THE LION AT THE FALLS

A supernatural thriller set in the scenic Upper Plains city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota

TWO GHOSTS.

A PAINTING.

A POEM.

TWO PENNIES.

WILL DANIEL DORHAN EVER FIND HIS WAY HOME?

Four years ago, twelve-year-old Daniel Dorhan was walking home after an outdoor hockey game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when he vanished without a trace.

The passage of time has not diminished Murray Dorhan’s despair over his son’s disappearance, nor has it lessened his grief over the death of his wife, Dayana, who passed away six years before Daniel went missing.

Even though the police have moved on to other cases, Murray refuses to give up on trying to find Daniel. He turns to the similarities between his deceased wife’s poetry and his missing son’s oil paintings, hoping that they may hold clues as to Daniel’s whereabouts.

Is it just a coincidence that Dayana and Daniel had both used lion imagery in their creative works or is there some hidden meaning behind Dayana’s words and Daniel’s art?

THE LION AT THE FALLS was selected as a Finalist in the 2024 Killer Nashville Claymore Award Competition [Supernatural Category]

THE LION AT THE FALLS was awarded Third Place in the 2024 West Virginia Writers' Competition [Book-Length Prose Category]

Now available for purchase on Amazon in paperback and hardcover.

Photo by Linda M. Barrett Productions

Donna Kathryn Kelly is a poet, playwright, and novelist. She is the author of THE CHENEY MANNING SERIES, featuring a criminal defense attorney turned amateur sleuth who investigates homicide cases in northern Illinois. She is also the author of the paranormal horror thriller, THE DESCENT: A Halloween Novel. The manuscript was a semi-finalist in the 2023 Soon to be Famous Illinois Author Project Manuscript Contest.

In THE DESCENT: A Halloween Novel, six women attorneys return to their alma mater in Oregon, Illinois over Halloween weekend, where they are terrorized by a vengeful spirit.

THE DESCENT: A Halloween Novel is available for purchase on Amazon in paperback and hardcover.

Click on book cover image to learn more and to purchase a copy.

The novel was a semi-finalist in the 2023 Soon to be Famous Illinois Author Project Manuscript Contest.

SIX WOMEN ATTORNEYS.

HALLOWEEN WEEKEND.

A SMALL TOWN IN ILLINOIS,

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

About

Donna Kathryn Kelly is a writer who began her legal career as an assistant public defender in Kane County, Illinois, where she handled felony and juvenile cases. Kelly subsequently worked as an assistant appellate defender for the Office of the State Appellate Defender in La Salle County, Illinois for seven years. Kelly has successfully argued cases before the Appellate Court of Illinois and the Supreme Court of Illinois.

After devoting the first decade of her legal career to criminal defense, Kelly worked as a prosecutor in the McHenry County State's Attorney's Office in northern Illinois, where she successfully tried numerous felony cases to jury verdict. In 2007, she was honored by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists with the Outstanding Assistant State's Attorney (Illinois) of the Year Award for her commitment and dedication to seeking justice for victims of alcohol-impaired and drug-impaired drivers. Later in her career, Kelly served in executive-level managerial positions as Chief of the Civil Division and subsequently, First Assistant State's Attorney.

Kelly is the author of THE CHENEY MANNING SERIES, a collection of suspense novels featuring an Illinois public defender turned amateur sleuth, Cheney Manning, who investigates homicide cases in northern Illinois. COP EYES is the first novel in the series. IN HEELS, SHE GOES is the second book in the trilogy, and, THE HOMECOMING QUEEN’S SON, is the third novel in the collection. The books are available for purchase on Amazon.com.

Kelly's poetry has appeared in various anthologies and literary journals, such as Southern Arizona Press, The MockingOwl Roost, North Dakota Quarterly, Heart of Flesh, and Oakwood. Her poem, ASSUMPSIT, was selected as the First Place Entry in the South Dakota State Poetry Society's 2018 Annual Poetry Contest (Portrait Category). Her poem, THE NEW NORMAL, received an Honorable Mention from Writer's Digest in its 91st Annual Writing Competition (Non-Rhyming Poetry Category).

In 2023, Kelly was awarded Third Place in the New Deal Writing Competition held by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts in New York for her short story, THE BARD OF FISHKILL CREEK. In 2024, Kelly’s novel manuscript, THE LION AT THE FALLS, was awarded Third Place in the West Virginia Writers’ Competition [Book-Length Prose Category]. THE LION AT THE FALLS was also chosen as a Finalist in the 2024 Killer Nashville Claymore Award Competition [Supernatural Category].

Current Projects

  • Penning a political thriller about an Illinois attorney running for judge, who takes on the establishment candidate, the powerful daughter of a former professional football player.

  • Writing The Insurrectionist of Thornwood Lane, a suspense novel about a suburban salon owner who is unjustly targeted by the federal government.

Presentations

Experienced speaker on various topics, ranging from criminal law to creative writing:

  • Guest speaker at Northern Illinois University College of Law, Literary Jurisprudence class - Fiction & Poetry - DeKalb, IL (Sept. 2024)

  • Panelist at Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference - Franklin, TN - Writing the Amateur Sleuth Mystery (Aug. 2024) 

  • Presenter at DeKalb Public Library - DeKalb, IL - How to Write Compelling Crime Fiction (Aug. 2024)

  • Guest speaker at Aurora University, Criminal Justice Class - Aurora, IL - COP EYES: A Discussion of the Novel, Writing, & Criminal Law (April 2024)

  • Presenter at Gail Borden Public Library, Writers on the Fox - Elgin, IL - How to Write Compelling Crime Fiction (Nov. 2023) 

  • Guest speaker at Aurora University, Criminal Report Writing Class - Aurora, IL - Writing & the Law (Nov. 2023 & Nov. 2022)

  • Presenter at Northern Illinois University College of Law - Phi Alpha Delta (Dooley Chapter) - DeKalb, IL - A Poet’s Guide: How Not to Lose Yourself to the Law (Oct. 2022)

  • Guest speaker at Elgin Community College, Criminal Law & Procedure Class - Elgin, IL - Writing & the Law (May 2022)

  • Presenter at Nebraska Writers’ Guild Spring Conference - Omaha, NE - Cross-Examination, Closing Argument, and Credibility (April 2019)

  • Presenter at South Dakota Counties’ Association Conference for Registers of Deeds and Auditors - Pierre, SD - County Aid Liens (May 2018)

  • Presenter at South Dakota Coroners’ Conference - Sioux Falls, SD - South Dakota Laws Relating to Coroners (Oct. 2018 & Oct. 2017)

  • Presenter at State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor Basic Trial Advocacy Training – Naperville, IL - The Impact of Marsy’s Law on Criminal Procedure in Illinois (Sept. 2016)

  • Panelist at Lifesavers’ National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities - Chicago, IL - Who is the NTSB and why are they at the scene of my crash? (March 2015)

  • Panelist at Illinois State Bar Association Animal Law Conference – Chicago, IL- Equine Law:  A look at Horse Neglect, Cruelty Cases, and a Survey of Transactional Equine Law (June 2012)

  • Presenter at Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education seminar - Utica, IL - Murder at Starved Rock: Discussion of The Clemency Petition of Chester Weger (May 2010)

donnakathrynkelly@gmail.com

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