Hello
Dara Renee is a Midwestern fiction writer who loves stories filled with emotion, atmosphere, and a touch of magic. She writes across historical fiction and fantasy, drawing inspiration from family history, nature, and the resilience found in starting over. Dara is currently earning her bachelor’s in English and Creative Writing at SNHU and has published Ellie the Elf Runs Away, Ellie the Elf’s Tropical Christmas, and Gloam, a poetry collection about wandering through darkness and finding dawn. When she’s not writing, she’s usually crafting, reading, or dreaming up new worlds alongside her two kids, dog, and cat.
My Story
I’ve always believed stories are where we make sense of the things that feel too big to carry alone.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved writing and reading. Growing up in the Midwest and raising two children while working full-time, writing has always been the quiet corner of my life. It's the place I go to breathe, to feel, to create something meaningful from experiences that shaped me.
My great-grandfather served in the 4th Marine Division during WWII, fighting in Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. His story—ordinary in the way only extraordinary courage can be—planted the first seed of the novel that would eventually become Stars Over the Pacific. Through his letters and history, I discovered a deep love for historical fiction and the emotional truths behind wartime stories: love stretched thin over distance, the courage to keep going, the fragile ways we hold onto hope.
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As I navigated my own seasons of heartbreak, including a difficult divorce, writing shifted from something I loved into something that saved me. It helped me reclaim my voice, my strength, and the sense that even when life goes dark, dawn always waits somewhere ahead. Those themes of strength and bouncing back after heartache echo through everything I write, whether it’s a WWII love story or a witch wandering an enchanted forest.
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Fantasy came later, blooming in the quiet hours after my kids were asleep. I fell in love with magic wrapped in nature, with cozy atmospheres, and with characters learning to trust themselves again. My works often reflect forests, stars, rain-soaked paths, and soft moments of wonder. It’s the way I process the world and the emotions I carry.
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Writing isn’t just a craft for me. It’s a home I built when I needed one.
And now, I hope to build stories that become a home for someone else too.