Dawn Knox lives in Essex, UK, about thirty miles from London. So, what you may ask, is she doing on a website featuring the Hawaiʻi Fiction Writers?

Well, it was one of the good things that resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic. As many of us went into lockdown, technology became increasingly important in keeping us connected. And not only maintaining contact with family and friends, but in making new friends in far-off places.

Dawn had been in contact with David and Shauna Jones for many years and at the beginning of lockdown, one of her books was chosen as the pick of the month for their book club. Since the members were meeting on video link, Dawn was invited too. When she was asked if she wanted to join the book club, she jumped at the chance and since then, has met her friends in Hawaiʻi nearly every month via video link.

It was on the book club video meetings, she met Michael Little, who invited her to contribute a story to the anthology Kissing Frogs and Other Quirky Fairy Tales. To her utter delight, it was accepted.

And now, Dawn keeps in touch regularly with David, Shauna, Michael and Gail Baugniet by email.

Dawn often describes herself as an Accidental Author. She has a Bachelor of Science degree which led to a career in pathology, so her head was firmly in the world of science, not literature. When she was younger, it certainly never crossed her mind she might one day write books. So, although she’d love to claim everything has been planned meticulously, the truth is, almost everything about her writing career has been a happy accident.

Neither did it ever occur to her that she’d write a play. She’d deliberately avoided learning much about the First and Second World Wars because she found the suffering too upsetting, then unintentionally became involved with a World War One commemoration group. She went on to write two World War One plays that have been performed in England, France and Germany. And those scripts led to the book she hadn’t intended to write that she now says has her heart and soul in its pages – The Great War – 100 Stories of 100 Words Honouring Those Who Lived and Died 100 Years Ago.

Three zany, fun-filled books came about completely by accident. She’d actually intended to write a few short stories, but the characters took over and their adventures grew into The Basilwade Chronicles, The Macaroon Chronicles and The Crispin Chronicles.

She’d never, ever have considered writing a book with anyone else… until her friend, Colin Payn, asked her to write a near-future, climate fiction book with him and The Future Brokers was published!

There have, of course, been books she did intend to write – she’s not a complete disaster zone! She has a series of romantic historical novels set in the 18th Century penal colony of Sydney in New South Wales, as well as historical novels set during the First and Second World Wars in England and France.

But recently, she’s been at it again and accidentally joined a writing group in Hawaiʻi… Seriously, she’s thrilled to be part of it. If only she could accidentally find her way out to Hawaiʻi…

But perhaps one day…

The Basilwade Chronicles

The Chronicles Chronicles Book 1

The Basilwade stories were originally published on the CaféLit website, where you can access short stories that go nicely with a cuppa. We even suggest a drink! Dawn Knox’s stories contain characters and situations that may seem a little larger than life at first glance but we can soon see that everyone involved is very human. And don’t we all recognise the quirkiness of village/small-town life?