Originally from Central New York State, Donna M. Recktenwalt (ne Brown) has a B.F.A. in Advertising Design from Rochester Institute of Technology. She has been in the graphic arts/printing/publications field throughout her career, and at various times has worn the hats of writer, editor, designer, layout artist, typesetter, press operator, bindery person and more.

In a professional capacity, her graphics have appeared from the local to national levels. Her fiction has found acceptance in the small press, in such publications as Midnight Zoo, Vision, Science Fiction Randomly, Manifest Destiny, Gaslight, Frontiers, Fantasque, Black Petals, and The Martian Wave, among others. Her short story ?Jeremy’s Theme,? first published in Dark Starr and later reprinted in Best of the Midwest, placed first in the 1992 Soft Science Fiction Contest. ?Blackberry Wine? placed first in Byline’s Short Story Contest in 2001. For a time, she served as a Submissions Editor for Hobson’s Choice.

In the non-fiction area, her articles on aquaria and other subjects have been published or reprinted in local, national and international publications. From August 2001 to March 2002 (when they completely revamped their format) she was a twice monthly general aquaria columnist for ActiveDayton.com, electronic branch of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News.

An amateur needleworker, she knits, crochets, quilts and does needlepoint of her own design. She is a skilled handspinner, legacy from having raised and shown purebred sheep. Currently she breeds and shows tropical fish.

?I?m addicted to classical music, chocolate, popcorn, and the printed word? she says ? not necessarily in that order.

When not traveling, walking or biking with her husband, or locked to her computer, she can usually be found with a good book in hand or puttering in her garden.