Today’s special guest is debut author D. MacNeill Parker to chat about her murder mystery, Death in Dutch Harbor.
Welcome, MacNeill. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Write what you know, right? And that’s what I did. As a longtime participant in the Alaska fishing industry, I couldn’t pass up using my experience as a backdrop to this book. What could be more intriguing than creating a world where commercial fishing and murder meet? As a former fishermen married to a fishing boat captain, and a career as a journalist, a fisheries specialist for the State of Alaska and a seafood company executive, I’ve got the credentials to pull off authenticity. As a debut author, I had to hone my writing skills so that my fictional characters leapt from the page. That was more fun than I ever imagined!
Please tell us about your current release.
When two murders strain the police force of remote Dutch Harbor, Alaska (made famous in Deadliest Catch tv show), the local vet is tapped by the police chief for forensic assistance. The doc’s got a past she’d rather not discuss, a gun in her closet and a retired police dog that hasn’t lost her chops. All come in handy as the doc deciphers the cause and time of death of a body that’s washed ashore with dead sea lions, and another found in a crab pot hauled from the sea in the net of a fishing boat. When her relationship with a boat captain is jeopardized by mounting evidence that he’s the prime suspect in one of the murders, the doc struggles with her own doubts to prove his innocence. But can she? Her pals, a manager of the Bering Sea crab fishery and another who tends Alaska’s most dangerous bar assist in unraveling the sinister truth. Along the way, the reader will learn a lot about Alaska and commercial fishing.
What inspired you to write this book?
Aside from my own experiences at sea that included surviving a boat that sunk off the coast of Kodiak, I’d heard many more sea stories, far more interesting than my own. There’s something about living on the edge of civilization where your life is at the mercy of Mother Nature and your survival may depend on the skill of your crew mates that is made for drama. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use those forces to bring to life the colorful characters that inhabit a murder mystery. Especially a murder mystery that sometimes makes you laugh!
Excerpt from Death in Dutch Harbor:
Eric took the blanket he’d laid on the ice bench and draped it over the guy’s shoulders, just a kid, really. He folded the kid’s hands so they lay on his lap and packed ice at his sides so he would remain secure for the rough ride back to port. Reaching into the chest pocket of his own jacket, he removed a pack of cigarettes. His hand shook as he lit two.
“We smoke the same brand,” he said, bending to wedge one in Guy’s gray lips. He smoked the other cigarette, all the while talking to the kid as if his spirit lingered nearby. “What a bummer,” he said, “dying so young.” He told the kid he would be missed by someone and promised to get him home. Hearing his voice crack, Eric turned away as if he didn’t want Guy to see him that way. Then he closed the freezer door.
Guy sat in the bait locker, the cigarette still hanging from his lips. The freezing temperature caused the saltwater on his eyelashes and beard to crystallize. He looked as if he were climbing Mt. Everest instead of sitting propped-up, dead in a fishing boat bait locker headed to Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
What exciting project are you working on next?
I am currently writing the second of three books planned for this series. So if you like characters that live in the first book, you can revisit them.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
You know I had to give this some thought because I’ve always thought of myself as a writer. But I think the first confidence builder was in fourth grade when my mother was called in for a parent-teacher conference and I was accused of a mistaken concern for plagiarism of a Christmas story.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
First off, I’m retired now and so pretty much do what I want when I want to it. Writing has always brought me pleasure so throughout my career, I took creative writing classes and participated in writing groups. Work and parenting life required that I write at night. That was okay because I used to be a night person. Once I retired and was able to seriously pursue writing a book, I found that writing in the morning was the best time to write. I think it’s because I’m still connected with my subconscious at that time of day. As a Pantser, I write by the seat of my pants, so it’s important to keep my head plugged into my imagination rather than cluttered with the practicalities of the real world.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I write quickly. As a Pantser, I love the feeling that I’m off on an adventure when I sit down to write. I don’t know what will happen in the scene except who will inhabit it and that I will drop a clue, a red herring or some action will transpire to move the story forward. What will it be? I can’t wait to find out!
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer and a veterinarian. Death in Dutch Harbor allowed me to do both. I wrote the book, and the protagonist is a veterinarian.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
If you want to write a book, do it! Take some courses so you can bundle it together with your writing to craft a hands-on learning project that works. It’s fun, so you’ve got nothing to lose.