Dawn Downey
Before I achieved the American Dream, I woke up. Well on the way to a secure retirement, I popped a wheelie and skidded to a halt. I turned off the well-lit traditional career path, onto the unpaved side road of creative self-employment. The American Dream is too small for me.
I write personal essays, humorous commentary and dharma talks. My work has been published by The Christian Science Monitor, ShambhalaSun.com/sunspace, Skirt! Magazine, The Best Times, Kansas City Voices Magazine, Alzheimer's Anthology of Unconditional Love, and TheAmericanBuddhistCenter.org.
Elizabeth Pomada, of the Larsen Pomada Literary Agency in San Francisco, loved my manuscript for a guided journal, At Home in Your Head: Twenty Rooms of Journaling Inspiration. She now represents me and is reviewing my proposal for a collection of spiritual essays, Stumbling Toward the Buddha: Stories about Tripping over my Principles on the Road to Nirvana.
Memberships include the Writers Place - Midwest Center for the Literary Arts, Kansas City Writers Group and the Missouri Writers Guild. Once a month I deliver the inspirational message at a Sunday morning meditation service. I'm completing a two-year program with Matthew Flickstein, which guides participants ever deeper into the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
Articles by Dawn Downey
Devouring Critiques: Seven Ways to Nourish Your Writing July 20, 2010 (Dawn Downey) About three years ago, Dawn Downey's role as member of her writing group morphed into one of leadership. As facilitator and editor, she watched writers cower when their work was discussed. Many encouraging comments floated right over writers' heads into oblivion because they were too nervous to take it all in. Here is Dawn's list of suggestions, offered at the beginning of each semester. (complete article...)