 |
| Carbis Bay, St Ives |
One of the things I love best about writing is the way
that my books become scrapbooks of memories.
Sometimes, the memories lie in minor details that I add
here and there: the name of a pub or house that forms a link to my childhood,
or a character name that has a family connection. Other times, they might come from a trait that I give to a
character: in the WIP I’ve just finished, the protagonist’s grandmother likes
to nudge people with her elbow to get their attention or to emphasise a point,
just like my own grandmother did.
More often than not, the memories relate to places that
I’ve been and that are connected to a particular book. I still remember sitting in a leather,
wing-back chair in a draughty holiday cottage in Kent, writing my first novel,
even though it was over twenty years ago.
I’ll never forget being in Jersey when I wrote the scene in my first
published book, The Magic of Ramblings, where Cassie realises that she’s
in love with Barney, because I had no idea that it was going to happen at that
point in the story! And whenever I
think about Miss Moonshine’s Emporium of Happy Endings, I remember the
fun lunches shared with the Authors on the Edge in Hebden Bridge.
In my latest novel, The Man I Fell in Love With, I
used some of the locations I’d travelled to recently as the setting for the
book. Most of the story takes place in
Lancashire, where I live, and Ethan’s house, Waterman’s Cottage, was inspired
by a small building on the edge of a reservoir about a mile away from my house.
During the course of the story, the characters spend a summer holiday in St
Ives in Cornwall, and that was great fun to write because I’d visited St Ives
on holiday the year before I wrote the book.
The lead character,
Mary Black, does many of the things we did on
holiday: she visits the Minack Theatre, walks the coastal path from Carbis Bay
to St Ives, and has breakfast at the Porthminster Café. I can’t look at those chapters now without
memories of a wonderful holiday rushing back.
 |
| Brooklyn Bridge, New York |
about the author... Kate writes contemporary women’s fiction, mainly set in her favourite county of Lancashire, where she lives with her husband, daughter and mischievous cat.
She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
Kate’s debut novel, The Magic of Ramblings, won the RNA’s Joan Hessayon Award for new writers in 2017.
about the book... Sometimes we find happiness where we least expect it…
After twenty years of contented marriage, no one is more
surprised than Mary Black when her husband announces he’s leaving her... for
another man.
For the sake of the children, Mary has no choice but to
pick herself up and start again. She
hosts family meals that include Leo and his new partner. She copes with the kids wanting to spend
less time with her, and more time with their “fun” dads. But one thing she can’t quite ignore is
Leo’s gorgeous brother, who has just come back to town…
After living a life of sliding doors and missed
opportunities, can Mary finally put herself first and take a chance that could
change everything?
A wonderfully uplifting novel full of wisdom, spirit and
charm – this is a love story with a difference…
You can get Kate's book Here
Another fellow Author on the Edge will be visiting the blog next month, so watch this space...
No comments:
Post a Comment