Biography of Kate Holmes
When I was eight, my favorite thing to do
was go to work with my mother, who defied 1950s conventions by owning
her own business, two consignment shops on Long Island New York (they
were called Pin Money, in case you were wondering). I
started out lining index cards and sweeping, but by the time I was in
high school, I could run the shop by myself on Saturdays. I worked for
minimum wage and all the clothes I could wear. At one time, my mother
made me count how many dresses I had. I believe the number was 52. One
for each week of the year. So I was cut off, cold turkey, from
grabbing every cute thing in my size. I'm sure my mother's customers
appreciated it.
Eventually, after college and a stint in the real world, selling
antiques, tax-sheltered annuities, and becoming the youngest assistant
vice-president ever of a chain of junior sportswear shops, I opened my
own consignment shop in Columbus Ohio. I had less than $900 in the
bank. Mine was the first consignment shop in that city of over a
million, but I started a trend. By the time I sold my shop to my
manager twenty years later, there were over 35 resale shops in
Columbus, including the seven that moved as close to One More Time as
they could get!
While running my shop, I published a newsletter for shop owners,
wrote a best-selling operations manual on the industry, served as
board member and conference planner for the international trade
association, and was honored to become the only recipient of the
industry's two highest awards.
I retired in 1996 and moved to Sarasota Florida. In between
volunteering at a local history site and of course at a non-profit
consignment shop, I do watercolor (I'm still trying to do the perfect
palm tree!) and I started taking writing classes. There, a wonderful
teacher, Blaize Clement, invited me to join her writing class. One
day, for a lark, we all agreed to start work on mysteries. We had five
wonderful, diverse mysteries going when we went to a Mystery Writers
of America conference in Fort Lauderdale. I wrote Chapter 11 of a
collaborative novel, Naked Came the Flamingo,
for this conference, and was delighted to work with New York Times
best-selling author Barbara Parker.
Blaize came home from the conference with a book deal on her
mystery written in our group. My mystery, The Picker Who
Perished, A Too Good to be Threw Consignment Shop Mystery,
came out three months later. Our other writers are nearing
completion, Blaize continues her series, and Wendy Sam is having new
adventures and meeting more Sarasota characters under my pen. What a
way to write!
Read more:
Interview with
Kate Excerpt Recipes
Where to Buy Order
on-line Order off-line
The Picker Who Perished
