Interview With Author Donna Clancy
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hello! I live on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. I’m retired with three grown children. I just lost my beautiful writing partner of 15 years, my lovebug Papillion, Zumiez. She laid next to my leg and slept the whole time I wrote. I miss her immensely. I am a hybrid author which means I’m traditionally published with Level Best Books, small house published with Summer Prescott Publishing and also self-publish my own books.
I have published over 30 books and have over a dozen stories in different anthologies.
The genre I’m most known for is cozy mysteries, but I also love to write romance, suspense, and dabble in YA. I have 5 books planned for release in 2025 and am a participating author with 15 other authors in a new cozy series, The Lilac Lane Mysteries, releasing in 2026.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is the first in a new cozy series, New Beginnings. It’s called Something Borrowed, Someone Dead. I just recently retired and turned to writing full-time so a new series called New Beginnings just seemed to be a good place to start.
I do have another book releasing June 10th. It is the fifth book in my Shipwreck Cafe Mysteries, Summer Scallops, and Murder.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I am an early riser, so with coffee in hand, I usually have two to three thousands words written by nine o’clock each morning. I have been fighting blood clots for over ten years so it is a necessity for me to write for fifty minutes and then get up and walk around for ten. It does break the flow of words sometimes, but it is something that needs to be done.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have been an avid reader since an early age. I think Nancy Drew books got me involved in solving mysteries as well as Agatha Christie. I can’t say that any one book or author has influenced my writing career as I look forward to reading so many different genres and authors.
What are you working on now?
I have several projects in the works right now. The sixth book in my Shipwreck Cafe Mysteries, The Ghosts of Autumn, will be released in July. A summer romance, Driftwood Love, will be released in August. I have two paranormal stories I am completing for two different publishing houses scheduled for autumn releases.
My new thriller will be out after the first of the new year.; The Boy at the Water’s Edge.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use many different social media platforms. Facebook is probably the one I use the most. I do have several tour companies that I blog tour with when each new book is released. And of course, my website.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Something I learned the hard way when I started out as a newbie. Always, always, have your work edited. Don’t ever think you can do it on your own. A professional edit makes your book clean and it makes you look like you are serious about your craft.
And read in the genre you want to write. See what other authors are writing and why they are successful in what they do.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
No matter how long you have been writing, or how many books you have published, there is always more to learn.
What are you reading now?
Right now, I am reading Lisa Gardner’s book, When You See Me. I love all her books.
What’s next for you as a writer?
My plan is to stay the course of a full-time writer now that I am retired. I have 26 books outlined for writing and new ideas are discovered every day.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I believe, instead of already written books, I would take empty notebooks and a pen so that I could write my own island adventures while stranded there. It would help keep my mind sharp and maybe when I am rescued, I could turn it into a best seller.
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