News From Kate Emerson

News for June 2013

6/14/13

Good news for those Kate Emerson fans who also like the mysteries I write as Kathy Lynn Emerson. My Face Down series, featuring gentlewoman, herbalist and sleuth Susanna, Lady Appleton, is set in Elizabethan times. A new Lady Appleton short story, “A Wondrous Violent Motion” will be included in the December Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. I’ll add to this post when I have the date the magazine will be in stores. I’m particularly excited about this because it is the first thing I’ve had published under my own name for quite some time. The “wondrous violent motion” of the title is an earthquake, a real one that shook the entire southern coast of England in 1580 and caused a fair amount of damage in London. At Leigh Abbey, falling masonry reveals the remains of a murder victim and our intrepid heroine must not only find out what happened to him and who dunnit, she also has to discover who he was and what he was doing hiding out in her family home.

She Has A Nose!!

5/29/13:

Just received—the final cover for Royal Inheritance. I’m so pleased to see that, at long last, the model’s entire head is shown. The earlier version of the cover, shown on the left below, showed more than on my other covers but still cut off her nose. The one on the right is the one that will be on the actual book and you may notice that there is one other change, too. My name is now above the title. This is supposed to be significant in the publishing world. I’ve never figured out exactly why, but I’m always happy when it happens.

4/26/13:

The remaining Kate Emerson historical novels are now available from Audible.com, again read by Alison Larkin. At the King’s Pleasure runs ten hours and fifty-nine minutes and The King’s Damsel is nine hours and ten minutes in length.

The next entry, Royal Inheritance, will be in stores in trade paperback September 24^th and will also be available as an ebook and an audio download. I’m working on putting an excerpt up at this site. Check the main page to find that, as well as more information on the story and characters. Meanwhile, if you want to preorder a copy, the following links, sent to me by my publisher, should take you directly to the book at your favorite online bookstore:

Simon & Schuster (publisher): http://books.simonandschuster.com/Royal-Inheritance/Kate-Emerson/9781451661514

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1451661517/simonsayscom

Barnes & Noble : http://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?mid=36889&id=PwUJvmDcu1U&murl=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookSearch/isbnInquiry.asp%3Fr%3D1%26ISBN%3D9781451661514

Books-A-Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/books?isbn=1451661517

Indiebound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781451661514

iBookstore: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781451661538

Update on Kate’s Audio Books and Video News

3/27/13:

Breaking news on the Audible.com front: three of the Kate Emerson historical novels are now available. The reader on all three is Alison Larkin. She has a pleasant voice and a British accent, but I’ve only listened to a little bit of one book. I don’t have anything on which to download audiobooks except for my computer and the last place I want to sit and listen for any extended period of time is in my office!!! True confession here: I only listen to audiobooks when I’m driving and my car doesn’t even have a CD player. I’m still listening to audiocassettes.

For those more up to date, the three Kate Emerson novels available as downloads are The Pleasure Palace (11 hours 11 minutes), available since February 19, 2013, Between Two Queens (12 hours 8 minutes), available since March 8, 2013, and By Royal Decree (10 hours 32 minutes), available since March 23, 2013. I had no control over production or the selection of the performer, so I can only hope that the results will please readers who enjoy hearing books read aloud.

There is one small error in the listings at Audible.com and Amazon.com. This probably doesn’t matter to anyone but me, but in both places they give copyright information and it reads “© Kathy Lee Emerson.” Now, you all know that Kate Emerson is a pseudonym, but my real name is Kathy LYNN Emerson, not Kathy LEE. Unfortunately, a lot of people, especially those who were fans of Regis and Kathy Lee, make this mistake. It is really, really annoying!!! I’m pretty easy going as a rule. I’ll answer to Kathy, Kate, Kaitlyn (my other pseudonym), Sandy (my husband’s name), and even to Hey, You, but I draw the line at Kathy Lee!

In other news, my video interview is now up at the publisher’s website. I’m talking about The King’s Damsel. You can see it by clicking here:

http://videos.simonandschuster.com/Kate-Emerson-on-The-King's/2243159125001

News for March 2013

3/10/13:

Sorry to have been so slow to post news, but there isn’t a lot to report just now. Royal Inheritance is making its way through the editorial process. I should be getting the copy edits soon, combined with the line edits. After that come “first pass page proofs” and finally actual copies of the book.

In the meantime, I continue to blog at Maine Crime Writers under my Kaitlyn Dunnett pseudonym. The most recent post is here:

http://mainecrimewriters.com/kaitlyns-posts/the-computer-ate-me

As Kathy Lynn Emerson (my real name), I have exciting news on the short story front. “A Wondrous Violent Motion” features my series character Susanna, Lady Appleton from the Face Down series. The contract is signed. I’ve even received payment. Now I’m just waiting to learn when the story will appear in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. This is the first new fiction from the world of the Face Down novels since the last short story, “Lady Appleton and the Yuletide Hogglers” was issued in a limited edition as the Christmas card from short story publisher Crippen & Landru in 2010. The last to appear in AHMM was “Any Means Short of Murder” in the January/February 2009 issue. In case it isn’t obvious, it takes me a while to write a short story. Longer, in fact, than it does to write some of my novels.

Related to that, I’ve been putting together my auction item for the annual charity auction at Malice Domestic in May. It will feature original framed artwork by Linda Weatherly from one of my earlier short stories in AHMM, “The Curse of the Figure Flinger,” plus a copy of that issue of the magazine, plus a copy of the Crippen & Landru anthology, Murders and Other Confusions (one of the signed and numbered hardcover editions), plus an offprint of “Lady Appleton and the Yuletide Hogglers.” I’m registered at Malice as Kaitlyn Dunnett/Kathy Lynn Emerson and am scheduled to appear on a panel on Saturday afternoon on writing more than one series at a time. You can find out more about Malice Domestic at Malice Domestic 2013

And from the blurb-o-sphere, I have just given a quote (as Kathy Lynn Emerson) to new writer E. A. Allen for his historical mystery, When Beggars Die. Set in France in the reign of Edward VII, it introduces a detective who is a cross between Sherlock Homes and James Bond. Coming up, I’ve agreed to read two more historical novels for quotes. One is Eleanor Sullivan’s second mystery set in the 1830s, Graven Images. The other is a non-mystery historical by Kim Ostrom set at the court of Charles I of England. The title of that one is The Royal Menagerie and the point of view character is the royal fool. I’m looking forward to reading both.

New Year’s News and Notes

1/3/13:

Happy New Year everyone. Here’s a first look at a draft of the cover for Royal Inheritance, which has a publication date of September 24, 2013.

In other news, I’ve been cleaning house at my webpages, eliminating sections no one ever visits and freshening up others. And, of course, I’m still adding to “A Who’s Who of Tudor Women.” When I put up the next batch of new entries, the total number will hit 1750.

For 2013, I have two writing projects. The first is a historical mystery/suspense novel set in Elizabethan times. I’m not sure yet whether I’ll be writing it as Kate Emerson or under my real name, Kathy Lynn Emerson. The latter makes sense because I wrote two other historical mystery series under that name. On the other hand, I’m better known these days as Kate. When I decide, I’ll post that information here, along with other progress reports. Meanwhile, when I need a break from Tudor times, I’ll be working on the eighth Liss MacCrimmon mystery, written under my other pseudonym, Kaitlyn Dunnett. This one takes place on a Christmas tree farm and will be my fiftieth published book when it comes out in the fall of 2014.

Of “Historical” interest (and other updates)

12/8/12:

I’m blogging today (http://mainecrimewriters.com/kaitlyns-posts/honoring-chester-greenwood#comments) on the inspiration for my very first publication as a professional (ie. they paid me money!) writer, waaaay back in 1984. As for current writing, I’m pretty much taking the month of December off, since our cut-your-own Christmas tree farm is open and time-consuming even though all we have to do is “net” the trees and collect the $30 plus tax for each tree. I have the copy edited pages of the 7^th Liss MacCrimmon novel (written as Kaitlyn Dunnett) to go through before January 4^th. Then I’ll return to that historical mystery proposal I’ve been working on and start Liss #8, which is due September 1, 2013, just about the time #7, a Halloween story titled Vampires, Bones, and Treacle Scones, hits stores. Royal Inheritance will be out then, too.

Kate Emerson, Video Star

11/1/12:
The week before Hurricane Sandy came to town, I was in Manhattan to meet with my editor at Gallery Books and to make a short promotional video that will be used at the Simon and Schuster website to promote The King’s Damsel and next year’s Royal Inheritance. I’ll post information here about where to find it as soon as I have it. As you can imagine, folks in New York City have had more to worry about this past week than updating websites. For those wanting a break from news of the super storm’s aftermath, however, here follows a brief account of my experience in front of the camera.

I have to admit to a little nervousness going in. In the past I’ve been interviewed on local TV news and been filmed presenting programs and on panels, but I haven’t had a lot of experience in front of a video camera. I certainly don’t think of myself as particularly photogenic! Nor am I the glitz and glitter type. I don’t even wear makeup. So, what you’ll see if you watch the interview is the real me, wearing “business casual” with the stress on casual and looking the way I always do, except maybe a tad more neat.

Simon and Schuster has their own mini-studio in the same building with their editorial offices. A two-person team handled lights and camera while my publicist, with whom I’ve exchanged emails for ages but had never met until that day, read off the questions we’d prepared in advance. I’d thought of answers in advance, too, but that doesn’t mean I stuck to the script. To tell you the truth, I won’t know exactly what I said until I see the video myself. They tell me I sounded fine, so at this point I’m taking their word for it.

The instructions were simple enough. First, look at the camera, not at the person asking the questions. Second, try to work the question into the answer, since only my voice will be on the finished product. I was seated on a high stool with one of those tiny microphones clipped to the neck of my blouse. There were two huge lights, one on either side of the camera, so I really couldn’t see much. The reassuring news was that everything would be edited and I could have a do-over if I needed it.

Let’s face it, for a writer, talking about her books and writing in general isn’t a hardship. I had no trouble babbling on in response to the questions. The only thing that needed to be re-done was right at the end. My editor, who had been sitting in the background, pointed out that I’d never mentioned the title of next year’s book. I added a bit to do that, and then promptly started laughing. I have no idea why. Probably from relief, since there isn’t anything inherently funny about the title. Anyway, we re-did that bit, without the guffaws, and that was it. I was off to enjoy a very nice lunch with my editor and I now await, belatedly nervous, the result of my video interview. Stay tuned.

Reviews of The King’s Damsel

10/5/12:
The reviews for The King’s Damsel have been very gratifying. A few folks, of course, don’t care for the story or the characters, but the positive comments by far outweigh the negative ones. Some of my favorites are these:

From FreshFiction.com—“the compelling story of a young woman who uses her intelligence and her body to gain some power over her own life . . . a vivid picture of life in a royal household, from the pageantry of traveling with the king to the day-to-day drudgery of servitude to the princess.”

From Burton Book Review—“I love love love love love Kate Emerson! That’s five loves for each of her books in the Secrets of the Tudor Court series that I’ve read . . . the novels are always page-turners.”

From Historically Obsessed—“Rich in historical detail and featuring a wealth of bonus material, The King’s Damsel is sure to keep readers coming back for more in this exciting series.”

Audiobooks in the Future

8/13/12:
For those of you who like listening to novels, my agent has just sold all of the Tudor Court books, including the one that won't be out until next year, to Audible.com. It will take awhile for them to be produced, but look for the first one within the year. At this point I don't know what order they will be recorded in, but I'll post more information here as soon as I have it.

In other news, I've completed the rough draft of next year's book and am in the revising stage. Titled ROYAL INHERITANCE, it is the story of Audrey Malte, believed by some to have been the illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII by a laundress at Windsor Castle. Whether she was or not, she led an interesting life.

Just a Reminder

7/12/12:
I also write as Kathy Lynn Emerson and as Kaitlyn Dunnett and I blog three or four times at month at Maine Crime Writers under my Kaitlyn Dunnett pseudonym. Those posts, however, aren't always about mystery writing. Sometimes "Kate Emerson" makes an appearance to talk about how the next historical is coming along. The nine other writers who blog there have some interesting things to say as well. I hope you'll visit us and that you'll post comments if something takes your fancy.

The King’s Damsel in stores August 7

6/19/12:
It's still a month and a half until The King's Damsel is in stores, but already things are gearing up. I was recently sent this handy dandy list of links to pre-order the book from assorted online bookstores:

Of Blogs and E-Books and Other Things

4/4/12:
I blogged recently at Maine Crime Writers about the work in progress, Royal Inheritance. The book is barely started and won't be in stores until late next year (2013) but for those of you interested in the writing process, you can visit Maine Crime Writers (where I blog under my other pseudonym, Kaitlyn Dunnett) and scroll down (or click on "Kaitlyn's blogs") to get a sneak peek at what might be included in the story. The protagonist of Royal Inheritance is Audrey Malte, allegedly the illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII. Audrey was raised as the "bastard daughter" of John Malte, the king's tailor.

In other news, the fourth book in the Diana Spaulding 1888 Mystery Quartet is now available as an ebook at Belgrave House (click on the cover below to find it and the previous three titles) and will be in all major ebook outlets shortly. Although each book in the series can be read separately and each involves a different crime and locale, the story arc involving the personal life of my sleuth is wrapped up in this one. It takes place, for the most part, on an island off the coast of Maine.

$Description: C:\Users\Kathy Emerson\Documents\My Web Sites\Kateemersonhistoricals\httpdocs\lethalebookcover(b).jpg$

Also for readers who are mystery fans, I'll be at Malice Domestic (as Kaitlyn Dunnett and Kathy Lynn Emerson) at the end of this month (April 27-29). I'd love to meet any of you who are attending.

First Look at the Next Cover

3/14/12:
I received a cover proof the other day for The King's Damsel, due in stores August 7. There are certain to be a few tweaks. They usually add a quote or two to the front. But essentially, this is it, and I love it. The story takes place between 1525 and 1534, starting in the Marches of Wales with Princess Mary Tudor and ending up at the royal court during the time of Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn.

$Description: C:\Users\Kathy Emerson\Documents\My Web Sites\Kateemersonhistoricals\httpdocs\damselcover.jpg$

A New Interpretation of Between Two Queens

2/17/12:
One of the things a agent does for a writer is handle foreign sales of published books. For some reason, there seems to be a market in Czechoslovakia for novels set in Tudor England. I'm all for that. Of course, once I sign the contracts, I'm out of the loop. I don't pick the translator. Well, how could I?

I received two copies of the Czech version of Between Two Queens this week. I can't read them. I can only hope the words are an accurate translation of what I wrote. What I can see, however, is the cover of the Czech edition. I had no input into that, either. To tell you the truth, I find it kind of amusing. But assuming the text was translated well, I fear Czech readers may be disappointed when they read the story. The cover certainly hints at a lot more, shall we say graphic detail than is to be found in my novel.

But the big question is . . . where did that black cat with the cross around its neck come from???? I had to go back to my doc file and check to make sure I hadn't forgotten some key element of the plot. Nope. No cat, unless you count Nan Bassett's sister, who goes by that nickname.

Hmmm. You don't suppose the translator (or the cover artist) thinks that Cat is a feline? Or has been changed into one by an evil necromancer? Nah. I'm sure the cat is just a cat. But what an interesting "what if" for some future book!

3/20/12 addenda: a reader just sent me the smaller jpg file below, so it's now obvious exactly where the artwork came from, cat and all. It figures that this would be just one more wrong impression of the Tudor era and the Tudors thanks to The Tudors. Dear readers: Don't believe anything the scripts in this series try to tell you. I haven't been able to get more than thirty seconds into any episode without hitting a howler.

$Description: C:\Users\Kathy Emerson\Documents\My Web Sites\Kateemersonhistoricals\httpdocs\czechcover.jpg$ $Description: C:\Users\Kathy Emerson\Documents\My Web Sites\Kateemersonhistoricals\httpdocs\thetudors.jpg$

On the Blog Tour

1/6/12:
For the schedule of blogs I'm visiting to talk about various aspects of my latest historical novel, click on the title. At the King's Pleasure . There are free autographed book offers at some of these locations if you're willing to leave a comment.

Meanwhile, in other news, I've turned in The King's Damsel, which will be out in August and deals with the period of King Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn. The protagonist is the "unknown mistress" of 1534. Since she IS unknown, for a change the heroine of one of my novels is entirely fictitious. Just about everyone else, of course, really lived.

Blog Tour Schedule

12/12/11:
I've just put up the blog tour schedule for At the King's Pleasure . There are a few things to be announced yet, but it will give you an idea of what's coming up. If anyone with an appropriate blog site is interested in posting a guest blog from me sometime during the first couple of weeks of January, email me by clicking on the quill. $Description: C:\Users\Kathy Emerson\Documents\My Web Sites\Kateemersonhistoricals\httpdocs\quill2.jpg$

Another Update

11/4/11:
I've just been to the Simon and Schuster page on me and they are listing the omnibus ebook with an "on or after" November 29 release date. The full price is $35.99 for all three books in one e-download, but keep your eyes open because there will be a sale sometime in December and the price will drop, temporarily, to (I believe) $28.99. Here's what the cover looks like:

$Description: C:\Users\Kathy Emerson\Documents\My Web Sites\Kateemersonhistoricals\httpdocs\omnibuscover.jpg$

Meanwhile, I'm in the process of setting up a blog tour for early January to coincide with the publication of At the King's Pleasure. Every blog will be different and each will focus on some aspect of Tudor life that has a bearing on the plot of the novel. I'll put up the entire tour schedule as soon as it is set.

Update on Release Date

11/1/11:
It looks like it's January 3, 2012. At least that's what the online booksellers have listed. Thank you for your patience!!!!

New Cover News

10/28/11:
One good thing to come out of the delay in publication of At the King's Pleasure is a redesigned cover. Below are both the old and the new. They're very similar, but I must say I like the new one better. My ego likes the way my name is bigger and above the title. My sense of fashion approves of not showing enough of the model's head to tell whether she's wearing a headdress or not. In reality, at that period in Tudor history, she'd be wearing a gable headdress that would completely hide her hair.

$Description: C:\Users\Kathy Emerson\Documents\My Web Sites\Kateemersonhistoricals\httpdocs\atkpsmallcover.jpg$ $Description: C:\Users\Kathy Emerson\Documents\My Web Sites\Kateemersonhistoricals\httpdocs\newsmallatkp.jpg$

The latest reports on publication date have At the King's Pleasure on bookstore shelves two days after Christmas. I'll be rescheduling my blog tour soon so look for details here. Also, my publisher will be releasing an omnibus ebook edition of the three Secrets of the Tudor Court books: (The Pleasure Palace, Between Two Queens, and By Royal Decree) on December 20 and it will sell at a special reduced price for the first month.

E-Book, Pub Date and Other News

9/17/11:
First up: I've added Face Down O'er the Border, Book Ten in the Lady Appleton series (w/a Kathy Lynn Emerson), to the lineup at Belgrave House (and ultimately to other outlets). Click on the cover for the link to Belgrave House.

$Description: C:\Users\Kathy Emerson\Documents\My Web Sites\Kateemersonhistoricals\httpdocs\fd10(b).jpg$

In pub dates, the paperback of the Liss MacCrimmon Scottish-American Heritage Mystery, The Corpse Wore Tartan, written under the pseudonym Kaitlyn Dunnett, will be in stores October 4, 2011, with the new hardcover in that series, Scotched following on October 25, 2011.

In blogging news, I'm guest blogging at FreshFiction.com on September 19 and continue to blog every ten or eleven days at Maine Crime Writers. My September 19th topic is "The Evolution of an Office."

At the King’s Pleasure Publication Delayed

7/26/11:
I'm sorry to have to announce that publication of At the King's Pleasure has been delayed. Don't worry. The book is written, edited, and copy-edited, and ARCs went out for review, so it will be published. This is just a scheduling change, and as soon as I have a new publication date, I'll post it here. Stay tuned.

Blog News

7/9/11:
As Kaitlyn Dunnett, I am one of ten mystery writers involved in a new blog launched on July 6th. All born in Maine and/or living in Maine now, they can be found at Maine Crime Writers. The other nine are Gerry Boyle, Vicki Dodera, Paul Doiron, Kate Flora, Sarah Graves, James Hayman, Barbara Ross, Julia Spencer-Fleming, and Lea Wait. There will be individual blogs, group discussion blogs, interviews, and guest posts from Maine librarians and others conncected to our favorite subject . . . murder in Vacationland. Kathy Lynn Emerson will make occasional appearances. Kate Emerson . . . not so much. My first post went up on July 8. I'm participating in the group blog on July 10, and my next individual blog will be on July 21. Toward the end of the month, I'll be interviewing one of the other writers, followed by an interview with me. Since I haven't blogged on a regular basis before (only guest blogs) I find myself looking forward to this new experience. Future topics will include something on Maine Coon Cats and a look at life in rural Western Maine.

For Older Notes (6/11 and earlier)

click here: $Description: C:\Users\Kathy Emerson\Documents\My Web Sites\Kateemersonhistoricals\httpdocs\quill2.jpg$

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