Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: Being inspired by my mother, a reporter, I jotted things in notebooks from a very early age. I penned my first screenplay at sixteen and it was then I decided it was something I was genuinely interested in but I did not really envision myself as a writer until college.

Q: How and when did you make this dream a reality?
A: I began writing my first (completed) novel on a family vacation in 2004. By the time it was eight chapters long I realized that I just had to see it published and began my hunt. The book was completed and published in 2006. It was August when I held my author copy in my hands. I cried.

Q: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned so far in your writing career?
A: Don’t get discouraged. Sometimes it will seem like things aren’t going anywhere and there’s no hope, but if you give up, things won’t pick up.

Q: What are you working on right now?
A: Currently I am working on the third and final story of the Captains Marshall.

Q: Name some authors or books that have influenced your writing life in a positive way.
A: Roald Dahl was a huge influence for me while I was growing up. I also had a great affection for JM Barrie and Douglas Adams. My mother, Jo Donaldson was my greatest influence, though she wrote non-fiction articles. She taught me that the greatest asset you can have is perseverance.

Q: What have you recently read or what are you reading right now that you would consider an outstanding work?
A: I recently finished re-reading the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books, which have always been favourites. I recently ready the first Outlander book by Diana Gabaldon, which kept me riveted until the end.

Q: What excites or ignites your soul?
A: What a great question! The little things. A sunset, a song, words of affection that are simple but well-felt. I am easily amazed by the world around me – the trees, the sky. Our place in the world is continually changing but throughout history people have felt the same emotion, looked at the same sky. It makes me feel bonded to the past.

For Catherine Donaldson, writing is not a job but a passion. The twenty- five year old resident of Baltimore, Maryland graduated from Western Maryland College with a degree in Communication. Despite studying TV and film, she eventually gravitated to the written word. As the daughter of a reporter, it was probably inevitable. Catherine debuted as an author with The Captains Marshall: A Promise of Freedom, the first installment of the story of the Marshall Cousins. Radiance and Shadows is the second book and Catherine is diligently working on the third in the trilogy.  Visit her website at www.kindredpens.com.