Donalie lives in Los Angeles, California with her soul mate and best friend, Ian Rivers. Ian helped edit the text of this book, and made very helpful suggestions about the graphics; he was also the model for Cilla’s father in the story. When they first met, Donalie and Ian were both pursuing acting careers, which have blossomed into many forms of creative expression, communication and performance. Their acting skills came in handy recently when recording the audio book for Cilla’s Dilemma. Donalie narrates and Ian is the voice for Cilla’s father. Together they write songs and perform their music locally as Sheldan Rivers. They’ve produced 3 CD’s, The Storm, Often Seen Carrying a Guitar and I Will Be Free; the tracks are for sale online with all the well-known online music stores. They also have a musical, Portable Jam, which is a work in progress, for which Donalie authored the libretto.

Donalie’s original computer knowledge was limited to office programs.  As the need arose she learned music applications to record and mix their CD’s and audio book, graphic programs to design and create their CD covers and web design to create the Sheldan Rivers website (sheldanrivers.com). Most recently she stretched her artistic and computer abilities to illustrate and publish this book, Cilla's Dilemma. In addition to their artistic pursuits, they both teach Adult Education for Los Angeles Unified School District. Donalie teaches Computer Applications and Ian teaches English as a Second Language.