Those Extra Seconds

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: If there actually IS someone who manages to do it all--look at her bio!--it’s the amazing Kate White. Incredibly glam on the outside, incredibly hardworking and authentically talented on the inside, Kate’s a real role model for all of us.

Her new thriller The Fiancee is out this week--and whoa, it is a page turner. It’s hip and knowing and full of relationships and gaslighting and secrets. And a murder. Or maybe two.


And Kate is also one of the most mindful people I know...though her life is whirlwind, she always has her priorities straight and her focus clear. I always wondered how she did that so beautifully.

Today dear Reds and Readers, she reveals one of her secrets. Hmm. Would this work for you?

Those Extra Seconds

By Kate White


What a crazy time, right? The pandemic was so hard, but coming out of it seems hard, too--though in a whole different way. At moments I’m joyful, relieved, raring to go, and thrilled I can celebrate the release of my new suspense novel, The Fiancée, in person with friends, and even head in August to the Bouchercon Mystery Conference in New Orleans.

And yet then, only a short time later, I’ll feel oddly unsettled, worried that I jumped into something too fast and not sure at all what I should be doing.

Have you been riding a similar roller coaster these days?

As odd as it sounds, I’ve been aided during this time by a great piece of wisdom I learned over a decade ago from a West Coast police officer I interviewed for my work—and perhaps you’ll find her wisdom helpful, too.

This woman specialized in crisis intervention, and her job involved handling many harrowing situations, such as dealing with people standing on ledges and threatening to jump to their deaths. I asked her back then to share some of the strategies she found most effective in her job.

What she told me was fascinating, and one tactic in particular has always stayed with me.

In any kind of crisis situation, she said, we often have a bit more time than we realize to decide on the right course of action--not a lot of time, but at least a few more seconds. In the stress of the moment, however, our urge to act quickly sometimes discourages us from taking those extra seconds and as a result we end making a poor choice.

Over time, this police officer trained herself to always take those extra seconds and use them to her advantage. She’d step back and ask herself if her first instinct was the right one or whether there might be a smarter way to handle the situation.

I don’t generally incorporate a lot from my crime writing into my personal life (I swear I’ve never done anything with all the info I’ve gathered about how to poison someone and not get caught!), but this particular lesson is really helping me as I venture out into the world again. I’m hardly in crisis, but it’s a tricky and uncertain time, so it’s been beneficial to step back, wait a bit, and ask some questions before jumping into anything. Questions such as, “Is this really going to be worthwhile?” “Is there a better choice for me right now? “Will following this course of action be a way of expressing some of the good things I learned during the many months in hibernation?”

Taking those extra seconds has helped me be clearer about what I want to say yes to in the next part of my life--and what I finally want to let go of (kind of a Covid Cleanse!)

What do you think? Could the strategy be beneficial for you, too?


HANK: Great question! What do you think, you all? Even...those three seconds before you hit “send” on an email? Or say something you might regret? Have you had a moment where you were happy you waited?

THE FIANCEE

A riveting standalone thriller, set on a bucolic estate, about a captivating young woman who joins a family and threatens to upend their picture-perfect lives.

Summer’s looking forward to a break from hustling for acting work in Manhattan when she, her husband Gabe, and Gabe’s nine-year-old son come to rural Pennsylvania for the annual family get-together at her in-laws’ sprawling estate. The reunion sounds like the perfect escape, until Gabe’s younger brother Nick shows up with his new flame Hannah, who’s an actress as well.

Summer immediately recognizes Hannah from a showcase they once did together, but, strangely, Hannah claims not to know her—and that’s not the only thing that seems off. As Hannah charms the other family members, and Nick announces that he’s proposed to her, Summer doesn’t have much choice but to grit her teeth and bear it.

Not long after guests arrive, the reunion is rocked by tragedy–a family member is found dead.

Doctors attribute the loss to natural causes, but a grieving Summer soon becomes convinced there’s been foul play and that the too-good-to-be-true Hannah is involved. Though Summer tries to make Gabe and the others see the light, they keep ignoring her suspicions.

How far will Summer go to expose the truth? As she investigates just what Nick’s fiancée might have done to keep her perfect image intact, she begins to fear that the first death may only be the beginning…


Kate White is the New York Times bestselling author of fifteen novels of suspense: seven standalone psychological thrillers, including Have You Seen Me? (an Amazon Editors’ mystery and thriller pick for 2020), as well as eight Bailey Weggins mysteries.

Her next suspense novel, The Fiancée, was published on June 29, 2021.

For fourteen years Kate served as the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, and though she loved the job (and all the freebies to be found in the Cosmo beauty closet), she decided to leave eight years ago to concentrate full-time on being a suspense author.

Her first mystery, Even If It Kills Her, was a Kelly Ripa Book Club pick and #1 bestseller on Amazon. She has been published in countries around the world. Her most recent Bailey Weggins mystery, Such a Perfect Wife, was nominated for an International Thriller Writers Award.

Kate is a frequent speaker at libraries and conferences and loves to share her journey from magazine editor to suspense novelist in a talk called “On Becoming an Author: Forging a New Creative Path and Finding Winning Ideas All Around You.”

She is also the editor of the Mystery Writers of America Cookbook, a collection of recipes from the field’s top-selling authors. In addition to writing mysteries and thrillers, Kate is the author of several bestselling career books, including The Gutsy Girl Handbook: Your Manifesto for Success, as well as I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This: How to Ask for the Money, Snag the Promotion, and Create the Career You Deserve, and Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do.

She divides her time now between New York City and Las Flores, Uruguay.

Have you seen her? Kate White!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: If ever there was an example of the realities of having it all—which is that it’s constant work, constant juggling, some luck and some timing, and endless passion and abilities--it’s Kate White.  She’s savvy and fabulous, and generous and glam. She’s a terrific cook, with a wonderful family and a pretty darned exciting life. Take a look at her bio below—yikes! amazing!—and her newest thriller  HAVE YOU SEEN ME comes out next week. And it is fantastic!

(It’s an adventure for any writer to have a new release, but these days, you know how scary and uncertain it is—so be sure you look for this one!)

Her latest real-life adventure might be titled “Escape from Uruguay” or  “Last Flight from Uruguay”—which this airplane photo proves. (And we should ask her about that!)  But if I know Kate, she’ll take that harrowing experience and use it for—research!

Maybe the Best Thing I’ve Ever Learned Researching Murder

 (And I Think You’ll Like It, Too)

           by Kate White

     The superstar domestic thriller author Harlan Coben once told me that when book authors do research it’s often just a form of procrastination.

     In certain cases I would say that’s absolutely true. Writing is hard, and how nice to have a legitimate-sounding reason for putting it off for a few hours—or days. You start off with the best intentions, but then you end up falling down some deep rabbit hole on the Internet, and the next thing you know you’re perusing recipes for peach cobbler or watching a video of ABBA singing “The Winner Takes It All.”  And NOT writing.

     That said, I feel a certain amount of  research is absolutely essential. I want to get my facts straight out of respect for my readers. I don’t want you finishing a  chapter of mine and thinking, “This woman has no freaking clue what she’s talking about.” Plus, the research I’ve done has often yielded surprising little nuggets that I’ve been able to turn into delicious plot twists.

     Okay, I admit, I’ve sometimes overdone it. When I was researching a mystery novel that takes place at a spa, I indulged in seven or eight different kinds of facials and massages (loved the hot stone!), and that might have been about five too many. But darn, I felt so relaxed afterwards.  And that’s worth something, right?

     There is, I’ve found, another amazing benefit to book research, something you don’t hear much about. Every once in a while, research opens my eyes in a spectacular way to something that’s of value to not only my writing, but my life in general.

     Case in point: a forensics expert I know taught me one of the best lessons I’ve learned about developing a golden gut.

     When I was writing my first novel, a cop suggested I interview a woman with the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office named Barbara Butcher (Seriously, that is her name!). Now a consultant for forensic and medicolegal investigations, Barbara spent years as a death investigator with the ME’s office and examined thousands of homicide scenes.  We soon became friends, and she’s helped me with forensic details in all my books since.

     From the moment I met Barbara, I was struck by how highly intuitive she is. One day over lunch, instead of inquiring about some appetizing subject like blood spatter or rigor mortis, I asked if good intuition came naturally to her. She surprised me by saying that a golden gut was actually something she’d developed over time from investigating so many homicides. And then she shared her  secret.

.     “Everything we need to know is around us for the taking as long as we are truly taking it,” she said. “As a death investigator I learned to open my senses to what was around me and abandon preconceived notions of what I was going to find. I learned early on that if I was told that I was going to investigate a homicide, then that is what I would find, but if I reminded myself that I was going to investigate the cause of death then I would find the truth.”

     Barbara’s best advice for honing your intuition? “Take your hands off your ears and put them over your mouth. Learn to listen, see, smell, and absorb everything around you without speaking your thoughts first, and if you practice these skills you will get all the signals you need to be able to trust your instincts.” 

     That principle made Barbara a fabulous death scene investigator. And over the years I’ve used that wonderful wisdom again and again. More than once, it’s saved my butt big time. 

HANK: You had me at ABBA, Kate!  And now I am singing. But  it’s so fascinating about the suggestion to listen—so let me ask you, Reds and readers. What are you listening to now?  Jonathan and I, here at home, are listening to a lot of classical music in the mornings—that’s a very different kind of morning for us. Outside, the bird song seems louder—does it to you?

And a copy of Kate’s HAVE YOU SEEN ME to one lucky commenter!

Kate White is the New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels of suspense: eight Bailey Weggins mysteries and six standalone psychological thrillers, including the upcoming Have You Seen Me? (April 28).

For fourteen years she served as the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, and though she loved the job (and all the freebies to be found in the Cosmo beauty closet!), she decided to leave seven years ago to concentrate full time on being an author.

Her first mystery, Even If It Kills Her, was a Kelly Ripa Book Club pick and #1 bestseller on Amazon. She has been published in 15 other countries.

Like many female mystery writers, Kate fell in love with the genre after reading her first Nancy Drew book, The Secret of Redgate Farm.

She is also the editor of the Mystery Writers of America Cookbook, a collection of recipes from the field’s top-selling authors.

Kate is a frequent speaker at libraries and conferences and loves to share her journey from magazine editor to suspense novelist in a talk called “On Becoming an Author: Forging a New Creative Path and Finding Winning Ideas All Around You.”

In addition to writing mysteries and thrillers, Kate is the author of several best-selling career books, including The Gutsy Girl Handbook: Your Manifesto for Success, as well as I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This: How to Ask for the Money, Snag the Promotion, and Create the Career You Deserve.

She lives in New York City.

Have You Seen Me?

The key to her missing memories could bring relief—or unlock her worst nightmares.

On a cold, rainy morning, finance journalist Ally Linden arrives soaked to the bone at her Manhattan office, only to find that she’s forgotten her keycard. When her boss shows, he’s shocked to see her—because, he explains, she hasn’t worked there in five years.

Ally knows her name, but is having trouble coming up with much beyond that, though after a trip to the psychiatric ER, she begins to piece together important facts: she lives on the Upper West Side; she’s now a freelance journalist; she’s married to a terrific man named Hugh. More memories materialize and yet she still can’t recall anything about the previous two days. Diagnosed as having experienced a “dissociative state,” she starts to wonder if it may have been triggered by something she saw—an accident, or worse, a trauma from her childhood that has risen to the surface.

Desperate for answers, Ally tries to track where she spent the missing days, but every detail she unearths points to an explanation that’s increasingly ominous, and it’s clear someone wants to prevent her from learning where those forty-eight hours went. In order to uncover the truth, Ally must dig deep into the secrets of her past—and outsmart the person who seems determined to silence her.

Advice on reinventing yourself from Kate White... who ought to know

HALLIE EPHRON: Kate White is smart. She's gorgeous and gutsy (no coincidence, she wrote The Gutsy Girl's Handbook.) She writes fabulous suspense novels while doling out brilliant career advice.

Once upon a time, Kate was editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine. And yesterday her eighth Bailey Weggins suspense novel hit the shelves.

I am  thrilled to welcome Kate White to Jungle Reds to talk about transforming yourself.
KATE WHITE: Almost seven years ago, I left my job as the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine (yes, I’m the woman who used to write those crazy Cosmo coverlines, like “Mattress Moves So Hot His Thighs Will Go Up in Flames”) to become a full-time author of mysteries and psychological thrillers.

By this point I’d been writing suspense on the side for ten years, and though my magazine career had been enormously rewarding, I found myself longing for the opportunity to step away from corporate life and give my all to being an author. So, if you’ll forgive the mixing of metaphors, one day I got my ducks in a row and pulled the trigger.

I’ve loved my new life. It’s been great to be out of heels (and a bra) every day, to be my own boss and create my own schedule, to spend chunks of a given morning in my neighborhood Le Pain Quotidien, dreamily scribbling ideas in a notebook.

Perhaps you’ve been stirred lately by the idea of reimagining your own life. You may be where you once wanted to be, but it doesn’t feel like a good fit anymore. Or perhaps a need for change has been foisted upon you.

Regardless of your reason, let me start by saying “Congratulations.” Because on the other side of restlessness, dissatisfaction, an unexpected necessity for change, or even failure is opportunity, newness, excitement, and, very possibly, a freaking fabulous adventure.

I wish I had concrete advice to offer. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure there aren’t any easy hacks for reinvention, like those for tidying up or looking slimmer in clothes. And though starting over can be wonderful, there are bound to be scary moments. Even if it’s your choice.

That was certainly true for me. In the beginning I wasn’t sure how my new career would unfold or what the next steps should be. It was unsettling.

But there was one thing that ended up helping me, and it might be useful to you, book lover. It sounds crazy, but I started approaching my reinvention as if I was reading a mystery or psychological thriller.

When you start a mystery, you accept the fact that for much of the journey, you’re going to be in the dark. The plot, if it’s a good one, is going to be twisty and unexpected, and though you may guess who the killer is, you won’t know for sure until the end. And that’s what you actually LOVE, right?

It pays, I think, to have the same attitude to your reinvention. Try viewing all the “What ifs” and unknowns as part of the excitement and fun rather than something to be afraid of. Embrace the mystery. Know it will take time and effort, but eventually answers will emerge.

Reinvention actually gives you the chance to be the spunky, clever sleuth of your own life, though hopefully without anyone being bludgeoned or stabbed. As Sherlock Holmes said, “Watson, the game’s afoot.” Set out, be bold, ask plenty of probing questions, and relish the amazing discovery process. 

HALLIE: And, by the way, SUCH A PERFECT WIFE, Kate's brand new suspense novel featuring true-crime writer Bailey Weggins, is literally hot off the presses. (I know you won't be surprised to learn that Bailey reinvented herself: a one-time writer for a major women's magazine turned true-crime journalist.) I'm in the middle of reading it now and all I can say is, don't start it if you have get up early the next morning...

Here's the tag line:

Blonde. Beautiful. A loving mother. And missing since Monday.

I know the Reds and so many of our readers have reinvented (or are reinventing) themselves. Please, share!  What WERE you and what ARE you? Are you still chasing red herrings, or have you found the transformation satisfying, like the outcome of a really good mystery?

About SUCH A PERFECT WIFE by Kate White

    On a sunny morning in late September, Shannon Blaine sets off for a jog along the rural roads near her home in Lake George, New York. It's her usual routine, her "me time" after dropping the kids off at school...except on this day she never returns.
   Is her husband lying when he says he as no clue where she is? Could Shannon have split on her own, overwhelmed by the pressures of her life? Or is she the victim of a sexual predator who had been prowling the area and snatched her before she knew what was happening?
    True-crime writer Bailey Weggins, on assignment for the website Crime Beat, heads north from New York City to report on the mysterious disappearance. An anonymous tip soon leads Bailey to a grisly, bone-chilling discovery. Every town has its secrets, Bailey reminds herself, and nothing is ever as perfect as it seems. She keeps digging for answers until--when it's almost too late--she undearths the terrifying truth.

Kate White Dishes on the Mystery Writers of America Cookbook #giveaway

LUCY BURDETTE: We are thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to host Kate White today--she's here to chat about her latest herding-cats project--editing the Mystery Writers of America cookbook. Kate, welcome! Please tell us about the book!

KATE WHITE: Because I was both a mystery author and have had experience as an editor—I ran Cosmopolitan magazine for 14 years, and four other magazines before that—MWA asked me to edit the cookbook for them. I loved doing it. True, at moments it was a bit like herding cats to get some of those successful authors to send me their recipes, but I enjoyed having contact with famous writers I’d never met and I also got a kick out of seeing what recipes they submitted. There are also some fun sidebars in the book, which I enjoyed researching and writing, like: What Exactly Is a Red Herring? And “Pretty Poisons Right in Your Garden.” The latter got me thinking about using poison again in a mystery. Only a few toxins are routinely tested for in autopsies, so poison can be a good way to kill someone and never be caught.


LUCY BURDETTE: Were you surprised at which writers chose what recipes? (Was there a pattern, like hard-boiled=appetizers, cozy=dessert?) What were some of your favorites?

KATE WHITE: Oh, that’s a great question about patterns. I didn’t see any. For instance, Joseph Finder, the author of such strong, gritty suspense novels, offered a yummy apple crumble recipe. And James Patterson gave me a delicious chocolate cake recipe. (Conclusion: many male suspense writers are real sweeties!)

      There were some wonderful surprises. Gillian Flynn writes such fabulously dark stuff so it took me aback to see her recipe for the very All American-seeming “Beef Skillet Fiesta.” And Nelson DeMille’s funny “Male Chauvinist Pigs in the Blanket” almost made me fall off my chair laughing. 

     Other recipes were like little gifts. For instance, I still remember reading my first J.A.Jance novel year ago (Edge of Evil) and practically smelling the Sugarloaf Café sweet rolls she describes, and lo and behold, she sent in the recipe for them. And thanks to Lorenzo Carcaterra, I finally have my go-to marinara sauce.

     I’ve actually added a few of the wonderful recipes to my regular repertoire, like Kathy Reich’s “Shrimp Scampi” and Hank Phillippi Ryan’s “Worth-the-Effort Turkey Tetrazzini” (I always wanted to know how to use leftover turkey!).

LUCY BURDETTE: Do you like to cook? What menu might you serve at a dinner party?

KATE WHITE: I do love to cook and I do it a lot for friends and family. I’m not imaginative but I’m a cookbook addict, and I’m decent at following recipes. I have all the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks, for instance, as well as those by Nigella Lawson and Giada De Laurentiis. We live in Uruguay part of each winter, and my favorite chef is Francis Mallmann, who has a restaurant not far from us. His cookbooks—Seven Fires and On Fire—are fantastic. He believes that charring both meats and vegetables brings out unusual flavors. And he’s right! What I’ve also learned from him is that simple is so often best. Don’t overthink things, use just a handful of ingredients (but be sure they are the best you can find), and don’t fuss with food that’s grilling (let it char!!!). One of my favorite Mallmann dishes is a salad with thinly sliced raw zucchini, almonds, fresh mint, and parmesan cheese, dressed with olive oil and fresh lemon juice. For a summer dinner party, I might serve that first and then do a main course of grilled chicken, which I’ve marinated to death in lemon and oregano for two days, fresh sliced tomatoes, and Tuscan beans.

LUCY BURDETTE: Your suspense novel, THE WRONG MAN, will hit bookshelves in June. Tell us a little about that. And is it true that part of the book is set in the Florida Keys? 

KATE WHITE: The Wrong Man comes out in June, and yes it’s about Islamorada, which I discovered after being invited to a wedding there. In the book, a woman named Kit Finn takes her vacation in Islamorada and ends up having a very brief but thrilling fling with a man who is staying at the same hotel. He’s from New York City, as she is, and he asks her to dinner at his apartment in the city the week they both get back. But when she arrives, the man who opens the door has the same name as the man she met in Florida, but it isn’t him. That begins a nightmare that doesn’t want to quit.

LUCY: Kate thanks so much for visiting. Reds, we have a giveaway today--a copy of the MWA cookbook! To be entered in the drawing, leave a comment with your email.

KateWhite, the former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, is the New York Times bestselling author of six Bailey Weggins mysteries and four stand-alone suspense novels, including Eyes on You, and the upcoming The Wrong Man (June). She is also the editor of The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook. Connect with Kate at katewhite.com

Girls Just Wanna have Fun....

I confess I was back and forth on whether to even go to Sleuthfest. My first book is 10 months
from publication, I didn't know anyone else who was going, and I'd heard that it was a much smaller event than Malice Domestic. Besides...Florida...all those blondes, all that conditioned air...
Well, imagine my surprise. There were a few ups and downs - one or two panels that weren't what I expected, and I couldn't get the Mets/Marlins games in the hotel, go figure, but that aside, Sleuthfest was terrific. One of the advantages of its being a somewhat smaller show is that you can actually have some face time with panelists, ask a lot of questions, and feel like you get to know some of your fellow attendees. I hung with Catherine and Joanne a lot but had a chance to chat up Shannon, Demetra, Karen, Rhonda, Chris, and lots of other writers.
Especially generous with information was Nancy J. Cohen, http://www.nancyjcohen.com/ author of The Bad Hair Day Mysteries who handled all of her panel duties professionally (and with handouts!) as opposed to just bloviating about "her craft."
Two highlights for me - needless to say the picture above is one. The incredibly generous Kate White http://www.katewhite.com/ and Linda Fairstein http://www.lindafairstein.com/ who cheerfully submitted to the photo op, and proved they really were that cool at their interview, and book signings the next day. The other highlight was the Sleuthfest auction, where I'm thrilled to say I scored a critique by Stuart Kaminsky http://www.stuartkaminsky.com/. Needless to say, I will be rewriting that baby a few dozen times before submitting it to the master. Another highlight? JAKonrath's Workshop. The patron saint of new writers, Konrath writes the Newbie's Guide to Publishing...chockfull of good advice ...check it out at www.jakonrath.com.

Rosemary