Featuring Marianne H. Donley
Marianne H. Donley makes her home in Pennsylvania with her husband, son, and a very very active dog. She is a member of Bethlehem Writers Group, The Charmed Connection, Sisters in Crime, and The Guppies. When Marianne isn’t working on A Slice of Orange or Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, she might be writing short stories, funny romances, or quirky murder mysteries, but this could be a rumor. She also could be knitting.
“Tomato Blight,” Marianne’s short story in Celebrating, introduces detective Eleanor Reed as she solves a murder despite being haunted by the victim’s ghost.
About Celebrating
In May, 2006, what would become the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC, met for the first time in Bethlehem, PA, with four people in attendance. In the twenty years since, the group has grown from a fledgling critique group to a robust community of writers and publishers, offering not just a quarterly online literary journal (Bethlehem Writers Roundtable found at https://bwgwritersroundtable.com), an annual writing contest (Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award), but also several award-winning anthologies, among our many publications.
To celebrate our twentieth anniversary, we bring you highlights from each of our eight “Sweet, Funny, and Strange®” anthologies of short stories from our varied, award-winning authors.Starting with holiday stories from our debut anthology, A Christmas Sampler (2009), we are happy to present touching, hilarious, and thought-provoking tales. From a second anthology, Once Around the Sun (2013), are tales for all seasons, followed by, food-related stories from A Readable Feast (2015). You will find children’s stories from Once Upon a Time (2017), then tales of the paranormal from Untethered (2018), animal tales from Fur, Feathers, and Scales (2020), mysteries from An Element of Mystery (2022), and more holiday stories from Season’s Readings (2024).
So, come celebrate with us as you peruse these pages that are sure to bring you a smile, perhaps a tear or two, and a whole lot of fun, with best wishes to you from the authors of the Bethlehem Writers Group.
Other Anthologies with Marianne’s stories.
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When Marianne isn’t working on A Slice of Orange, she might be writing short stories, funny romances, or quirky murder mysteries, but this could be a rumor. She also could be knitting.
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When Marianne isn’t working on A Slice of Orange, she might be writing short stories, funny romances, or quirky murder mysteries, but this could be a rumor. She also could be knitting.
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“Totally Folked” by New York Times Bestseller Penny Reid is F R E E for a limited time only! If you’re looking for your next cozy, small-town romantic comedy for Fall, this is it! 🍂
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When vampire Chris Atherton—a former rock star—accidentally shoots a woman he was trying to help, he must do something he never thought possible: turn her into a vampire to save her life. But little did he know the surprise in store for him when she utters her dying words…
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Sometime in January a red knitted hat pattern was recommended to me on my Ravelry page.
AN ELEMENT OF MYSTERTY: SWEET, FUNNY, AND STRANGE TALES OF INTRIGUE
Dare you read our latest Sweet, Funny, and Strange® Anthology?
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FUR, FEATHERS AND SCALES: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Animal Tales
So cuddle up with your favorite pet-real or imaginary. No matter. You’ll find just the right story to share.
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ONCE UPON A TIME: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales for All Ages
Step through our castle doors into a world of imagination!
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ONCE AROUND THE SUN: Sweet, Funny, and Stranges Tales for All Seasons
Stories about winter, spring, summer and fall, and seasons of life, seasons of love, and even seasons of discovery.
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UNTETHERED: SWEET, FUNNY, AND STRANGE TALES OF THE PARANORMAL
Stoke the campfire and get ready for some chills and goosebumps when you open this paranormal addition to the award-winning Bethlehem Writers Group’s “Sweet, Funny, and Strange” anthologies.
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A READABLE FEAST: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales for Every Taste
Yearning for a tantalizing tale?
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TO L.A. WITH LOVE: A CHARITY ANTHOLOGY
When wildfires destroyed two beloved Los Angeles public libraries in January 2025, the romance community answered with heart.
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To L.A. With Love Volume 2
When wildfires damaged two beloved Los Angeles public libraries in January 2025, the romance community answered with heart.
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CELEBRATING: 20 Years of Sweet, Funny, & Strange Tales
Come celebrate with us.
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Illusive Worlds: Sweet, Funny, and Strange® Tales of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Enter our worlds of imagination!
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Featured Books
THE STOLEN CHILDREN OF WAR
It is 1943 in Nazi-occupied Paris, and nobody is safe. Nobody, except perhaps one small group of people, who’ve always existed outside the law…
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MARRYING MR. GIBSON
She won't be forced into marriage to a nobleman's by-blow. He won't be trapped into marriage by a father he's never known.
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GLIMPSE
A chilling thriller that explores what happens when reality and nightmares converge, and how far one will go to protect the innocent when their own brain is a threat.
More info → SILENT WITNESS
A mentally challenged child is dead; his father will stop at nothing to see the killer punished.
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