Saturday, April 7, 2018

BOOK TOUR


I'm so happy to be a stop on the 
blog tour for author
Kate Parker
and her new book
THE KILLING AT KALDAIRE HOUSE
Book 1 Milliner Mysteries


A dying man. The painting within her reach. What’s a thief to do?

Talented London milliner Emily Gates creates amazing hats for Society ladies, but to collect from those who don’t pay her bill, she burglarizes their homes. She needs every penny to send her deaf brother to school. Late one night, she sneaks in to find Lord Kaldaire badly injured in his study. Unwilling to abandon him, she calls for help.

When Kaldaire dies without revealing who attacked him, his widow agrees to keep Emily’s secrets ― if Emily will help find her husband’s killer. A bigger danger is a Scotland Yard inspector who threatens to arrest Emily — unless she spies on her father’s family of swindlers and conmen. Worst of all are the attacks from an unknown assailant. What will Emily face first, jail or death?

This cozy mystery is set in the era of My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins, of early automobiles and aeroplanes, and of King Edward VII and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If you enjoyed the Victorian Bookshop Mysteries, you’ll like Emily Gates and the collection of aristocrats and thieves in her world as they step into the 20th century.

📘📖📘📖📘📖📘

!!!GIVEAWAY!!!

Winner will be chosen after April 13
at the end of the tour

1 lucky reader will win a copy of

THE KILLING AT KALDAIRE HOUSE

Print - USA only
Kindle - International

Enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.

This giveaway is through Great Escape Book Tours, not Lisa Ks Book Reviews.



LKBR:  Thank you for being here today!

KP: Thank you for having me.


LKBR: Please tell us a bit about your book/series.

KP: The Killing at Kaldaire House is the first in a new series set in London at the dawn of the twentieth century. My sleuth is a talented young milliner who is partnered with her mother’s cousin in a hat making business favored by the rich and aristocratic. During an epidemic, her mother died and her younger brother was left deaf. She had to take over her mother’s share of the business and raise her younger brother. Now she is trying to raise the money to send her brother to the prestigious Doncaster School for the Deaf far from London, but some aristocrats are slow to pay their bills. She begins an unorthodox method to get paid, and it lands her in hot water when she finds the husband of one of her customers badly injured.


LKBR: How did you come up with the concept for this series? How about the idea for this installment?

KP: I’ve always liked the Edwardian era. The antique cars. The marvelous hats. Think of the images you get when I say “Hello, Dolly,” “My Fair Lady,” and “Mary Poppins.” Life was leaping forward, expecting the future to be better than the past. I thought mysteries set in this exuberant time with these fabulous fashions would be fun. And The Killing at Kaldaire House and The Milliner Mysteries are all about reading enjoyment.


LKBR: Do you have a favorite character in your book/series?

KP: Two, actually. One is Emily’s (my sleuth) grandfather, the head of the criminal gang. The other is Lady Kaldaire, whose husband is the victim in The Killing at Kaldaire House. Both of them are older, wiser, and able to hide their true natures and goals from society. They both exasperate Emily, but she loves them both even as Lady Kaldaire uses her as her personal sleuth and her grandfather uses his talent as a conman to help her.


LKBR: Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others? Love, action, death, etc?

KP: I can’t write a love scene to save my life. As soon as my characters start to undress, my heroine runs behind my computer monitor screaming and my hero stalks off in disgust, looking for the heroine in a book on my bookshelves. I’ve learned to keep them clothed and leave what love scenes might ever exist to the readers’ imaginations.


LKBR: In your writing, have you ever used experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

KP: Like any author, I do research. However, this is the first time I’ve ever used anything personal in my writing. I was an only child for a long time and looked on with jealousy at my neighbors who had five and six kids in their families. People from large families probably wouldn’t understand, but from the outside, it looked like so much fun. I let my childhood longings run free in The Killing at Kaldaire House and gave my sleuth Emily the biggest, wildest family I could.

LKBR: When you’re in the process of writing/creating a book, do you use a computer, typewriter, dictate, or use pen to paper?
KP: Computer. Typewriters are too slow, as my typing isn’t good and computers are easier to correct mistakes on than typewriters are. And when I want to insert a large chunk of writing, it’s easier by computer. My handwriting is so bad, I wouldn’t be able to read what I wrote later. And my creative process requires silence, so I can’t dictate or I’d have to put up with the sound of my voice.


LKBR: What does your family think about your writing? How important is their support?

KP: My husband is very supportive, but I named my publishing imprint after him so he says I owe him 90% of my earnings as my publisher. He’s still waiting. ;-)  Two of my children write, and all of them read my books. I’m proud that they are involved in what I do.


LKBR: Who/What inspired you to write your first book?
  
KP: I’ve always written. My father was a journalist and editor, and I suppose I was copying him long before I realized he wrote nonfiction and I write fiction. Truth is so boring, and fiction can be as lively and exciting as the author makes it.


LKBR: What was one of the most surprising thing(s) you learned when trying to get your first book published?

KP: How long it took me to learn my craft before I was good enough to be published.


LKBR: What book are you reading?

KP: Right now, I’m reading K B Owen and Louise Penny. I finished a Dorothy Simpson last night.


LKBR: Do you have any advice for aspiring cozy writers?

KP: Learn the craft of writing. And then keep learning.


LKBR: Where can readers go to learn more about you and your books?
www.Kateparkerbooks.com



LKBR: Thank you so much for letting us get to know you better!

About the Author


Kate Parker has wanted to travel to 1930s England since she read her mother’s Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers mysteries when she was a schoolgirl. After many years of studying science, she decided a time travel machine was out of the question so she found herself limited to reading about the period and visiting historic sites. Her love of this fascinating and challenging period led her to the research from which the Deadly series grew. Eventually, she found it necessary to spend several days in the British Library reading old newspapers, which meant another trip to England. Near Christmas. A sacrifice she’d gladly make every year.
  Author Links 
Purchase Links 
Kobo 


Tour Participants

April 2 – Carole's Book Corner – REVIEW
April 2 – View from the Birdhouse – SPOTLIGHT
April 3 – Valerie's Musings – GUEST POST
April 4 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
April 4 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
April 5 – Jane Reads – REVIEW
April 5 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT
April 6 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT
April 7 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 7 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
April 8 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
April 9 – T's Stuff – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 9 – My Reading Journeys – SPOTLIGHT
April 10 – Teresa Trent Author Blog – SPOTLIGHT
April 11 – Bubble Bath Books – REVIEW
April 11 – Books Direct – GUEST POST
April 12 – Mysteries with Character – REVIEW
April 12 – Varietats – REVIEW
April 13 – Cozy Up With Kathy - REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW



As always, please leave a comment and 
let me know what you think!

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6 comments:

  1. Thank you for the information on "THE KILLING AT KALDIARE HOUSE" by Kate Parker and for being part of the book tour. I always enjoy reading the interviews and learning a bit more about the authors.

    I'd love the opportunity to read this book.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  2. The Killing at Kaldaire House sounds like a great book that I would really like to read. Thanks for featuring it on your blog! :)

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  3. I enjoy book s set in this time period because my mother often talked about it. Thanks for the chance to win the first in the series book.

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  4. Sounds like a good story of hats, burglary, and murder!

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