Donna Morfett’s first fictional book is titled ‘House of Horrors’ – set in a theme park which is taken over by a rampant murderer – which features elements inspired by her degree and time at university, with characters named after some of her course friends. Despite studying for her final year degree, she managed to finish the first draft in just three weeks and it was snapped up by independent thriller and mystery publisher, Question Mark Press.

As an avid reader, Donna has always enjoyed reading forensics–based books, however she didn’t realise how much she loved the subject until later in life and so she decided to study BSc Forensic Science at university after initially planning to become a teacher.

Alongside studying and working, Donna hosts a regular podcast series – ‘Little Miss Morfett chats to authors’ – in which she interviews authors about their novels. She is also part of a variety of online groups for people who enjoy reading, which is what led to her book-writing opportunity.

One of these group’s members was Jim Ody, the owner of Question Mark Press, who was keen to create a new Horror category collection and asked Donna if she would be interested in submitting a story for consideration. Although she was not yet an author, Donna jumped at the chance and begin writing the book, which she finished in three weeks.

Donna said: “Although a fantastic opportunity, it wasn’t easy. One day I had to close off everything else and just focus on either my degree or the book. In the end I just decided to write my book in a few weeks, so I could get it out of the way and focus on my dissertation.”

Dr Vicki Barlow, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science with the School of Life Sciences, has taught Donna throughout her degree. Upon hearing about how Donna managed to write a book while studying in her final year, Dr Barlow said:

“It’s an amazing achievement! Who knows what she’ll go on to do next? She’s a dedicated, passionate student with a thorough grounding in Forensic Science, so it’s great that she can add a touch of realism to her story-telling.

“Forensic Science is very accessible and a lot of students come to the University to study this course because they have seen it in practise on TV or read about it in a book. Hopefully more people will read Donna’s book and be inspired to study Forensics too.”

Now that Donna has finished her degree and is awaiting her results, she says she plans to continue writing books. She said: “I’ve already started another one. The one I have already written is a young adult book, so I want to write a full length adult book over the summer. I plan to do that and then hopefully come back the University of Bedfordshire to do a Masters degree.”

Donna Morfett’s book ‘House of Horrors’ will be available on Amazon from Tuesday 17^th August 2021.

For more information about studying Forensic Science, Criminology and other interesting courses at the University, visit the School of Life Sciences: www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/departments/department-of-life-sciences/courses