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Stacey J. Donovan is an American author of fiction and non-fiction, a book editor, ghostwriter, and poet. She is best known for her 1994 novel, Dive, young adult fiction about a teenage girl facing loss, changing friendships, and unexpected love. Dive has been critically acclaimed for its delicate and realistic portrayal of adolescence and same-sex attraction.

Early life
Stacey Donovan was raised in Syosset, New York. At eight years old, she completed her first book—a collection of jokes. Donovan began writing poetry then too.

In 1969, when she was ten, her uncle, American author John Donovan, published ''I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip. '' It was the first known young adult novel to directly address the subject of homosexuality. His book, in part, inspired Stacey Donovan to pursue a writing career.

Once she graduated from the State University of New York at Purchase, Donovan became a copywriter in Manhattan for several advertising agencies. In 1989, she moved to Amagansett, Long Island. Shortly thereafter, Donovan joined a writing group led by M.E. Kerr, a prolific author of young adult literature, who has been credited, along with Tereska Torrés, with creating the lesbian pulp fiction genre.

It was in Amagansett that Donovan began working on Dive. She supported herself by writing and performing various jobs that included "everything but roofing and fishing."

Writing career
In 1994, at age thirty-five, Stacey Donovan published her first novel, Dive, young adult fiction that portrays teenage grief, resilience, and sexual exploration. It was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature and a Publishers Weekly "Flying Starts" selection which recognized how Donovan faithfully voiced the "concerns and especially the intensity of adolescence."

At the time, Dive was one of few young adult novels to address LGBTQ relationships—the reason at least one publisher rejected the work. Three publishers passed on Dive prior to its release in hardback by Dutton Children's Books in December 1994 and then in paperback by Puffin during the summer of 1995.

Donovan has "an instinctive feel for the teenage psyche," stated The Washington Post. Its review continued with praise for Dive's compelling and emotionally urgent nature.

Open Road Integrated Media re-released Dive in 2015. Upon republication, Dive was noted for being genre-defying because unlike most young adult literature, the book explored the complexity of teens' emotions and didn't neatly wrap up its ending. Donovan blurred the lines between children's and adult fiction.

Dive has been cited for questioning conventional societal messages about lesbianism. The novel was deemed postmodern in that it moved away from depicting same-sex relationships as problematic. Instead, Donovan made sexuality secondary to Dive's main story, which grappled with universal themes like the confusion of young love and coming of age during a time of family strife.

In addition to Dive, Donovan, along with Elise D'Haene, coauthored the four-book, erotic, fiction series, Zalman King's Red Shoe Diaries, based on his film and television series.

Stacey Donovan is a developmental book editor and ghostwriter as well as a copy and proof editor. She owns Donovan Edits.

Personal life
Stacey Donovan lives in Delaware.

She was involved in the 2010 republication of her uncle, John Donovan's I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip, to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of its release. Stacey Donovan penned the book's foreword.