Kate Carlisle

New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle worked in television production for many years before turning to writing. A lifelong fascination with the art and craft of bookbinding led her to write the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery and murder. The latest bibliophile mystery, THE LIES THAT BIND, is available now.

Kate also writes romance for Harlequin Desire, and the third of her Duke brothers trilogy, HOW TO SEDUCE A BILLIONAIRE, will be out in August 2011. Visit her at katecarlisle.com or and at her group blog, romancebandits.blogspot.com/, where she blogs monthly.

Book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright returns home to San Francisco to teach a bookbinding class. Unfortunately, the program director Layla Fontaine is a horrendous host who pitches fits and lords over her subordinates. But when Layla is found shot dead, Brooklyn is bound and determined to investigate-even as the killer tries to close the book on her for good.

Marriage and kids? Not for confirmed bachelor Cameron Duke. Then an affair with Julia Parrish changed everything. Once he discovered the pretty cupcake maker had borne him a son, Cameron's priorities did a complete turnaround. He would marry and give his child the Duke name. But he'd be keeping his heart.

A marriage of convenience? That wouldn't have been Julia's first choice. Yes, she had always craved Cameron, and becoming his wife could be sweet indeed. But once she said "I do," this new bride and mother realized she wanted more from her husband. She wanted love.

CAT: What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?

KATE: I worry. I look around and wonder what I’m forgetting. Can I really be finished? What did I leave out? Something crucial, no doubt. I write a book in such a whirlwind, especially as I reach the end, that the sudden calm is horribly disconcerting. Is it obvious that I’m a neurotic mess? But lovable. J

CAT: How often do you get lost in a story?

KATE: As often as possible. I love getting lost in a story! In fact, I’m desperate to get lost whenever I pick up a new book. You see, if I’m not sucked into the story by page ... hmm, let’s say page three, I can’t keep reading it. I’m easily distracted and the next thing I know, I’m picking up a different book and trying to get lost inside it! I enjoy reading excerpts online or picking up a book in the bookstore and reading the first few pages, because then I know for sure whether or not the story will take me away. I love to be carried away by a book.

CAT: Do you write while listening to music? If so what kind?

KATE: No music. I prefer to have the news on in my living room when I’m writing in my office. The urgent, muted voices are soothing to me. Is that too terribly odd? Will my answers to these questions be studied in psychiatric hospitals some day? Honestly, I don’t know how to explain it except to say that having the news playing in the background makes me imagine I won’t miss anything important happening in the world. Yeah, that’s my explanation.

CAT: If you were given a chance to travel to the past where would you go and specifically why?

KATE: I would travel back to my college days and make some better choices. For instance, when I met that gorgeous lifeguard at Zuma Beach and drove up to Santa Cruz with him, I probably wouldn’t have given him my—oh, wait, did you mean, like, travel to regency England or something like that? No, I wouldn’t actually travel back to anyplace like regency England or medieval Scotland or wherever. I’d rather read about them in romance novels and not have to deal with, up close and personally, the lack of indoor plumbing or the fact that women had virtually no rights. Anyway, about that hunky lifeguard…

CAT: What’s your favorite kid joke?

KATE: I have two favorite kid jokes, and by “kid joke,” I assume you mean something really stupid and corny, and that’s just my style. So here goes: (#1) What is the definition of a farmer? That’s a man who is outstanding in his field. (#2) A three-legged dog walks into a saloon, looks around and says, “I’m looking for the man who shot my paw.”

CAT: If you couldn’t be a writer anymore, what profession would you take up?

KATE: I would be a spy. A really good one.

CAT’S GOTTA ASK – KATE’S GOTTA ANSWER:

If you were a t-shirt, what color would you be and why?

KATE: I would be a tight black t-shirt because black is so slimming on a woman and so sexy on a man. Now that I think about it, if I really were a black t-shirt, I would want to belong to that sexy man and, you know, hug his body really closely in order to, you know, show off his awesome shoulders and amazing muscles and those strong arms and six-pack abs. And then he’d tuck me into his worn blue jeans and we’d go riding off on his Harley. So yeah, definitely a black t-shirt.

KATE’S QUESTION FOR VISITORS: I write both romance and mystery and I love to blend the two sometimes. What about you? Do you like mysteries with a romantic element? How about a little mystery or intrigue woven into a romance? What have you read lately that combines the two?

Giveaway –

In anticipation of my upcoming Harlequin Desire, HOW TO SEDUCE A BILLIONAIRE featuring the third Duke brother, Brandon Duke, I’d like to give away signed copies of the first two Duke Brothers books, THE MILLIONAIRE MEETS HIS MATCH and SWEET SURRENDER, BABY SURPRISE, to one random commenter today.**

**Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only. If an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) is available, the author may utilize that option for International participants. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.