About THE AUTHOR

Dr. Donna Curtin was raised on a small farm outside of Chepstow, Ontario, where her parents kept horses and bred Old English Sheepdogs. She practices veterinary medicine in Hanover, Ontario, close to her family’s poultry and cash crop farm where she lives with her husband, two children, too many chickens to count, a couple cats, three destructive dogs and her small collection of fabulous shoes.

In Dr. Curtin’s writing, animals portray important characters, just as often as people.

Donna is a regular participant in the Muskoka Novel Marathon, raising funds to support adult literacy through the YMCA. In 2022, her work in progress won an Honourable Mention for Best Novel (Adult Category) and in 2015, her manuscript, inspired by her experience as a rural veterinarian, won Best Novel (Adult Category).

After fifteen years, Dr. Curtin finally managed to complete a short story about a little, big eyed dog who stole her heart in veterinary school. A Palpable Thrill has been published in Pawprints on the Heart (2017), where all proceeds are being donated to the Farley Foundation. The Farley Foundation assists pet owners in financial need to pay for unexpected veterinary expenses for their beloved pets.

Donna is a member of a supportive and active writing group, called Ascribe, where members meet to improve their writing craft and support each other’s writing aspirations. The group collaborated to create a collection of short stories, Beneath the Surface (2016), with the common landscape of Grey-Bruce as connection for the stories. The collection was accepted for publication through The Gingerpress in Owen Sound. Donna’s story, A Little Psycho, highlights the healing a precious pet can provide to a family devastated by the Walkerton Water Tragedy and her second story, Nova’s Procession, documents the unusual funeral procession for an old husky after her unexpected passing.

Her short story, The Old Man’s Guilt, which narrates a veterinarian’s suspicion that a semi domesticated raccoon is the source of infection to cause a little girl to have seizures, was published in a collection of works called, Sick! Curious Tales of Pests and Parasites We Share with Animals (2014).

Dr. Curtin’s short story, Don’t You Love Animals, a reflection on the challenges of working as a veterinarian and making recommendations for beloved animals while needing to charge a fee for those services, was accepted into the collection, Animal Companions, Animal Doctors, Animal People (2012).