Erin was born September 23, 1978, in Milwaukee, WI. She was 14 weeks premature and 2lbs. 13oz and only 14 inches long. She fit into the palm of her dad's hand, her legs dangling by his elbow. Her parents spent those weeks in the hospital with her, praying she would come home with them. Just before Christmas, she went home.
From that fighting beginning, Erin grew up to be a pretty normal girl. Despite harrassment due to the bald spot in the back of her head (where a scab had formed from her squirming around while in the incubator), she made friends she still has today and grew up in a safe and happy environment. Her parents taught her early on that she could do and be anything she wanted to.
Just before Erin started school, she moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana. In third grade, Erin's class participated in a school-wide Young Author's Competition. Erin's book was about a tooth having to go to the dentist and only won Honorable Mention, but it was enough to spark a love of writing that thrives even today.
Erin wrote short stories and novellas throughout school. Even after moving from Fort Wayne to Racine, Wisconsin, just before her sophomore year of high school, she used writing as a way to deal with the changes in her life. Being somewhat shy and introverted, she never tried writing anything for school publications or even thought of her writing as anything more than a hobby she could share with friends.
In 2002, Erin married a wonderful man, Lee Danzer, after 5 years of courtship. Over the next 5 years, Erin's life took some twists and turns. Her mother died in December of 2003 due to illness and complications from diabetes. The following year, her grandmother (her mom's mom) passed away the same month. In August of 2005, her first son, Kody, was born after 9 hours of induced labor. In December of 2006, Erin's second son, Riley, entered the world after 4 hours of fast and hard labor. Both of her children are the light of her life and she enjoys every moment she has to watch them grow up (when they're not making her want to pull out what hair she has left).
In November of 2002, Erin entered her first National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The contest is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Erin's books, True Love's Destiny, was published through 1st Books (vanity press) with her Grandfather's help. She achieved the goal of 50,000 words in 11 days that year and found out she COULD write a novel-length story. Since then, Erin has entered every November and only had one year (2005) that she did not "WIN" the competition. The first book of her Mason Ridge trilogy, Losing Control, was written during NaNoWriMo 2008.
At the beginning of 2011, Erin realized her life had gone from something she participated in to something she watched from the sidelines. As a good friend pointed out, she wasn't getting any younger. Erin decided to take her writing from a hobby to a dream come true, starting by meeting other authors, starting a blog, and writing a novel worthy of real publication. Erin's circle of friends is growing (mostly due to Facebook) and she's found an invaluable friend in author Beth Ann Masarik. After a conversation sparked by shared favorite author Richelle Mead, Erin has gone to Beth Ann for invaluable advice and support. As Erin has said, "I want to be like Beth when I grow up." Beth Ann has several websites, started a writer's support blog, is founder of the e-zine, Literary Lunes, and her first book, The World Among Us: Prince of Darkness, was published by Otherworld Publications on August 19, 2011. Meet Beth Ann here.
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