Dan Padavona is an American bestselling mystery and thriller author. Since his first book, Storberry, was published in 2014, Dan continues to write a successful thriller series and hosts his podcast on the art and craft of writing.
Daniel James Padavona was born in Cortland, NY. He attended Cortland Junior-Senior High School, graduating in June 1986. Dan grew up listening to punk and alternative rock bands and became interested in the Greenpeace movement.
After school, Dan Padavona was accepted into Syracuse University and Ithaca College. After his first year at Syracuse, Dan transferred to Cortland and became the college’s lead sportscaster for football games before serving as music director and manager of the local radio station. Padavona graduated in 1991 with a B.A. in Communications. A year later, he enrolled at Oneonta, earning a B.S. in Meteorology in 1995.
Dan became a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, where he worked for 27 years.
In 2014, Dan Padavona debuted with the novel Storberry, an old-school vampire horror throwback. He quickly followed the book with The Island: Tales of Terror, a horror short story anthology.
His journey to success has been a long and winding one. After struggling to find readers for several years, he switched from horror to thrillers and saw his popularity soar. His Scarlett Bell FBI thriller series has been particularly successful, with the first book, Mind of a Killer, receiving widespread critical acclaim.
Padavona's success continued with the Darkwater Cove series, which remains a fixture on the Amazon Top-100 U.S. Horror and Serial Killer charts.
His Wolf Lake series has also proven to be a hit, with the first book, Her Last Breath, rising to the top of the Amazon Mystery series and U.S. Horror charts.
With multiple top-selling novels, Padavona retired from the National Weather Service to write full-time. His latest book, Dusk Corners (2021), the first novel in the Logan and Scarlett serial killer book series, remains a dominant force on the Amazon Serial Killers and Horror Suspense charts.
In addition to writing, Padavona also launched his podcast, The Author's Mindset, which aims to teach authors how to make a living from their work.
The podcast combines mindset psychology with healthy habit-building and marketing expertise, skills Padavona attributes to his success.
Dan Padavona currently lives in Ithaca, New York, with his family.
Photo credit: www.danpadavona.com
