with Kate White
We are delighted to welcome novelist Kate White to Omnimystery News today.
Kate's new book is Eyes on You (Harper; June 2014 hardcover, large print paperback, audiobook and ebook formats), a riveting novel of psychological suspense in which a media star must battle a malevolent enemy who may be disturbingly close to her.
We recently had the chance to catch up with the busy author to talk about her work.
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Omnimystery News: Introduce us to the lead character of Eyes on You. What is it about her that appeals to you as a writer?
Photo provided courtesy of
Kate White
Kate White: Robin Trainer is a very successful TV host who has had her ups and downs. I loved writing about a woman in a high-pressured job because I ran Cosmopolitan magazine for 14 years and I know all about ups and downs! It was interesting to bring some of my own experience in that regard into a suspense novel. Of course, as expected in a suspense novel, someone wants to murder Robin but hopefully no one ever felt that way about me — at least for long.
OMN: Into what genre would you place your books?
KW: That's such a good question because it's gotten so tricky to label mysteries these days. My stand-alones are suspense novels but they are also whodunits. My Bailey Weggins books could be called cozy series (because there are always six or seven suspects and you get to guess who the killer is), but there's a lot of danger in them, unlike a typical cozy. A lot of books are blends today.
OMN: Tell us something about Eyes on You that isn't mentioned in the publisher's synopsis.
KW: Well, there's some sex in it. They don't mention that.
OMN: Give us a summary of the book in a tweet.
KW: Robin Trainer has a secret enemy and it's someone she sees every day without every realizing that the person wants to destroy her.
OMN: You mentioned your position with Cosmopolitan and how you incorporated that experience into Eyes on You. What about the characters? Are they based on real people?
KW: I do aspects of myself in my protagonists and I use characteristics from people I know in other characters. But I also love to observe people in restaurants or hotel lobbies and turn them into characters, imagining their back story. I once based a character on a guy who took me and my family rafting in Alaska. He would have no idea I'd done this.
OMN: Describe your writing process for us.
KW: Oh, I'm a plotter. I always know who the killer is and why, and I know most of the other characters in advance, too. I do a rough outline overall, and then outline about four chapters at a time in a notebook as I go along. But because my big outline is loose, often some things unfold in different ways than I imagined, and all sorts of twists occur to me as I'm going along.
OMN: Where do you usually find yourself writing?
KW: It took me years to figure out the perfect environment and it made all the difference once I did. It makes it so much easier to write if the space is right. At least for me. I like a very small room, with a big flat space to write on, and I have to have absolutely silence except for an opera playing. I have no idea why any of this is required but it sure helps.
OMN: How do you go about researching the plot points of your stories. Any particularly challenging topics?
KW: I use the Internet constantly, and it's so cool to be able to check out a fact as you're writing. But I also LOVE field research. I talk to cops, forensics experts, shrinks, you name it. And I love to explore neighborhoods. Most challenging is the forensic research because it's scientific (I was an English major!) but that's also the area that excites me the most.
OMN: If you could travel anywhere in the world to research the setting for a book — all expenses paid, of course! — where would it be?
KW: I love to travel so much and I've even been to Antarctica, but I feel compelled to keep my stories fairly close to home. Most of my novels take place in New York City or within a few hundreds miles of here.
OMN: What are some of your outside interests? Have any of these found their way into your books?
KW: Well, this is crazy but I'm an avid bird watcher. Once in a while I will put a reference to a bird in a book and I've given a couple of my protagonists bird names on purpose: Robin and Phoebe.
OMN: What is the best advice — and harshest criticism — you've received as an author?
KW: One of the best writing tips I learned was to aim for a certain number of pages each day. For years, my goal was to write for a certain number of hours each day, but setting a number of pages as the goal has pushed me to reach that number, and I've been more productive that way.
As for criticism, people on the Internet say the cruelest things, which I'm sure they'd never dare to say to your face and couldn't handle if it was dished out to them. I ignore a lot of it but I do look for patterns because some of it can be meaningful.
OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?
KW: You've heard this before but it's true. I loved Nancy Drew and those books totally influenced me to be a mystery author. She also inspired me to be a rule breaker because she was one of the first truly gutsy women I came across in books
OMN: What do you read now for pleasure?
KW: I read a lot of literary fiction and some history as well as tons of mysteries. I also love reading plays. I've read tons of them. I like to keep one in my purse in case I'm in line someplace. And they've helped me with dialogue.
OMN: What kinds of films or television shows do you enjoy watching?
KW: I love all kinds of suspense movies and TV shows. Two of my favorite suspense films are Matchpoint and The Usual Suspects. On TV I loved True Detective, Wallender, Sherlock Holmes and The Killing. And I am a huge fan of The Americans. Right now I'm enjoying Murder in the First.
OMN: What's next for you?
KW: I'm just finishing another suspense novel, and I also recently turned in a book I edited, The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook, which will be out in April 2015. It's got recipes from tons of great mystery authors. It's really fun.
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Kate White is the author of nine works of fiction — six Bailey Weggins mysteries and three suspense novels. For fourteen years she was the editor in chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, and though she loved the job (and the Cosmo beauty closet!), she decided to leave in late 2013 to concentrate full time on being an author. Kate is currently editing the Mystery Writers of America cookbook, a selection of recipes from many of the top-selling authors.
She is married and the mother of two children, and once had her daughter stalk her through the woods so she could better describe the sounds of someone being followed.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at KateWhite.com or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Eyes on You
Kate White
A Novel of Suspense
