Author Guest Post - Kate Carlisle

I have been following the Bibliophile Mysteries for a while now, I have reviewed the seventh book, Cookbook Conspiracy (click here), the sixth book, Peril in Paperback (click here), the fourth, One Book in the Grave (click here), and the third book in the series, The Lies that Bind (click here).  But I have not had the opportunity to interview the author Ms Carlisle.  So I am tickled to feature a guest post today.  Please welcome Kate Carlisle to our little slice of the blogosphere.

I Love What I do
 
Did you watch the Oscars earlier this year? In her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress, Lupita Nyong'o thanked her director with a luminescent smile and tears in her eyes. "This has been the joy of my life," she said. 


Happiness radiated from her and lifted the mood of everyone who watched.


I could relate to what she was feeling. Writing the Bibliophile Mystery novels has been the joy of my life. I get to immerse myself in everything I love—rare books and bookbinding, history, food, romance, humor, and whodunits. (I was going to say "murder," but saying I love murder makes me sound like a psychopath. I don't love murder, but I've always enjoyed books in which a murderer is caught. Justice… served.) Plus, in writing the books, I get to connect to a community of readers who love the same things that I love, and who enjoy books that both entertain them and make them think. 


Joy. Of. My. Life. 


A Cookbook Conspiracy was released in hardcover and ebook last year and is now available in mass market paperback. It's a perfect example of all of my great loves coming together in one story. Rare books, history, food, romance, humor, and a whodunit that will keep you guessing until the end.

Bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright is stunned when her sister Savannah, a chef, asks her to restore the one-of-a-kind journal and cookbook of an indentured servant who came to America before America was a country. In fact, this woman lived during the time of the Revolution, and symbols scribbled in the margins of the journal lead Brooklyn to believe that she may have been a spy. 


One of the things I love best about writing the Bibliophile Mysteries is being able to research whatever historical time period captures my fancy, through the appearance of a rare and precious book from that time period. While writing A Cookbook Conspiracy, I delved into the American Revolution, and particularly the fascinating spycraft of the time. Imagine trying to communicate across vast distances in a time of war, before the existence of the internet or telephones or even telegrams. Any message you sent could be intercepted, and the messenger killed. So how do you organize? Secret codes and ciphers were born of necessity. 


For the story, I invented Obedience Green, a young English woman who came to America as an indentured servant. Through brief passages from her journal, Obedience comes to life for the reader as a woman who nearly lost her life on the ship to the New World, and went on to become the trusted cook for a British general. But was she using the recipes in her journal to transmit secret messages to the other side? Which side was she fighting for, and how is it possible that a twenty-first century celebrity chef was murdered the very day that this 240-year-old journal came into his possession? Brooklyn doesn't know, but she's determined to find out because her sister is the prime suspect in the chef’s murder. Savannah was discovered with his body… and a bloody fish knife in her hand. 


I like my mysteries with a lot of humor, and I hope you do, too. A Cookbook Conspiracy is available now wherever books and ebooks are sold. I'd love to hear from you! You can contact me via my website, www.katecarlisle.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/katecarlislebooks. 


Have you experienced the joy of your life in your personal or professional life? Share a moment that made you feel happy. 

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THANK You Ms. Carlisle for that delightful post.