Before having a family she knew this,

"If I had a child, I knew I didn't want someone else to raise it."

Barbara Donlon is a working mother and wife. She grew up in Detroit, Michigan and now resides in Winchester, Massachusetts. Barbara's immense dedication to her family has turned her home into her office. The advantage of working out of her home allows her to spend plenty of time with her husband and seven year old daughter.

Barbara gave us a lot of insight on how she became a freelance writer. She recalled that on her second grade report card a teacher wrote that she had a gift for writing. Years later, Barbara fullfilled that statement by being a successful freelance writer for the Boston Herald. An alumnus from Albion College, Barbara graduated with an Economics major. She wrote for her school newspaper, The Pleiad, even though writing was not offered as a major.

After graduating from college Barbara had several different occupations. Some jobs had nothing to do with journalism but still required writing in some way. Some advice she gives to young people who want to try journalism is to "obtain internships in order to get your foot in the door."

In her early days of writing she wrote about political issues in her columns. Being married with a family, Barbara still has her "voice," but it is geared more towards family issues. Some articles she writes about deal with hardcore issues such as gun control and rudeness from salespeople, while others are more lighthearted, discussing her daughter's first sleepover and Little League Team. All are very well written and have a wonderful wit to them.

When asked if it was difficult to sit at the computer and write, Barbara feels that some of her best work has taken her the shortest amount of time to write. Although, finding a topic is another story. When out of ideas, jokingly Barbara will ask her daughter to do something cute. She thinks that writing about her daughter's life is fine for now,but she will not continue it forever.

Her husband once asked if she would be interested in writing a book. Barbara said that it's not her style. Her style is very short and to the point. She did mention that she would like to write for a magazine someday.

While writing her articles, she tries to write very universal in a personal way, "I take what's personal to me, and see if it can dance on a bigger stage." Although not geared towards a specific audience, Barbara feels her articles are read by more women than men, probably becausemost likely because of the section it is placed in. Over the past few years Barbara has received fan mail from devoted readers. She always takes the time to respond to her fans.