It’s been nearly nine months since Retreating to Peace was published. It seems at though barely any time has passed since I first opened a notebook and tried to think of who I might write about. Devan Coultrie started life as blue and black ink scrawl and was literally a day-dream as I tried to exercise my imagination. He has a love interest, Aditi Rao, who was also plucked from thin air.

Only this man has a story; why on earth would he want to up sticks and fly half way across the world to start again.

Retreating to Peace is by no means a sad story. It’s a hopeful one; the sort of story that might make you smile. It is also one of many, with nineteen stories written by different authors converging on the fictional town of Peace, Montana.

Nine months on, I am reflective I guess, of how RTP (as I have lovingly christened it) grew from the seeds of an idea to blossom and bloom. I like Devan, he’s the sort of dude you might want as your ‘yeah, all right,’ wing-man. He was also borne out of frustration; there are not many romance books out there who have characters of Indian-ascent. Devan’s dual heritage was something I reflected upon a great deal. With Aditi as his foil, there was a huge opportunity to craft and combine culture when this doesn’t normally happen.

Since then, I’ve gone onto explore that further with Kangana, but only as I was able to nurture Devan and Aditi. These two gave me a great deal of courage to pick up an idea and run with it.

I think Devan is happy in Peace, Montana. He’s made an interesting new start for himself.

I don’t think he’s done, either.

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It’s no good taking my word for it; I mean, I’m hopelessly biased.

reviewsRTP

Devan Coultrie was at a loss. His world had been shaken, his heart fractured and emptied by death. In search of a way to heal and shake of the damage, Devan sticks a pin a map with the intention of going wherever it lands. Leaving the shores of the United Kingdom, he ends up Stateside, deep in the heart of Montana. With all of his worldly possessions, Devan drives into Peace and onto a plot to land to start life over.

Like him, the farm and its acreage is downbeat, derelict and defeated. When Aditi Rao arrives in Peace, Devan’s plans for himself and his home are disrupted. He has history with Aditi and she’d quite like to write another chapter. Can he show Aditi that his retreat to Peace is more than just a plot of land and on a different continent? Can he find a way to share his home, his heart and a new beginning?