3/07/2011

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.

35 comments:

  1. I do like a little bit of mystery added to romance books. I read alot of historical romance books and Lynsay Sands latest 2 (THE COUNTESS and THE HEIRESS) have had a little mystery added to them.

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  2. Kate Welcome! I agree with June M. I love a little mystery with my romance and a little romance in my mystery. I'm currently reading PJ Tracy's Dead Run and there are two romance threads in this series.

    I have your mysteries on my TBR pile, but I've read your two Desires and really enjoyed them. I look forward to the third Duke brother this summer. Are you planning to add a little mystery to your future Desires?

    Thanks for joining us today!

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  3. Hi Kate!
    Nice to see you on a blog I read.
    Marianne

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  4. Hi Kate! Welcome to GLIAS :)

    What a fun interview! I laughed throughout, particularly when you pondered whether your answers would be analyzed for posterity one day...

    I prefer some mystery to my romance, and I suppose vice versa, come to think of it. When I sat down to write Sweet Enemy, it had (and still does have, actually) strong mystery elements. At one point, I tried to pull the mystery out, thinking perhaps I'd bitten off more than I could chew as a first time author, but the story lost its life for me, so I scrapped it and recreated it with the mystery back in place and I'm so glad I did.

    Your Bibliophile Mysteries sound right up my alley...I say, this blog is getting expensive! I keep buying more and more awesome books :)

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  5. I love mystery/suspense mixed with my romance. I read a very good book called Chains by Shiloh Walker that had a stalker/would-be killer. Trying to discover who the bad guy was was just as exciting as watching the three couples fall in love.

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  6. Oh, Kate. Now I want to be a black t-shirt, too. Except substitute a horse for the Harley.

    -Abigail

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  7. Good morning, everyone! Thanks so much to Cat and the GLIAS ladies for inviting me here today!

    June, I love Lynsay Sands. And I love my historical romances to have a touch of mystery. I especially love a bit of spy intrigue, don't you? Napoleonic wars and smuggling and all that good stuff made for such an exciting time, I think. Well, except for the aforementioned plumbing issues. :-)

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  8. Loved your black t-shirt comments!!
    I do like romance and mystery mixed together. Most recent book I read that had both was Pride and Pleasure by Sylvia Day

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  9. Hi Kate!

    What a FUN interview! Of course you are NOT odd, m'dear. You are ECCENTRIC, all the best people are! And you know I love some mystery and suspense mixed in with my romance, something you do so well in your books! Keep up the great work,

    AC

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  10. Hi Cat! Thanks again for having me here today.

    I haven't read the PJ Tracy books yet, but since you recommend them AND theyve got those romance threads running through them, I'm going to check them out.

    Thank you for your kind words about my Desires. I'm really looking forward to yours! I'm very excited about the Brandon Duke book coming in August. I loved writing about Brandon all the way through the other two books. He's so funny and self-deprecating, but totally alpha and gorgeous. What's not to love? :-)

    I know some great Desire authors who can weave a little mystery in with the romance, but I'm not sure I'm one of them. I guess the real mystery for me is trying to figure out how these two people who have so many obstacles standing in the way of their happiness will ever get together! That's about all the mystery I can handle in my Desires!

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  11. Marianne!!!! {{{Waving madly from across the country!}}}

    Great to see you here! Hope you're staying warm back there in snow land!

    xoxo

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  12. Hi Heather, thanks for the welcome! I'm so glad to hear you say you put the mystery elements back into your romance. I'm sure it made it all the better! I can't wait to read it. Will it be out soon?

    And that reminds me. This is the coolest group! I've met some of you and seen so many of your names around for the past few years as you won contests and created buzz for yourselves, so I'm thrilled that you're all living the dream of publication!

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  13. Hi Kate,

    Already fascinated by your bibliophile mystery romances! Very clever blurb by the way!

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  14. Kate, I love mystery (or suspense) with my romance!

    And I loved THE LIES THAT BIND! Brooklyn cracks me up. I have SWEET SURRENDER, BABY SURPRISE sitting right here on my shelf--I can't wait to read it!

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  15. Hi Kate! Hi Get Lost in a Story gals! Looking forward to my visit! Kate, I loved your kid jokes almost as much as I loved your black T-shirt answer - really, that's all a bit too steamy for this hour of the morning in Australia. I have LOTS of favorite kid jokes - how about: What do you call a boomerang that won't come back? A stick. Snork!

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  16. Hi Stacie! Ooh, Shiloh Walker writes great sexy books with really scary characters. I'm in awe of how she puts those elements together. Okay, to be honest, I get a little scared sometimes. I'm kind of a wimp that way. But that's okay, it's a fun kind of scared, especially when the writing's really good. :-)

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  17. YAY, it's Kate!! LOL on being a loveable neurotic mess. I can so relate to that :-) What a great interview! I'm giggling over your jokes and we need to have a little chat about that lifeguard. More deets, of course.

    As for mixing genres, I love it. Especially when an author who's work I love (ahem, Kate Carlisle) writes both romance and mystery so well.

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  18. I like romance with a bit of mystery. My favorite combination of the two has to be the Bullet Catcher series and Guardian Anglinos series that Roxanne St. Claire writes.

    smccar1 at hotmail dot com

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  19. Hi Abigail! Hey, I like your version of the black t-shirt guy! I do love a hero on a horse. :-)

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  20. Susan, thanks for your comment! I enjoy Sylvia Day's writing, too. Very sexy and fun. I'll have to go order her latest. I do love that title. :-)

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  21. Hi Aunty Cindy!! Thanks so much for coming by to say hello! And that's quite a compliment coming from you. I consider you a master in the art of weaving romance and mystery--and you add that paranormal edge to your work, which is always so fun. Yum!

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  22. Hi Gjillian! Thanks for your comment. That blurb for my mystery was written by someone at my publisher's who is a master at puns. I always love reading my back cover copy once they've finished it.

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  23. Hi Jen! Thanks for swinging over here today, especially since you've got your own blog going. :-) (Jen blogs at Murder She Writes.)

    I'm so glad you enjoy Brooklyn! I just love writing her character and I really enjoy her scenes with Derek. Because, you know, I like a little romance with my mystery. ;-)

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  24. Hello, Anna! How lovely to see you here at GLIAS. And you're going to be visiting soon, as well? How exciting! GLIAS is the hot place to be!

    I'm hoping you've recovered from all that early morning steam. :-) And I'm laughing at your childish humor--because it's right up my alley! Love your boomerang joke--and I'm going to steal it for my very own. Ha! Although ... it might not be quite as funny without an Aussie accent. Hmm. :-)

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  25. Kate,

    Sweet Enemy comes out in February of 2012, which at first seemed like a long time but now I'm grateful for given all of the pre-promotional stuff I need to get up to speed on! :)

    And thanks so much...I feel honored to be included with my fabulous Get Lost In a Story ladies. Talented and lovely ladies, all...as are our wonderful guests and the fantastic readers/commenters who have made this blog a joy to be a part of!

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  26. LOL, Tawny! Yes, I'll share the details when I see you. ;-) And thanks so much for jumping over from Romance Bandits to say hi to this neurotic writer! LOL

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  27. Hi Stephanie! I like Rocki's Bullet Catchers, too. Did you know she used to write for Desire, also? I have two of her Desires on my keeper shelf. :-)

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  28. Hello, Kate! Hello, Ladies! What a fun interview!

    I do like a little bit of mystery with my romance. And a little bit of romance with my mystery *g* And of course, I love your books, Kate! I'm afraid I can't mention the last book I read that combined the two because it was one of my Rita books. But it was very good :-)

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  29. Hi Kate!

    What's green and sings? I think the last romance/mystery I read was yours. :)

    Cheers!
    Pink P.

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  30. Heather, that length of time feels like a lifetime! But it'll go so fast and when it gets here, you'll wonder where the time went. And then you'll panic and freak out and--oh, but I don't want to spoil the surprise. LOL!

    Seriously, you're very wise to get the promotional part of your world in order. For me, that's the hardest part. But you're already ahead of the game by being a member of such a popular group blog. :-)

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  31. Hi Beth! Another Bandita invades GLIAS! Ooh, I mean, RITA-award winning Bandita. ;-) Thanks so much for coming by today!

    And now I'm going to wonder which book you're talking about until the Ritas are announced. Darn. Oh, and if anyone wants a touch of mystery in their romance, you must read Beth's Superromances. They're fabulous!

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  32. Hi Pink! How cool to see you here today!

    Hmm...what's green and sings? I know this one...or do I?

    Is it Parrot Como? Miley Celery? Kelly Pickle? Beans Crosby? Okay, I give up. :-)

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  33. Welcome to GLIAS Kate. Even though it's the end of the day :-) Great interview. You had me when you said you worry about leaving something out as soon as you finish. I can definitely relate.


    As to your question...since I write for Intrigue...I love the added suspense to a romance.

    ~~Angi

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  34. Kate, I'm poking my head in late, too. Your blurb is irresistible, the book binding business interesting and very clever turning the T-shirt question on Cat! I know you'll have fantastic sales. As for mysteries with a romantic element, I love them. They don't necessarily have to dominate the story, but it gives the character a rich, well-rounded feel. Thanks for being here!

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  35. I'm just popping in one last time to thank all the GLIAS ladies for a very fun day! Cat, thanks again for the invite, my Desire sister! :-)

    Angi and Donnell, hi! Thanks so much for your kind words and good wishes!

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