What’s on Your Ultimate Dream House Wish List?

Posted by Kate Carlisle Jul 25 2012, 12:05 am in bibliophile mystery, dream house, Kate Carlisle, peril in paperback

I had so much fun writing my next Bibliophile Mystery, PERIL IN PAPERBACK, which will be out on August 7. In it, Brooklyn is visiting the remote Tahoe mountain mansion of her neighbor’s eccentric Aunt Grace, a self-made billionaire with a vivid imagination. A billionaire. A millionaire a thousand times over. (Did I do that math right?)

It’s hard to wrap my mind around that number, a billion. But basically, having more than a billion dollars in your bank account means that you have money to indulge every whim – and to do it in style. And Aunt Grace is very whimsical, to say the least.

She made her billions designing video games, so when she built her Tahoe mansion, she wanted it to be FUN… for her, but that’s debatable for her guests, who have to be on constant alert for disappearing floors, walls that move, and gigantic mouse traps that could drop from the ceiling at any moment.

Yeah, it’s that kind of house.

It was really fun to put myself into Aunt Grace’s kooky brain and come up with surprises for Brooklyn to contend with as she investigates the murder of one of the weekend guests. (Yes, murder can be a good time!) Was Grace the intended victim? Could she be the killer? Trapped by a record-breaking snowstorm, the guests can’t leave, and the police can’t reach them on impassible mountain roads.

While I enjoyed my time in Grace’s slightly warped mind, hers is not the house of my dreams. If I had a thousand million dollars, my house would be cozy and not at all dangerous for guests. It would be on the beach, with a view past the infinity pool straight out to the ocean. The windows would be the kind where you can see out but no one can see in, and they’d have some sort of UV thingie to protect all the leatherbound classics and latest bestsellers filling the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in every room.

My dream house would have a cozy sunroom with an extra-wide window seat nook, perfect for curling up with one of those thousands of books. There’s no TV in the sunroom, no computer, no distractions. This room is about unplugging.

It would have a bedroom for every one of my siblings so they could visit whenever they wanted. (I might regret that one!) And an extra guest bedroom decorated like a pirate’s lair – guess who that’s for! I would have a room dedicated to crafts, where I could work on creating beautiful little books made out of charming handmade paper. And I wouldn’t have to clean up after myself because with a thousand million dollars, I’d have people for that. I’d let my personal chef design the kitchen… and then I’d never cook in it, not even once.

How about you? If you had a billion dollars, what would your dream house be like? Would you have a bowling alley? An indoor swimming pool? A Wii Room? Think big… a billion dollars is a lot of zeros!

One random commenter will win a copy of PERIL IN PAPERBACK which, really, is better than a billion dollars!

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