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(since June 08)

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Dave Donelson

author profile

gender

male

website

http://www.heartofdiamonds.com

genre

Literature & Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers

about this author

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I'm a freelance writer and photographer who regularly works for about three dozen magazines and newspapers covering a diverse range of topics including social issues, business, travel, golf, and lifestyles. I'm also the author of three books (so far), including Heart of Diamonds, September 2008, from Kunati Books. My career as a broadcaster, entrepreneur, and writer has taken me from the jungles of Australia’s Cape York Peninsula to the minarets of Riyadh. I've climbed the spire of the Empire State Building, floated the Usumacinta River to the Mayan ruins at Piedras Negras in Guatemala, and photographed the tree-climbing lions and mountain gorillas of Uganda.

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books by Dave Donelson

avg rating: 4.80 | 5 reviews | 10 ratings | 3 distinct works

	Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo (Paperback) by Dave Donelson (Goodreads author!) avg rating 5.00 — 19 ratings — published 2008	my rating:
	Hunting Elf (Paperback) by Dave Donelson (Goodreads author!) avg rating 4.50 — 15 ratings — published 2006	my rating:
	Creative Selling (Paperback) by Dave Donelson (Goodreads author!) avg rating 5.00 — 4 ratings — published 2000	my rating:

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, perform a search.

upcoming events

Dave Donelson on tour for book "Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo"
December 09, 2008 06:30PM
Gunn Memorial Library, 5 Wykeham Rd., Washington, CT, The United States
Photo display, book discussion and signing.

event from BookTour

Dave Donelson on tour for book "Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo"
February 11, 2009 07:30PM
Chappaqua Library, 195 South Greeley Avenue, Chappaqua, Ne, The United States
Dave Donelson on tour for book "Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo"

event from BookTour

Dave's writing

Heart of Diamonds Blog Tour Begins (Mystery & Thrillers)

0 chapters — updated 27 days ago, 06:29AM

description: Five places to read more about Heart of Diamonds, a romantic thriller about love, scandal, and death in the Congo.

Heart of Diamonds (Mystery & Thrillers)

1 chapters — updated 08/25/2008 07:26AM

description: An excerpt from this romantic thriller about scandal, love, and death in the Congo.

Libraries and Jobs: Who Knew? (Nonfiction)

1 chapters — updated 06/29/2008 02:26PM

description: A brief essay on valuable services at your public library

Dave's recent updates (rss)

November 30

Dave made a comment in the group The Reasons Why you wrote your book or books—What Inspired Heart of Diamonds topic:

Dave wrote: "Heart of Diamonds is a high-concept romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo. The plot i...more Heart of Diamonds is a high-concept romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo. The plot involves the White House, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and an American televangelist in a diamond smuggling scheme that is uncovered by a TV reporter, Valerie Grey.

The concept for Heart of Diamonds sprang from an item I came across in Time Magazine about the cozy relationship between Pat Robertson, the famous American televangelist, and Mobutu Sese-Seko, the dictator who raped the Congo for thirty years. When I found out Robertson owned diamond mines and timber concessions in the Congo—making profits from slave labor, no less—I simply had to write a book about it.

The Robertson-Mobutu connection makes for quite a story. Mobutu was essentially put in office by the CIA. He ran the country—which he renamed Zaire—with an iron fist and stole literally billions of dollars. He also had one of the worst human rights records in Africa, which is saying a lot.

Pat Robertson, on the other hand, is one of the most successful evangelical preachers of all time. He founded the 700 Club, ran for President of the United States, and has millions of followers who subscribe to his version of Christianity. You wouldn’t think these two men would be buddies, would you?

But they were. Robertson was deeply involved in business dealings in the Congo. The Time article reported that once, in the late 1980’s, Robertson and his wife and their entourage were flown from Paris to Kinshasa on one of Mobutu's personal Boeing 707s. In Zaire, Mobutu personally took them on the presidential yacht on a ride up the Congo River to visit one of his estates.

Robertson had a relief program in the Congo--Operation Blessing, which is still operating today—as well as a private concern called the African Development Company, which made investments in mining, lumber, agriculture, transportation and power generation, supposedly with an eye to plowing the profits back into humanitarian efforts. One of those investments was a diamond mine in a small town south of Tshikapa near the Congo’s border with Angola. That’s where I placed the diamond mine in Heart of Diamonds.

One of the men who ran ADC for Robertson was Bill Lovick, a former minister who was dismissed by the Assemblies of God church in 1985 for questionable fund raising practices. Readers of Heart of Diamonds may find some interesting similarities between these men and some of the characters in the novel, notably televangelist Gary Peterson, the missionary Thomas Alben who runs the diamond mine, and Moise Messime, the President of the Congo.

As I read more and more about these guys and the things they were doing in the Congo in the name of Jesus Christ, the more intrigued I became. Heart of Diamonds obviously isn’t their story—the smuggling scheme, the connection to the White House, the U.S. military involvement, and so on are completely fictional. My heroine Valerie Grey and the other characters are figments of my imagination, too, although they certainly have personality traits similar to real individuals.

What is not fiction in Heart of Diamonds is the terrible plight of the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is the direct result of the unadulterated greed exhibited by people eager to control the vast natural resources of the country. Mobutu may be long gone and Pat Robertson’s business interests gone with him, but the brutality continues.
...less "

Dave joined the The Reasons Why you wrote your book or books and Published Authors groups.

November 24

Dave gave

to:
The Darker Side (Hardcover)
by Cody Mcfadyen

my rating:

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Dave gave

to:
Songs for the Missing: A Novel (Hardcover)
by Stewart O'Nan

my rating:

Dave said: "This is one of the saddest books I've ever read. It is the story of what happens to a family when a daughter disappears told without the melodrama we're so used to seeing on tabloid television. Instead, O'Nan conveys the soul-grinding despair that...more "

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November 22

Dave made a comment in the group Published Authors—Book Sales Falling Off? topic:

Dave wrote: "My novel, Heart of Diamonds, came out September 1 and so I have no hard numbers yet. I sense book s...more "

November 21

Dave made a comment in the group Published Authors—Welcome to the Group topic:

Dave wrote: "Greetings all,

I'm a full-time writer and sometimes photographer. My latest novel, <a ...more "

November 18

Dave gave

to:
Schooled (Paperback)
by Gordon Korman

my rating:

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Dave gave

to:
Bucking the Sarge (Golden Kite Awards (Awards))
by Christopher Paul Curtis

my rating:

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More of Dave's books…

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Dave Donelson's videos

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Making a Child Soldier

Dave Donelson

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Dave's groups (recent posts)

Published Authors — 261 members — last activity 4 hours, 41 min ago
A place to share ideas about publishing and marketing books.

The Reasons Why you wrote your book or books — 463 members — last activity 14 hours, 0 min ago
People write books for many reasons, so why did you write yours?

Dave's friend comments

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Comments (showing 1-12) post a comment »

message 12: by Tom

11/06/2008 05:51PM

Hi Dave,

Thanks for adding me to your friends list. I'm looking forward to reading "Heart of Diamonds," and posting a review both here and on Amazon.com. The subject matter is very timely, indeed, and I'm confident that as the country shifts in new directions in the coming year, we'll be focusing on the events in Africa with a keen eye and true concern. Your novel is sure to touch a nerve and raise the level discussion for all who dig into its pages. Best of luck!

-Tom Maremaa

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message 11: by Roger

10/20/2008 04:29AM

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the "add" as they say on Myspace. As always, I feel I should do more traveling when I see profiles like yours. Cheers.

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message 10: by Camille

10/05/2008 05:48PM

Hi Dave! Thank you for the request. What an exciting life! I enjoyed reading your profile.

Peace and Blessings
Camille Kleidysz

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message 9: by Jeannie

08/31/2008 12:35PM

Goodness Dave - you have had such an exciting life and it's only just begun, right? Thanks for adding me and if you have time, I'd love for you to visit my web site, jeanniebarber.com. I'm a novice writer so feel free to make any kind of suggestions, ideas or thoughts to correct it. I’m co-authoring a novel with Patty Wiseman, another friend on Goodreads. We’ve known each other for over 30 years. While you're there, please sign the guestbook, too! There’s also a link to our book you can click on…clairkelley@synthasite.com. This site is brand new and in the editing stage as is our story. Please visit it as well. We’re both very green, but we’ve met so many people on this site willing to reach out and offer advice or a guiding hand, we feel very blessed.
Thanks,
Jeannie

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message 8: by Shawnette

08/29/2008 05:23PM

Hey, Dave...WELCOME to goodreads...thanks for the invite into your circle of friends...Congrats on all your novels...and best of luck in all your future writings...looking forward to sharing chats, reviews and any/all recommendations...have a great holiday weekend...Happy Reading :-)

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message 7: by Ilyn

08/29/2008 03:36AM

Hi Dave,

Thank you for being my friend. Good fortune on your books and other endeavors.

Please visit these groups when you have a chance: “Happy & Brainy Group” and “To the Glory of Man”.

Have a wonderful day. Best regards.

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message 6: by Stacy-Deanne (Novelist)

08/27/2008 12:44AM

Hello, just passing through to say hello! Look forward to being your friend here! Best Wishes!

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message 5: by Catherine

08/25/2008 07:44AM

Hi Dave - thanks for the friend request! :-)

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message 4: by Diana

07/24/2008 08:16AM

Hi Dave,
Heart of Diamonds looks like an interesting read, I will have to pick it up when it is released. I hope once you get the book out you get to do some traveling. I am on a bit of a Vonnegut spree, I haven't read anything by him that I haven't liked. I am glad there is still so much by him that I haven't touched, it will take me a while to move through them all.
-Diana

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message 3: by Diana

07/11/2008 07:24PM

Hi Dave,
How are you? Your travels sound fascinating.

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message 2: by Andrea M. Kulman

07/08/2008 07:00PM

Hi, Dave. Thanks for being a friend on Good Reads. Andrea M. Kulman, Author of The Drama Unfolds.

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message 1: by Daniel (last edited 06/28/2008 07:52AM)

06/28/2008 07:52AM

Dave, I've added Hunting Elf and your other books to my to-read list.

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Dave Donelson

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