A Cozy Christmas Featuring C.S. McDonald #ACozyChristmas

A Cozy Christmas at Brooke Blogs

A Cozy Christmas at Brooke Blogs is a celebration of wonderful cozy mystery authors and their books. Stop by daily from 12/11/16 through 12/25/16 for special posts and be sure to enter the grand prize giveaway. Curl up and get cozy this holiday season!

Merry Murder by Cindy McDonald cover

Merry Murder by C.S. McDonald

A Fiona Quinn Mystery #2

The cookies are baked. The tree is trimmed. The shopping? Well, it’s almost done, and Fiona’s parents have finally returned home for a holiday visit—along with some unexpected unruly friends. Yep, Fiona’s perfectly planned Christmas is coming together, but how could’ve she planned for her favorite uncle’s murder?

Who could possibly kill a sweet old man who’s played Santa at the local mall every year without fail? Fiona’s boyfriend, Detective Nathan Landry, is determined to find out—before Christmas day arrives. There’s only one problem: Nancy Quinn. Fiona’s mom is just as determined as the detective to catch the murderer, and she isn’t shy about getting the job done—even if it includes breaking a few pesky laws!

Will Fiona and her mother find the killer first or will the killer find them?

Goodreads | Amazon

Writing with Purpose

I spent most of my adult life as a professional dancer and choreographer. For twenty-six years I was known as “Miss Cindy” the owner and director of Cindy McDonald’s School of Dance. The school was small, and that’s the way I wanted it. I was very busy, but still able to attend my daughter’s activities and I never worked weekends. Throughout those years I made every attempt to touch lives in a positive manner through dance. Hey, not every girl is a good dancer, and that was not the point. The point was to teach grace in movement and in manner and life. When I retired in 2011 to pursue a career in writing, I hoped I had been successful in my goal—teaching dance with purpose. Over the past five years since my retirement, I’ve received many posts on my Facebook page telling me how much I’m missed, how much I changed someone’s life or outlook on life, and how much I’m loved. Okay, I guess I was successful, and for that I am truly grateful. Nowadays I feel I am writing with purpose.

You see, I started out writing murder suspense with my first book series, Unbridled, and romantic suspense with the First Force Series. Both of those series’ are written under my real name, Cindy McDonald. Then in 2014 I decided to write children’s books to entertain my grandchildren, so I created the George the Pony series. I decided to use the pen name, C.S. McDonald for the kid’s books. It was great fun until my oldest granddaughter, Kiersten, grew too old for those books.

“When can I read your other books?” she would ask.

Ummmm…

Well, you guessed it, I started writing the cozy mystery series, Fiona Quinn. Don’t get me wrong, I love writing my romantic suspense stories—they are gritty and dangerous, and yes, sexy, and I still write those books, but I’ve found great purpose in writing the Fiona Quinn Mysteries. The books have strengthened the already tight bond between Kiersten and I. She reads the manuscripts as I write them. It is a learning experience for her. She adores Fiona, and as I talk with people who have read the books or have bought the books for their teens or tweens (such as my Kiersten) I find that people enjoy the humor in the stories and the innocence of my unlikely sleuth, Fiona Quinn. People love the covers, and they are fun, although many adults ask, are these books for kids?

The answer is yes and a resounding no. Fiona Quinn Mysteries are written for everyone. Adults will love the stories, but when they are done reading, they can feel totally comfortable handing the book to a teen or a tween to read.

Dancing with purpose/writing with purpose—I’ve been so blessed with the best of both!


About C.S. McDonald

C.S. McDonaldFor twenty-six years C.S. McDonald’s life whirled around a song and a dance. She was a professional dancer and choreographer. During that time she choreographed many musicals and an opera for the Pittsburgh Savoyards. In 2011 she retired from her dance career to write. Under her real name, Cindy McDonald, she writes murder-suspense and romantic suspense novels. In 2014 she added the pen name, C.S. McDonald, to write children’s books for her grandchildren. Now she adds the Fiona Quinn Mysteries to that expansion. She decided to write the cozy mystery series for her young granddaughters.

Ms. McDonald resides on her Thoroughbred farm known as Fly by Night Stables near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband, Bill, and her poorly behaved Cocker Spaniel, Allister.

You can learn more about C.S. McDonald and her books here: http://www.csmcdonaldbooks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCSMcDonald/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSMcDonald7


A Cozy Christmas Facebook Event

Stop by the Facebook Event for even more fun! Surprise flash giveaways and more ways to earn entries into the grand prize giveaway. Be sure to RSVP by clicking ‘Going’ and follow along on Facebook. 🙂


What’s A Cozy Christmas without a giveaway? Enter the widget below to be entered in the grand prize giveaway! Every awesome cozy mystery author participating (+ your lovely hostess) has donated prizes to the grand prize giveaway. Each day, new author entries will be added, so be sure to stop back every day! C.S. is generously donating a signed copy of Merry Murder to our grand prize giveaway. Thank you so much!

Several winners will be randomly selected at the conclusion of the giveaway from all eligible entries. Winners will be contacted via email at the conclusion of the promotion and must respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected. Void where prohibited. Giveaway is open to US residents only. Mandatory blog comment entry must be completed each day or entries will not count. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me (brooke [at] brookeblogs.com). Please use the contact form on my contact page or e-mail me if you are interested in participating in my next author promotion.

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15 comments / Add your comment below

    1. At this time we have seven horses on the premises. Some are Thoroughbred racehorses, some are show horses, including a world champion Palomino named Magnum. The horses are tucked in their stalls in their blankets for the winter and visit the paddock or indoor arena as the weather allows. Thanks for the lovely question!

    1. Jeanie~it is one entry form for the entire contest. There are additional entries added under the cozy authors entry group each day that a new author participates. You won’t double enter because each day, there is a new post to leave a comment on (which you have to comment each day you enter in the widget) and then there will be a new social media link for an author listed as a giveaway option as well.

  1. This is a new author to me so thank you for including C.S. McDonald on your blog. Your interview has made me very interested to read her books.

    1. I know, right? But people thought it was interesting that I danced and lived on a Thoroughbred farm. I guess I’ve always put odd things together, but it has worked out so very well. I loved dance, and now I love writing! thanks for the great comment! 🙂

  2. Thank you to everyone for the wonderful comments and for everyone who liked my author page on FB! I hope you will take the time to check out the Fiona Quinn Mysteries–book#3 Waves of Murder will be releasing in the spring! Happy happy Christmas and 2017!

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