The Cove is a story within a story. Destiny Dawn, a fantasy writer, is duped into buying beach-front property contaminated by a toxic spill. The reader enters into her fantasy world full of mermaids, sand fairies and water babies, and their dilemmas, as she writes her novel. Meanwhile, Destiny's own life is becoming more and more bizarre and confusing. Why does the handsome marine biologist show up looking like one of the characters she invented? Why do the Iranians want her balding cat? And why does a black Mercedes keep following her? Does she just have an over-active imagination, or are the chemicals causing hallucinations and paranoia? Born in Billings Montana, Donna Varnes and her husband, Ed have traveled through every state and ten countries, and consider all of the USA as "home." She and her husband of 41 years, have six children and 17 grandchildren. Donna considers their remote forty-acre homestead near Denali National Park, as her "nest." There they experienced the real Alaska by living in a small cabin, home-schooling their children, and using sled dogs in their everyday living. It was also the inspiration for several of her short-stories published in the Anchorage Daily News and Mushing Magazine. Donna earned an Associates Degree in Christian Ministries from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, as well as an AAS in Developmental Disabilities from Prince William Sound Community College in Valdez, Alaska, where she started writing The Cove. She also completed a BA in Elementary Education from the University of Alaska, Anchorage.