Jean Donahue

My name is Jean Donahue and I am a writer. I love writing. There are so many stories to be written to be read. I am using the pen name of Jean A. House for my Murder in Mystique stories. When my granddaughter was adopted, she didn't understand English. Her mother kept saying, "Let's go to Grandma's house." She thought my name was Grandma's House. Thus, the last name I am using for fiction. Click on the picture below to learn more.

I took care of my parents the last 4-1/2 years of their lives. After they died I wrote a book about my experiences if taking care of them. Dad loved to travel and always pulled a trailer, so that's what we did. We traveled through Canada, California, Arizona, Texas and all points inbetween. The last 2 years we couldn't travel because Dad kept having strokes and Mom's Alzheimer's got worse. There wasn't much of a market for that type of book, so I published it through amazon.com. You can buy a copy of it on Amazon.com. Jean Donahue jeandonahue@gmail.com

What was it like to be born in 1905, and grow up in the hills of Northern Missouri and Southern Iowa? Earl Coulson’s memoir tells the stories of how he started life from humble beginnings, and through hard work and determination created a better world for himself, his family and everyone whose lives he touched. When he was young, his family did not have much, but they did not consider themselves poor because most of America was in the same situation. Life in those times presented a set of challenges that would seem unbelievable to this generation. Earl did what was needed to care for his family – farming, carpentry, and teaching to name a few. As the years went by, he dedicated himself to continuing his education and became a respected School Superintendent. He eventually retired to a life he enjoyed – traveling north in the summer, south in the winter, and spending time with his family and friends while home in Iowa. Join us as we walk down memory lane and enjoy the unique and unfathomable stories of a life well lived.

The stories I’m writing are murder mysteries I call MURDER IN MYSTIQUE. The first story has a murder, a ghost and a cult in a city called Mystique, Iowa with a population of 89,521. To see a little more, click on the picture above or go to: http://www.jeanahouse.com. I am editing it again and will let you know when it is updated. I was talking to someone about my story when he said he once saw a ghost in the balcony of a church. That’s where my ghost came from. Various religions have their own names for spirits and the paranormal. The Bible talks about angels and demons. Other religions have a different name for what I believe are the same spirits. I also checked many cults to come up with the cult in my first book. I was amazed at how many similarities there are in all of them. Complete control by their leader and many other things are the same, even though they each think they are the one and only religious group that is going to save their people. They certainly are not. There are many here in the United States that continue to function and each has many people that are very nice people. They are just deceived. Brain washed is another term for that. Hopefully they will never become like the cults that commit mass suicides. I've been writing for several years.  While I was taking care of Mom and Dad there were many nights I didn't have anything to do except watch TV. I finally decided to write a book. I’d always wanted to write a book, so I started writing one. I just didn't know much about writing a book. I finally took courses from the University of Iowa on writing. I found I had written a romance, so I joined Romance Writers of America (RWA) at https://www.rwa.org/. I had never read a romance. That's when I started reading romance novels. I wrote a column for the e-newsletter of RWA for about a year called Chapter Spotlight. People in many chapters wanted their chapter to be highlighted in the column. That's when I joined http://www.columnists.com.  People did read my column, but I couldn't get my book sold. I still had too much to learn about writing a novel people would read. When I realized I wanted to write a murder mystery, I joined Mystery Writers of America (MWA) http:/mysterywriters.org/, and Sisters In Crime (SINC),http:/www.sistersincrime.org/, and left RWA and columnists.com. Jean Donahue AKA Jean A House jeanahouse@gmail.com jeandonahue@gmail.com