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About Me

Hello everyone 🤍
My name is Tinlei Dawn Anselmo—and before anything else, you should know this:
I am not writing to be comfortable. I am writing to be real.

I’m 17 years old. I was born on October 19th, 2008, and I was born with cerebral palsy. From the moment I entered this world, my life looked different than most people’s—and people never let me forget it. I’ve been underestimated, dismissed, bullied, and treated like my body made me less human. It didn’t. It made me observant. It made me honest. And eventually, it made me a writer.

I started writing when I was seven years old, before I had the words to explain my pain out loud. Writing became the only place where I could exist without being interrupted, corrected, or ignored. Stories became my safe place when the world wasn’t. Writing didn’t save my life once—it saved it again and again.

I published my first book at 14, my most recent at 16, and today I have four published books: a poetry collection, two chapter books, and a mini story. But numbers don’t tell the real story. What matters is why I write.

I write because I’ve lived through things people don’t like to talk about.
I write because I’ve survived things people don’t always believe.
I write because silence almost destroyed me.

I have been raped.
Saying that doesn’t define me—but hiding it almost did.

My work is rooted in trauma, survival, and truth. I don’t write so people will feel sorry for me. I write so people will understand me. I write for the kids who were told to be quieter. The disabled girls who were told to be grateful for less. The teens who loved deeply, trusted the wrong people, and paid for it with pieces of themselves. I write for the ones who were hurt by people who should have protected them. I write for the ones who didn’t think they would live long enough to have a future.

I’ve been bullied by classmates.
I’ve been failed by teachers.
I’ve been hurt by people who said they loved me.
I’ve been blamed for things that were never my fault.

And yes—I’ve written about all of it.

Some of my writing is angry. Some of it is heartbreaking. Some of it is soft in ways that even surprise me. Because healing isn’t neat. Growth isn’t quiet. And truth doesn’t come in one emotion at a time. My stories don’t exist to make everyone comfortable. They exist to tell the truth for the people who were never allowed to.

There was a time in my life when I didn’t want to be here anymore. When the world felt so heavy that breathing felt optional. I don’t hide that part of my story—because survival deserves a voice too. I stayed. I chose to stay. And now I write for the girl I was when she didn’t think she’d make it.

Writing is not a hobby for me.
It is not a phase.
It is not something I do when I’m bored.

Writing is how I stay alive.

Outside of writing, I work at Dawn’s Creations Boutique in Fort Smith, Arkansas, a place that means more to me than just a job. It’s where I connect with people, share my books, sign copies, and remind myself that community and creativity can exist side by side. I love being able to meet readers face-to-face and make each book personal—because stories are meant to be shared, not hidden.

My favorite color is purple—not because it’s pretty, but because it represents survival, strength, and becoming something bold after being bruised. I believe stories deserve meaning. I believe words should hurt when they need to and heal when they’re ready. I believe every page should earn its place.

My books are pieces of me. They remember. They refuse to be quiet.

If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be this:
Your trauma does not cancel your worth.
Surviving doesn’t make you weak—it means you have something worth saying.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading. Thank you for seeing me.

This is your author,
Tinlei Dawn Anselmo 💜✍️