Donna Bertling holds a BA in English Literature from Loyola College (now Loyola University Maryland). She loves to inform and entertain through historical fiction, her favorite genre to read. Donna runs the Open Studio for Prose Writers at Renaissance Institute, Notre Dame of Maryland University. Several of her short stories have been published in Reflections, the institute’s literary and art publication
February 7, 1904. The Great Baltimore Fire breaks out just as Anna Bainbridge is about to elope. She jilts her groom and grabs her beloved Brownie Box Camera. As Baltimore burns and light refracts in aperture, Anna finds herself caught between two fires… one, a desire to marry Adrian... the other, a passion to strike out on her own as photojournalist. She knows her controlling father will extinguish both. Will Anna choose to please her Papa, Adrian, or herself? Filled with rich history and a blend of real and fictional characters, Runaway Fire immerses the reader in an unspeakable tragedy that forged a new beginning for an entire city and its people.