[1] Her father worked as an insurance agent and the family moved often, spending large amounts of time in both Tamworth and Lismore.
[1] In late 1995, Donaghy was approached by editor Jennie Orchard at HarperCollins to write a book about Anna Wood, who had died in October 1995.
[2] Her friends drove her to their home in Sydney's Northern Suburbs, where they put her to bed, hoping she would sleep off the effects of a bad pill.
Unbeknown to them, Wood had suffered hyponatremia, dangerously low salt levels, as the result of excessive water consumption.
The book questions the duality of teenage freedom and parental restrictions, as well as Wood's portrayal of a wholesome, albeit slightly insecure and unsure girl next door.
The success of the book led to Donaghy's covering of two other adolescent health issues: teenage depression and suicide, in Leaving Early (1997).
Donaghy was diagnosed with a bone marrow disorder (myelodysplasia aplastic anaemia) in 1999 and became dependent on blood transfusions in 2002.