Eileen Joyce-Donovan

Although born in New York City, where she spent most of her life, Eileen Joyce Donovan has lived in seven states and visited most of the others. She earned her MA in English at Northern Arizona University. In one way or another, she’s been writing her entire life, whether it was imaginative stories for friends, or advertising copy for industrial clients.But she never felt her stories were “good enough” to be published. At the persistent urging of her husband, she finally agreed to seriously edit and revise one of them and take the plunge. Although accepted for publication, the book never made it all the way to print. However, this gave her the courage to pursue her dream of becoming a published author.

Years later, her persistence paid off and her traditionally published debut historical fiction, Promises, won the Marie M Irvine Award for Literary Excellence, and The Campbell Sisters won the Bronze IPPY Award. A Lady Newspaperman’s Dilemma won The Bronze CIPA Award. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies, and her non-fiction essays in assorted Chicken Soup for the Soul editions.

She lives in Mason City, Iowa and is a member of Authors Guild, Women’s National Book Association, and The Historical Novel Society.