Monthly Meeting: June 2025 – Author Donna Janell Bowman

Our June Monthly Meeting featured accomplished author Donna Janell Bowman, who told us the story of making WINGS OF AN EAGLE: THE GOLD MEDAL DREAMS OF BILLY MILLS, (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2024), which was co-authored by Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills, himself, and which was awarded a Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor by the American Library Association. 

Besides writing and speaking, Donna also professionally coaches other authors and teaches writing classes online. See her website for more information.

MEETING HIGHLIGHTS:

• If a story does not let go of you, that’s the one to write!
• Donna met both her agent and editor at SCBWI Conferences
• No matter how many obstacles presented themselves throughout the writing process, patience and perseverance paid off in the end—which was fitting for the theme of WINGS OF AN EAGLE: never give up
• Write down your dreams; believe in your dreams; hold hope
• When writing about cultures other than your own, be sure your story is vetted by sensitivity readers and people with first-hand experience in that culture; collaborate; be responsible
• When co-writing with a collaborator, you may wish to create written agreements with clear boundaries that designate you as the writer, or that distinguish who is responsible for what 
• Donna ran all revisions for WINGS OF AN EAGLE past the collaborator, who, for this book, is also the co-author
• Prioritize your fact-checking
• Infuse your own writer’s voice into the writing
• As you write, remember to employ humor, dispel myths through research, and stay true to your target audience: kids
• Recognize that the work of writing is hard, though it may appear to be easy
• The process of researching a biography/story is time consuming, but fun
• Often, each aspect of the process can take much longer than expected
• Enjoy the creativity and awe that we as writers experience
• FYI: revisions can happen right up until the day it goes to print
• Final advice: Don’t wait to write your story! “Get it on paper.”