Dawn Banks is an academic librarian and contemporary romance author whose love of stories spills into every part of her life. When she isn’t crafting swoon-worthy romances, she’s happily buried in a book, and she is still searching for the perfect pirate love story to steal her heart.
The indisputable fact that cats deserve names worthy of literature shows in her household: Eowyn and Peaseblossom rule the roost. Dawn makes her home in Tennessee with her husband, their kids, and those two well-read felines, balancing family life with the quiet joy of writing and reading.
Her debut novel, The Spreadsheet Situation, is a sparkling romantic comedy about a librarian and a history professor who fall in love while collaborating on a data-analysis project. The ebook released August 19, with the paperback arriving September 26. It’s available widely wherever ebooks are sold, and the paperback can be found through most major online bookstores. Readers can also borrow it through libraries on Libby and Hoopla, a point of pride for this lifelong library advocate.
Join me in getting to know a bit more about Dawn.
What first sparked the idea for your current or most recent project?
In 2022, I was listening to the Hot and Bothered RomPod’s first season where they had Julia Quinn give mini lessons on how to write a romance. As I listened, I kept finding myself thinking about scenes I could write. Around that same time, I was working with a friend on a project, and funny things kept happening that were a lot like beats in a rom-com. Our friendship and the funny moments we kept having ended up being the basis for the friendship between my main characters, Evie and Andrew.
What part of the process pushed you closest to giving up? How did you move past that obstacle?
I initially submitted several queries but wasn’t getting any traction. I ended up rewriting the entire book about a year into the query process, switching from third person POV to first person POV. After that, I queried a few more times, but still didn’t get very far. I knew I had a story that people would want to read, but I hadn’t seriously considered independent publishing because I knew it would mean a lot of time and money. I don’t know exactly how I made my decision to keep going and to publish independently, but about a year after the big rewrite, it was clear to me that indie was the right route. I wouldn’t call indie publishing my back up after failing to go trad. It just took me a while to realize it was right for me because I hadn’t read many indie books before then and didn’t know much about the process.
Share a favorite line or passage and why it matters.
In chapter 11, Evie has a line of narration that has always made me laugh: “There’s nothing sexy about watching a man wrestle a dead chicken into a stockpot, thank goodness.” This line is in a scene where Andrew, her love interest, has come to her house to cook a meal for her while she practices an interview presentation for a job she’s applied for. In the course of making the meal together, things get steamier than strictly friend-appropriate, so Evie is relieved that they’ve moved on to a step that doesn’t involve Andrew’s muscular arms kneading dough, especially since they’re still only friends at this point. Of course, the next line is Andrew telling her he needs to spatchcock the chicken.
What part of the process turned out more fun than expected?
I use Scivener for drafting, and I ended up loving the puzzle of figuring out how to get the formatting to export the way I wanted when I was compiling my ebook and paperback files. I’m a librarian, so I’m used to doing a lot of trial and error to find what I need. I think that made the process of formatting more fun than I thought it would be.
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Whether she’s guiding students through the stacks or dreaming up happily-ever-afters, Dawn brings curiosity, warmth, and a touch of adventure to everything she does. A resident of East Tennessee’s Tri-Cities/Appalachian Highlands, Dawn shares her home with her husband, their kids, and the aforementioned two cats perfectly named after literary icons.
Dawn can be found on Instagram, Threads, and
And if you’d like to be featured in an author spotlight, whether you’re published, about to debut, or publishing is a ways into the future, please read the Author Interest Form post and contact me! This are free, always and forever. Authors help authors.
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On a personal note about libraries:
Libraries are the living heart of a community, offering far more than shelves of books. They provide free access to information, technology, and safe gathering spaces where people of every age and income level can learn, connect, and grow, or even apply for social services, which is now done exclusively online in many areas. From early-literacy story times to career workshops, from internet access for job seekers to quiet study rooms for students, libraries meet needs that cut across the entire socioeconomic spectrum. For many, a library card is the key to educational opportunity, cultural enrichment, and the simple joy of discovery, all without the barrier of cost.
At the center of it all are librarians. They are the skilled professionals who make these resources meaningful. Librarians guide patrons through the flood of information in our digital age, help newcomers navigate everything from research databases to government forms, and curate collections that reflect diverse voices and experiences. Their expertise and commitment ensure that libraries remain welcoming spaces for curiosity, creativity, and free expression. Supporting robust library funding and the freedom to read without censorship is about so much more than just preserving books. It’s also about safeguarding equitable access to knowledge and the democratic values that thrive when every person can explore ideas freely.
So please support initiatives that support libraries, and please support librarians being in charge of the books that are carried.