Romance is at the heart of my novels, yet it’s the interaction between the characters, while delving into their past, that helps drive the story. This quote from An Italian Dream sums up the book perfectly:
Fern had been desperate for a break from the monotony back home, but in the relatively short time she’d been away, her life had been torn to shreds. Secrets had been revealed, heartache shared and new friendships forged.
In fact, I ended up using the second line of this quote in the sales blurb for the book, adding in ‘love discovered’, a theme which, of course, dominates the story.
I’m fascinated by relationships – not just romantic ones – and what makes people tick. My stories are character-driven and feature friendships old and new, along with challenging family dynamics. An Italian Dream is no exception with two best friends dealing with secrets and heartache, and a difficult mother-daughter relationship entwined with a new romantic one when a love interest is introduced on the beautiful island of Capri.
Which brings me to the other essential ingredient of my novels: a sense of place.
Drawn to the light and unable to escape, a moth battered against the glass lamp. The sky was inky black and beyond the retreat, the dark was endless, only broken by the moon half hidden by a patch of cloud. The stars speckled the sky as if silver glitter had been thrown across it. Somewhere in the distance, an owl hooted. One of the horses in the stables nickered in reply.
This extract from An Italian Dream is from a scene that takes place in Tuscany. I often treat place as another character and the location is almost always integral to the story. I want the descriptions to paint a picture and envelop the reader in the location through all the senses. Food often features too!
Lots of my story ideas start with a place. In One Greek Summer, I chose the Greek island of Skopelos as the setting because it was the island the movie Mamma Mia! was filmed on, and as my book had a movie backdrop (with the main character Harlow working as a location manager for a summer shoot), it seemed like the perfect location. With An Italian Dream, the premise of two friends going on a holiday of a lifetime after one of them wins the Lottery came before the setting, but the glamorous island of Capri seemed fitting, and then as the novel evolved, Tuscany crept in too.
So troubled characters escaping to a beautiful location are central to my romantic escape books, and although the settings are always stunning, there’s plenty of conflict and emotion along the way. I’ll end with one of my favourite review quotes:
“Kate pens the most wonderful escapist stories with distinctive atmospheric settings, secrets, tears, laughter and love.”
Peacock’s Book Reviews.
Author Bio:
In 2021, Kate signed a six-book deal with Boldwood. Her first book, One Greek Summer reached #25 in Amazon’s UK Kindle chart and remained in the top 100 for eight weeks. An Italian Dream is her second book and was published in July 2022.
Kate lives in Bristol with her husband and young son. As well as writing novels, she’s also the Director of Storytale Festival, a new children’s book festival she co-founded in 2019. Kate feels incredibly lucky to spend her days writing and being immersed in books.
Website: https://www.kate-frost.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katefrostauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katefrostauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/katefrostauthor
4 comments:
Kate, Thank you for being our guest this weekend at Romancing The Genres. Do you also spend time at the locations where your stories are set?
Great post, Kate. Character and setting are my favorite elements of stories!
Thank you so much for having me, Judith! It was a really enjoyable post to write. I've managed to go to some of the places my stories are set but not all of them. I didn't get the opportunity to go to Capri (although I have been to Italy), so I had lots of research to do and help from a local. And although I haven't been to Skopelos (the Greek island location in One Greek Summer), my husband is Greek and so I've spent lots of time in Greece visiting his family. The book I'm about to start writing is set in Iceland and I was lucky enough to go there earlier this year. An amazing place!
Thank you so much, Lynn!
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