Laura's Biography
Laura Dawn is the pseudonym of Laura Beningfield, the prodigious twenty year old author of 'Envelope of a Letter'. Our biography provides all the information anyone could possibly wish to know about her personal history, interests and hobbies and describes how she successfully overcame the intimidating challenges that face and often overcome aspiring young writers.
Childhood - The Path to Success - The Future
The Path to Success
Laura's burgeoning admiration for the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen furnished both her fascination with the Regency period which is so lovingly expressed in the minutely detailed locations of 'Envelope of a Letter' and the desire to follow in their illustrious footsteps: 'I just loved these books and enjoyed being in inside a whole different world so much that I thought it would be fun to start inventing my own'
However, Laura never realised that any of her prolific teenage output (extending to three novels and eight novellas) would be worthy of commercial publication until, working in a bookshop, she began to critically compare her own completed works with the litany of material surrounding her: 'I get to see a lot of what's being published. Sometimes I did think, 'Well, my latest story is about as good as this... if this can get published...!'. Encouraged by positive (yet constructive!) support from trusted family and friends and an increasingly bullish belief in her own abilities, Laura began to submit synopses of her eclectic post-modern tragi-comedy romance 'Envelope of a Letter' to local publishers. However, she was not instantaneously successful:
'Every writer gets a nice pile of rejection slips. Read 'Snoopy the Literary Ace' if you are currently suffering from this! Literary agents are extremely busy and get sent thousands of manuscripts everyday. Even if they get time to read what you send, it's unlikely the company will be able to afford to take on new clients, much less one never published before.'
A dramatic upturn in fortunes occurred in 2004 when Laura submitted her breathtakingly fast-paced thriller 'Whitewash' to the Short Story Competition held annually by Fygleaves, a local publisher specialising in providing the opportunity for young writers to be published commercially. Laura's outstanding success in achieving second place provided her with an opening to successfully submit her novel, which was finally published to the author's unbridled delight in September 2005.
Confessing to being unable to sleep or cease laughing hysterically for some time afterwards, Laura is typically modest about this achievement: 'I was extremely lucky to get the opportunity I did, and am very thankful for all the help with editing and support I received from my publisher and friends. I would not have had the confidence to sustain my efforts without them'.
Childhood - The Path to Success - The Future
