The multi-talented Kathleen Marple Kalb returns with a great new cozy mystery!
Kathleen Marple Kalb likes to describe herself as an
Author/Anchor/Mom…not in that order. She’s the author of the Ella Shane
historical mystery series for Kensington Books, including A FATAL OVERTURE, and
A FATAL FIRST NIGHT, named to Aunt Agatha’s Best Of: History Mystery 2021 list.
She grew up in front of a microphone and a keyboard, working as an overnight DJ
as a teenager in her hometown of Brookville, Pennsylvania…and writing her first
(thankfully unpublished) historical novel at sixteen. After a news career with
stops in Pittsburgh, Vermont and Connecticut, she’s now a weekend morning
anchor at 1010 WINS Radio in New York City. As Nikki Knight, she’s also the
author of the contemporary Vermont Radio Mystery, LIVE, LOCAL AND DEAD, out now
from Crooked Lane. Her short stories appear in anthologies, and her story “Bad
Apples” was an Honorable Mention in the 2021 Black Orchid Novella Contest. She,
her husband, and son live in Connecticut, in a house owned by their cat.
WHERE TO FIND ME:
Website: https://kathleenmarplekalb.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kathleen-Marple-Kalb-1082949845220373/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KalbMarple
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathleenmarplekalb/
What would you
write if you knew you couldn’t fail?
Something just for
fun, like the part Princess Diaries, part romantic suspense, part modern cozy
mystery piece that I work on between projects. It’s bonkers and genre-bending,
but it’s relaxing sometimes to use everything I’ve learned about craft just for
my own enjoyment…and ignore the rules if I want to!
How do you know
when your story is finished?
When I can read it
through without any real questions about characters, plot or voice. If I think
something doesn’t quite hang together, my editor – and readers – will
absolutely catch it, too. I don’t let anything out of my hands until it’s the
best I can possibly make it. Even then, I’m often not done. The wonderful thing
about working with good editors is that they see improvements writers can’t
because we’re too close to the story. At least for me, it’s not “The End” until
my editor and I agree that it is.
Do you write
part-time or full-time?
I think of it as a
full-time job, and approach it that way. If I added up all the hours I spent on
writing, editing, social media and connecting with other writers, I would
definitely be working north of 40 hours a week. A lot of that is fun, though,
so it’s not really a fair calculation. However much actual time I spend on
writing, I treat it with the same professionalism I bring to my “real” job as a
radio news anchor: I’m always on time, prepared, and ready to accept changes or
constructive criticism in the professional way it’s meant.
How long on
average does it take you to write a book?
When I really have
time to write, I can get a full manuscript in about two months. I don’t have a
traditional first draft because I go over the previous day’s pages when I start
writing in the morning, so that full manuscript is in decent shape, but still a
few weeks away from a form I’m willing to show anyone. If I was working on only
one project at a time (not my usual approach), I could finish a book in three
to four months.
What is the most
difficult part of your artistic process?
Patience. I have
none. A lifetime in newsrooms has made me very good at making fast deadlines,
and very bad at letting things unfold. One of the biggest things I’ve had to
learn as a writer is to give story and plot ideas time to “cook.” It’s easier
if I’m working on several projects at once – I can take a break and let one
settle, and write something else, then switch, and bring fresh eyes to each.
What is your next
project?
I’m polishing the
next Ella book – no spoilers! I’m also working on a couple of different cozy
mystery ideas. My NaNoWriMo project was to finish something I’d been working on
for years, and I really loved the process, and the story, so I’m polishing that
too. And of course my crazy little side project!
A FATAL OVERTURE finds
trouser diva Ella Shane facing her biggest challenges yet: murder, marriage –
and her potential mother-in-law. The mother and aunts of her swain, Gilbert
Saint Aubyn, Duke of Leith, show up at her townhouse demanding to know when she
plans to marry him…only to find a body in their hotel bathtub. As Ella and Gil
try to work out their marriage contract, Ella’s newspaper reporter pal Hetty
gets mixed up in the murder…and an old friend of Ella’s informs her that
someone is trying to take out a contract on Gil. They may be able to work out a
happy ending – but it won’t be safe, or easy!
Buy: A Fatal Overture (kensingtonbooks.com)
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