All About Kate

Kate has found historical romance fits her to a tee, since she discovered romance in an era most consider historical these days. A lifelong reader, she began writing when her three children were grown and no longer dragging her away from the typewriter every thirty seconds. Now she writes on a computer, which is faster, except when her very own historical hero calls.

Blog Posts from Kate

From a fan’s perspective

Posted by Kate Parker May 22 2013, 12:14 am in fan conventions, Malice Domestic

As counterpoint to last Friday’s blog on attending the RT convention from the point of view of an author, I’m writing today on attending the Malice Domestic convention from the point of view of a fan. Malice Domestic is a twenty five year old convention of authors and fans of cozy and traditional mysteries, although [...]

20 Comments

Ruby Slippered Sisterhood Announcement!!!!

Posted by Kate Parker Apr 1 2013, 12:16 am

The Ruby Slippered Sisterhood has a big announcement. A gigantic announcement. We’ve been in talks with a venture capital fund for several months, and today the ink is dry on the agreement. Finally, we can tell everyone in Ruby Slippered Sisterland the news. May I have a drum roll, please. Today, we are opening Ruby [...]

39 Comments

Time to Panic

Posted by Kate Parker Mar 15 2013, 12:07 am

It’s only a week and a half until the calls go out announcing the finalists in the Golden Heart and Rita contests. Is it time to panic yet? Two agents ask for the same full manuscript on the same day and it’s not nearly ready. Is it time to panic yet? An editor asks for [...]

27 Comments

Alternative Endings

Posted by Kate Parker Feb 4 2013, 12:09 am

Before the unfortunate discovery of the American tourist murdered in Istanbul, my daughter told me how an American woman had recently gone missing in Istanbul. She wasn’t in a bad neighborhood. She’d been traveling in Europe for a period of time. She was married, although her family wasn’t traveling with her.  Then my daughter, who’s [...]

31 Comments

I hope you dance

Posted by Kate Parker Jan 25 2013, 12:26 am in inspiration, Winter Writing Festival

I’m sure you’ve all heard the song “I hope you dance.” It came back to me forcefully in, of all places, dance class. I call the class “Line Dancing for Zombies.” While many of our classmates are young and active, we have one lady who is 91 and another in her mid 80s. One of [...]

13 Comments

The More Things Change

Posted by Kate Parker Dec 17 2012, 12:31 am

We’ve all heard the adage, “The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same.” I was on line recently researching bookshops in late Victorian London. I came across a thesis from the University of Wales at Aberystwyth by Frederick Nesta on The Commerce of Literature: George Gissing and Late Victorian Publishing, 1880-1903. I read [...]

35 Comments

Settings

Posted by Kate Parker Oct 29 2012, 12:19 am

or, we don’t allow talking heads here. In honor of Halloween, we’re going to talk about a subject today that groans and shivers. Setting. A talking head is just a term for dialog-heavy writing where the reader has no sense of where the characters are, what they look like, and what they’re doing. Unless the [...]

22 Comments

Help! My Lovers Won’t Undress

Posted by Kate Parker Sep 7 2012, 12:01 am

I’ve been writing romantic suspense and historical romance for years with the same result. My characters have exchanged heated glances, longing touches, and stolen kisses. They’ve been tied up together against I-beams and narrowly escaped drowning, stabbing, and being run down by carriages. Now they’re ready for their big love scene. I begin removing their [...]

41 Comments