Adam M. Dean was born with cerebral palsy in 1975. He has lived his entire life with the effects of his cerebral palsyaa severe speech impediment and a lame right armain West Virginia. Adam started going on the internet while attending Marshall University in the mid-1990s. These three facets of Adamas lifeahis disability, the state that he loves, and his experiences on the internetacomprised the material from which he took his short stories. Adam gave the main character his disability as well as his name (although he cautions against thinking they are one and the same). Adam relied on West Virginia to supply the various backdrops to his stories such as Marshall University, the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, and the old house in Mingo County that aDawna inherited from her grandmother. Adam discovered his inspiration in his experiences on the internet. It was on the internet where he met the girl who inspired all eighteen of his stories, even the oneathe only oneain which Dawn isnat one of the characters.