Biography
Dana has been writing for what seems like forever. Her young adult trilogy, The Whisper Series, is a romance that’s rife with angels, demons and forbidden romance, as well as a message of love and acceptance that has touched readers nationwide. Her adult novel, Beautiful Secret, is a women’s fiction set in the scorched hills of Southern Italy, where Dana has spent much time traveling and visiting beloved family. Beautiful Secret won the 2017 LYRA award for women’s fiction and is a finalist for the Chatelaine book award.
Dana’s newest book, Hear Me is a young adult romance featuring two Deaf main characters. The novel is a tribute to the many years she spent working as a teacher and interpreter in the Deaf community. Hear Me will be released by Entangled Teen July 6th, 2021.
As a mom of three girls and four fur-babies, Dana’s life is filled with inspiration. Writing is her first love and a true survival skill, but her other passions include cooking for her family, singing, and writing music. Occasionally, she performs with a local band of Pittsburgh moms and is currently working with a production team to transform a middle grade fantasy fiction she wrote for her daughters into a musical.
A motto she lives by is ~Maybe the trick to happiness isn’t in the best-laid plans, but in how you react to what you never planned for.
You never know what adventure awaits.
RANDOM DANA
#1
I've been writing for forever - literally as long as I've been able to write words on paper. As a young child, I'd scribble silly "Shel Silversteinish" poems into a notebook and share them with my parents. As a teen, I'd pour my angsty heart into melodramatic poetry and then torture my friends with every single stanza.
#2
I think it's nearly impossible to narrow down my top five favorite books, but I can say this:
1 - I love THE BOOK THIEF, by Markus Zusak for its YA handling of the Holocaust.
2 - I love THE FEVER SERIES by Karen Marie Moning for its amazingly detailed world and for her incredible use of contradictions. Also, I have sort of a mild book crush on Jericho Barrons, her main male character. Don't tell my husband.
3 - I love THAT SUMMER IN SICILY by Marlena De Blasi, because its language is so rich, I could eat the book. Plus, it's set in Italy.
4 - I love Ted Dekker's CIRCLE SERIES for its underlying message - that love is more powerful and more important than any other agenda, both for God and for mortals.
5 - I love Barbara Kingsolver's POISONWOOD BIBLE for her use of voice and for the distinct pictures she paints of Africa through five different points of view.
#3
I can't sit still unless my butt is on a beach.
#4
I love Italy, especially the South, which is where my father was born and much of his family still resides. There's a little mountain town there called Valanidi where everything is always right with the world. This richly raw place cures everything that ails me and refreshes me at a soul level. I'm working on a novel that is set partly in Italy. It's the story that is wound most tightly around my heart.
#5
I am a food snob, I drink my coffee black and my wine red. I love red wine from Paso Robles.
#6
I'm fluent in sign language and worked with the Deaf community for several years as a teacher and interpreter. I absolutely love the Deaf culture and the beauty of American Sign Language.
#7
The character from a movie I most identify with is Maria Von Trapp from THE SOUND OF MUSIC, because I can be both hopelessly naïve and honest to a fault. Plus, she's clumsy, and anyone who knows me knows I could probably find a way to trip over my nose.
#8
I wrote the Whisper Trilogy because I DO believe in spiritual warfare. I believe there are invisible forces of good - light- and evil - dark - at work in the world around us, and they want access to our thoughts and our decisions. Call it superstitious. I call it a battle between God and the enemy. I choose light. I believe sticking to the Light keeps us on the paths we were made for.