Author Interview—donalee Moulton

Happy New Year! I hope this year is filled with happiness and good health for all of you. This year brings some changes to my blog. Today is my last author interview. I started doing these interviews in the summer of 2022, because I wanted to help promote other authors and also expose my readers to books and authors they may not already know. I have really enjoyed getting to know these authors a bit and hearing about their writing and publishing experiences, not to mention their adventures. But I recently went back to fulltime work, and I’m still doing my volunteer board secretary work for the California Writers Club, so I no longer have the time to devote to these interviews. Somewhere in there I need to find time to write! I hope you have enjoyed the interviews as much as I have and have found some good books to read.

This week I’m chatting with donalee (lower case first initial is intentional) Moulton, Canadian journalist and author of both fiction and nonfiction books. Her latest is Conflagration!, a Canadian historical mystery just published last month. Enjoy the interview!

About the Author

donalee is an award-winning freelance journalist. She has written articles for print and online publications across North America including The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Lawyer’s Daily, National Post, and Canadian Business. Her first mystery book, Hung out to Die, was published this past spring. A historical mystery, Conflagration, was published as 2023 came to a close.

donalee’s short story “Swan Song” was one of 21 selected for publication in Cold Canadian Crime, an anthology published by the Crime Writers of Canada. It was shortlisted for the 2023 Awards of Excellence. A second short story featuring the same Nunavut-based character was published in Black Cat Weekly. A literary short story, “Moist,” was published in After Dinner Conversation and reprinted in The Antigonish Review. It has also been selected for inclusion in two anthologies.

As well, donalee is the author of The Thong Principle: Saying What You Mean and Meaning What You Say and coauthor of Celebrity Court Cases: Trials of the Rich and Famous.

Interview

Who or what inspires you to write?

My mother taught me to love language—and to respect it. She cared about words and getting the words right. She was my greatest influence.

When I was about eight or nine, a next-door neighbor tossed me a Nancy Drew book. She thought I might like it. I sat on the curb between our two houses and read the entire book cover to cover. I loved the puzzle, figuring out who dunnit, and being propelled into a world outside my own.

That same year someone gifted me Charlotte’s Web, and my life was forever changed. Not only could words transport you to new worlds, they could become a part of your heart, and change you in ways you could not have imagined. I wanted to do that.

I also remember falling in love with Nancy Drew books and Charlotte’s Web. I wonder how many authors those books have inspired? What is the best thing that has happened because of your writing?

As a journalist, writing took me to places and into situations I would otherwise never have experienced. I’ve been a stone’s throw from the Arctic Circle and submerged in a survival suit. Creative writing taught me to look within as well as without. But always, the best thing about writing is when someone remembers something you’ve written, drops you a note to ask a question, comments on a character. It’s a connection you make. It’s a connection that matters.

Hearing from readers really makes all the hard work worthwhile. What is the most difficult thing you have experienced about writing or publishing?

Writing is difficult. Finding not just the right word, but the best word; developing characters that take you places you didn’t expect but is exactly where they need to be; struggling with plot and immersing yourself in timelines and red herrings. Then once the writing is ready, the publishing process begins. That is a whole new—and evolving—world. Keeping current in that world is a challenge and a necessity. I would rather curl up with a good book, but that is not an option.

Curling up with a good book is so tempting! After all, it’s the love of books that usually leads most writers to become authors. Was there anything you didn’t you during your writing or publishing journey that you wish you had?

I wish I had started writing books earlier. I wish I had taken more courses. I wish I had spent more time talking with writers about writing. I wish I had spent less time talking with writers about the business of writing. I wish I had read more. Tons more. I wish I had been more patient, with myself and with the drive to be published. I wish I had pushed myself more. I wish wishes came true.

I love all of that, and especially the bit about being patient with yourself and the drive to be published. Do you have a publisher and/or agent, or are you an indie (self-published) or hybrid author?

I am very fortunate to have publishers who support my work and have guided me through the editing and publishing labyrinth. BWL Publishing in Canada has published both of my novels: Hung Out to Die and Conflagration. Business Expert Press in the US published The Thong Principle: Saying What You Mean and Meaning What You Say. The idea of getting an agent is both appealing and disconcerting. I weigh the pros and cons. They weigh differently every time.

Congratulations on finding TWO publishers, when it can be so difficult to find even one. In which genre(s) do you like to write, and why?

I really like mysteries. When you’re busy, career focused, juggling meetings and deadlines and interviews and research and editing and teaching and scurrying to find something for dinner, there isn’t a lot of time for reading. As wrong as that is, it is also a reality. So, I embraced the mystery genre and read as much as I could as often as I could. That was sheer enjoyment. I also wanted my ideas to be challenged, my senses to be assaulted (gently but definitively), and my heart to be broken. So, I read as many novels, especially Canadian novels, as my mind, heart, and spirit could bear.

Mysteries are very popular and a good choice if you want to find readers. Do you outline your books before you write them?

Sort of. I have a rough plot outline and a brief backstory for the main characters before I start writing. I know who the culprit is and why they committed the crime. But I wait for the writing process, the research, and the thinking about everything (usually in the middle of the night) to help me flesh out the who, what, where, when, why, and how.

It sounds like you are a hybrid of a pantser (writing by the seat of your pants) and a plotter (outliner), which has been a successful strategy for a number of authors I have interviewed. How do you define success as a writer?

People are reading what I’m writing and in some way my words touch them if only for a few seconds.

Having happy readers is a great measurement of author success. If you could have lunch with any author, who would it be?

If I could go back in time, I would love to have lunch with E.B. White author of the essential and divergent classics Charlotte’s Web and The Elements of Style. Today, I would love to share a meal with Delia Owens. Where the Crawdads Sing is simply beautiful writing.

Both are excellent authors of extremely entertaining adventures. Tell us about a great adventure you’ve had.

Firsts are always thrilling: first article I ever got published, first interview of a really famous person (Tina Turner), first interview of a really famous person who was a huge disappointment (Gene Simmons from Kiss), first class I taught, first presentation (where I was the expert), first time I was introduced as “a writer,” first book, first mystery book, first interview with Heidi Eliason.

You have had some amazing interviews and great firsts! I imagine your interview with Tina Turner must be especially poignant after we lost her this year. donalee, it has been so interesting spending time with you—thank you for the interview!

Readers, you can find out more about donalee and her books on her website, donaleemoulton.com.

Conflagration!

On a warm spring day in April 1734, a fire raged through the merchants’ quarter in Montréal. When the flames finally died, 46 buildings—including the Hôtel-Dieu convent and hospital—had been destroyed. Within hours, rumors ran rampant that Marie-Joseph Angélique, an enslaved Black woman fighting for her freedom, had started the fire with her white lover. Less than a day later, Angélique sat in prison, her lover nowhere to be found. Though she denied the charges, witnesses claimed Angélique was the arsonist even though no one saw her set the fire.

In an era when lawyers are banned from practicing in New France, Angélique is on her own. Philippe Archambeau, a court clerk assigned specifically to document her case, believes Angélique might just be telling the truth. Or not. A reticent servant, a boisterous jailer, and three fire-scorched shingles prove indispensable in his quest to uncover what really happened.

Angélique’s time is running out as Archambeau searches for answers. Will the determined court clerk discover what really happened the night Montréal burned to the ground before it’s too late?

Readers, what books are you looking forward to reading this year? Let us know in the comments!