IR- What does it mean to you to be called an author?

KP- I consider it an honor to be called an author. It took me many years (12), and many manuscripts (18), before my scribblings were good enough for me to consider myself an author.

IR- What inspired the idea for your book? Can you tell us a bit about the story and its main characters?

KP- Today we’re talking about Deadly Broadcast, the eighth in the Deadly Series.

This story revolves around the world of the BBC Broadcasting House in the winter of 1939/1940. While the shooting war hadn’t begun, the blackout to keep England as close to completely dark at night so the expected German bombers can’t find their targets is practically a character in itself. My main characters are Olivia Redmond, a reporter for the London Daily Premier, and Edward R Murrow and his wife, Janet, real life Americans in London at the time, reporting on the effect of the war on Britain. Because of the blackout, there are murders taking place at night close to Broadcasting House.

The Phony War, after Britain and Germany, declared war, and before they started shooting at each other, has always fascinated me, as have the American broadcasters in Europe sending the story home to the U.S. which was neutral at this time.

IR- What was the most surprising thing you learned in writing this book?

KP- The most surprising thing was the elaborate plans the BBC made to keep broadcasting in the face of German bombing raids. This would come in handy later.

IR- Tell us about a favorite character from the book, where did you come up with the names in the story? 

KP- My favorite character is Olivia. I’ve watched her mature from a frightened, shallow young woman at the beginning of the first book, Deadly Scandal, until now when she is learning to stand up for herself and what she thinks is important.

I think the characters tell me their names. I’m not aware of trying to find them.

IR- Can you share a day in the life of an author? Can you share a day in the life of an author?

KP- Success for an author is when people email you or put up reviews on sites saying they enjoyed the book, or that it kept them up reading.

A day in the life of this author has me reading emails in the morning, taking care of business, and then sitting down to write. By 3:30 or 4 pm, my brain is tired, so then it’s time for dinner, TV and reading. It’s also time to pay attention to the dog, who has slept through a good part of the day and is now ready to play.

IR- Was there a defining moment that made you say to yourself, “Today, I am going to write a book that I will publish?”

KP- There was no moment when I said, I’m going to write a book that I will publish. Just a series of moments when I started a book and I said, “This will be better than the last one.” And it was, every time. Finally, it was good enough to publish.

IR- How do you avoid or defeat writer’s block and what advice would you give to a writer working on their first book?

KP- I don’t have writer’s block, but I do have times when I realize I’ve taken a wrong turn and I have to back up in the manuscript and find where I went in the wrong direction. That means deleting and rewriting, but it’s always useful.

First book, keep working until you hit the end. Then polish it and join a critique group to look it over. Then put it away and begin your second book. You won’t believe how much better it will be. There was a professor of art who told his class he would give an A to any student who made a perfect pot. They could either keep working on one pot until they perfected it or keep making pots until they made one perfect one. The students who kept making pots did much better than the students who only worked on one pot.

IR- What are you working on in the near future? What comes first for you — the plot or the characters?

KP- My next book is number nine in the Deadly Series, Deadly Rescue, set at the time of the invasion of Denmark and Norway. Olivia finds herself in Denmark unable to speak the language, a new experience for a woman who speaks several languages.

The first thing that comes for me is the time period, and what was occurring at the time and place that I am writing about. Everything else comes afterward.

IR- Who is your audience?

KP- My audience is primarily middle-aged women with an appreciation of history and mystery and strong women characters. They are generally avid readers who like to escape into another time and place after dealing with whatever is currently going on in their world.

IR- Who are your favorite authors? 

KP- My all time favorite author is Robert Barnard, a multi-award winning mystery writer who put wonderful twists into the ends of his stories.

Top 5 authors would be Robert Barnard, Ellis Peters, Emma Lathen, Margaret Frazer, and Agatha Christie. If I didn’t stop at five, I’d be going on all day.

For an underrated author to be read, I’d suggest Susannah Stacey.

IR- Describe yourself in as few words as possible, what would the title of your autobiography be?

KP- Describe myself in as few words as possible – Perfect? Yeah?

Title of my autobiography – Half a Bubble off Plumb

IR- What would your dream library look like?

KP- My dream library would be the size of the Pentagon and be paid for by someone else.

IR- What is something you can do better than anyone else you know?

KP- I know something I do worse than anyone else I know, and that is cook. I cannot follow a recipe. I immediately start trying things out, and the results are invariably awful. When my children grew up and started to travel, I became internationally famous as a really bad cook. Fortunately, I have mastered the microwave so I don’t starve.

About The Book

Deadly Broadcast: A World War II Mystery (Deadly Series)

The phony war has dragged out past Christmas into a dark and dreary New Year, 1940.

In the blackout, someone murdered BBC engineer Frank Kennedy, making him more popular dead than alive. A blackmailer and bully, he sold out his friends, assaulted his Broadcasting House colleagues, and sabotaged his employer.

Kennedy was also a government informant against the IRA. Despite arrests of members, the IRA is still planning more attacks against British civilians. Attacks Frank Kennedy might have been involved in.

Britain’s counterintelligence spymaster orders newspaper reporter Olivia Redmond to find Kennedy’s killer and learn which of the many motives led to his murder. Olivia quickly learns how vicious Frank Kennedy was and halfway hopes his killer escapes hanging.

Until his killer strikes again…

A clean read. No blatant sex, violence, or bad language.

Purchase Links – Amazon – Apple – B&N – Kobo 

About the Author

Since she was unable to build a time machine in her backyard, Kate Parker immerses herself in research and then creates the world that lives inside each book that she writes. Her favorite place is London and her time travel destination is anywhere from the late Victorian era through World War II. Since she lives in the Carolinas with her daughter and a 95-pound puppy, the practical side of her is thankful for air conditioning and all the modern comforts of life. Comforts she will take with her if she ever figures out how to build her time machine.

Author Links

Website – http://www.kateparkerbooks.com
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/author.kate.parker/
Website – http://thedeadlyseries.com
GoodReads – http://www.goodreads.com/series/192092-deadly

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