Today we’d like to introduce you to Dawn Major.
Hi Dawn, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I recognized that I wanted to be a writer around seventh grade. I had a wonderful teacher who assigned writing prompts to the class, and we had to write a short story that we would read out loud at the end of the week. I think many writers have some type of experience with a special teacher that encouraged them to write, though. Most of the kids hated getting up in the front of the class and reading, but I recognized early on that I could affect my audience, and I went for it. Of course, when I became a teenager shortly after, I went through all the angst that comes with that, and I wrote just awful poetry that I still have and read for the pure the entertainment of it. Still, the bug had bitten me!
Because I love to read and write, I majored in English (as you do), and I started taking fiction and poetry workshops. I suppose it was naive to think after graduating from college, I would be a writer. I had a rude awakening (writers with an income are rare), and I ended up on banking. I know! But bankers have all the holidays and I had worked retail for 13 years. Thirteen years of getting to the mall at 4 AM. So, the bank I was working at paid for college tuition, and I started grad school for professional writing (only I took the “fun” creative writing courses and left after a year. I reversed gears and went to paralegal school and got a great job in-house at a large bank in downtown Alanta. I enjoyed my work there, but that writing bug kept biting me. That’s how I ended up at Emory. I got a creative writing certificate. I loved it, but it felt like the tip of the iceberg. I wanted more. That’s when I found a low-residencies MFA program at Reinhardt University.
So, there are loads of low-residency writing programs out there. But this one promised a book when you finished it. You will have a book, but it may not be the right time to publish it. It’s a start. I worked on The Bystanders for another two years before I found my publishers. These programs get you in the habit of writing daily, but it would be easy to graduate and not write. That’s why it was important for me to find a writing community in Atlanta, and I have. Writers keep other writers accountable. Workshopping, going to writing conferences, attending your author friend’s book signings or panels…just make time for it. Today, I can’t even fathom there were days, weeks, and months where I did not write. It’s not like not breathing, and I get anxious if I am away from words for even one day.
I guess this sounds a little corny, but I had a goal, and I worked towards every day, sometimes a peck here and there, but every day you challenge yourself creatively is my lifeblood.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
You write because you cannot NOT write. When I am writing, the universe is very shiny and bright, and all is aligned. When I am not writing, I get anxious, and I constantly think about writing. So, when I was pursuing a career in legal and later in financial crimes in the banking industry, I wasn’t writing. I was deliberately not writing, too, because I had convinced myself that if I wasn’t going to make it as a writer, I wasn’t going to write at all. There were many years of not touching the keyboard or not picking up a pen. I heard some authors say that writing is a curse. Certainly, if you consider some of the sad stories out there and how alcoholism and even suicide plague individuals in this field, you could make an argument for a curse. I think the curse, if there is one, is more about not writing than actually writing. Or the fear of failure. Rejection is simply an aspect of writing.
So, during those years in the wilderness, so to speak, I kept thinking about writing, and sometimes I would pull out some of the short stories I worked on that one year of graduate school at KSU. I’ve never published those stories, incidentally. I keep those stories just for me, but I still work on them every year. Those stories have changed over the twenty-plus years I’ve worked on them, but they also remind me of that fear of writing and failing. And then I look at how far I’ve come. It doesn’t feel real that my novel, The Bystanders, was published. If I let fear get in the way, my book never would have been published. I just accept that if I am being rejected, it means I am writing and submitting my work. That’s key. The rest will fall in place.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a published author, writer, an associate editor at Southern Literary Review, and also advocate for Southern writers and artists via my blog, SouthernRead. I am excited to say I just got approval as a nonprofit for SouthernRead, so more to come soon.
I am a member of the William Gay Archive I’ve edited and help publish the late Southern author’s posthumous works. I recently curated an art exhibit at the Decatur Library and worked with the Georgia Center for the Book and the Revival: Lost Southern Voices Festival, which brings underappreciated Southern authors to the forefront. I started working with the archive when I was writing my critical thesis about William Gay, and I got hooked. I’m currently working on publishing an art book with Michael White, the lead archivist, and Mandy Haynes, publisher of Three Dogs Write Press. When I started advocating for William, I realized there was a need to advocate for all Southern writers and writing. I’m proud of my work with the archival team, and I am proud of my advocacy for Southern writers in general. I’ve met some talented people. Sometimes, I need to pinch myself.
I am currently working on a novel called “One Man’s Worth-Mart is Another Man’s Graveyard.” Think Grady Hendrix’s Horrorstor, but more tongue and cheek. It is about a wannabe Walmart Superstore that is owned by Randall Jo Highdollar, an uber Christian who is using his lottery winnings supersize his world–his world being the small town of Canton, GA and now his fiefdom. When he cannot get the real deal or a Walmart Superstore, he decides to replicate it. Hence, Worth-Mart Superstore. Of course, he didn’t let the discovery of First Nation People’s remains and/or artifacts stop progress. The store is haunted by the Native Americans who once populated the area. And to add onto a Medicine Woman terrorizing Patio and Garden or twin Cherokee sisters who love to “play” in Toys, the Worth-Mart’s employee pool consists of delinquents who were arrested in Cherokee County and are now “serving time” working at the Worth-Mart.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
While I tend to think I generally have good luck, I can be quite superstitious, but I am not so sure it is luck so much as saying “YES” to opportunities that opened doors to me. You must put yourself out there. When I decided to make this great leap of faith and pursue writing, a few friends thought I was insane to leave my corporate job that was secure, provided benefits, and paid well. I was scared, too, but fear calls you to action. Fight or Flight, right? I think Eleanor Rosevelt gets credit for the saying: “Do one thing every day that scares you.” You might say that’s my mantra. I live by it. It doesn’t come without stress, but that’s just part of the commitment. Writers have to hustle. Part of that hustle is getting your book out in front of people. Unless you are in the 1% of published authors, most of the time, it’s up to the authors to not only write but to promote their books. For the more introverted writer, and many are, this is not easy. They just want to write. That’s what I want to do as well, but nowadays it doesn’t work that way. If you stop looking at it as PR and look at is as forming a relationship with your writing community, it’s a much more palatable approach to promoting yourself. As an example, I think emerging writers would benefit from volunteering at writing conferences and festivals. Immerse yourself in the writing world, and that world will become yours one day. As an example, when I was still a little newer to the writing world, I decided to write book reviews and interview authors. Being exposed to authors I admired was priceless. Yes, it takes time, but these are the very people who have accomplished what you want and can offer advice and guidance. So, in addition to doing one thing every day that scares you, I also suggest paying it back. There is such a thing as author Karma!
Pricing:
- $19.00 signed edition of The Bystanders
- $17.00 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bystanders-Dawn-Major/dp/1952439531
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dawnmajor.com
- Instagram: @dwriteable
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dawn.major.50
- Twitter: @DawnMajor16
- Other: Southern Literary Review of Dawn Major’s debut novel: The Bystanders: https://southernlitreview.com/authors/donna-stanley-meredith-interviews-dawn-major-author-of-the-bystanders.htm?fbclid=IwAR0M4q
Image Credits
1. Woman and Wine Book club Marietta, GA taken by D. Major 2. Marthasville Salon- Georgian Terrace Hotel Atlanta, GA (Back L/R Jeff Clemmons, Robert 4 Gwaltney Dawn Major, and Collins Anderson) photo taken by friendly stranger 3. 2023 Atlanta Writers Club Townsend Award ceremony at the Wimbish House Atlanta, GA photo taken by author, Kimberly Brock 4. Dawn Major at Reinhardt University Waleska, GA Library photo taken by Bonnie Medford 5. Picture of Dawn Major’s debut novel at the beach in Gulf Shores, AL photo taken by Veronica Davis 6. Dawn Major with author Jeffery Dale Lofton at Eagle Eye Books Decatur, GA photo taken by Robert Gwaltney 8. Dawn Major sitting on Stephen King’s bench Bangor, ME photo taken by Aleea Major 9. The Bystanders at Book Bound Blairsville, GA Photo taken by Bonnie Medford 10. FoxTale Bookshop at Dawn Major’s Book signing with Author Ann Hite Woodstock, GA taken by Jerry Hite 11. Dawn Major on the rooftop of The Ponce Atlanta, GA photo taken by Collins Anderson
