About Donna L.H. Smith

I’m a prairie girl from Kansas transplanted to Amish country, Pennsylvania, married to a wonderful man for over 30 years. I’m also a member of a great church, where I serve as Connect Group Leader, discipling those who are hungry for God. I also enjoy reading, classic television and movies, and walking on our local rail trail.

Things are changing for me. For the last seven years, I focused on writing Christian fiction. But God has been stirring my heart to help others by bringing inner healing to life’s hurts. In 2020, I am launching an inner healing ministry called Refreshing Streams. For more information, please visit that tab.

Currently, I am pursuing education in the areas of healing and ministry. I earned my Inner Healing Specialist certification with Global Awakening’s online Christian Healing Certification Program (CHCP) and have completed my Master Equipper certification as well. I am also a student at Global Awakening Theological Seminary, an online accredited seminary. In 2022, I earned a Master of Divinity degree program affiliated with Family of Faith University in Oklahoma, and now I am in the doctoral program, pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree.

My debut novel, Meghan’s Choice was named a semi-finalist in Operation 1st Novel for 2015. In the fall of 2015, it placed at the Blue Ridge Advanced Novelist Retreat – 3rd Place for Best Opening Paragraph and 2nd Place for Best First Page. In 2018, it placed in the finals of the Selah 2018 Award in the Western category and the finals of the Will Rogers Medallion Award in the Inspiration category.

My second novel, Rose’s Redemption, pre-published, won two 1st place certificates at the 2017 Advanced Novelist Retreat for Best Opening Paragraph and Best First Page. 2nd in Golden Leaf. Pre-published, It also made the finals in The Phoenix Rattler contest sponsored by ACFW Arizona. It is now released and available on Amazon. It also placed third in the 2019 Selah Awards in the Western category.

My extensive writing experience includes everything from radio journalism to newspaper to magazine articles, scriptwriting, to slide sets and filmstrips, public relations, and marketing and promotional pieces over the past 40+ years. I’ve finished my first novel, and this blog is about my experiences with it and how process is important to our lives in many different ways. Because just as writing is a process, so is life. Our whole lives include one process after another, it seems, plus rejection issues and just about anything else that crosses my mind.

My education includes two previous degrees in mass communication from years ago.