HelenKay Dimon is an American author of contemporary

romance novel A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed ...

s. Dimon is a past president of the

Romance Writers of America Romance Writers of America (RWA) is an American non-profit writers' association founded in 1980. Its mission is to "advance the professional and common business interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by inc ...

. HelenKay Dimon was born in 1967. The only girl in her generation, Dimon was named for her two grandmothers. She was raised in

New Holland, Pennsylvania New Holland (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Seischwamm'') is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census ...

in a household where reading was encouraged. Dimon particularly enjoyed suspense and mysteries. After earning a double major in journalism and political science from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, Dimon moved to Washington, D.C. to work as the legislative correspondent for her hometown's congressman,

Robert Smith Walker Robert Smith Walker (born December 23, 1942) is an American educator and politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican for ten terms from 1977 until his retirement in 1997. He was best kn ...

. Dimon then attended

Wake Forest University School of Law Wake Forest University School of Law is the law school of Wake Forest University, a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Established in 1894, Wake Forest University School of Law is an American Bar Association (ABA) accred ...

. She was graduated in 1995 and joined a small firm in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth ...

that focused on family law. She specialized in divorce and custody battles. The work began to take a toll on her; as Dimon noted in an interview, "'I'm not sure what a win is in a divorce custody case because everybody loses.'" A colleague gave Dimon a few romance novels, insisting Dimon needed at least one happy ending. Dimon enjoyed the novels and in 2001 started writing her own stories. She drew on her love of mysteries and her experiences in Washington, D.C. representing Secret Service, CIA, and FBI agents to craft romantic suspense novels. Dimon submitted three pages of a manuscript to a contest run by author Lori Foster. Foster chose twenty winners, including Dimon, and forwarded their entries to her editor at

Kensington Books Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American, New Yorkbased publishing house founded in 1974 by Walter Zacharius (1923–2011)Grimes, William''New York Times'' (MARCH 7, 2011). and Roberta Bender Grossman (1946–1992). Kensington is known as "Am ...

. Although the editor passed on the manuscript, she encouraged Dimon to keep writing. Although Dimon was working six or seven days a week as a partner in her firm, she continued to write in the evenings. In May 2005, she signed a contract to sell a novella, "When Good Things Happen to Bad Boys", to the same editor who had rejected her manuscript 18 months previously. A separate two-book contract followed. The first book to be published, ''Hard Hats and Silk Stockings'', included the rewritten pages that she had submitted to the Foster contest. In 2007, Dimon retired from law to write full-time. Since then, Dimon has sold more than 30 novels and novellas to traditional publishers. Some of her work has been excerpted in ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

''. Her novel ''Facing Fire'' was nominated for a

RITA Award The RITA Award, presented by the Romance Writers of America (RWA) from 1990 to 2019, was the most prominent award for English-language romance fiction. It was named for the RWA's first president, Rita Clay Estrada. After not being awarded in 202 ...

in 2016. Dimon's novels are primarily romantic suspense. Most of her books feature heterosexual couples, but she has also started writing gay pairings. Dimon served as President of the

in 2018-2019. Under her leadership, the organization worked to increase diversity and inclusion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimon, HelenKay Living people American romantic fiction writers RITA Award winners Wake Forest University alumni Syracuse University alumni People from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Year of birth missing (living people)