Since meeting Mr. Darcy in English 101, Kate Cole hasn’t managed to shake her obsession with all things happily ever after. A sucker for romance, this Canadian bibliophile is a buttoned-up bureaucrat in the street, spicy romcom writer in her desk seat. When she isn’t reading or writing, she’s also a wife and mom in suburbia who can’t get enough of Duran Duran or pedicures that match her current reads.
Under Construction is the first novel in Kate’s Women in Trades Romance series. Stay tuned for more!
Keep up on all things Kate by following her on Instagram.
What does your writing space look like?
My dedicated office space is heavy on crisp white and surrounded by things I love: plants, books, art and hand-made treasures from people who are dear to me. When I’m writing I try to immerse myself in a colour and mood. With Under Construction, everything became pink and charcoal. Now that I’m working on book two of the series, I’m surrounding myself in book two’s colours. While I have a dedicated office, I find I like to be portable. When the words aren’t flowing, I like to change things up and try writing at a café or a new area of my house. I tend to draft on an iPad and keyboard, just to keep things portable. One of my best friends has an old limestone farmhouse, where I love to escape to for a few days at a time to just dive into my fictional world. (Did I just hint at book two? Maybe!)
If you could spend a day with another popular author (living or dead), who would you choose and why?
My favourite book series of all time is Deborah Harkness’s All Souls series. It’s the perfect marriage of history, epic romance, fact, and fiction. I’m a history grad and feel like we could seriously geek out about weaving fictional tales into historical contexts. I’d love to know how she works, what her process is and what inspires her creatively.
How do you celebrate when you finish your book?
I’ve only finished one book, but when I did, I popped the cork on a chilled bottle of pink champagne. I won’t spoil anything for readers, but this choice was very appropriate for Under Construction. I ended up a little tipsy in my office enjoying the beauty of “the end” on my computer screen. Looks like a tradition has been born because I’ve got another bottle waiting in the fridge for me, for when I get to that sweet moment again.
Is there something you do/have while writing that helps your process? (Music, snacks, etc.)
When drafting, I could starve to death. People need to remind me to eat. But I edited Under Construction on a heavy diet of Chicago mix popcorn. (Editing calls for snacks!) Music is very important to me and is a huge creative influence. I have song playlists already assembled for four upcoming writing projects. A song can completely take me to a different time and place, and I can create entire scenes and develop plot lines just listening to a single track. When I wrote the wedding dance scene in Under Construction, I had already found the Beck song that I imagined them dancing to and I played that song on repeat while I wrote that scene. I’m so musically influenced that I actually can’t listen to one book’s playlist when I’m trying to write another.
What book are you currently reading?
Before I was an author, I was a bookstagrammer. With that comes the perk of ARCs (advance reader copies), so I’ve just had the privilege of reading an advance copy of Maggie North’s debut Rules for Second Chances. It is a marriage-in-crisis story with lovable characters and a swoon-worthy MMC. It takes place in Canada too, which was such a treat as a Canadian reader. Maggie is such a smart writer. The book has a clever premise and is filled with intelligent prose. I was rooting for their HEA from the start. It’s out in June, so check it out when you can. My next reads are two indies who I can’t wait to check out: Fellow Canadian Hannah Brixton’s Hey Jude, and Stefanie Steck’s That Right Moment.
