Dominique Daoust joins us for this week’s The Cozy 52 interview. Read on to find out more about her cozy mystery books, how she started writing, and what she has coming up next!
Who or What is The Cozy 52? Each week I will be sharing an interview with someone involved with Cozy Mysteries – an author, blogger, Facebook Group host, podcaster, cover designer – so that we can showcase this amazing community! I hope you’ll discover some new authors, plus learn more about what goes on behind the scenes with the people who write, publish and promote cozy mysteries!
Introducing Dominique Daoust
NAME: Dominique Daoust
LIST ALL YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES:
- The Deadly Exclusives Trilogy
- The Silver Screen Coven Series (ongoing)
HOW ARE YOUR COZY MYSTERIES PUBLISHED? Self-published!
The Q&A
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF
I’m an administrative assistant by day and an indie author by night, who’s hoping to make the transition to writing full time. When not reading or writing, I like to do yoga, drink margaritas, incessantly quote Friends and listen to rap while doing mundane household chores.
LIST THREE FUN FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF THAT WE WOULDN’T READ IN YOUR ‘OFFICIAL’ BIO.
- I’m a bilingual French-Canadian.
- I lived in Australia for a while after graduating from university.
- I have a fear of wild turkeys.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START WRITING? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE COZY MYSTERIES?
I have a journalism degree and although I didn’t end up pursuing a career in that field, the urge to write stayed with me. I discovered cozy mysteries in 2020 when nothing in the outside world was going right. I loved how uplifting and fun they were, so I decided to write some myself!
WHAT SUBGENRE(S) OR THEMES OF COZY MYSTERIES DO YOU WRITE?
Both my series are a combination of historical and paranormal cozies. I can’t get enough of the 1920s-1930s!
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR COZY MYSTERY SERIES. WHAT INSPIRES YOUR SERIES?
The main character in The Deadly Exclusives Trilogy is Rita Larose, a newbie reporter who always gets assigned boring puff pieces at one of Montreal’s biggest newspapers. But when she overhears that a maid has gone missing at a snazzy hotel, she takes it upon herself to go undercover to solve the mystery and write the best story of her career. The main inspirations for the start of the trilogy were my journalism degree and the fact that I had been a maid at a 5-star hotel in the suburbs of Montreal when I was 16. Those were my starting points, then the story expanded from there.
The Silver Screen Coven Series is inspired by my obsession with Old Hollywood and witches, so I decided to combine them together and set it at MGM Studios in the 1930s. Our main character, Annabelle Stonewood, is a former Texas pageant beauty queen who comes out to Hollywood as an extra but soon realizes the studio life is more cutthroat than she thought!
WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LOVE TO READ COZY MYSTERIES?
I think it’s because they’re a nice, heart-warming place to escape to when you need a break. Cozy authors have a knack for creating small towns and settings people love to go back to over and over.
ASIDE FROM BEING AN AUTHOR, ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THE COZY COMMUNITY IN ANY OTHER WAY?
I’m relatively new to the cozy scene so I’m still discovering new things every day. I’m part of a handful of cozy Facebook groups where I’ve started doing takeovers and interacting with readers. I’m also part of the Twisty Tales & Cozy Crimes promo via Prolific Works with about 50 other authors and there’s a very active Facebook group as well.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE WRITERS?
In terms of cozies I’d say London Lovett, Jesse Sutanto and Lydia Lane. For other genres (mystery/thriller) it would be Gillian Flynn, Libba Bray and Tana French.
IF YOU WERE MAROONED ON A DESERTED ISLAND, WHAT 3 BOOKS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU?
That’s a tough one! I wouldn’t want anything too bleak, so I’d go with The Diviners by Libba Bray, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Sutanto and Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
DO YOU HAVE ANY PROJECTS COMING UP THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?
The Coveted Spellbook, the second book in the Silver Screen Coven Series will be releasing on June 27th but you can pre-order it on Amazon now!
The Quickie 5
- FAVOURITE FOOD: Burritos
- BEVERAGE OF CHOICE: Margaritas
- MOST PRIZED POSSESSION: My vintage magazines from the 1930s
- SUMMER OR WINTER? Fall
- FAVOURITE VACATION SPOT? Hawaii (I’m manifesting this one, because I haven’t been there yet!)
To keep up to date with Dominique Daoust online, you can connect with her on:
Well I’m late to the show but very much looking forward to reading Dominique Daoust’s books and will start with A Disappearance at the Bonne Nuit Hotel. I joined Dominique’s newsletter earlier today and all her books sound good. I love the 20s and 30s and always looking for books with little elements of things I like; Downton Abbey, The Gilded Age, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, Bridgerton, Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, Regency Romances, Detective Murder Mysteries, and discovered a few years ago I enjoy cozies along with other reading fare so I’m sure I’ll like her work.