Much Ado About Nauticaling by Gabby Allan – Guest Post + Giveaway

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Much Ado About Nauticaling by Gabby Allan
A Whit and Whiskers Mystery Book 1
Kensington • July 27, 2021

Whitney Dagner is your tour guide to a Pacific paradise that’s to die for—only to find it’s a place people are also willing to kill for—in Gabby Allan’s Much Ado About Nauticaling, first in the Whit and Whiskers Mystery series.

After far too many years in the Los Angeles corporate world, Whitney Dagner has come home to Santa Catalina Island off the California coast to help her brother Nick run Nautically Yours, the family tourism business. Between gift shop shifts selling all manner of T-shirts and tchotchkes and keeping her feline Whiskers in fine fettle, she pilots the Sea Bounder, a glass bottom boat showing tourists the underwater sights of aquatic plants, marine life—and a murder victim?

The self-proclaimed “Master of the Island,” Jules Tisdale was a wealthy man with business interests throughout Catalina who was about to be honored as Person of the Year before someone strangled him with his own tie and tossed his body into the water. That someone appears to be Nick, who had a raw deal from Jules and no alibi the night of his murder. To clear her brother’s name, Whit will have to investigate Jules’ shady associates and not exactly grief-stricken family members—with the unwelcome help of Felix Ramirez, police diver and Whit’s ex-boyfriend who’s looking to rekindle their relationship.

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Guest Post

Hello and thank you so much for having me on your blog!

I’m Gabby Allan (also Misty Simon) and I write Rom Cozies for Kensington. They’re a wonderful mix of cozy mystery and rom com. I love this concept and am so thankful for the opportunity to share this new series with you!

I first discovered my love of mysteries because I spent a lot of time with my grandparents when I was younger, and they were huge fans of Murder She Wrote, Perry Mason, and Columbo. I was a fan from the beginning, even though if Jessica Fletcher came into town I would totally grab a cab and be out faster than she could say hello. I even wrote my own mystery in fourth grade!

We won’t count that fourth-grade mystery as my first book, though. It involved palm trees and bubble gum, I believe…

I decided to write my first book because my husband and I worked opposite shifts when we got married, and I found myself watching way too much Lifetime TV. It took a few years for me to hit on a concept that I loved and then the Ivy Morris Mysteries were born in 2004. Followed by Adventures in Ghostsitting, then Tallie Graver Mysteries, and now I’m taking a pen name and bringing you Whit and Whiskers Mysteries by Gabby Allan.

Every new series is an opportunity to explore a new set of characters, a new setting, and a new set of bad people that need to be caught and justice served.

One of my favorite parts of writing is searching for idea and researching them once I have a character I want to explore. I love to walk in cemeteries and make up stories about the people buried there. I tend to go to coffee shops too, since humanity is seriously on display in places like that. Two completely different venues and yet they both inspire me! Usually while I’m listening to podcasts or looking through articles, characters just pop into my brain with a story I’d love to tell. Then I work out the concept with mind mapping to make sure I’ve got the whole thing in hand before I start.

And the latest mind map saw me diving into the Pacific Ocean and dragging myself onto the shore of Catalina. I came up with a business—driving glass bottom boats—a dead body floating under the boat, my main character finding the body of the man who had just had a terrible fight with her brother, and I was off and running!

I had such a blast going to the island to do some research. The poor guy at the golf cart rental place probably wished I had waited for the other rental agent when I started peppering him with questions like can I chirp the tires on a golf cart…

I walked the town, took in the sights, dipped my toes in the sand. And then I did everything I could to bring that experience to the page so that you can lose yourself in the small town of Avalon with my girl Whitney and her cat Whiskers.

I hope you’ll love it! But also, I hope you know that even with this being over fifty books I have out, I still get nervous about writing! If you’re a new writer or someone who has been in a rut, get yourself out there, sit down and type away, get out your notebook and started running down pencils. But never give up! If you find yourself writing stories no matter the day or time, then don’t give up. The world needs your stories. Entertain us and grow while you do!


About the Author

After writing plays for her friends to act out as a kid, bad poetry in high school, and her high school Alma Mater song, GABBY ALLAN finally found her true passion—cozy mysteries. Being able to share her world with readers, one laugh at a time, and touch people’s hearts with her down-to-earth characters makes for the best job ever. This California girl now lives with her husband, daughter, and two insane dogs in Central Pennsylvania where she is hard at work on her next novel.

Author Links
Website – http://www.gabbyallan.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/GabbyAllanAuthor

Giveaways!

I have some awesome giveaways to share with my readers from Gabby Allan!

Giveaway One: a mini giveaway of a signed door hanger. If you would like one, please leave a comment on this post. I’ll send your name and email along to the author at the conclusion of the book tour so she can send it out to you! Here’s the cute door hanger:

Giveaway Two: One lucky winner will receive a signed paperback copy of Much Ado About Nauticaling and some book swag! This contest is open to US residents only. The winner will be randomly selected from all eligible entries. This giveaway ends August 15, 2021, at 11:59 PM EST. For your chance to win, please leave a comment about why you would like to read this book and/or a comment about Gabby’s guest post. After you’ve commented, fill out the form below. If the form doesn’t load, please CLICK HERE.

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4 comments / Add your comment below

  1. Loved learning more about Gabby Allan and her writing research process through the guest post. “Much Ado About Nauticaling” is on my TBR list and has been since I first read about it. Can’t wait to dive into Whit and Whiskers adventures. I do so love being able to get in on a new series from the very get go.

    Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to win a copy so that I might get started sooner than later. Shared but oh so hoping to be the very fortunate one selected.

  2. I have always loved to read a good mystery, even as a child. She loves to walk in cemeteries and make up stories about the people buried there. that was interesting!

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