Sunday, February 2, 2020

FEATURED AUTHOR: KATE COLLINS






ABOUT THE BOOK



After her divorce, Athena has returned to coastal Michigan to work in her family’s garden center and raise her son, while also caring for a mischievous wild raccoon and fending off her family’s annoying talent for nagging. Working alone at the garden center one night, Athena is startled by a handsome stranger who claims to be the rightful owner of a valuable statue her grandfather purchased at a recent estate sale.



But she has even bigger problems on her plate. The powerful Talbot family from whom her pappoús bought the statue is threatening to raze the shops on Greene Street’s “Little Greece” to make way for a condo. The recent death of the family’s patriarch already seemed suspicious, but now it’s clear that a murderer is in their midst. Athena will have to live up to her warrior goddess namesake to protect her family from a killer and save their community from ruin . . . 


Book Details:

Title: Statue of Limitations

Author: Kate Collins

Genre: cozy mystery


Series: Goddess of Greene St. Mysteries, book 1


Publisher: Kensington (January 28, 2020)


Print length: 336 pages


On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours












IFs ANDs OR WHATs INTERVIEW WITH KATE COLLINS



IFs



If you could talk to someone (living), who would it be and what would you ask them? 

Author Barbara Kingsolver. I’d ask her about her writing process and where she finds inspiration.

If you could talk to someone (dead), who would it be and what would you ask them?
I would talk to my grandparents and ask them about their lives growing up, their history.

If you could live in any time period which would it be?

Right now. I love the technology.

If you could step back into a moment or day in time, where would you go?

I would go back to when I was five years old to experience life as I lived it then.

If you could be anything besides a writer, what would it be?


An interior designer or a florist.

If you had to do community service, what would you choose?


I’d work at an animal shelter or animal rescue center.



ANDs



5 things you need in order to write: 
    •    a wide open view from my window
    •    a quiet room
    •    a cup of hot tea
    •    a reporter’s notebook
and
    •    an ergonomic chair

5 things you love about writing: 
    •    I get to live vicariously through a brave, bold heroine
    •    I get to be as imaginative as I like
    •    I can work in my pjs if I want
    •    I can take apart a plot idea and put it together as a puzzle
and 
    •    I love entertaining readers

5 things you love about where you live: 

    •    it’s a cozy, friendly college town
    •    it’s beautiful May through October
    •    there’s a charming town square
    •    it has many walking and biking paths
and
    •    it’s beautifully decorated at Christmas

5 things you never want to run out of:

    •    plots
    •    coffee
    •    chocolate
    •    wine
and
    •    friends

5 things about you or 5 words to describe you:

    •    kind
    •    loving
    •    good mom
    •    great sense of humor
and
    •    good writer

5 favorite foods: 
    •    chocolate
    •    pizza
    •    white bean turkey chili
    •    chicken cordon blue
and
    •    Culver’s turtle sundae

5 things you always put in your books: 

    •    a quirky character
    •    suspense
    •    humor
    •    cliff-hangars
and   
    •    a page-turner ending

5 favorite places you’ve been: 
    •    Santorini
    •    any Greek island
    •    Rome
    •    Ireland
and
    •    Paris

5 favorite authors:
    •    Barbara Kingsolver
    •    Kate Atkinson
    •    Liane Moriarty
    •    Erik Larson
and
    •    Kristin Hannah

5 favorite things to do: 
    •    read
    •    walk
    •    yoga
    •    cook
and
    •    write

5 things that drive you crazy:
    •    slow people
    •    rudeness
    •    close-minded people
    •    airport delays
and   
    •    rain


WHATs

What’s your all-time favorite place?
Santorini, Greece.

What’s your all-time favorite memory?
Getting married at sunset on the Gulf in Key West, Florida.

What’s your all-time favorite movie?
Gone With The Wind.

What’s your all-time favorite author?  
Barbara Kingsolver.

What’s your all-time favorite city?

Key West, Florida.

What’s your all-time favorite library?
A little library I used to practically live in as a child, now closed.

What’s one thing that very few people know about you?
I was a carhop.


What’s your biggest pet peeve?
People who talk on cell phones in a restaurant.

What’s the loveliest sight you’ve ever seen?
The first sight of my children.

What’s the most beautiful sound you’ve heard?

A first laugh.

What’s your favorite/most visited Internet site?

Amazon.


What’s your favorite time of day?
Nine p.m. when I get into my pjs and settle in for a good TV show.

What’s your favorite meal?
PIzza.

What’s your favorite vacation spot?
Santorini, Greece.

What’s your favorite snack?

Dark chocolate.

What’s your favorite dessert?
Warm fudgy brownie.

What’s your favorite beverage?
It’s a tie between coffee and a glass of cabernet.

What’s your favorite ice cream? 

Chocolate.

What’s your favorite hobby or past-time?
Yoga.

What’s your favorite thing to do when there’s nothing to do? 
Read.

What’s your favorite quote?
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

What’s your favorite movie snack?

Buttery popcorn.

What’s your favorite social media site?
Facebook.

What’s your favorite color?
Tie between coral and aqua
.

What’s one thing you never leave the house without?
My cell phone.

What drives you crazy?
People texting while driving.


What is the wallpaper on your computer’s desktop?

Sunset in Key West
.

What do you know now that you wish you knew then?
When you’re happy, enjoy each moment because it may never come again.


What movie genre do you prefer: drama, comedy, action, adventure, thriller, or horror? 
Comedy.

What would you rather watch: MSNBC, CNN, or Fox?
CNN.

What is your obsession?
Being neat
.

What is a pet peeve?
People who talk on their phones at dinner.


What smells remind you of your childhood?

Freshly mown grass, chlorine at a pool
.

What author would you most like to review one of your books?

Liane Moriarty
.

What book are you currently working on?

The third book in my new Goddess of Greene St. mysteries.


What’s your latest recommendation for:

Food: A good, hot cheesy pizza.
Music:Anything by the Beatles, John Legend, or Andy Grammer.
Movie: Knives Out.
Book: The House We Grew Up In.
TV: New Amsterdam
Miscellaneous: Exercise—yoga,




ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate Collins is the New York Times bestselling author of the Flower Shop Mystery series. After publishing numerous historical romances, Kate penned the long-running mystery series, three books of which were made into Hallmark movies starring Brooke Shields. An Indiana native, Kate graduated from Purdue University with a master’s degree in education. When not growing roots at her computer, Kate loves to garden. Other passions include yoga, reading, spending time with family and friends, sampling great wines and fine dark chocolate, and enjoying every moment of life. Kate lives in Northwest Indiana and Key West, Florida.

Connect with Kate:
Website  |  Facebook

Buy the book:
Amazon