Kate Carlisle is the author of the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring rare book restoration expert (and lover of all things edible) Brooklyn Wainwright. The fourth Bibliophile Mystery, Murder Under Cover, is a May 2011 release. Brooklyn’s best friend Robin returns to San Francisco from a trip to India with a new man – and an exceedingly rare copy of the Kama Sutra for Brooklyn to restore. When the new boyfriend is murdered in Robin’s bed, only Brooklyn and the handsome British security expert Derek Stone stand between her and life in prison.
Thank you for hosting me here today, Lesa! I look forward to meeting you in person tomorrow. (Everyone, I’ll be at the Teague at 2 pm tomorrow. Public welcome! Come say hi, please!)
I love watching HGTV makeover shows, especially when they redo the kitchen. In the before scenes, we meet the homeowners and empathize with them over their sad, outdated kitchen. How tragic to live with brass fixtures and linoleum floors! Don’t worry, poor, pathetic people – help is on the way.
The team of experts sweeps in with low slung tool belts and blinding smiles. Demolition is finished before the first commercial break. In half an hour, the room is transformed, and teary-eyed homeowners exclaim in joy.
Yeah, that’s not how it goes in real life.
Seduced by the dream, I decided recently to have my kitchen remodeled. I thought it would be fun for my readers to follow along with the progress, so I committed to sharing pictures on my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/katecarlislebooks.
The contractor came several weeks ago, and I very happily posted a picture of the hole he punched through my kitchen wall. Here it is:
The first hole, the first step of demolition.
“How thrilling,” I thought. In my heart, I believed that I’d have a sparkling, new kitchen in half an hour.
Since that first hole… nothing for over a month. Seriously, nothing. The contractor didn’t even return to our house during that time, though he kept assuring me over the phone that he would. The jagged edges of that ugly hole mocked me every time I entered the kitchen. (The upside is that I don’t like to cook much anyway, so it’s no hardship for me to eat out more often.)
Work finally started last week. I went to the dentist, and when I returned home, my entire kitchen was in the back of the contractor’s truck. Gulp!
I still plan to post updates and pictures of the progress when there is progress, so I hope you’ll like me on Facebook to join in the fun. I’m beginning to suspect this remodel will have little in common with the TV version. Our contractor is not movie star handsome, with a full head of hair and a T-shirt stretched tight over his muscular chest. There’s no perky girl with straight teeth designing window treatments on the spot. Sadly, demolition and rebuilding will clearly not happen in the space of a day.
Remodeling my kitchen has something in common with restoring an antique book, which is what Brooklyn Wainwright does. I also hope most fervently that during my kitchen remodel, I won’t stumble over any dead bodies, the way poor
Have you ever remodeled your kitchen or another room in your home? How did you feel while the remodel was happening? Was it worth the hassle in the end? What is your favorite home show on TV? Do you read any home décor magazines to get ideas for your house? Do you like the DIY ideas, or the ones that cost lots of money?
To read a free excerpt of MURDER UNDER COVER, go to: http://katecarlisle.com/murder-under-cover.php.
Thanks, Kate! And, I hope there are some who can join us tomorrow at Velma Teague.
Kate Carlisle's website is http://www.katecarlisle.com/
Murder Under Cover by Kate Carlisle. Penguin Group (USA). ©2011. ISBN 9780451233516 (paperback), 304p.