Good Monday Morning, reader friends!
Welcome Kathy Douglass to our blog!
Today, we’re interviewing Kathy about her new book, Winning Charlotte Back.
Enjoy!
Interview with Kathy Douglass about her book, Winning Charlotte Back:
Alexis: Tell us about your Sweet Briar Sweetheart series. Where does Winning Charlotte Back fit in?
Kathy: The Sweet Briar Sweethearts books take place in the fictional town of Sweet Briar, North Carolina and the surrounding area. Each of the books tells the romance of a different hero and heroine, but it also lets us see the town as a whole. Winning Charlotte Back is the fourth book in the series. In Winning Charlotte Back, we also catch up with couples from earlier books in the series.
Alexis: Tell us about your story’s hero, Dr. Rick Tyler. Describe his looks, style and heart for Charlotte.
Kathy: Dr. Rick Tyler is gorgeous as romance heroes usually are. He is tall, dark and handsome. I always choose a real person as a physical model for the characters I create. For Rick, I used model Tyson Beckford.
Rick cares for Charlotte and wants the best for her. Even before he falls in love with her, he wants her to be happy. It is only after he realizes the role he’s played in making her unhappy and begins to make amends that he becomes the man he was meant to be.
Alexis: Why did Rick leave Charlotte at the altar and why does he now want to win her back?
Kathy: Rick left Charlotte at the altar years ago because he wasn’t in love with her. They’d been good friends and their fathers wanted them to get married. Rick and Charlotte got swept away in the planning and he couldn’t see another way out of a marriage he believed was doomed to fail. He wants to win her back because as he gets to know her again he falls in love with her.
Alexis: How did Charlotte feel when she found out that Rick was her new next-door neighbor?
Kathy: She’s horrified. He’d hurt and humiliated her so he was the last person she ever wanted to see again.
Alexis: Tell us more about your heroine Charlotte Shields. What is she like (looks)? What are her highest aspirations in life? What does she love? What or who can she not stand (explain why)?
Kathy: I used ballerina Misty Copeland as the model for Charlotte. She’s beautiful and in great shape as is Charlotte. Charlotte’s aspirations change as the book progresses. She wants to be successful in her job and contribute to society. She loves riding her bike and junk food. She doesn’t like hypocrites.
Alexis: What role does Rick’s son play in this story? Tell us about him.
Kathy: Rick’s son helps to get Bobby and Charlotte together. He and Charlotte understand each other and he loves being with her. He’s a fun child who loves basketball.
Alexis: Do you only write about African American characters in all of your books? Why or why not?
Kathy: Yes, all of my characters are African American. I choose to write only African American characters for a couple of reasons:
First, I’m a firm believer in writing what you know.
Second, I believe that African American readers deserve to see themselves in romances. I believe everyone deserves a happily ever after. It is my pleasure as a writer to provide that for my readers.
Alexis: Thanks for the interview, Kathy! Do you have closing comments?
Kathy: Thank you so much for the interview. If anyone wants to contact me, please feel free to visit my website, kathydouglassbooks.com and drop me a line.
*Interview conducted by Alexis A. Goring, contributor
About the Author:
Kathy is a born reader who as a child always had her nose in a book. That love of reading grew with her. She often would finish one book and immediately pick up another. She went from reading Bobbsey Twins to long, lush romance novels. One day she stumbled upon The Shining by Stephen King and was hooked. She turned her back on romance and became a serious Stephen King fan, reading every word he wrote. When she caught herself checking under the bed and looking in the closet for monsters or worse, she knew it was time to put down the horror stories and pick up the romance novels.
Her return to romance novels was short lived. She’d started law school and soon her reading was limited to legal opinions. Then one happy day her younger sister handed her a Harlequin romance. They were just what the doctor ordered. The books were short enough to read in a week and still get her required reading done. Best of all she knew there would be a happy ending and she wouldn’t have to search her room before she went to bed each night.
When her first child was born, she stopped practicing law to become a stay at home mom. Her second child followed nineteen months later. With two little ones in the house, reading suddenly became limited to Dr. Seuss and other children’s books. Any free time was spent trying to catch up on sleep or laundry.
All too soon her kids were attending pre-school two hours a day. She spent those few precious renewing her relationship with romance novels. After a while she felt the urge to write a book of her own and she began writing the stories she wanted to read. She spent many years writing some really terrible books and learning her craft. In 2016, Kathy sold to Harlequin Special Edition. Her first book, How to Steal the Lawman’s Heart, was released in February, 2017. Since that time she has released three more books in her Sweet Briar Sweethearts series with more to come.
Follow Kathy on social media: Website, Facebook, Twitter
About the Book:
When the man who left her at the altar
Moves in next door…
This could not be happening. Charlotte Shields had left both that heartbreaking day and this heartbreaking man behind. Even worse, their mutual attraction is back to betray her. Especially as Dr. Rick Tyler works hard to make amends. He’s got to make this move to Sweet Briar work to give his son a second chance. Will he get a second chance with Charlotte in the bargain?
Buy Winning Charlotte Back on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million
Diversity Between the Pages 