In 2003 I was faced with myriad life-changing issues and as a way of working through them, I started to write. I wrote and wrote, sometimes in the middle of the night, and 350 pages later my memoir was finished. It was complete with family photos that spanned several generations: those of my eight-year-old grandmother, one of my granddad on his police motorcycle in the1930s, a photo of my mother holding me as an infant, photos from my wedding, those of our son and daughter, and lastly our precious grandsons. I gifted my memoir, Rose City and Beyond, to family members and close friends. Their responses were most rewarding and generated a few chuckles, even a tear or two. Hopefully it will enlighten my children and grandchildren of the era I grew up in - a time before computers and cell phones. Since then, hardly a day has gone by that I haven't written something: a thought, a phrase, a page, a chapter, or a nugget for a poem. To date I have five published books: Through the Tunnel of Love, a Mother's and Daughter's Journey With Anorexia, which was released in April 2011. It is available on Amazon.com in paperback. My first novel, Between Heartbeats, was published in August 2015 and is also available on Amazon. Its sequel, Heartbeat Interrupted was published in September 2017.  The third book in The Heartbeat Series, The Heart of One's Imagination, was published December 14, 2019. It is also availible on Amazon. Check my Author Page: Donelle Knudsen for more information. Book Four of The Heartbeat Series, Timeless Memories of Magic, was released June 21, 2021. As the others in the series, this book is available in paperback and Kindle format. Book Five of the Heartbeat Series, The Barefoot Time Traveler was released September 10, 2025. It is available in paperback and Kindle format on Amazon. I owe my love of nature, books and the craft of writing to my late father. He was never too busy for me or my brother. One of the many things he did for us was to make sure we visited the library every week. "Thanks, Dad, Through the Tunnel of Love is dedicated to you."

In love with all literature, I earned a BS in Arts & Letters from Portland State University. I belong to Pacific Northwest Writers Association and Oregon Writers Colony. Since 2004, I have been a finalist 4 times in PNWA's Literary Contest. I placed second in OWC's 2012 literary contest in Memoir and received First Honorable Mention for a short story in 2016.

I have five published books: non-fiction, Through the Tunnel of Love, A Mother's and Daughter's Journey with Anorexia, my debut novel, Between Heartbeats, its sequel, Heartbeat Interrupted, The Heart of One's Imagination, and Timeless Memories of Magic complete The Heartbeat Series, so far.