Welcome ROCCO’s guest blogger: KATE COLLINS!

Merow!  today I'm happy to have as my guest blogger Kate Collins, who writes the popular Flower shop mysteries! Kate tells us a bit about what it's like to have your book transferred to screen!

Welcome Kate!

Cut and Print: Surprises from the movie set of MUM’S THE WORD

Imagine yourself standing behind the cashier’s counter of a cozy flower shop you invented, owned by a florist/part-time sleuth named Abby Knight. Imagine a police car pulling up in front, lights blazing, siren blaring, the name of your fictional town plastered on the side. Imagine that same officer walking through the door with an arrest warrant in hand, demanding to speak to the owner of the shop. Your heart pounds. Your palms sweat. Is Abby in trouble? Again?

Then imagine Brooke Shields stepping forward to say, “I’m Abby Knight. What seems to be the problem, Officer?”

Someone pinch me now.

I’d never dreamed that one day I’d see the plots I wrote come to life, my lines drawing laughter or gasps of fear, the death defying final scene actually happening right in front of my eyes. What an incredible experience. But what I hadn’t imagined was how much work was involved. From the cameramen and director to the actors and the hundreds of other people it takes to make one movie, I’ve gained an enormous amount of respect for their hard work.

The crew was on the set early in the morning, as were the actors, who had to be in wardrobe and make-up before my alarm even went off -- and they didn’t leave the set until late in the evening, sometimes staying until after ten p.m.

Another surprise was how many times they’d have to shoot the same scene. I knew it was multiple times but what I didn’t know was that it was multiple times from three different angles –two from alternate close up views and one from a distance -- and the actors would have to say the same lines and make them seem fresh each time.

And you know those people you see strolling past the window of a shop or driving down the street? They, too, have to do those scenes over and over again, sometimes standing out in the cold or heat all day long. Can you imagine?

Here’s another surprise. One extra might play two or three different roles in the same scene, such as one young woman who wore a black jacket and coat and purple scarf around her neck for one stroll-by, then quickly put on a striped sweater and knit cap and came back from the opposite direction. If you watch any movie closely, you’ll spot them.

My final surprise was how much my own heart pounded in fear during the scenes when my heroine, Abby/Brooke was in jeopardy. And the puzzling thing was that it happened during every take -- – even though I knew the outcome.

Since then two more movies have been filmed from The Flower Shop Mystery series, SNIPPED IN THE BUD and DEARLY DEPOTTED, and a fourth is in the works. I hope to get back to the set again soon, but in the meantime, I just finished YEWS WITH CAUTION, the 19^th book in the series, a real nail-biter with a plot twist you’ll never see coming. It’ll be in bookstores May 30, 2017. 

Kate Collins is the New York Times bestselling author of the Flower Shop Mystery series, now a series on the Hallmark Mystery Movie channel. Book #19 in the series, YEWS WITH CAUTION, will be a May, 2017 release. All of Kate’s mysteries are available in print, digital, and large-print editions. The first three books are available on audio. Kate’s historical romances and children’s anthologies are also available in digital format through her website: www.katecollinsbooks.com. Facebook page: www.facebook.com/katecollinsmysteryauthor. Author assistant Jason Eberhardt: www.authorswriteinc.com