Q: You've written fantasy and science fiction novels, why did you turn to mystery?

A: All novels are fantasy and all novels are mystery in the largest sense. Although mystery was often an element in my early novels, when I evolved the Irene Adler idea, I just considered it a novel. Good Night, Mr. Holmes was almost published before I realized it would be "categorized" as a mystery. So Irene is utterly a product of my mind and times, not of the marketplace, though I always believed that the concept was timely and necessary.

Selected Bibliography.

Ba.s.sermann, Lujo. The Oldest Profession: A History of Prost.i.tution. USA: Dorset Press, 1993.

Belford, Barbara. Bram Stoker. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.

Brook-Shepherd, Gordon. Uncle of Europe: The Social and Diplomatic Life of Edward VII. New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1975.

Coleman, Elizabeth Ann. The Opulent Era. New York, NY: The Brooklyn Museum, 1989.

Harsin, Jill. Policing Prost.i.tution in Nineteenth-Century Paris. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985.

Hibbert, Christopher. The Royal Victorians. New York, NY: Lippincott, 1976.

Hovey, Tamara. Paris Underground. New York, NY: Orchard Books/Scholastic, Inc., 1991.

Jakubowski, Maxim and Braund, Nathan. The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper. London: Constable & Robinson Ltd., 1999.

Knowles, Thomas W. and Lansdale, Joe. The West That Was. New York, NY: Wings Books, 1993.

Krafft-Ebing, Richard von. Psychopathia s.e.xualis. Various editions.

Lottman, Herbert R. The French Rothschilds. New York, NY: Crown, 1995.

National Gallery of Australia. Paris in the Late 19th Century. Publications Department, National Gallery of Australia: Canberra, Australia, 1996.

Newman, Bruce M. Fantasy Furniture. New York, NY: Rizzoli, 1989.

Pearson, John. Edward the Rake. New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace, Joyanovich, 1975.

Russell, John. Paris. New York, NY: Abradale Press/Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1983.

Schwartz, Vanessa R. Spectacular Realities: Early Ma.s.s Culture in Fin-de-Siecle Paris. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1999.

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. Various editions.

Wetmore, Helen Cody. Last of the Great Scouts. Harrisburg, PA: The National Historical Society, 1899/1994.

About the Author.

CAROLE NELSON DOUGLAS is journalist-turned-novelist whose writing in both fields has received dozens of awards. A literary chameleon, she has always explored the roles of women in society, first in nonfiction reporting and then in numerous novels ranging from fantasy and science fiction to mainstream fiction. She currently writes two mystery series. The Victorian Irene Adler series examines the role of women in the late nineteenth century through the eyes of the only woman to outwit Sherlock Holmes, an American diva/detective. The contemporary-yet-Runyon-esque Midnight Louie series contrasts the realistic crime-solving activities and personal issues of four main human characters with the interjected first-person feline viewpoint of a black alley cat, P. I., who satirizes the role of the rogue male in crime and popular fiction.

Douglas, born in Everett, Washington, grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, but emigrated with her husband to Fort Worth, Texas, trading s...o...b..lt for Sunbelt and journalism for fiction. In college she was a finalist in Vogue magazine's Prix de Paris writing compet.i.tion (won earlier by Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Ona.s.sis) and earned degrees in English literature and speech and theater, with a minor in philosophy. She collects books, vintage clothing, and homeless animals.

Chapel Noir resumes the enormously well-received Irene Adler series after a seven-year hiatus and will be followed by a sequel, Castle Rouge. The first Adler novel, Good Night, Mr. Holmes, won American Mystery and Romantic Times magazine awards and was a New York Times Notable Book.

Website: www.catwriter.com.

Midnight Louie Mysteries:.

Catnap.

p.u.s.s.yfoot Cat on a Blue Monday.

Cat in a Crimson Haze Cat in a Diamond Dazzle Cat with an Emerald Eye.

Cat in a Flamingo Fedora Cat in a Golden Garland.

Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt.

Cat in an Indigo Mood Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit.

Cat in a Kiwi Con Cat in a Leopard Spot Midnight Louie's Pet Detectives.

(editor of anthology) Marilyn: Shades of Blonde (editor of anthology) Irene Adler Adventures: Good Night, Mr. Holmes.

The Adventuress (Good Morning, Irene) A Soul of Steel (Irene at Large).

Another Scandal in Bohemia (Irene's Last Waltz) Chapel Noir Castle Rouge (forthcoming 2002).

HISTORICAL ROMANCE.

Amberleigh*

Lady Rogue*

Fair Wind, Fiery Star.

SCIENCE FICTION.

Probe*

Counterprobe*

FANTASY.

Taliswoman:.

Cup of Clay Seed upon the Wind Sword and Circlet:.

Six of Swords Exiles of the Rynth Keepers of Edanvant Heir of Rengarth.

Seven of Swords.