Jo Donahue (AKA Dorajane Donahue) was born in Vinita, Oklahoma. She spent most of her childhood between her grandparents' farm near Afton, Oklahoma and her home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jo loved the farm and often lived weeks there. This was time spent roaming the land, working in the fields, and gardens. She learned the value of working hard, reliability, and honesty from the farm chores. Each grandchild had assigned chores when visiting. Later, in her early teens she learned to drive a tractor and pickup truck. Without a license, she was confined to the fields.

Writing came to her through her father. Even though he worked full time, he often had many part-time jobs, and one was writing. He loved short stories and poems. Unfortunately for her and his humor, many of his writings spoke of her activities. One especially made fun of her love for Elvis's music. He wrote an epic poem on "Elvis, the Pelvis," which embarrassed her for years.  Now it is hidden.

Reading is important to her and her family. Jo can never remember a time; her parents weren't reading. Her dad often carried Mickey Spillane books in his back pocket. Her mother and her siblings were named by her grandfather from books he was reading when they were born. Jo learned to read at age three. She was impatient to wait for others to read to her, so her father worked patiently to teach her. By the time she entered school, she was reading at a fifth grade level. Her father's motto: "If you can read and comprehend, there is always a book out there that will teach you everything you want to know." Too bad he died before the world of computers existed.

Being an avid reader throughout her life, Jo turned to writing her own stories. A colleague at work teased her about writing a western, so she proved to him she could do it by publishing Belle's Dilemma. Since then, Jo has been writing with the Northern California Romance Writers sprint group three times a week. "This group is the best writing group, and I would never be at this point in my writing without their support."

I hope you join us and follow our path as we work through the many stories, both written and those to come.