Saturday Fun with Kate Parker

It's Chilly Saturday morning here so grabbed a cup of coffee or some tea and meet Kate Parker.

Kate is the Brilliant Author of The Vanishing Thief Just released on Dec. 3rd.



I had the honor of interviewing Kate and this is how it went.

About me: 

My mother has always enjoyed reading murder mysteries, and my first readers were Agatha Christie novels. They must have had quite an impact on my young mind, because I've never been able to write a story that didn't have a dead body by chapter five.

            Or maybe all those dead bodies in my stories are because I was born and raised in Washington DC. Living so close to Arlington National Cemetery and Congress might have warped my development.

            A few years ago, I moved from a huge metropolis to a small southern town. Life is slower here among the eighteenth century houses and slow, lazy rivers. I found the space here to develop my writing, and that has led to the Archivist Society mystery series and the first volume, The Vanishing Thief.

How did The Vanishing Thief come to life? 

The first scene came into my head, and the story grew from there. The setting, London in the 1890s, is a favorite of mine. The twenty years before the start of WWI was a time of great advances in science combined with the belief that through good works and good manners, the world was growing more civilized. It is a fascinating period, one that vanished along with its innocence. The story grew out of its time and place.

I've turned in the second in the series, The Counterfeit Lady, and am working on the third. I'm also working on a pre-WWII mystery set in London. You can guess I really like London.

Hobbies: I swim three days a week, dance two days a week, and lose myself in research when I'm not writing. Or doing housework, laundry, cooking, etc. I wonder if anyone has ever listed housework as a hobby? If you saw my house, you'd know I've never made a career out of it.

Dinner with any character?

 Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. He was well-educated, interested in a great number of things, and had hidden talents. He'd be a great conversationalist, plus he'd have that old Southern gentleman charm and manners. I can see us, dressed up and eating by candlelight while the ceiling fan slowly turns and the heat of the day dissipates.

Thank you Kate for joining us today, it was such an honor to have you!