Kate White is the New York Times bestselling author of nine works of fiction—six Bailey Weggins mysteries and three suspense novels, including Eyes on You (June 2014). For fourteen years she was the editor in chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, and though she loved the job (and the Cosmo beauty closet!), she decided to leave in late 2013 to concentrate full time on being an author.
Her books have received starred reviews from a variety of publications and she has been covered everywhere from The Today Show to The New York Times. Her first Bailey Weggins mystery, If Looks Could Kill, was named as the premier Reading with Rippa selection and soon shot to number one on Amazon. (And it’s now being made into an opera). She is published in 18 countries around the world.
Kate stopped by In Reference to Murder today to take some Author R&R (Reference and Research), talking about her experiences researching her Bailey Weggins mysteries and her latest standalone suspense novel, Eyes on You, especially how much fun she has with research—she once had her daughter stalk her through the woods so she could better describe the sounds of someone being followed.
Researching
It was kind of an act of desperation. I was working on my sixth Bailey Weggins mystery while also holding down a demanding, full time job as the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, and I needed to get to the Dumbo (Down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) section of Brooklyn to reacquaint myself with the area for a scene in my book. But no matter how hard I tried to shift things around on my schedule, I couldn’t come up with three hours to spare.
Fortunately, the Internet saved me. There were not only photos of Dumbo streets online but also videos of those streets, and they gave me a decent feel for the look and layout of the neighborhood.
Though I rescued the situation, I hated having to take that kind of shortcut. You see, I LOVE doing research. I adore prowling around neighborhoods, combing through resource material, and interviewing people who know things I don’t. To me, spending an hour on the phone with an expert on the death cap mushroom is pure bliss. I promised myself then that one day I’d have time to really research my books.
And finally that day came. A few years ago I resigned from Cosmo to work full time as an author. Admittedly the main reason was so I could experience the pleasure of working on my own while I still had the chance and also concentrate more fully on writing, but a lovely offshoot has been the ability to research my pants off.
Last Monday, for instance, was a delicious day for me. I’m currently at work on my fourth stand-alone novel (the third, Eyes on You, just came out in June), and I wanted to set some scenes in Nolita (the area North of Little Italy in Manhattan) and also around Wall Street, neighborhoods I’ve certainly visited as a New Yorker but am not completely familiar with. I spent an entire day exploring these spots, walking up and down streets, taking notes, snapping photos with my iPhone, even stopping at a French bistro for lunch with a glass of rose (and writing it off as a business expense!).
Researching not only provides an author with critical info, but it also offers moments of exhilaration, as you finally stumble on something that’s been stubbornly elusive.
There can be an almost magical element to research, too, the way it sparks your imagination. Research can generate whole new plots twists, ones you never saw coming before. There have been countless times when I’ve ended up adding a new scene or turning point or even a new character to a book because of details I’ve dug up.
In many ways, researching is like solving a mystery, with you as the private eye or the amateur sleuth.
Occasionally, however, doing one’s homework can get you into trouble. I’ve been yelled at for being in places I shouldn’t have been (“Excuse me, miss. What are you doing here?”) or rebuffed by someone who thought I was being nosy. And when I was writing my stand-alone Hush, I had one particularly awkward moment. The book is set in the world of fertility treatment and so for research I snuck over during one of my lunch hours to attend a free, open-to-the-public workshop at a fertility clinic. All of a sudden one of the other participants strolled over to me and said, “Wait, aren’t you the editor of Cosmo?” I knew she must be wondering what the heck I was doing there, since I was in my fifties and had two grown kids. I also worried that she might be indiscreet. It wasn’t hard to imagine the headline that might appear a day later in one of the tabloid gossip columns: “Bump Alert! 50-something Cosmo editor considering another baby!”
But fortunately my secret was safe! And nothing since has deterred me from the sweet pleasure of playing amateur sleuth when it comes to finding the facts. And today, thankfully, I have more time than ever to do that.
About the author
In addition to her mysteries, Kate is currently editing the Mystery Writers of America cookbook, a selection of recipes from many of the top-selling authors. Kate is also the author of several very popular career books, including I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This: How to Ask for the Money, Snag the Promotion, and Create the Career You Deserve, and Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do. Visit her via her website, blog, Twitter, and Facebook.
Comments