Good Morning, Booklovers!
It’s officially summer in the Midwest, and we’ve finally had rain. Lawns are beginning to “green-up” again, making it a pleasant morning on the deck, perfect for coffee and book talk with guest author DonnaRae Menard.
Welcome, DonnaRae! How do you take your coffee?
DM: I like a good medium roast, hot and black, no extra flavorings.
Bio:
DonnaRae's writing career began in the seventh grade with descriptions of other students. It was also her introduction to public speaking and the start of her training for the one hundred yard dash in track and field.
There were diaries, journals, two tiny columns in small-town newspapers, competition pieces for Toastmaster's International, and boxes under her bed filled with novels.
She currently lives just outside of town in the type of place where people feel free to drop off cats, kittens, cages of gerbils or white rats, and even the occasional farm animal.
Something that isn’t in your regular bio: “When I was around twelve, I was jumping out of windows on a twenty-five cent bet.”
Author Contacts:
I'm on facebook as DonnaRae Menard Author and on twitter @DonnaRaeMenard. I also have a website and blog: www.donnaraemenardbooks.com
DonnaRae's writing career began in the seventh grade with descriptions of other students. It was also her introduction to public speaking and the start of her training for the one hundred yard dash in track and field.
There were diaries, journals, two tiny columns in small-town newspapers, competition pieces for Toastmaster's International, and boxes under her bed filled with novels.
She currently lives just outside of town in the type of place where people feel free to drop off cats, kittens, cages of gerbils or white rats, and even the occasional farm animal.
Something that isn’t in your regular bio: “When I was around twelve, I was jumping out of windows on a twenty-five cent bet.”
Author Contacts:
I'm on facebook as DonnaRae Menard Author and on twitter @DonnaRaeMenard. I also have a website and blog: www.donnaraemenardbooks.com
INTERVIEW:
Ally: When did you decide you wanted a writing career?
DM: From the time I was in middle school, I wanted to write. I got in a lot of trouble from then right up until 2002 when I was at a training seminar and my regional supervisor asked me what I was doing. For years it was all longhand; old notebooks, diner placemats, whatever I had. I had boxes of books, short stories, and notes under the bed. My ex found them and burned them all. On April 28, 2008, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Squamious Carcinom. My prognosis was maybe six months. I went to Burlington, Vermont and Dr. Thomas Roland offered me a drug-in-training. The next six or seven months were horrific. Through it all, Dr. Roland kept asking me what I was going to do, what did I really want to happen when it was over? I jumped around a lot, but the final deal was I wanted to see Monument Valley and to be published. I became my own advocate and here I am. I still haven't seen Monument Valley, but hey, I'm at 50%
Ally: Do people from your real life show up in your books?
DM: I share what I'm writing with a lot of people. I am the oldest of eleven and come from a big family. People are always guessing who the character is in real life, or which one is them. Even when I tell them no, they don't believe me.
Ally: What writing/marketing advice would you like to pass on to other writers?
DM: When other writers ask me how I got to be published, I tell them I was just too stubborn to quit, though I almost did. Everyone is a critic, you need to be true to yourself, yet flexible, and you need to just keep at it. Somewhere there is someone who will see your merit. You just need to find the one.
Ally: What is the best thing a reader ever said to you?
DM: Defining the best thing a reader ever said to me is so easy. I put out a few self-published books early on. I received a message from a reader who told me that she cried at a specific turn in the book. It was a place where I cried as I wrote it. Right then, I knew I'd gotten it right. I felt so validated.
Ally: What is your next writing project?
DM: I am currently shopping around SETTLING THE MORALITY ISSUE, w/Glenna Woodward, unemployed, living in a 17.5 camper, gay, and delivering cremated remains to get by. I did this job twenty years ago, and I know it sounds bizarre, but it was heart-wrenchingly wonderful.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you select?
DM:
Ally: When did you decide you wanted a writing career?
DM: From the time I was in middle school, I wanted to write. I got in a lot of trouble from then right up until 2002 when I was at a training seminar and my regional supervisor asked me what I was doing. For years it was all longhand; old notebooks, diner placemats, whatever I had. I had boxes of books, short stories, and notes under the bed. My ex found them and burned them all. On April 28, 2008, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Squamious Carcinom. My prognosis was maybe six months. I went to Burlington, Vermont and Dr. Thomas Roland offered me a drug-in-training. The next six or seven months were horrific. Through it all, Dr. Roland kept asking me what I was going to do, what did I really want to happen when it was over? I jumped around a lot, but the final deal was I wanted to see Monument Valley and to be published. I became my own advocate and here I am. I still haven't seen Monument Valley, but hey, I'm at 50%
Ally: Do people from your real life show up in your books?
DM: I share what I'm writing with a lot of people. I am the oldest of eleven and come from a big family. People are always guessing who the character is in real life, or which one is them. Even when I tell them no, they don't believe me.
Ally: What writing/marketing advice would you like to pass on to other writers?
DM: When other writers ask me how I got to be published, I tell them I was just too stubborn to quit, though I almost did. Everyone is a critic, you need to be true to yourself, yet flexible, and you need to just keep at it. Somewhere there is someone who will see your merit. You just need to find the one.
Ally: What is the best thing a reader ever said to you?
DM: Defining the best thing a reader ever said to me is so easy. I put out a few self-published books early on. I received a message from a reader who told me that she cried at a specific turn in the book. It was a place where I cried as I wrote it. Right then, I knew I'd gotten it right. I felt so validated.
Ally: What is your next writing project?
DM: I am currently shopping around SETTLING THE MORALITY ISSUE, w/Glenna Woodward, unemployed, living in a 17.5 camper, gay, and delivering cremated remains to get by. I did this job twenty years ago, and I know it sounds bizarre, but it was heart-wrenchingly wonderful.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you select?
DM:
- An author you’d like to take to lunch: I'd like to sit down with George Lucas and ask him if he, like I do, dreams his books.
- b: If you were a color, what would it be? Screaming hot Claret, nailpolish, car color, pulsating and burning the sidewalk as I walk along.
- Most memorable movie: The original Blob, which still gives me nightmares.
- d: Best event in the last ten years: Crimeback where I met Harriette Sackler and Bruce Robert Coffin.
- e: Favorite comfort food: Wendy's Big Dave burger, I'll take the heartburn.
- f. Pie or cake: Pumpkin pie, hot from the oven.
- g. Hobbies: Sewing lets me think about books while I create something else.
MURDER IN THE MEADOW
Genre: Cozy Suspense (Gay MC)
After 10 years gone, Katelyn Took returns home in 1974 to find the grandmother who raised her has been killed in the farm meadow. Gram’s will leaves Katelyn ownership of the now dilapidated farm, but includes a stipulation regarding seventeen cats. Then there's the confused old woman still living in the farmhouse. Katelyn doesn't want to stay, but the longer she does, the more drawn into finding Gram's killer she becomes.
The anger she felt towards Gram fades, replaced by grief and loss. Katelyn takes a temporary job working beside Grandpa's friend. She develops a romantic interest in the Deputy Sheriff, and just when she decides it doesn't matter because she's leaving town, a stalker makes her a target.
The need to run is constantly challenged by the anger at having what’s hers yanked away. Is she going to stay? Continue her new romance? What about old friends who are new again and rallying around her? What price is she willing to pay to be a big city girl?
Buy Links:
Available June 30, 2021
Genre: Cozy Suspense (Gay MC)
After 10 years gone, Katelyn Took returns home in 1974 to find the grandmother who raised her has been killed in the farm meadow. Gram’s will leaves Katelyn ownership of the now dilapidated farm, but includes a stipulation regarding seventeen cats. Then there's the confused old woman still living in the farmhouse. Katelyn doesn't want to stay, but the longer she does, the more drawn into finding Gram's killer she becomes.
The anger she felt towards Gram fades, replaced by grief and loss. Katelyn takes a temporary job working beside Grandpa's friend. She develops a romantic interest in the Deputy Sheriff, and just when she decides it doesn't matter because she's leaving town, a stalker makes her a target.
The need to run is constantly challenged by the anger at having what’s hers yanked away. Is she going to stay? Continue her new romance? What about old friends who are new again and rallying around her? What price is she willing to pay to be a big city girl?
Buy Links:
Available June 30, 2021
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