Bookpleasures.com welcomes as our guest Eileen Joyce Donovan. Award winning author, Eileen Joyce Donovan has been writing her entire life, in one way or another, whether it was imaginative stories for friends, or advertising copy for clients.

At the persistent urging of her husband, she finally agreed to seriously edit and revise one of her stories and take the plunge.

Years later, her persistence paid off and both her debut historical fiction, Promises, and her second novel, A Lady Newspaperman’s Dilemma, won prestigious awards. Her short stories have appeared in several anthologies, and her essays have been included in various Chicken Soup for the Soul editions.

She lives in Manhattan, New York and is a member of Authors Guild, Women’s National Book Association, Women Fiction Writers Association, and The Historical Novel Society.

Bee: When did you first have a desire to write?  How did this desire manifest itself?

Eileen: I realized I wanted write seriously when I first considered rewriting some unknown Victorian fairy tales. I did just that, got contracts for three of them, and saw two of them go all the way to ARCs before the publisher went out of business.

But by then, I was hooked and haven’t stopped writing since.

Bee: How completely do you develop your characters before beginning to write?

Eileen: Not very much. I’m what’s considered a pantser, so the characters develop along with the plot. Although I have a general idea of what type of person each character is before I begin.

Bee: Tell us about your cover. Did you design it yourself? 

Eileen: No, I didn’t. It was designed by Ellie Kay Bockert Augsburger of Creative Digital Studios. And I absolutely love it.

Bee: The 1950’s are quite a bit different then today> If Helen were to be still around, what would she think of the 2020’s?

Eileen: I’m not sure. She’s a very structured type of person who, pretty much, follows society’s rules.

Since she didn’t approve of her sister Carolyn’s attitude towards life, love, and sex, I don’t think she’d approve of too much that’s taken for granted by the general populace today. But since she’d grow up in a different world, maybe she’d be a different person in today’s world.

Bee: What writers have you drawn inspiration from?

Eileen: I guess the short answer would be everyone I’ve ever read. But I think the writers that have influenced me most are the ones who write about strong independent women.

 Writers like Mary Doria Russell, Sara Donati, Kate Morton, and lots of others. Others including Jane Austen, and the Bronte sisters, who might seem like strange choices, but if you read their works carefully, you see their female characters have quite a bit of backbone when needed.

Bee: What do you do when you are not writing?

Eileen: I spend a lot of time researching my next book. Aside from that, and reading, I like to spend time with friends, visit museums, go to plays and concerts, and eat great food.

Bee: What are you currently working on?

Eileen: Two very different ideas. One involves a contemporary romance, and the other focuses on a woman prospector during the 1800s gold rush.

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.

Follow  Here To Read Bee;s Review of The Campbell Sisters