Donna Kathryn Kelly is a writer who began her legal career as an assistant public defender in Kane County, Illinois, where she handled felony and juvenile cases. Kelly subsequently worked as an assistant appellate defender for the Office of the State Appellate Defender in La Salle County, Illinois for seven years. Kelly has successfully argued cases before the Appellate Court of Illinois and the Supreme Court of Illinois.

After devoting the first decade of her legal career to criminal defense, Kelly worked as a prosecutor in the McHenry County State's Attorney's Office in northern Illinois, where she successfully tried numerous felony cases to jury verdict. In 2007, she was honored by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists with the Outstanding Assistant State's Attorney (Illinois) of the Year Award for her commitment and dedication to seeking justice for victims of alcohol-impaired and drug-impaired drivers. Later in her career, Kelly served in executive-level managerial positions as Chief of the Civil Division and subsequently, First Assistant State's Attorney.

Kelly is the author of THE CHENEY MANNING SERIES, a collection of suspense novels featuring an Illinois public defender turned amateur sleuth, Cheney Manning, who investigates murder cases in northern Illinois. COP EYES is the first novel in the series. IN HEELS, SHE GOES is the second book in the trilogy, and, THE HOMECOMING QUEEN’S SON, is the third novel in the collection. The books are available for purchase on Amazon.com.

Kelly's poetry has appeared in various anthologies and literary journals, such as Southern Arizona Press, The MockingOwl Roost, North Dakota Quarterly, Heart of Flesh, and Oakwood. Her poem, ASSUMPSIT, was selected as the First Place Entry in the South Dakota State Poetry Society's 2018 Annual Poetry Contest (Portrait Category). Her poem, THE NEW NORMAL, received an Honorable Mention from Writer's Digest in its 91st Annual Writing Competition (Non-Rhyming Poetry Category).

In 2023, Kelly was awarded Third Place in the New Deal Writing Competition held by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts in New York for her short story, THE BARD OF FISHKILL CREEK. That same year, Kelly’s paranormal horror novel manuscript, THE DESCENT: A Halloween Novel, was selected as a semi-finalist in the Soon to be Famous Illinois Author Manuscript Project Contest.