Katie Carlisle

An interview with author and short story judge Katie Carlisle . . .

Winter 2022

New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle is a native of California. She worked in television production for many years before turning to writing. She has two mysteries series out: the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery and murder, and the Fixer-Upper Mysteries featuring building contractor Shannon Hammer, who specializes in Victorian home renovation and repair.

She has won the Golden Heart and Daphne du Maurier awards, and her first Bibliophile Mystery received a Best First Mystery nomination from RT Book Reviews. You can find her at her website, and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Interview by BWG member Marianne Donley

Bethlehem Writers Group: Did you grow up knowing you wanted to write? If not, when did you realize you wanted to be an author?

Katie Carlisle: No. Although I always loved reading, being a professional writer wasn’t really on my radar. Which for me was, I think, a good thing. I think I needed some life experience under my belt before I was ready to write. After many different “careers,” including everything from television game show production to selling fried chicken, I had the bright idea that law school was the thing for me. I couldn’t have been more wrong—but I’m grateful that I hated it because that’s what led me to writing. I fantasized ways to murder my most boring professor. (If she only knew!)

BWG: What made you pick traditional mysteries?

KC: I’ve always loved whodunits. I cut my teeth on Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. The triumph of justice appeals to me, and the strong, quirky characters.

BWG: Brooklyn Wainwright from your Bibliophile Mysteries and Shannon Hammer from your Fixer-Upper Mysteries are very different characters, how did you come up with them?

KC: When writing a mystery series, it’s important that the series have both a hook and the potential for longevity. The hook is the theme or thread that holds a series together. I’d been trying to sell for years before I truly internalized that concept. I realized that I needed to have a protagonist with a fascinating career. It just so happens that I have a very dear friend who’s a bookbinder.

Since I was a little girl, I’ve been a devotee of the book arts, which celebrate the book as an object, not just for the words on the page. I’ve taken many classes in bookbinding, papermaking, and the like. So when the idea of creating a heroine who is a renowned bookbinder occurred, it immediately felt right. Then I asked myself how a bookbinder would be involved in murders, and I came up with the concept that each murder is tied to a rare book in Brooklyn’s care, and the rare book’s themes are reflected in the contemporary crime. For example, in Little Black Book, the rare book at the center of the murder is a first-edition of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, so the action takes Brooklyn and her husband, Derek, from California wine country to a foreboding castle in Scotland.

Shannon Hammer from the Fixer-Upper Mysteries was inspired by my dad, who was a contractor. Shannon specializes in Victorian home restoration in the quaint town of Lighthouse Cove, California. She has an unfortunate habit of stumbling across dead bodies in the homes she’s working on. (Don’t you hate when that happens?)

BWG: Are there any ways in which the two characters are the same?

KC: Yes, Brooklyn and Shannon are both smart, savvy and observant, experts in their fields. And they both have a love of things from the past—in Brooklyn’s case, books; in Shannon’s, homes.

BWG: You claim that you’re not a bookbinder or contractor, what happened to the advice write what you know?

KC: I’m knowledge-adjacent. See above.

BWG: Corollary question: How much research do you do for each book?

KC: As much as I can possibly get away with! Research is one of my most favorite parts of the process. It’s sheer pleasure to follow knowledge down the rabbit hole. But then I have a tendency to get stuck in research mode when I really need to be writing.

BWG: You have two books released each year, how do you juggle writing, editing, and then releasing books on such a tight schedule?

KC: With much angst and hand-wringing! I adore writing two ongoing series and hope to continue doing so for years, but I do feel as though I always have a deadline looming.

BWG: Anyone who loves puns will love the titles of your books. How do you come up with the titles?

KC: It’s a team effort. My editor, my agent, my assistant, and I all brainstorm titles. There are some terrible clunkers that come up during the process, but somehow we always land on one that we all love. Interestingly, with my latest Fixer-Upper Mystery, Absence of Mallets, the title impacted the plot. When we were in need of a title, I hadn’t started writing the book yet. I had the concept—contractor Shannon Hammer and her boyfriend, Mac, are building a village of Victorian tiny homes for veterans in need—but the story wasn’t completely fleshed out. When the team came up with Absence of Mallets, I knew that a mallet would have to be a murder weapon.

BWG: How hard is it to balance murder with humor in your books?

KC: I would describe my books as heavy on humor, light on murder. I mean, solving the murder is the storyline, but the murder itself is not bloody or emotionally traumatic for the reader. My books are more of a fun journey of meeting well-rounded characters with plenty of interesting quirks and piecing together clues. Smart, funny murder mysteries.

BWG: Fixer-Upper Mysteries were made into Hallmark Mystery Movies; was that as much fun as it seems? And did you get to visit the set?

KC: So much fun, and a lifelong dream come true! Jewel and Colin Ferguson brought Shannon and Mac to life beautifully. The entire production made me so proud.

I did visit the set, and in fact, my husband and I had a quick cameo.

BWG: What is the nicest comment a reader has said (or written) to you?

KC: That’s a hard one to answer because so many readers have said so many lovely things. I’ll just share a couple random quotes that I have saved in a file named “whenineedaboost.docx.”

From a BookBub review of A High-End Finish: “Wow. Just wow. I currently have a love/hate relationship with this author. I absolutely loved this book – so what do I hate? I kept telling myself I’d finish *this* chapter so I could go do the other things I had on my to-do list. That didn’t happen. I kept reading. And reading. Until I finished the book. I could not put it down. And I’m getting the rest of the books in the series as soon as I possibly can.”

From a lovely gentleman who emailed me after reading The Book Supremacy: “My wife heard me laughing, came in and saw the book. I told her she’d have to wait her turn. . . . Each time I open one of your books, I escape from reality into the world of entertainment.”

BWG: What books are on your to-be-read pile?

KC: I’m currently reading Jenn McKinlay’s latest, Killer Research. I just love the way Jenn puts a mystery together! She has a very inventive, wicked, funny mind.

Next in queue are Dark Night by Paige Shelton and Body and Soul Food by Abby Collette, both winging their way to me from Poisoned Pen Bookstore. Body and Soul Food is the first book of a new series, and it’s always exciting to get in on the beginning! I’ve loved Abby’s other books. And Paige’s Alaska Mystery books are incredibly atmospheric, chilling in the best possible way.

BWG: What advice would you give to emerging writers?

KC: Find what works for you—and the only way to do that is to experiment. Take classes, read books, watch videos, and try the exercises or methods that resonate with you. If it works, incorporate it into your process. If it doesn’t, don’t force it.

BWG: When will your next novels be released?

KC: I release two books a year—one for each series. The latest Bibliophile Mystery is Little Black Book, in which a rare first edition of Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier mysteriously appears in Brooklyn Wainwright’s mailbox, addressed to her husband and postmarked from Scotland. Perhaps the young woman frantically pounding on their door knows who it’s from? Next up will be The Paper Caper in June.

The latest Fixer-Upper Mystery is Absence of Mallets. Shannon Hammer and her thriller-writer boyfriend, Mac, are building a village of tiny homes for veterans in need, but not everyone in Lighthouse Cove is happy about the “riff-raff” it brings to their idyllic-on-the-surface hometown. The next one doesn’t have an official title yet, but it will be released in November or December.

You can learn more about both books on my website, www.katecarlisle.com. While there, join my mailing list to get access to all of the free bonus content in the Secret Room.