I Shouldn't Be Telling You This: Success Secrets Every Gutsy Girl Should Know

Kate White, the former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Hush and The Sixes, and the Bailey Weggins mystery series—If Looks Could Kill; A Body to Die For; 'Til Death Do Us Part; Over Her Dead Body; and Lethally Blond. White is also the author of popular career books for women, including Why Good Girls Don't Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do and I Shouldn't Be Telling You This: Success Secrets Every Gutsy Girl Should Know. She lives in New York City.

Biography

As the editor-in-chief of famed magazine Cosmopolitan, Kate White knows women inside and out. She knows what women like, and she especially knows what they like to read. So it's no surprise that her deliciously decadent mystery novels are such a hit with the ladies.

White came from a strong background in the magazine world. Since getting her foot in the door at Glamour magazine by winning their Top Ten College Women contest, she has worked as an editorial assistant at Glamour, later becoming a feature writer and columnist for the magazine. Following her stint at Glamour, she worked her way up to editor-in-chief for Child, then Working Woman, McCall's, and Redbook. In 1998, White became editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan.

Since joining the ranks of Cosmo, White has spear-headed a spin-off magazine called Cosmo Style, started a channel called Cosmo Radio on Sirius Radio, and published books such as Cosmo Kama Sutra through the magazine's Cosmo Books. She is also responsible for driving Cosmopolitan's readership through the roof. Since taking control of the magazine, she has increased its circulation by over 500,000. So, how can a woman with such a full plate find time to also launch a successful fiction-writing career? Well, as she says on her web site, "I don't really have any other hobbies other than cooking. I can't sing, play a musical instrument, excel at sports, draw, quilt, knit or decoupage. So writing mysteries is my hobby."

That hobby has led White to create sultry true-crime reporter Bailey Weggins, who has sashayed her way through three novels since If Looks Could Kill was published in 2002. The following year, Weggins reappeared in White's second perfect-for-the-beach mystery. A Body to Die For is rife with White's trademark wit and sexiness and became another big seller. The book not only pleased White's readers but also garnered her some well-deserved praise from the press. Publishers Weekly, which was critical of If Looks Could Kill, applauded A Body to Die For, saying that "fans will find Bailey's sassy wit as engaging as ever and are sure to admire the skill with which White pulls together all the threads."

In 2005, White published her third Bailey Weggins novel, Over Her Dead Body. This time out, Bailey loses her job at Gloss magazine (no doubt a fictional stand-in for Cosmo). However, things get hotter than ever when she begins covering celebrity crime for Buzz magazine and her new boss is murdered. Again, White is pleasing fans and critics alike.

White's most recent release is a brief break from Weggins's exploits, but it certainly isn't a break from the kind of sly blend of humor and sex that readers have come to expect from her. How to Set His Thighs on Fire: 86 Red-Hot Lessons on Love, Life, Men, and (Especially) Sex is a slightly satirical, high-spirited take on the kinds of self-help guides found in women's mags such as, well, Cosmopolitan. But fans of Bailey Weggins should not fear -- White is currently working on the next installment of her hit series.

Good To Know

White is not the only lady in her family with a knack for mystery writing. Her mother Anne White is also a mystery writer and recently published her third novel Best Laid Plans.

White was not only a writer and editorial assistant for Glamour, but she also appeared on the magazine's cover.

White is a recent recipient of the Matrix Award, which honors "extraordinary achievements of women in the communications field."

Some fun facts gleaned from our interview with White:

"I love to cook -- I find it very relaxing."

"I'm too Type A, so I get lots of massages."

"I have 5 brothers, and I constantly recreate these relationships with the men I work with and my male friends."

"I modeled for two years. I just had to see what it was like, once I learned that I look better in pictures than in person!"

"I'm a mother, and I love that. I'm also a nature lover, and lover of history. I've loved my trips to places like Antarctica and Alaska, Kenya and Tanzania, Chile, Argentina, Peru, the Galapagos, the Amazon, though I also die for London and Paris."