Interview and Giveaway

with author 

Kate Parker 

Kate is the author of the 

Victorian Bookshop Mysteries. 

Her first book in the series, THE VANISHING THIEF, was also Kate's debut novel! 

How lucky we are she choose the mystery genre! 

Kate is giving away 2 copies of her new book 

THE COUNTERFEIT LADY, the second book in 

the Victorian Bookshop Mysteries 

which releases August 5! 

Enter using  Rafflecopter 

at the end of the interview!

LKBR: Hi Kate. It’s wonderful to have you here.

KP: Hi, Lisa. Thanks for having me. And hello to everyone joining us.

LKBR: THE VANISHING THIEF, the first book in your Victorian Bookshop series, was not only the debut of a new series, but also the debut of your first novel. Congratulations! What was it like seeing your book on the store shelves for the first time?

KP: Wonderful. I'd gone into my local bookstore to pick up a book and when I glanced at the top shelf of New Mysteries, there was The Vanishing Thief. It wasn't supposed to be out for another week! I ran out to the car and had my husband come in to take my picture next to the shelf, pointing at my books. He was grinning as much as I was.

LKBR: How long did it take you from the inception to the publishing of THE VANISHING THIEF?

KP: Nearly two years. I'm a fast writer, so it was six months from inception until the series was sold, but at that time, The Vanishing Thief was too short. Berkley wanted more background on my characters. They were right. Developing the characters made the story more interesting. And then came line edits and copy edits and designing a cover. Publishing a book is a long process.

Kate standing at the back of Buckingham Palace

LKBR: What was your inspiration for the story?

KP: I've always loved ensemble stories. Think the CSI and NCIS franchises where there are several important investigators. I wanted to do that in the late Victorian period in London. Then I saw a sign welcoming the Archivist Society, and I thought, "it sounds like a Victorian detective agency." And so Georgia and her friends were born.

LKBR: Your second book in the series, The COUNTERFEIT LADY releases August 5. Would you be willing to share anything about the book and what Georgia Fenchurch will be facing that isn’t on the back cover blurb?

KP: I had a great deal of fun sticking Georgia in two worlds at once. She wants to stay in her familiar world in charge of her bookshop, but she has to travel in high society to solve the murder. Watching her interact with Phyllida and Emma and the duke in a Mayfair townhouse and then at a country house party is fun for the reader, but Georgia is a nervous wreck. She has to learn to trust her friends to help her with her bookshop.

And then there is the heat wave. Appropriate for an August release. Before air conditioning, summer heat waves in cities were brutal. I've heard stories of people sleeping in the parks at night while the police patrolled, keeping watch for looters while all the houses were empty.

Photo Courtesy of Kate Parker

The building under repair will be recognized by everyone who's

 watched Agatha Christie's Poirot on PBS. 

LKBR: What are three things you would like readers to know about you?

KP: I grew up in a household of readers, all of whom adored history and biography and mysteries. As a child I loved to listen to stories of bygone eras.

          I think writing is the best job in all the world. It took me a dozen years of serious effort before I sold my first novel, and I believe all that work was totally worth it to have the career that I've dreamed of.

          And I love to travel, particularly to Europe. Viewing old castles and cathedrals and houses and anything else old is my idea of heaven.

LKBR: Is there anything else you like to share with us?

KP: You can find me on facebook at www.Facebook.com/Author.Kate.Parker/ and on twitter at www.twitter.com@KateParkerbooks

My website is www.kateparkerbooks.com

My next story will be a change of pace. It'll be a Regency Christmas mystery novella in an anthology called Christmas Wishes.

LKBR: Thank you so much for being here, Kate. Best wishes on THE COUNTERFEIT LADY!

KP: Thank you, Lisa, for hosting me today. It was a pleasure being here.

GOOD LUCK!

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