04-21-12 Clare O’Donohue was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of four children. My parents are both from Ireland, but they met in London, moved to the US, and settled on Chicago’s South Side, where I was born and raised. I always knew I wanted to be a writer and in fact wrote my first novel (mini-novel actually. It was 60 pages) when I was 15. It was a mystery. After college I worked as a newspaper reporter and writing teacher before moving to LA and getting my first job in television. That was on the HGTV show, Simply Quilts.
I worked on the show for four seasons, eventually becoming the Supervising Producer, but I’ve written and produced for a lot of other shows as well. In the last twelve years, I’ve worked on shows for The History Channel, truTV, Food Network, A&E, Discovery, TLC, and others. My work has taken me all across the US and abroad and I’ve met a diverse group of people – from CEO’s to prison inmates, Malaysian orphans to famous athletes.
But all along I thought about writing a novel. I still loved mysteries so I finally sat down to write one. And lucky for me, I had the time. There’s a lot of what we in the freelance world like to call downtime, but is more commonly known as unemployment. Since I wasn’t earning any money, I also had motivation to write something that could catch the interest of a publisher.
And, luckily, I did. In 2008 I published The Lover’s Knot, the first in the Someday Quilts series. Now I’ve added A Drunkard’s Path and The Double Cross. And The Devil’s Puzzle. I’m working on the 5th in that series and loving every moment of it.
With the release of Missing Persons, and now Life Without Parole I’ve launched a new, edgier mystery series; one that gives an inside look at the world of television. It deals with murder, friendship, and love, just like Someday Quilts, but from a very different viewpoint. http://www.clareodonohue.com
When You Say “Thank You,” Mean It: And 11 Other Lessons for Instilling Lifelong Values In Your Children, AuthorMary O’Donohue and her husband Jim have been married for fifteen years and have two children, Connor and Grace. She balances being a mom with a long career in television production. Mary has worked for ABC, CBS, and NBC network stations, on shows such as “Today” and “Meet The Press,” as well as on numerous music and entertainment programs including “MTV Unplugged,” “Mariah Carey at St. John the Divine Cathedral,” and “An Opryland Christmas;” and on many talk shows including “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” She’s an avid traveler, having spent time in Ireland, England, Wales, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, and China. She loves to read and has a passion for photography. Mary plans to donate at least 10 percent of her author’s net profits to charities benefiting families and education. http://www.maryodonohue.com
