Donna B. McNicol invites us to C'Mon Inn B&B Mysteries

 

Welcome to author Donna B. McNicol!

Donna B. McNicol is a retired IT professional who started writing fiction after retirement. Her preferred genre is small town mysteries with a dash of romance but she has also tackled children's stories, fantasy and small-town romance. In addition, her short stories have been included in several anthologies. She now lives in rural Tennessee with her husband and two Goldendoodles, Cooper and Murphy.

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You can find/follow Donna here: https://campsite.bio/dbmcnicol

Website:  https://dbmcnicol.com/

Tell us about your life outside of writing.

As a retired septuagenarian, my life is pretty quiet. We live in a semi-rural area on 2.5 acres. We have two rambunctious, fun-loving black Goldendoodles (yes, that is a thing). When I'm not writing, I'm watching their antics and reading. My husband takes care of all the yard work (phew) and is working on finishing up his huge hobby barn where he plans to work on cars (vintage restorations as well as repairs). He's named it the backend of Nowhere Garage. But when the weather is nice, we love taking short motorcycle trips on our Harley-Davidson Tri-Glide (3 wheel motorcycle).

We've been married almost twelve years now. We met in 2008 as full-time RVers, both widowed and both motorcycle riders. It was fate! We continued to live and travel the US as full-time RVers for ten years. We also had a grand adventure in 2013-2015 when we moved to Cuenca, Ecuador for two years.

Do you have a work in progress?

Oh my, do I ever! I am currently working on my new series, Red Line Coffee mysteries. It takes place in a small tourist driven town where three firefighters joined together to buy and run a small coffee shop. The prequel, Roasts & Rumors will be out by the end of January. The three main books will (hopefully) be out this year. Their titles are: Ventis & Victims, Grandes & Grenades, Talls & Tazers.

Once those are complete, I have half a dozen other series waiting to be written and then there is a possible book four waiting backstage for both my C'Mon Inn Cozy Mystery series and my police procedural Klondike Mystery series. Never a dull moment!

What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?

I think it would be book one in my C'Mon Inn mysteries. They are set on the island of Kauai and I'd never been to Hawaii. I lived in the real life area where I had set my Klondike mysteries so for the new series I had to resort to a lot of Googling and Google Earth to choose the setting and keep it semi-realistic.

We did cruise to Hawaii and took a helicopter tour over Kauai. When we told the pilot I had a book written that was based around Anini Beach, he made sure to point it out to us. What fun that was!

What sort of research do you do for your work?

Since I am more a pantser than plotter, I typically don't do a lot of upfront research, I do it as I write. Some books require research for the police/medical side of things, While my books are fiction, I like to put them in realistic settings. In some cases, like my Klondike Pennsylvania mysteries, I even toss in real life events and places.

Some of the things I've researched have been human remains detection dogs (HRDD), cults and communities in the 60s, boat explosives and fire suppression, as well as the organization of police and fire in small towns. I tend to go down these rabbit holes way too often!

Which books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author who inspires you?

Over the years I've enjoyed a lot of fantasy, SciFi, romance, and mysteries. I do find when I switch genres, my brain needs to get used to the cadence of that style of book. Right now I'm reading mostly cozy/brozy mysteries because that is what I'm writing. My books tend to be quick, easy, and (hopefully) fun reads. At my age, that's what I enjoy reading so that's what I now enjoy writing.

C'Mon Inn Mystery Series

The C’Mon Inn B&B is run by elderly twin sisters, Betsy and Anna Thompson. They have a habit of caring for those in need, pulling them into their family. Ohana is very important to them. They stand behind those looking for missing loved ones, taking care of lost dogs, dealing with killers on the loose and a lot more. Join them on the beautiful island of Kauai.

PARADISE DAWN:
From Woodstock to communes, on to Vietnam and Hawaii. The Thompson twin sisters discover their ohana through the years.

PARADISE DOWN:
Aloha Nicholás! But will this be a hello or a goodbye? What lies under the water could make you rich or get you killed.

PARADISE DEAD:
Hawaii - paradise or a death trap? Are these really accidents? Or could something more sinister be at play?

PARADISE DRIFT:
A fiery explosion sets a new course for the passengers on a charter boat. Will anyone’s life ever be the same?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GVGFP12