Mike sits down for a question-and-answer session with dru’s book musings.
What is your full name?
Michael James Donovan
How old are you?
Thirty-three
What is your profession?
I own Donovan’s Construction Company.
Do you have a significant other?
Yes
What is their name and profession?
My wife, Sally (Sal) Muccio Donovan. She owns a novelty cookies shop called Sally’s Samples.
Do you have any children?
Yes, we have a little girl named Corinne. We’ve nicknamed her Cookie…you know, like the ones that her mother bakes all day. She’s eighteen months old and a handful, but we’re crazy about her.
Do you have any siblings?
No, I’m an only child.
Are your parents nearby?
My mother passed away a few years ago. My father’s alive but we don’t keep in touch. That’s a long story for another time. Maybe if Dru invites me back again.
Who is your best friend?
I guess that would be Rob Sullivan. He’s married to my wife’s best friend, Josie. Or maybe Johnny Gavelli, who’s married to Sal’s sister, Gianna. Johnny’s a great guy as long as his grandmother Nicoletta isn’t around. I swear, that woman could drive Mother Theresa crazy.
Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
We have a dog named Spike. He’s a fifteen-year-old Shih Tzu, but still an active guy for his age.
What town do you live in?
We live in Colwestern, which is in Western New York. Sal grew up there but I’m a transplant. I moved here with my mother and stepfather when I was fifteen. It’s a great place to live, as long as you don’t mind six feet of snow in the winter.
What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
(puffs chest out with pride) I just finished building a new house for my family. It’s our dream house…the type of house I always wanted to live in as a kid. Not a mansion or anything like that, but we love it. I didn’t grow up with a lot of material possessions. You learn quickly to make the most of what you do have. But I do enjoy spoiling my wife. She deserves it.
What is your favorite spot in your home?
The living room, with Cookie on my lap, Sal sitting by my side, and maybe a ball game on the TV.
What is your favorite meal and dessert?
I’m not a big fan of dessert—that’s more Sal’s department. Her grandmother Rosa is a fantastic cook. She makes pasta fagioli because she knows it’s my favorite. She once told me, “You deserve it because of what you put up with in life.” I guess she’s talking about Sal and the murder investigations she gets involved in.
Do you have any hobbies?
I like to run when I have time. It keeps me focused. People who know that I’m related to the Muccio family often ask me why I don’t just keep on running—you know, like out of state.
What music do you listen to?
Country.
What is your favorite color?
Blue.
What is your favorite vacation spot?
Sal and I went to Hawaii on our honeymoon. It was a fantastic trip. Earlier this year we went on a cruise to the Bahamas with her family. It didn’t quite measure up to Hawaii. Sure, the Bahamas is beautiful, but we didn’t get to see much of it thanks to a murder onboard. Another long story.
Are you a morning or night person?
Definitely morning. Cookie has a great set of lungs on her, and she’s usually awake by six o’clock, but I’m up even earlier. Sal’s grandmother always says, “The early bird gets the word.” I still don’t know what that means.
What is your idea of a really fun time?
Any day that I don’t have to worry about Sal getting involved in a murder investigation is a good day for me.
If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
My So-Called Normal Life
Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
Um, neither? No sleuthing for me. And I wish to heaven that Sal could manage to disentangle herself from murders. She’s found more dead bodies over the last few years than the local police department. Sal says that it has something to do with the fortune cookies her bakery makes. I told her that was ridiculous, but I’m starting to wonder…
What is a typical day in your life like?
I don’t know what a typical day is. I go to work, come home, and if I’m lucky, we go to my in-laws and Sal’s grandmother cooks dinner for us. Other nights of the week we have takeout, because Sal can’t cook. And it’s usually on those kind of evenings—like tonight—that Sal comes home and tells me she found a dead body. Today, she found one in her bakery. It belonged to game show host Smiley Jones. She has no idea how he got there. And people wonder why I always look tired…
Bake, Batter, and Roll, A Cookies & Chance Mystery Book #13
Genre: Cozy, Culinary Mystery
Release: September 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
From USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bruns comes the next deliciously delightful Cookies & Chance mystery!
Full time baker and part time sleuth Sally Muccio has witnessed many bizarre events during her lifetime. But one thing that she never expected to see was her sensible grandmother on a dating show.
Senior Moments, the popular reality TV dating show featuring the aged sixty-five and older, has come to Colwestern, New York, giving the mature community a chance to find their soulmate. In an attempt to keep peace with the cranky and cantankerous Nicoletta Gavelli, Sal’s Grandma Rosa agrees to become a contestant along with Mrs. Gavelli on the TV show. But things take an even weirder turn when the show’s host, Smiley Jones, is found dead in Sal’s bakery, beaten to death with her rolling pin.
The last thing Sal wants, or needs is to get involved in another murder, but she soon discovers that Smiley Jones’s life wasn’t all champagne and cookies. From an estranged wife with dollar signs blinding her vision to a dressing room full of debts, Smiley had many issues to keep him from grinning. Between the calamitous contestants, the stacks of suspects, and the danger mounting, Sal is worried this is one Hollywood production without a happy ending. Can Sal find his killer before she winds up battered as well?
Recipes Included!
About the author
USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bruns lives in Upstate New York with a male dominated household and several spoiled pets. Her book, For Sale by Killer, won the Daphne du Maurier award for Best Mystery/Mainstream Suspense. Catherine’s written over twenty-five mystery novels and has many more stories waiting to be told. Readers are invited to visit her website at catherinebruns.net.
All comments are welcomed.
Thank you for the interview with Michael Donovan. Through your questions and his answers, we get a bit of insight into the characters. It just makes we want to read “Bake, Batter and Roll” all the more. It’s on my TBR list and I can’t wait for the opportunity to read and review it.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Sounds fun Thank you for the review