Having grown up watching Bollywood movies, these have shaped my view of romance. Trouble is, there’s not a lot of literary romances where there are characters of Indian-ascent.

This rather ticked me off. Seeing the Mill’s and Boon’s shelf in the library, I was a bit perplexed by the diversity. There were quite a few about Rich Greeks, Middle Eastern Sheikhs, lots of hedge fund millionaires. Where is the Indian representation?

All right, Devan Coultrie isn’t a millionaire. He is however, of mixed heritage and falls in love with a woman who is of Indian-ascent. I might have mixed things up a bit.

I didn’t see a book with a fella of Indian ascent, so I created one. I’ve created another, and you’ll find him in Kangana.

Anyway, Retreating to Peace. Book nine, ten, I forget which one; is part of the Peace Series of Novellas. Set in Montana, it is a lego brick that builds on the brain-child of S.H. Pratt.

After writing Fragments, my pen’s were listless and I needed a sorbet to re-align my writing faculties. I felt at a real loss, a real loose end, having finished Fragments. I found Peace by fluke, but I wanted to engage. I worked as part of a whole team of authors, who wrote a story centred on Peace Montana. I had to hit the ground running; I’ve not really had anything to with romance writing, and alongside the diversity thing, I wasn’t really keen on happily ever after.

This was and is a fantastic writing collaboration. A collaboration that gave me the impetus to write another romance, to have a character of Indian-ascent. The group are supportive beyond measure, and have really kept me buoyant when my writing mojo really did go a bit skew-whiff.

Retreating to peace is hopeful, there is renewal in there again. There is most certainly regeneration in there.

Whilst checking out  RTP, don’t forget to check out the rest of the series too!