Eileen O’Hara often refers to herself as a displaced Yankee. She left her native northern New York State in the early 1970s, spent four years roughing it in the Colorado Rockies, then moved to southwest Virginia where she raised her two daughters. In 1989, she relocated to Florida’s west coast, moved to west Texas, returned to Florida, and now resides in Gainesville, Georgia. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, Eileen owned a flower shop on a Florida island and developed a writing consulting service called “Write for the Health of It.” She currently owns and operates a specialty food business her family developed over twenty years ago.

A winner of the 2023 Northeast Georgia Writers Contest, Eileen earned a B.A. in Creative Writing at Eckerd College and a M.A. in English at USF/Tampa.  She is a member of the Northeast Georgia Literary Society, Northeast Georgia Writers Association, Tall Tales Writers, and the Gainesville Newcomers Writers. Journalism and scholarly papers comprise most of her past writing experience.
 

Islands of Women, Eileen’s debut novel of survival is set on a hurricane-ravaged Florida island in the early 1900s. She is working on a second novel, a family saga set in northern New York State in the 1950s. Both stories provide a testament to courage and resilience. In her spare time, she enjoys reading,
painting, gardening, and relishing life with her husband and two rescue felines in the North Georgia Highlands.