Colleen Eccles Penor

Hi, my name is Colleen, thanks for stopping by! I was born and raised in Wyoming and can’t imagine living anywhere else. I’m an author, a certified public accountant who works tax season each year, and a United States Army veteran who served as a military police officer. It was as a soldier and MP that I learned survival skills and the use of multiple weapons, skills needed by the characters in DAEIOS: 140 FEET DOWN. I became an author because, for as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to write a novel. Everyone has a book in them, they say. I had no idea my first book would be a dystopian thriller! I’ve written a lot of stories, essays (I was a top finalist in the Writer’s Digest 83rd Annual Writing Competition for my essay, Fearsome Men), poetry, and one short play over the years. I have always been an avid reader and my love for the written word needs to be expressed in my own voice. When my husband, Rob, proposed to me, he told me he would support me in whatever I wanted to do. Whether that be hanging out my own shingle as an accountant (I had worked full-time in accounting for many years at that time), writing that book that was nagging at me, or anything else. I really enjoy writing, seeing my stories come to life sentence after sentence, page after page. I wrote DAEIOS because I wanted to create an imperfect character and have her become something special at the end of the book. I’ve been fascinated by underground caverns ever since visiting Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico as a child, so that became the setting. I thought it would be interesting to take current world issues and imagine the worst-case scenarios. What would that look like? How would it affect the characters in the story? My original idea for DAEIOS was to make it a dystopian story with humor. That’s how it started, with Shea and other characters being funny at times, because, don’t people handle adversity with humor, even if it’s dry humor? But the darker DAEIOS became, the less the humor fit. So DAEIOS became a thriller and has only a touch of lightness here and there to break up the darkness. I wrote my short story, Electric Eddie, so I could write some subtle humor with a lighter tone. It's very loosely based on my childhood. When I’m not writing or getting my fix of numbers, (which I also love), during tax season, I love to travel: by boat or ship, airplane, train, car, or motorcycle (I ride on the back). I’ve seen much of the world but there's still so much more to see. I also enjoy whitewater rafting, walking and hiking, reading, movies, and binge-worthy TV series, plays, live music, and most of all, spending time with my husband and family. Connect with me: Website: https://colleenecclespenor.com/ Facebook: http://bit.ly/ColleenEcclesPenorAuthorFB Twitter: @ecclespenor