Today I'm pleased to welcome author Don McNair as we discuss his romantic mystery novels. Learn about McNair's real-life experiences in "Magnolia Mansion" and how it all began. Welcome Don!
What
inspired the idea behind Mystery at
Magnolia Mansion?
Actually, I lived in “Magnolia Mansion” for several years. It was a landmark house built in Magnolia
Springs, Alabama in the late 1890s as a hotel for northerners to stay in while
they bought area timberland. It had run down over the years, and when my wife
and I found it in the 70s we saw it as a jewel ready to shine. So when I decided to write a romance novel I
had my book’s heroine, an interior designer, fix it up exactly the way we did
it.
What
kind of research was involved for your other romantic mystery, Mystery on Firefly Knob?
Actually, I did a great deal. The
story’s about what a young antiques dealer who visits just-inherited property
on a Cumberland Gap knob in Tennessee, and finds a handsome scientist there
studying exotic fireflies. She needs to sell the land to a condo developer fast
to finance her business, but he fights her to keep the land pristine for the
fireflies.
I wanted to
write about what I knew, so I put her home in Glen Ellyn, Illinois because I’d
lived there for several years. I made her an antiques dealer because I’d also dealt
in antiques. Bingo! That part of the research
was done.
I actually found
the knob on a trip through Tennessee, so wrote about its real environs. I made
the scientist an employee of nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratories, and
visited that facility to walk its halls and absorb its ambiance. And I studied
that rare firefly, which glows in unison with its neighbors instead of blinking
individually. I made the book as
authentic as I could.
What
has been your greatest pleasure or personal success as an author?
I’ve
been fortunate in my career, which included eleven years as a magazine editor,
six as a PR professional for a major agency, and twenty-one years as head of my
own marketing communications business.
At the agency I won four Golden Trumpets from the Chicago Publicity club
and the nation’s top PR award, the Silver Anvil, from the Public Relations
Society of America. But my real pride is
the fiction I now write. In a way I think
of the prior forty years as a training that let me finally “be what I wanted to
be when I grow up.”
My newest project, a self-editing book
titled Editor-Proof Your Writing: 21 Steps to the Clear Prose Agents and
Publishers Crave, is my newest way
to give back. It will be published on
April 1, 2013, by Quill Driver Books, and help new writers polish their work
for publication.
Will
you share with us a short preview of Mystery
at Magnolia Mansion?
Certainly. Brenda Maxwell’s new interior
design client tells her to “paint, wallpaper, whatever” his hundred-year-old
landmark mansion, “but for God’s sake, don’t go overboard.” When she figures
her grandiose plans will fit handily into his edict’s whatever” section,
they’re launched into a constant head-bumping mode. Brenda’s poor
money management skills (that’s his view, but what does he know?) and lawyer
David Hasbrough’s ridiculous need to control her life (that’s her well-reasoned
evaluation of the situation) combine to keep the battle going. Is this couple’s
romantic goose cooked? Well, she can’t be near him without sparks flying and
goose bumps popping out everywhere. But that mansion has to be done
right!
When
did you decide to take that step that made you a published author?
Actually, I’ve been published all my working life. I went directly from college to a magazine’s editorial staff, and spent those many years writing for others. I had three non-fiction how-to books published in the 80s, subjects I wanted to learn about. I wanted to build a workshop, for example, and wrote a book titled Building and Outfitting Your Workshop. I was attracted to holograms, and wrote a book titled How to Make Holograms. And when I fixed up that Magnolia Springs house,” I wrote House Craftsmanship: A Guide to Restyling and Refurbishing. Then realized I wanted to write fiction, and have since authored six novels.
What
appeals to you most about your chosen genre?
I don’t think
of myself as being stuck with just one genre.
My love for fiction-writing comes from creating conflict that keeps
readers engrossed, and you’ll find conflict in every selling novel, regardless
of genre. I picked romance and young adult, but believe I can work in any
genre. I think the proof of that lies in
my writing those how-to books, and in the hundreds of articles I wrote for
clients in very diverse industries.
What
is the best piece of writing advice you’ve received?
Probably, “Write what you know.” What many newbies don’t realize, though, is
that you don’t have to know it all before
you start. I knew certain things about
the subjects I wrote in my romance novels, but reached out for new knowledge. Look
at the types of research I did for my how-to books, for example, and for those
many articles on all kinds of subjects. Learn
how to research and interview, and don’t be afraid to enter unknown territory.
Is
writing a full-time career for you? If not, how else do you spend your work
day?
Writing has been the backbone of
my career, but it’s morphed into editing for others. I oversaw other writers’ works in the
corporate world, so this was a natural step. Today I teach two online editing
classes, and on April 1 next year Quill Driver Books will publish my self-editing
book, Editor-Proof Your Writing: 21 Steps to the Clear Prose Agents and
Publishers Crave. I generally edit
in the mornings, and do promotional things and work on my WIP in the
afternoons.
What
challenges did you face in getting your first book published?
I had
few problems with my how-to books, because they were an extension of what I did
in “real life.” As a writing consultant
and PR person I traveled the country interviewing my client’s industrial
customers, then wrote articles on how they used my client’s products to save
time, money, whatever. I then used my experience as a magazine editor to place
those articles in publications read by the customers’ peers. After so many
hundred such articles I was primed to write those books, and they were quickly
accepted.
But fiction
writing is a different animal. I took
classes, read books, and talked with the pros, and slowly built up my
fiction-writing knowledge. Finally I completed The Long Hunter, a young adult novel, after months of research,
writing, and tearing up pages. I sent it
to a publisher positive that I’d receive their check soon, and waited. Well, you know the story. I eventually got thirty rejections. When I finally sold it, I was floating. That first acceptance is a real high.
How
old were you when you wrote your
first story?
I
remember that day vividly. I was in grade
school, and the teacher asked us to write a story about Mother’s Day. I turned mine in and the next day the teacher
told the class what a great job I’d done, and proceeded to read it. After class a cute little girl with brown
curls came up to me and said, “Donnie, I loved your story.” My brain turned to
mush and dribbled out my ears, and I was afraid of girls for years after.
Laptop, desktop or notebook and pen for writing?
Definitely, a laptop. My wife and I sell antiques at regional weekend antiques
shows and, after helping set up our booth, I return to the hotel to write and
edit. It’s a “surf and turf” thing that
works very well. A notebook would work
equally as well, of course. And if one
never leaves the home to write, a desktop would work fine. I strongly suggest, though, that writers cut
their umbilical cord to their pen and paper. Computers are easy to use,
eliminate having to write things twice, and provide a window to today’s
publishing world. That first day might
seem weird, but before long a writer will wonder how on earth she or he ever
got by without one.
Do you believe in writer’s block? Has it ever happened to
you?
I can
certainly see how some writers face this problem, but thankfully I never
have. Here’s why. When I started working
with the PR firm I was hit with a thing called “billable time.” After all, how else does one charge for
creativity? All I had to sell to my clients was the time I spent on their work,
broken down into fifteen-minute chunks. The problem was that I had to justify
how I spent that time. I didn’t have the luxury of working a crossword puzzle
or dusting the credenza while waiting for the muse to visit. It didn’t take long to ignore any “blocks”
that tried to creep in, because I couldn’t afford to feed them.
Have you ever literally deleted or thrown away a book you’ve
written?
I threw
away my first effort years ago, before it could stink up the place. I got the idea I could write a Western. Hey, how hard could that be? I’d read them for years, and even seen them
on TV. So I sat down to write the Great
American Western. Long story short, I
bogged down in chapter five, after throwing in every cliché I could think
of. I sent those chapters to a critique
service and, in nicely couched words, was informed to run away fast, and never
look back. I put it into my file cabinet
and didn’t try writing fiction again for years.
The Books
Mystery at Magnolia Mansion
Brenda
Maxwell’s new interior design client tells her to “paint, wallpaper, whatever”
his hundred-year-old landmark mansion, “but for God’s sake, don’t go
overboard.” When she figures her grandiose plans will fit handily into his
edict’s “whatever” section, they’re launched into a constant head-bumping mode.
Brenda’s
poor money management skills (that’s his view, but what does he know?) and
lawyer David Hasbrough’s ridiculous need to control her life (that’s her
well-reasoned evaluation of the situation) combine to keep the battle going. Is
this couple’s romantic goose cooked? Well, she can’t be near him without sparks
flying and goose bumps popping out everywhere. But that mansion has to be done
right!
NOTE:
Don McNair actually lived in this house, and did the very things to it that he
has heroine Brenda Maxwell do.
Mystery on Firefly Knob
When
Erica Phillips visits choice inherited property on a Cumberland Plateau knob
overlooking a beautiful valley, she finds scientist Mike Callahan camped there
to study unique fireflies. She needs to sell it fast to buy a new building for
her antiques business, but he freaks out when a condo builder offers her a contract.
Miffed, she tells him, “If I have my way, this place will be sold within the
week. And, Mr. Callahan, I will have my way!”
Their
budding romance plays out before a background of a murder mystery, distrust,
and heart-racing hormones. Will it blossom into a lifetime relationship?
Excerpts
BOOK ONE - MYSTERY
AT MAGNOLIA MANSION
“Don’t
paint those walls! All they need, David, is mineral spirits. And—like you
said—elbow grease.”
She
started to say more, but stopped. He stuffed his hands into his pants pockets
and rocked on his heels, clicking his change together and glaring at her the
whole time. She could picture him doing that in a courtroom somewhere, melting
a suspect into a quivering blob of protoplasm, or at least a confession. She
backed away, turned, and ran into the kitchen.
“It’s
my house,” he called after her. “If I decide to paint it puke pink, I will.”
Oh,
that man! She made a Wonder Woman effort
not to run out of the house and slam the door in his face. Instead, she stood
motionless and studied the kitchen wallpaper. Very carefully.
She
heard him behind her. A squeaky board—she’d have to have that looked at—and
then a touch on her right shoulder told her he stood only inches away. Why, if
she used her imagination enough, she could imagine he was breathing down her
neck.
Hey,
he was!
Her
goose bumps got goose bumps. Something moist touched her neck, now brushed it
ever so slightly. She stiffened and turned quickly. His lips were only
millimeters away from hers.
“Mister
Hasbrough . . .”
He
backed away. “David.”
“David,
I—”
The Author
BOOK
TWO - MYSTERY
ON FIREFLY KNOB
Mike
stepped aside, and she saw a clearing. The treetop canopy opened to let in
sunlight and blue sky. Grass, kept at bay by constant shadows in the deep woods,
covered an open area the size of an average yard. Weeds and wildflowers
sprinkled the ground, and sapling maples and vines fringed the woods.
“This
is it?” she said.
“Yep.
The original site. See if you can spot where the cabin stood.”
She
saw nothing but the woods and grass. To her left she noticed a stone
outcropping. Beyond it was blue sky, and the hazy distance of Sequatchie
Valley.
“Why,
we’re right at the knob’s edge,” she said.
“That’s
right. If you jumped off that big rock you’d fall almost two thousand
feet."
As
she approached the rock she gazed about the clearing. And then she saw it—a
vertical stone chimney that at first glance resembled the tall trees
surrounding it. Now she made out its individual stones. She stepped closer and
saw beneath it the stone foundation of a one-room cabin. The chimney rose from
one corner, with its hearth opening toward the center. She stared at it in awe.
It was the precursor of the cabin her father lived in. Perhaps it was even
built by Rymer himself, the knob's namesake, in the early eighteen hundreds.
The
sun's slanting rays streamed through the tree canopy and threw light patterns
on the chimney and foundation. She touched Mike’s arm. “It’s like a shrine,”
she whispered. “I feel like I’ve just stepped out of a time machine.”
Giveaway
Don will giving away reader's choice of a copy of one of his books on www.DonMcNair.com to one randomly chosen commenter.
The Author
Don McNair, now a prolific fiction
writer, spent most of his working life editing magazines (11 years), producing public
relations materials for the Burson-Marsteller international PR firm (6 years),
and heading his own marketing communications firm, McNair Marketing
Communications (21 years). His creativity has won him three Golden Trumpets for
best industrial relations programs from the Publicity Club of Chicago, a
certificate of merit award for a quarterly magazine he wrote and produced, and
the Public Relations Society of America’s Silver Anvil. The latter is comparable to the Emmy and
Oscar in other industries. McNair has written and placed hundreds
of trade magazine articles and three published non-fiction “how-to” books (Tab
Books). He’s also written six novels; two young-adult novels (Attack of the Killer Prom Dresses and The Long Hunter), three romantic
suspense novels Mystery on Firefly Knob, Mystery
at Magnolia Mansion, and co-authored
Wait for Backup!), and a romantic comedy
(BJ, Milo, and the Hairdo from Heck). McNair now concentrates on editing
novels for others, teaching two online editing classes (see McNairEdits.com),
and writing his next romance novel.
Is
your book in Print, ebook or both?
E-book.
