Donna Everhart, Novelist (Photo by Jo Ann Mathews)
Women and Adversity:
Donna Everhart
Novelist
Pelican Bookstore in Sunset Beach, North Carolina arranged for novelist Donna Everhart to appear recently at Silver Coast Winery in Ocean Isle Beach. She writes—as it says on her website—“authentic, vivid Southern fiction.” Her fifth and most recent novel The Saints of Swallow Hill, was her topic. I ask authors what obstacles they had to overcome when they decided to be a writer, and what obstacles they face once they are published.
Everhart says:
Writing a book is a huge risk, and hoping to get it published, you need a day job. A year into my dream come true (the acceptance of her debut novel, The Education of Dixie Dupree), I was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer that became Stage 4. Three years later in 2019, my mother was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. I was going back through cancer treatment. That’s my biggest challenge in a nutshell, but I rode through it. I was too busy for cancer. I’m a five-year survivor. I go for scans every six months versus every three months.
Obstacle she faces now:
I have five books published. The sixth comes out in (February) 2024. Essentially, the obstacle is finding the time to write.
Everhart bio:
- Born and raised in Raleigh. “I’ve lived in North Carolina my entire life except for third and fourth grades when I lived in Michigan, which was very traumatic for me. It had something to do with my accent.”
- Worked in Information Technology for 35 years
- Worked for Nortel when it went bankrupt in 2008
- Went back to school and earned a degree
Writing career:
- “I planned to write a book when I was 18.”
- After leaving Nortel, had about 85 pages—it was early 90s
- Worked with an editor in 2011
- Had 250 pages
- Worked with another editor, who worked with an editor at Harper Collins
- Worked with an agent for 11 years
Books:
- 2016 – The Education of Dixie Dupree
- 2017 – The Road to Bittersweet
- 2019 – The Forgiving Kind
- 2020 – The Moonshiner’s Daughter
- 2022 – The Saints of Swallow Hill
Learn more:
www.donnaeverhart.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZ-8HFNhQs
www.facebook.com/donnadaviseverhart
www.donnaeverhart.com/blog
My ebooks available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com:
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