And our Sue's Clues Mystery Author is:

When I think of all different types of books that Katie MacAlister writes and the timespans in which they are released, I can't help but wonder how in the world she does it. I picture this author sitting at a circular desk with several PCs on, each screen showing a different work in progress, while she spins around on a chair with wheels, writing them all at the same time! LOL She writes Historical, Contemporary, Paranormal, Thrillers, and Young Adult.

Katie's first book, NOBLE INTENTIONS, was published in 2002. It became a USA Today bestseller and won her the Bookseller's Best Award in 2003.

Since then, there's been no stopping her. She followed with six more books in 2003, eight in 2004 (four of which have not been released yet) and six scheduled for release in 2005. There will probably be an additional three books in 2005, but are not listed yet since the publication dates are not known at this time.

Are you dizzy yet? I know I am! This lady's fingers must fly to put out so many stories. Hmmm, I wonder how many keyboards she goes through in a year? *G* On top of all of that, she hopes to eventually return to the historical mystery series that she began with her first novel.

Katie's bio will tell you that, "With a passion for mystery, a fascination with alpha males, and a deep love of history, Katie figured she was a natural to write fiction." And that she has acquired a "taste for the absurd, eccentric, and downright wacky."

If you take a look at the titles for some of her books, I think it's an easy guess that Katie has a quirky sense of humor. Let's see... There's the historical coming out in July titled THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY. Then there's her thriller, YOU SLAY ME. My favorites, the paranormals, SEX, LIES AND VAMPIRES and SEX AND THE SINGLE VAMPIRE. Contemp titles like MEN IN KILTS and IMPROPER ENGLISH.

Her Young Adult books, written under the name Katie Maxwell, are touted as "Teen fiction with attitude". I have to admit I haven't read any of these, but judging from the covers and titles, I can believe it. The titles are as fun and "punnish" as her others. The Emily series: THE YEAR MY LIFE WENT DOWN THE LOO, WHAT'S FRENCH FOR EWW?, THEY WEAR WHAT UNDER THEIR KILTS, and THE TAMING OF THE DRU.

Her upcoming Goth series: GOTH A GOGO and CIRCUS OF THE DARNED. The covers are fun and up-to-date. Stylish, yet wacky, they are books teens won't be embarrassed to be seen with. *G*  Even as adult readers, especially with some romance title and covers, we all know what that is like - carrying around our current read with the tacky cover.

Katie is one of those writers who seems to be in touch with everyone. She manages to incorporate everything we need into a story. But the one thing that I love best about her writing is that she makes me laugh out loud. I mean literally out loud so that people look at you oddly wondering what you could be reading!

Katie, although obviously very busy, has wonderfully taken the time to answer some questions for us.

1. Your writing covers several types of Romance: Historical, Contemporary, Paranormal, Thriller (though technically not romance), and Young Adult. Do you find it difficult to switch gears when writing such different types of books? Do you write one book at a time or do you work on one or more concurrently? Which is your favorite type to work on?

I don’t find it difficult to switch gears because even though I write different sub-genres, my voice is pretty consistent in all of them. I love each type of book for a different reason—the historicals appeal to my romantic love of history, the contemps allow me to write characters who say and do things the historical folk would never contemplate, the YAs free my inner sixteen-year-old, and the paranormals allow me to world-build to my heart’s desire.

I write one book at a time, although usually while I’m writing one book I’m also editing a second, and reading over the galleys or copyedits on a third (while promoting a fourth… ?).

2. You write under two different names, Katie MacAlister and Katie Maxwell. Any special reason for that? Which is your name - who are you really? *G*?

I took a second name for the YAs for two reasons: the first was so that no teens would pick up one of my steamy adult books by mistake, and the second was to make sure that people knew what they were getting when they picked up a MacAlister or Maxwell book. The Maxwells are definitely geared toward younger readers, although I have a fair number of adults reading them as well.

3. I had to laugh reading at your site about how engrossed you get in video games. I can relate to that - I remember going to sleep and dreaming I was in the game! LOL What's your current addiction? Are you still playing The Sims? I used to have the cheat for money on that game, but can't remember it - much to my daughter's dismay. Don't suppose you have that handy? *G*

My current addiction—and it is an addiction, no doubt about it—is a mmorpg, which is an online role playing game with huge numbers of participants (over five thousand, in this case). The game is called Puzzle Pirates, and can be found at www.puzzlepirates.com, for anyone interested in sharing the addiction.

The Sims is on hold for me until September, when The Sims 2 comes out. Then I’m sure I’ll be glued to the computer playing that. ? [Cheat: rosebud].

4. Your bio says that you were, among other things, a bird skeleton cleaner. Now that is definitely not your run-of-the-mill job. What did that exactly entail? How did you get a job like that?

Actually, I used that job for my YA heroine in THE TAMING OF THE DRU (which will be out September 04) because it was definitely the strangest of all my jobs. Basically it was my job to clean and number the bones in individual bird skeletons. I took the job one summer while I was going to school at the University of Washington.

5. How did you get started in writing? Is it something you've always wanted to do?

I started writing when a non-fiction publisher asked me to write a couple of books about a subject I knew pretty well (genealogy). The minute I finished the first book, I decided I wanted to write something fun—and thus my first novel was born.

I never wanted to be a write when I was younger, and didn’t start writing until I was in my early thirties. I have, however, always been a voracious reader, and I attribute my storytelling desires to that love of books.

6. You're first book was published fairly recently, in 2002. And already you've published 11 with 10 more to be released by the end of 2005. Sounds like things have happened rather quickly. How has your life changed?


Well, for one, I have no life. My schedule this year calls for me to write six books, so you can see that it doesn’t leave me for much time to do anything but write. But it’s worth it to have the pleasure of sharing stories with readers who share my kind of wacky sense of humor.

Other than enjoying having the opportunity to meet and get to know some of my favorite authors, life hasn’t changed very much for me. I’m pretty much chained to the computer, with occasional breaks away for good behavior.

Thanks, Katie!

Katie is, like most of us, absolutely addicted to the internet. She has two websites that have lots of information, and fun stuff, too, to check out.

You can vistit her at http://www.katiemacalister.com/
and at her other webpage: http://www.katiemaxwell.com/

(Katie's image courtesy of her website)