Meet Donna Black | Novelist, columnist, poet

We had the good fortune of connecting with Donna Black and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Donna, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I’ve always had creative drive. Earlier is was in visual arts: drawing, painting, photography. Although I enjoyed technical and business writing in my science based career, I didn’t begin writing fiction until I was in my 30’s. Once I a found the medium to spill out all the things I puzzled over, notice, pondered, imagined there was no stopping my pen. I had always imagined conversation in my mind – conversation I would like to ‘do over,’ ones I’d like to have, ones I tried out just to see where they would lead. Now, I had a place and a method to capture those musings. Frankly, I never intended to share the works with anyone. But, over time, there were pieces I thought others might enjoy or relate to. At this point, I’ve written a lot of poetry to play with words and concepts, but my major output is two-fold: a weekly natural history column/blog, and a number of novels. I would continue to write even if no one read the material. I can’t not write.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I didn’t know I was becoming a writer for a long time. I just wrote to amuse myself with no intention of trying to publish anything. Who was I, anyway? I scribbled on scraps of paper, old printer paper, backs of receipts, anything that would hold ink. I wrote down ideas without looking at the paper because I was driving. I took a folder, notebooks, and stray sheets on vacations and long drives so I would be ready anytime I had a few minutes of quiet. I had a full-time job, two kids, and a spouse who worked out of town a lot, so every moment was precious. By 2020, I had accumulated a couple hundred poems that I wanted to keep together for posterity so I dove into self-publishing, just to have them in a bound copy. I designed the cover, spent many hours with KDP tutorials, and had the joy of holding my book in my hands. To my great shock, people wanted to buy it.
By this time, I had had the inspiration for a novel and it was pretty far along. Then I wrote a novella I really liked and wanted to publish. After looking into traditional publishing, I determined I would never survive that gauntlet, so I published the novella, then the novel, then another collection of poetry through KDP.
Currently, I am pursuing traditional publishing, and yes, it is a punishing process, but why not give it a try? I’m ready for the challenge.
Was it easy? No. Did I consider quitting? Never. Am I glad I don’t have to feed myself with my book earnings? Absolutely.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The first stop would be the front porch. We’d cruise past the fridge and bar for drinks of choice, carry platters of snacks outside, and watch the moonrise over the lake, casting confetti of moonlight across the surface. That’s what we call a ‘Moonshine Party.’ If it’s summer, we’d pick peaches at Gregg’s Farms in Hollenville. And we’d stop by Senoia to gawk at where the Walking Dead was filmed, then nosh at Nick and Norman’s. I’ll be ordering the salmon flatbread.
If they are up for a trek in town, my horticultural friends and I would definitely go to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens to geek out at every single plant. We’d visit the Georgia Aquarium one day, and definitely take the behind the scenes tour.
Back in the countryside where we belong, we might hike a little at Line Creek Park, or just regroup on the porch and raise a glass to the passing ducks, geese, herons, deer, and other wildlife.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Members of the Peachtree City Writers Circle, a writer’s critique group, accepted me and treated my incredibly rough work as if it was legitimate writing from the first. (Thank you Sharon Marchisello, Michael Galindo, Robin Strickland, Ingrid Knox, Susanne Allen, and others). I believe they wrote more words in the correction notes on my first novel than the novel itself contained. It was like taking a master’s class in writing. In addition, my husband and daughters have been nothing but supportive. I hear so many gut-wrenching stories of writers who are dissuaded or even chided by their families for “wasting time” writing. That breaks my heart. I’m grateful, that is not my story.
Every writer needs other eyes to help find the errors and weaknesses in their work. I call the kind people who read my early drafts and give me feedback, the “blessed betas.” There are many and I’m grateful to each one.
Then, there’s my writing buddy, Stacey Britt Jackson, who has elevated my writing to a level I didn’t even know existed. And thanks to the Newnan-Times Herald newspaper who lets me share my musings on nature by publishing my weekly nature column, Wild Things.

Website: donnablackwrites.wordpress.com

Instagram: donnablackwrites

Twitter: @donnablackwrite

Facebook: donnablackwrites

Other: My books are available on Amazon: “Risk Tolerance,” and  “The Memory Editor.” The poetry collections are, “Rain and Wind,” and “Lucid Dreams.”

Image Credits
All photos by Donna H. Black