BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
6:28 a.m. – One eye opens, barely. Ugh. Way too early. Snooze.
6:43 a.m. – Snooze.
6:58 a.m. – Snooze.
8:48 a.m. – ACK!!!! I turned off the stupid alarm! I’m supposed to meet with a client in … I glance at the clock again … twelve minutes?

9:18 a.m. – I rush out the door of my condo. I’m never late! At least, that’s what I used to be able to claim. I blame it on Derek Stone, my hunky British beau, who kept me up late last night. No, no, it’s not what you think! It’s because we were celebrating after a vicious murderer was caught and sent to jail. I seem to run into more and more bad guy types lately, but I can’t think about that right now. Gotta go!

9:20 a.m. – I get to my car and realize I forgot to lock up my condo. Can I chance leaving it that way? After all, neighborhood watch takes on a whole new level of scary when you live next door to two chainsaw-wielding lesbians. Sure, they use the chainsaws to create amazing art, but no burglar is going to know that.

9:22 a.m. – Run back upstairs, lock the door, and sprint back to my car.

9:33 a.m. – Drive through Speedy Grill for the best cheeseburger in the world. There’s always time for food, right?

9:50 a.m. – I park haphazardly and speed-walk to the front door of the Bay Area Book Arts Center, known to those in “the book biz” as BABA. I brush an errant bit of French fry from my sweater and hope my new client won’t notice the grease stain.

9:51 a.m. – I scan the foyer carefully before I step inside. Call me paranoid, but I’ve stumbled across a lot of dead bodies recently. These are new shoes, and I don’t want to get them all bloody.

9:58 a.m. – The client didn’t wait for me. My nemesis, Minka LaBoeuf, got to him first and somehow convinced him that she wasn’t the most incompetent book restorer in San Francisco. I feel guilty and sorry for the guy, who will learn a hard lesson today at the hands of Minka.

10:10 a.m. – I hide out in one of BABA’s private workrooms to spend some quality time with a rare, leather-bound edition of Huckleberry Finn that’s showing dangerous signs of red rot. I can fix that! I love my job.

1:30 p.m. – Derek calls, invites me to lunch. His accent gives me shivers. I think about suggesting that we skip lunch and meet at my place, but who am I kidding? I’m hungry.

4:42 p.m. – All I’m going to say about the last three hours is that lunch was good and dessert was even better. I feel good. Derek and I decide against going back to work. We drive to my parents’ place in Dharma, a commune up in the Sonoma County wine country where I grew up. The commune is thriving, thanks to the grapevines we planted back in the day, and the residents have grown wealthy together. Yes, they’re aging hippies, but they’re aging hippies with money. Turns out, Deadheads make surprisingly good wine.

7:20 p.m. – We’re celebrating my sister Savannah’s birthday at her new gourmet restaurant, Arugula, and I guess I’m a little tipsy. I haven’t eaten since lunch and, like I said, the wine is good. The commune’s spiritual leader, Avatar Robson Benedict, aka Guru Bob, joins us and we all have a fabulous meal together. One thing about the commune … they know how to put on a good spread.

11:38 p.m. – I love a man who’s strong enough to carry me up the stairs to my condo. And hey, I made it through the whole day without anyone being murdered!
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You can read more about Brooklyn in MURDER UNDER COVER, the fourth book in the “Bibliophile” mystery series. The first book in the series is HOMICIDE IN HARDCOVER. Book 5, ONE BOOK IN THE GRAVE, will be released in February 2012.

The life and times of Brooklyn Wainwright is written by Kate Carlisle who is the New York Times bestselling author of the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright, a heroine dubbed “brilliant, feisty and funny” by RT Book Reviews.

Visit Kate online at www.KateCarlisle.com or on Facebook.

Books are available at retail and online booksellers.