The Metro stop in Wheaton, Md., is far enough from downtown Washington, D.C., to give novelist Keith Donohue time enough to work on his fiction.

	Author Keith Donohue Click photo for larger image. Related article 'Stolen Child' debut creates literary magic

"Thank God for the subway," says the Scott native. "Going back and forth from my job, I can manage to write a page a day."

Donohue, 46, is enjoying the fruits of his commute these days with the debut of his first novel, "The Stolen Child." The blend of fantasy and everyday life has been his dream for years since he came to Washington in 1984 after earning his second of two degrees in English from Duquesne University.

International Poetry Forum director Samuel Hazo, a professor emeritus at Duquesne, was his thesis adviser, and the two still stay in touch.

"I did my undergrad work in Irish literature and read a lot of William Butler Yeats," Donohue said. "I read his poem 'The Stolen Child' back then, and it's made a lasting impression on me, clearly."

His novel of the same name is the story of changelings, two boys who trade places.

"It's really a way to look at the question of identity through the eyes of a grown man and an un-aging 7-year-old boy," he explained. "They are my metaphors for the two time periods."

The novel was written several years ago when Donohue was briefly out of work after 14 years of writing speeches and publications at the National Endowment for the Arts.

He's now at the National Archives in its national historical publications and records commissions, a department that helps local historical groups preserve records

"I really finished the novel before I went to the archives," Donohue said. "The writing wasn't the problem because I had been writing speeches and papers all those years. Finding an agent was.

"When that happened, it didn't take long for the book to be sold to a publisher. It's been an amazing and surreal time. I'm even hearing about a possible film deal."

Donohue has started a second novel during his commute, a book that "may or may not have angels in it," he said.

"I'm interested in why people believe in what they believe. We're in a [book] cycle right now when people are more responsive to fantasy novels," he said. "The 'Harry Potter' books probably have a lot to do with it."

After living in Scott's Birdland neighborhood as a child, Donohue and his family moved to Maryland, but he returned for college and still has a large contingent of relatives in the Pittsburgh area, including a daughter who works at a hospital in Mount Pleasant.

He also admits to being more of a fan of the Pirates than the Steelers.

"I've never forgotten seeing Roberto Clemente in the 1971 World Series," he said. "We went to the first game in Baltimore, sat in right field and watched Roberto hit a triple right in front of us."

Keith Donohue will be signing copies of "The Stolen Child" at 7 p.m. Thursday at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2705 E. Carson St., South Side, 412-381-3600.