Author Kathy Gates Shares Their Story

Kathy Gates loves three things: travel, reading about travel and making up stories about travel.

Born and raised in Sydney, Kathy lives in Hobart – it’s like Sydney but smaller and the food and wine are better. Plus everything is close, including some of the best walking tracks.

Until January 2015 Kathy worked in marketing where she enjoyed making up stories; writing travel fiction seemed an obvious career move.

Kathy published her novella, Juliet’s Journey in July last year. Juliet’s Journey is set in the northern Italian village of Baiardo where the heroine, Juliet, has gone for some piece and quiet but falls in love with the place and finds herself caught up in a fight to save the village from losing its soul.

Whether travelling or staying at home, Kathy like to read about travel, fiction and non-fiction, and that’s what’ll you find on her blog.

b>About the Author
Kathy Gates loves three things: travel, reading about travel and making up stories about travel.

Born and raised in Sydney, Kathy lives in Hobart – it’s like Sydney but smaller and the food and wine are better. Plus everything is close, including some of the best walking tracks.

Until January 2015 Kathy worked in marketing where she enjoyed making up stories; writing travel fiction seemed an obvious career move.

Kathy published her novella, Juliet’s Journey in July last year. Juliet’s Journey is set in the northern Italian village of Baiardo where the heroine, Juliet, has gone for some piece and quiet but falls in love with the place and finds herself caught up in a fight to save the village from losing its soul.

Whether travelling or staying at home, Kathy like to read about travel, fiction and non-fiction, and that’s what’ll you find on her blog.

What inspires you to write romance books?
I’ve always made up stories in my head; a few years ago I started writing them down. I probably err on the side of romantic fiction because one of my earliest influences was reading the serialised romances in the English Women’s Weekly. As far a romance goes these stories were nowhere near as steamy as what’s around today. But they always had strong characters and fascinating settings, which is what I think makes for great romance.

Tell us about how you write:
I think I know where the story is going but then the characters take over and it goes in another direction completely.
As for my characters, as well as imagining what they look like, I’m interested in their quirks, strengths and weaknesses. It’s often the weakness — or perceived weaknesses — that leads to the conflict that drives the action.
I like to get everything out, then I go back and cut, cut, cut. Not so much writing as rewriting to paraphrase the mighty Hemingway.

Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Probably more ‘lurk and listen’ than talk to. I figure out where they are going and follow along in their wake.

What advice would you give other writers?
Read many different genres. And seek out great storytellers. I’ve always been inspired by writers like Maeve Binchy who can take a simple situation and turn it into a great story with characters that you can really care about.

How did you decide how to publish your books?
Because I am relatively new to this I decided to self-publish. The great thing about self-publishing is that you don’t have to fit into any set guidelines such as word-length. This is great for me at the moment as my stories are novellas.
The indie community is very supportive so you can try things out and ask for feedback.

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think it is a very exciting time. Traditional publishing is playing catch-up. Indie authors are becoming more savvy about marketing. And as I said above the indie author community is very supportive.
Also, I’m on a mission to create a genre called romance travel fiction. Okay, that is already a thing — but it’s hard to find it listed as genre.

What genres do you write:: Contemporary romance, romance travel fiction

What formats are your books in: eBook

Website(s)
Author Home Page Link
Link To Author Page On Amazon

Your Social Media Links
https://www.goodreads.com/kathygates
https://twitter.com/kathygates_au
https://www.pinterest.com/kathygates12/

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