And our Sue's Clues Mystery Author is:

Our Mystery Author this round is Kit Donner. Kit is a farm girl from central Pennsylvania who grew up reading books constantly. Now she is writing them for us to enjoy. Read below to learn what she has to say about growing up and the stories and characters she has created.

When you are done, visit Kit at her website: http://www.kitdonner.com/

Thanks, Kit!

1. Tell us about your family. I know you are married and have two pups.

My family includes a mother, 2 brothers, 2 sisters (1 a twin), a husband, and two lovable dogs.

2. Tell us about growing up on a dairy farm. What was that like?

Imagine this:

It's a hot summer night. We're sitting on the lawn in front of the house eating watermelon (the kind with black seeds) and spitting them out to see who has the longest distance. The night is hot black with all the stars unhidden, and you can lay on your back, and look up at them, and think about a lot of things. I hear the frogs croaking in the pond and the milk pump droaning in a subtle white-noise backdrop as it cleans the milkers. The cows are enjoying a late night supper of hay and silage with their lazy tails swishing at the sleepy flies. My skin is pin-pricked and hot from baling hay earlier in the afternoon. I usually drive the tractor while Dad takes the bales off the baler and stacks them on the flat wagon pulled behind. Sometimes I have to jump off to grab a bale that has fallen off, and without jeans on, those dry green stems can prick your legs, since you use your legs to leverage the bale from the ground to your thighs, to the bottom of the wagon.

We all take turns milking the cows with Dad. The extremities in weather can be unpleasant. In the summertime, like today, I don't wear rubber boots but run around in my bare feet and shorts. In the parlor, I constantly use the hose to wash off cow's udders and spray my legs and feet to keep them cool. The winter can be hard to bear sometimes. I bundle up as much as possible, with socks, boots, jeans, couple of shirts, one of Dad's flannel shirt, and find a heavy coat. Everything is interchangeable since we all take turns wearing these clothes for whoever's turn it is to milk. (Believe me, we often have disagreements on whose turn it is!) When I'm in the parlor washing the cow's udders, I'm lucky if the water is warm or even lukewarm. Sometimes it's not, and the tips of my hands turn red from the cold. But I can easily warm them and myself by hugging a milk jar as the milk shoots into the jar from the milker.

Back to the summer night. Tonight, most likely after midnight, long after we've gone to bed, the milk truck will arrive like a thief in the night to collect our milk. It's time to go inside. I lay in bed listening to the cows mosying around the padlock and settling in for the night. The dusk-to-dawn light burns steadily, always on watch. For tomorrow, we'll rise and do it all again.

3. I'm assuming you lived in a rather rural area. What was it like when you left? Was it 'country girl hits the big city'?

We lived in a very rural area in south central PA. Nearest neighbors were close to a mile each way. It took us at least 45 minutes, if not longer, to get to and from school. After I left the farm, it did take awhile for this country girl to get used to another kind of living that didn't involve animals (horses, cows, pigs, rabbits) other than cats and dogs. I had lived a sheltered life, so going off to college was a bit of an eye-opener. Late bloomer, and all that kind of stuff.

4. And you've been to Wales! After Scotland, that is the place I most want to visit. Tell us about your experiences there.

When I was a senior in college, I had the opportunity to study at Trinity College in Carmarthen, Wales. It was one of the highlights of my life. The Welsh are warm and wonderful people with the most beautiful sing-song voices. I never could, for the life of me, figure out the Welsh language. Just learning how to pronounce words was an adventure. The landscape has beautiful rolling hills, quite high mountains and a beautiful coast, but rocky, not any real beaches, that I remember. I actually hitchhiked in Wales and in Ireland, something I thought I would never do. Everyone was very lovely and most accommodating. Of course, this was many years ago, I don't know if I would hitchhike these days. I hated leaving a place I grew to love with wonderful friends, both American and Welsh. I want to go back some day.

5. What is it about Historical Romance that attracts you?

I've always read all kinds of romances—contemporary, romantic suspense, gothic, and historicals. But historicals have always had a hold on me. I wish I could find something clever to say about why I love historicals, but I'm like so many other authors and readers who love Jane Austen and that time period. As a writer, the words and the times resonate with me. There's a sense of adventure there, that anything can happen, where there's no limit to your imagination, and all the men are devilishly handsome and all the ladies lovely and witty.

6. Tell us about your new release, THE NOTORIOUS BRIDEGROOM.

I'm excited about my first book, THE NOTORIOUS BRIDEGROOM, for many reasons. It is the first manuscript I ever wrote. After many years and revisions, it's finally available in print. For my plot, I was intrigued at how close Napoleon came to invading England at the southeastern corner. And, since I love spies, what better story than a young English miss (Patience) out to save her brother, decides to spy on, who she thinks is a French spy, our hero (Bryce). Patience thinks Bryce is a villain out to hang her brother for treason. It's like a "she vs he" type of story, because she think he's a spy (he is, English) and he thinks she's a spy (she isn't.) Well, they have to sort all things out, capture the real French spies, help an orphan and a circus tot, oh, and save a black cat before they can claim their true love.

7. And I see you have a 2010 release, THE VENGEFUL BRIDEGROOM. Can you tell us about that?

I had fun with my 2nd book, THE VENGEFUL BRIDEGROOM. The plot involves our hero (Matthew) who plans to make his nemesis pay for ruining his sister. How does he plan to accomplish this? Matthew tricks his nemesis's sister (Madelene) into marrying him. He plans to make her his wife, then divorce her. (During this time period, divorce was definitely frowned upon. The woman frequently ended up with no money and it could cause quite a scandal.) Only Madelene has something else in mind when she learns she's been duped. She'll try to escape (many times) and, in each time, Matthew'll find her and bring her back. Then she discovers her brother is running for his life. Will our hero help his new wife and brother-in-law or will his plan for revenge finally pay off? If Matthew gets his revenge, he'll lose Madelene, the woman he has grown to love. What will he do?

8. What's next?

I've just finished my 3rd book, THE WRONG BRIDEGROOM (Although the titles are similar, they are not a series as a whole, but standalones.) The heroine (Evangeline) decides to kidnap the man she loves, take him to Gretna Green, and marry him. Things don't exactly work out when the wrong bridegroom (Simon) shows up and forces her to marry him. She's got to figure a way out of this marriage and find out who's behind the body-snatching in her town. Will she fall in love with her bridegroom or will the body-snatchers commit murder to prevent her from spoiling their nefarious business? As for Simon, he is definitely suspicious of his new bride. Why does she keep turning up when a dead body is found? Simon'll have to learn all her secrets, but before he does, he might just fall in love with his wayward bride.

I'm also working on my first Christmas novella, tentatively entitled, THE CHRISTMAS MUSIC BOX, and next year, I have planned another historical with help from Robert Louis Stevenson.