s a problem with the story. I might be forcing the characters to do something they wouldn’t do for the sake of a plot point, or rushing the relationship between the hero and heroine. Sometimes I’ll just push on and fix whatever’s wrong during the rewrite. Other times, I’ll go back and look at what’s not working and make the change before moving on.
When is your next book due out, and what’s it about?
I’ve just wrapped up work on a romantic suspense novel, Blood and Bone. It’s about a crime writer who discovers the murders she’s researching for her next book is not as it seems. She’ll have to find the truth behind the killings or wind up a victim herself. As I’ve just finished this story, I don’t have a release date…yet.
Read my review of The Curse of Culcraig, then do yourself a huge favor and check out this very talented author at her website: www.dawnbrown.org. This is one author you do not want to miss.
