Say g’day to Kate Belle. I first discovered Kate through her ‘other’ blog AND LOVE IT! Witty, real-life revelations, slightly wicked and good fun.
And wasn’t I delighted to discover Kate will also be published later in the year with Simon & Schuster Australia. The big, wide, wonderful world of publishing just got smaller and more exciting. (Watch out for The Yearning.)
What a treat to catch up with her now on Author Harvest to celebrate Kate’s e-publishing success to date.
So, Kate, is it scones and tea or some other homemade delight you have whipped up for me today?
Take a deep breath. Nigella Lawson’s chocolate cherry trifle with homemade chocolate egg custard, fresh cherries and lashings of whipped, feathery cream, all topped with dark chocolate shavings. Pure sensual indulgence. Served with dark, brewed coffee. Sugar if you must.
(You had me at Nigella!)
At home with…
My mum says garden gnomes make a house a home! Are you loud and proud in your love of garden gnomes at home, a closet gnomer or with a strict ‘no gnomes’ policy at your place?
I love a garden gnome – as long as he’s muscular and naked!
(Harvest regulars will remember I have a ‘cheeky’ gnome with a cute tooshy! Does that count, Kate?)
What vegetable (or fruit) have you always wanted to grow at home?
Peaches. The way the juice runs down your chin….mmmmm.
If I came to your home and looked in the refrigerator, what would I find?
Lots of fresh vegies (I’m vegetarian). Always a cold bottle of champagne. Leftovers 
(never waste a thing.)
(From dripping peach juice to vegies and leftovers! And I expected strawberries and cream with flashbacks to Micky Rourke and Kim Basinger in ’91/2 Weeks’.)
(For those who dare admit to remembering 91/2 Weeks, do you think that refrigerator scene was sexy or sorta icky?)
If you sorted your wardrobe by colour, Kate, what colour would stand out? (Ahh, do you sort your wardrobe by colour?!)
Sorting a wardrobe??? Sorry?? Do people do that? Although I do have all my sexy stuff in one drawer.
(Mmm, yeah, I know what you mean. I have all my sexy stuff in a … Wait, I don’t have any sexy stuff.)
What are you wearing now? (Be honest!)
Honest? But I’m a writer. I thrive on exaggeration. Something satiny, swishy fabric, a g-string? (My beloved introduced me and I wear nothing else now. Sorry – maybe you didn’t need to know that…)
(Correct. I did not need to know that! Now I am having flashbacks of Micky Rourke sucking on strawberries and cream and in a g-string!)
Whose home would you like to housesit and why?
Some romantic villa in a warm climate with a fragrant garden and a view of the ocean. As long as there was someone to cook for me too, and give me massages…
(Good idea to stick to warm climates if all you wear is a g-string, Kate!)
Country curiosities…
We love a sunburnt country (slip, slop, slap and all that). What’s your ideal hat? Or are you a boots person?
I LOVE BOOTS. Long, leather ones with zips. Makes men take a girl seriously.
(Now I can visualise Micky Rourke sucking on strawberries, in a g-string, and singing Nancy Sinatra “These boot are made for walking… and that’s just what they’ll do…)
If you were a tree (or animal) what kind of tree (animal) would you be?
Probably a tigress – kinda sleek and sexy and a little bit dangerous.
Now for the big question… Why did the chicken cross the road?
Because it has a brain the size of a pea.
(Oh, that’s a little harsh!)
About you…
Your turning point: when was that point in your life that you realized that being an author was no longer going to be just a dream but a reality and a career?
September 2012 when my public service Voluntary Departure Package and my publishing contract for my novel, The Yearning, arrived on the same day. Just signed them both, grinning like a demon, and sent them back.
(Woo hoo you! That is THE best story – EVA!)
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Guilt. Leaving my family to entertain themselves while I immerse myself in words.
If someone was to write your biography, what do you think the title should be?
‘She lied, but it was worth it.’
What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?
Q: How do you keep looking so young?
A: Awww shucks, you silver tongued flatterer.
Fun stuff …
What does your protagonist think about you? Would he or she want to hang out with you, the author, his/her creator.
I’ll let you in on a secret – Ramon (Breaking The Rules) is my lover. He can’t keep his hands off me.
If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
Marilyn Monroe – imagine living in THAT body for a week – oh the fun I’d have!
(Oh the fun Ramon would have!)
(I’m almost afraid to ask the next question…)
If I said to you, “Just entertain me for five minutes, I’m not going to talk,” what would you do?
Tell you funny stories about my fur-babies, Bear the Wonderdog (Border Collie x Samoyd) and Belle the Greyhound.
(OMG! A dog story! Well, that’s just paw-fect!)
What food would you be?
Refer morning tea.
What was the best thing before sliced bread?
Certain parts of the male anatomy – Hey! I’m talking about eyes – boy, you guys have dirty minds!
(Hah! So says, Miss Pure Sensual Indulgence dessert with the sexy clothes drawer, g-string fetish and “kinda sleek, sexy and a little bit dangerous disposition”. And let’s not forget about Ramon!)
Name 5 uses for a stapler that has not staple pins.
If you can’t eat it, wear it or kiss it, it’s useless. Chuck the damned thing out.
(LOL – Best answer yet!)
How weird are you? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not) to 10 (very).
Let’s say 10. That way you might be pleasantly surprised when you meet me.
(I’m sure I will be and I hope I do one day soon. What a year you are having. All the best and thanks for joining Author Harvest.)
Find out more about Kate Belle and her books
Website: www.ecstasyfiles.com
Twitter: @ecstasyfiles
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/KateBelle.x
Kate’s books – blurbs
Breaking the Rules
The first in a series of erotic novellas, featuring different women whose lives are changed by Ramon Mendez, a handsome, charismatic lover…
Grace is a beautiful woman in complete control of her world. A long time ago she chose a career over children and marriage, and has never regretted it.
Then Ramon Mendez walks into her office.
Ramon is about to commence his PhD, a work on erotic literature, and from the outset there is something about him that makes Grace’s blood run hot. Aware of the need to maintain her professional reputation, she rejects his subtle advances, but he persists. And during their intimate supervision sessions, her defences start to crumble. Ramon’s ‘work’ is about to expose desires within Grace she never knew existed…
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Rules-Random-Romance-ebook/dp/B00ANG3YLS/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/breaking-the-rules/id587669259?mt=11
Bloom
The second in a series of erotic novellas, each featuring different women whose lives are changed by Ramon Mendez, a handsome, charismatic lover of women…
Thirty-six-year-old Emma’s life looks perfect. She loves her straight-laced husband Gary, who has given her three beautiful children and a secure life. But something is missing. Gary hardly notices her anymore and she feels frumpy and invisible.
Her friend, Lisa, talks her into joining a social boot camp class. Emma immediately recognises their instructor as the gorgeous runner she sees each evening while walking her dog in the park. He introduces himself as Ramon Mendez. In spite of herself Emma is besotted.
Before long her mind is filled with guilty fantasies of him. One evening, when things at home have become too much to bear, she bumps into him alone in the park. An opportunity presents itself and no one need ever know. Ramon promises and delivers everything that’s missing from her marriage – passion, romance and excitement – but Emma must discover if they are the things she really wants.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Bloom-Random-Romance-ebook/dp/B00ANG3YKY/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1
iBooks: http://itunes.apple.com/au/book/bloom/id587669283?mt=11
The Yearning – Coming in April/May 2013 from Simon & Schuster Australia
It’s 1978 in a country town and a dreamy fifteen year old girl’s world is turned upside down by the arrival of the substitute English teacher. Solomon Andrews is beautiful, inspiring and she wants him like nothing else she’s wanted in her short life.
Charismatic and unconventional, Solomon easily wins the hearts and minds of his third form English class. He notices the attention of one girl, his new neighbour, who has taken to watching him from her upstairs window. He assumes it a harmless teenage crush, until the erotic love notes begin to arrive.
Solomon knows he must resist, but her sensual words stir him. He has longings of his own, although they have nothing to do with love, or so he believes. One afternoon, as he stands reading her latest offering in his driveway, she turns up unannounced. They must make a decision and its consequences will haunt them until they meet again twenty five years later.