There was no mystery about it. Doylestown Bookshop’s book signing event with Kate White, mystery writer and former editor of Cosmopolitan Magazine, was a huge success.
White spoke to a full house on Friday night, May 10, about writing mysteries and her latest book “Such a Perfect Wife.”
A treat for those who attended, the New York Times Best Selling author’s presentation of “You, Even Better: How to Recharge, Reimagine and Reinvent” charmed her audience while giving advice and sharing her strategies for overcoming obstacles and discovering what you were truly meant to do.
The author followed her own advice when she found the magazine industry faltering and it was time to make a change in her own life through reinvention. White, who was always interested in the world of mystery and intrigue, switched gears when she left her position at Cosmopolitan to become a full-time mystery writer. She wrote eight novels while still working at the magazine and found “a perfect fit” when life got more demanding and magazines began “to fall apart.”
White has authored a total of 12 suspense novels and psychological thrillers. In her latest installment of the Bailey Weggins Series, “Such A Perfect Wife,” crime writer Bailey is covering a story about Shannon Blaine, a wife and mother in idyllic Lake George, N.Y., who goes out for a run and never returns. No doubt about it, by today’s standards, this is a timely storyline.
The author, a resident of Kintnersville, is a firm believer in research. She made many trips to research her latest novel in the quaint setting of Lake George. Life in the peaceful countryside of Kintnersville allows her to write in the pastoral setting of her own barn while still maintaining a residence in the energy and excitement of New York.
It was serendipitous when she stumbled upon her residence in Kintnersville “totally by accident” while driving through Bucks County with an archaeologist friend whom she met on an expedition.
“Seven years ago I left to be my own boss,” said White. “I found myself going through the motions. It makes you reinvent yourself.”
She cautioned those in the audience not to shy away from frustration, restlessness or failure, which give you the chance to change.
“Reinvention gives you a chance to tidy up your life,” said White.
She knows inherently that in order to write about life you have to experience it firsthand.
“You’ve got to get off your butt and go into the woods,” she said. “You need to explore. Volunteer. Sit on a committee. Walk into your passion. Be willing to be an amateur again. Be willing to ask.”
White feels when editing there is no such thing as writers’ block and when writing a mystery she knows the ending before the book is off to a start.
Under contract to write one book a year, her schedule continuously overlaps. Finishing up writing one and starting another simultaneously is matter of fact to a veteran writer like her.
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