Niall doesn't speak to his neighbours. He doesn't speak to anyone. Avoiding conversation is easier than the pity and impatience he senses from everyone the moment he opens his mouth and nothing comes out. Since he split up with his partner years before, he hasn't had much to do with anyone and that has suited him just fine. He has his dog, Zen, for company. Zen doesn't care that Niall can't get through an entire sentence without stuttering. Zen is all Niall needs. And that's how it would have stayed until the day a new neighbour moves in next door.

Zak is Niall's exact opposite?twenty-three years Niall's junior, bubbly, gregarious and never shuts up. His arrival fills Niall's quiet life with constant noise and constant company. Zen appears to have defected, and Zak doesn't seem to even notice that Niall rarely speaks. Gradually, Zak's endless patience brings Niall out of his shell. To Niall's surprise, he suddenly has a friend, a confidante and perhaps something more.

And he didn't even have to say a word.

Dawn is from the North East of England. Her life is spent juggling. The juggling balls are: children, husband, work (occasionally), voluntary work, professional knitting (notice she doesn't class this as work), and writing. When she has time she actually sleeps.

The whole point of writing for Dawn is just to get it all off her chest and out of her head. If she doesn't write it down then she ends up having long conversations with the characters out loud and her husband thinks she's crazy.

"I like chocolate, coffee and donuts, sometimes all at the same time. I love evenings around a campfire singing in the company of good friends. I like listening to the dawn chorus even if I've been awake all night. I like reading stories with characters that are filled with hope even in their darkest hours. I like happy endings."