by Timothy Pike

She’s a woman who played a pivotal role in history … yet has remained hidden in the shadows of time.

“Miriam the Magdalene was brought to my attention by a Magdalene scholar who had read my previous work,” says award-winning, multi-genre author Donna D. Conrad. “She took me with her on a tour of the Magdalene sites in southern France, and introduced me to other scholars who were passionate about someone writing a historically accurate book about this remarkable woman.”

After tumbling down a rabbit hole of further research, Donna knew what she had to do: tell the story of a woman she describes as courageous, passionate, and resilient, but who has also, like so many other women, been sidelined through the ages. “I feel the time is right,” Donna says, “for Miriam to step from the shadows and claim her rightful place in history.”

Out of a painstaking and emotional journey came The Last Magdalene, the first historical epic in Donna’s four-book series in which she masterfully brings history and religion to life.

But the book, she admits, almost never saw the light of day. During a writing masterclass, Donna’s instructor read one of her scenes aloud to the group—and his comments didn’t sit well with her. “I felt like he tore it to shreds,” she says. “I wanted to just give up and slink away. But I didn’t.” Donna spoke with him after the class and learned he had been so brutally honest only because he saw potential in her writing. “My willingness to continue the conversation about his critique led to Jack becoming a dear friend and trusted mentor,” she tells me. “That never would have happened if I hadn’t taken up the challenge of facing him.”

In my interview with her, this Oregon-based author also talks about her memoir, House of the Moon: Surviving the Sixties, explains why she always assumed she would be an English teacher, and reveals why it was a shock, at the age of six, to discover she was actually a U.S. citizen.

Welcome, Donna. Your upcoming release is The Last Magdalene, the first historical epic in the Magdalene Chronicles series. Why was this a story that needed to be told?

The rise of Christianity changed the course of the western world, and some say the entire world. Its origins are shrouded in myth and legend, and the teachings upon which it is founded have been influenced by the political maneuvering of men in power. After all the revisions, deletions, and alterations the New Testament has undergone, Mary Magdalene is still named in all the synoptic gospels. I felt people had the right to know that she was a vital participant in a pivotal time that saw the eradication of goddess worship in Judea, sparked the flames of rebellion against the brutal Roman occupation, and gave rise to a new religion. To do this, I have written a novel from a historical and archeologically based perspective about Miriam the Magdalene, depicting her as a strong, courageous, passionate woman of power. I feel the time is right for Miriam to step from the shadows and claim her rightful place in history.

Where are you based? Is that where you’re from originally?

I’m based in a small university town in the Pacific Northwest, outside Portland, Oregon. My father was an intelligence operative for the U.S. Army, so my early life was spent in Germany, where his cover was as an ex-patriot relocating his family to Germany after World War II. We came to Washington State when I was nearly seven. It came as quite a shock to learn I was really a U.S. citizen and that our life in southern Germany was a charade.

You write in many different genres, including memoir, narrative non-fiction, and historical and paranormal fiction. How do you decide what to focus on at any given time?

When a character catches my attention and insists on having its story told, I pay attention. I’ve been fascinated with women who have been marginalized throughout history, which are unfortunately most women. Miriam the Magdalene was brought to my attention by a Magdalene scholar who had read my previous work. She took me with her on a tour of the Magdalene sites in southern France, and introduced me to other scholars who were passionate about someone writing a historically accurate book about this remarkable woman. Once I dove down the research rabbit hole, I was hooked on Miriam’s life and times and her systematic removal from early Christian texts. My research has led to a four-book series that I hope will bring this courageous, passionate, resilient woman’s life to the forefront after two thousand years of being sidelined.

Miriam the Magdalene was a vital participant in a pivotal time that saw the eradication of goddess worship in Judea, sparked the flames of rebellion against the brutal Roman occupation, and gave rise to a new religion.

When I began to examine my own life, I realized that, like the women I had been researching, I too had been marginalized. This realization led to my memoir, House of the Moon: Surviving the Sixties. The nostalgia and miasma that surrounds the sixties is still pervasive, and I wanted people to know what it was like to be a regular person living through the decade that changed the world. Although with an undercover narcotics agent for the state of California as a father, and an older sister whose boyfriend dealt drugs to all the bands that came through Los Angeles, my life wasn’t exactly the “norm.” But the memoir explores what it was like to fight for sexual, civil, and individual rights in a time when women and minorities were repressed and silenced.

How did you first get into writing?

My high school English teacher, David Sundstrand, instilled in me a love of literature and the power of the written word. I always thought I would be a high school English teacher, but life and circumstances led me to many other vocations before I was able to return to my true love, writing. I was a journalist for nearly twenty years, but yearned to write fiction. I started attending writers’ conferences and going to seminars. I found so many mentors within the writing community. They all said the same thing: if you want to be a writer, you have to write. I took their advice, and here I am with a memoir and the first of a four-book historical series in print.

What’s your best advice for writers who wish to get a foothold in the industry and become published authors?

Don’t give up. Hone your craft and set your artistic abilities free. Find your tribe, those people who praise and polish your talents, and also help you get out of ruts and stale mindsets. Look for an original idea or perspective, and give it your all. Remember there are many avenues to publishing, but the first step is to hone your craft through writing, writing, writing.

Could you share a time you faced a challenge and came out better for it on the other side?

Jack Whyte, to whom The Last Magdalene is dedicated, read a violent, brutal scene from my manuscript during a masterclass, and I felt like he tore it to shreds. I wanted to just give up and slink away. But I didn’t. I spoke with Jack after the group left and realized he was so honest with me because he saw potential in my writing. I realized my own insecurity as a writer altered his words and tone to something he never intended. It was one of the biggest challenges, and best outcomes, of my career. My willingness to continue the conversation about his critique led to Jack becoming a dear friend and trusted mentor. That never would have happened if I hadn’t taken up the challenge of facing him and learning the truth of his critique.

Can you give us any teasers about the next three installments of the Magdalene Chronicles?

I’m so excited about this series, I’d love to share Miriam’s journey. Book Two: The Lost and the Holy finds Miriam exiled to Alexandria, after the execution of her husband in Judea. A past love is rekindled only to be lost to the ongoing rebellion in Judea. Miriam realizes her own limited understanding of the nature of the divine feminine under the mentorship of Lysandra, High Priestess of Isis.

Book Three: A Woman Unto Herself is set in southern Gaul, where Miriam synthesizes her early training as a priestess of Asherah, her new understandings gained during her sojourn in Egypt, and her understanding of unconditional love as a universal truth. She becomes a renowned healer and teacher in her own right.

Book Four: The Song of Sarah is told by Miriam’s daughter, and the reader sees the well-known events through a different set of eyes, those of a young woman who bore witness to history in the making.

As for your writing process, do you start with a premise, or do you just start writing and see where it takes you?

I start with a character and the time in which they live. I research the heck out of both, then set everything aside and let the characters tell their stories. I always write the opening and closing chapters, so I, and my characters, are clear about where the story starts, how it’s going to end, and what needs to happen in between to make the story real.

Do you write every day, or have any daily writing rituals?

My ritual involves a hot mug of Earl Grey tea with honey and cream, disabling e-mail on my computer, turning off my phone, and selecting music to get me in the mood. I choose a classical mix for non-novel writing, and themed music for novel writing. I wrote all of The Last Magdalene to Peter Gabriel’s Passion CD. I find that when the music starts, I go into that creative space where magic happens.

Who has been the biggest influence on your writing?

I can’t narrow it to just one. Both Jack Whyte and Donald Maass have personally mentored me and my writing. Both encouraged me to dig deeper, to be more real, more honest, more meaningful.

Hunter S. Thompson encouraged me to write wild and crazy truths that the world needs to hear.

Studying with Alan Ginsberg was a turning point in the way I approached writing. It was a result of his influence that I came up with my popular workshop at writer conferences, “Writing Real, Writing Raw.”

The masterful examples of historical fiction by Colleen McCollough, Sharon Kay Penman, and Octavia Randolph have set the standard for me when it comes to researching and humanizing people who are long gone but still vital to our times.

When did you feel you truly broke out as an author?

Even though House of the Moon: Surviving the Sixties is a steady seller, I am hoping that The Last Magdalene will be my breakout novel.

Book One of The Magdalene Chronicles will be released in April 2024 by Cold Creek Press, and you can pre-order it on Amazon.

Donna Conrad is an award-winning author, journalist, activist, and teacher. Her core values revolve around the concept of individual empowerment, a sustaining ideal running through the books she writes. Her first published book, House of the Moon: Surviving the Sixties, has received rave reviews. Donna has studied writing with the likes of Alan Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Jack Whyte. She has also been mentored by Donald Maass, whom she worked with privately on her upcoming four-book historical fiction series, The Magdalene Chronicles.

Donna lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their three cats. When she’s not writing, you can find her cruising the back roads in her black-on-black Miata MX-5, Maya—named for one of her favorite poets, Maya Angelou.

Learn more about Donna at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.