With the rush of Valentine's Day behind us, what's one way of keeping the embers of romance glowing warmly? Why not pick up a book about love and relationships? No, not a selfhelp tome, but a good old-fashioned romance novel, the kind Richmond author Kay Gregory has been turning out for close to three decades.
But what makes a good romance story? "The characters, mainly, is what carries people along, as well as the aspect of hope at the end," said Gregory who has had more than 30 titles published, many by romance publishing house giant Harlequin. "You know, it's the happy ending that readers look for which we hope will turn into a happy beginning."
So, do all of her books have happy endings? "Of the last two, they have satisfactory endings," she said. "The future of the characters is not entirely sure."
That's what makes her stories stay closer to true life rather than a whirlwind of emotions revolving around a plot thin on reality.
To do that, Gregory searches for ideas and inspiration wherever she goes.
"I get inspiration from just about everywhere," she said, adding she prefers to write a single story at a time. "It might be something that someone says to me, something I read in the paper, or some memory in the past. It varies enormously.
"But I am a good people watcher, and that can be done just about anywhere," she said. "Some of my friends who also write prefer to do it at the airport because of the wide range of emotions you see there."
Armed with a variety of ideas, Gregory said she starts the writing process by, "sitting down with a pencil and paper, jotting down the beginning and then go on the computer and carry on from there."
When using everyday occurrences as a basis for a story, is she sometimes surprised what ends up in print? "Oh yes, I go back and look at some of the stories and think, goodness, did I write that," Gregory said, adding the most satisfactory part of her job was, at first, just seeing her work published.
Now, after dozens of titles to her name, Gregory said she takes pride in being able to take more time in developing her stories, as well as charting the new waters of publishing her work directly for e-books, something she never envisioned at the advent of her career.
"Publishers today are not quite sure what they are doing yet with e-books, and nor are many writers," she said. "But there still remains a need for material, absolutely. And there are a lot of people out there providing it now."
A group Gregory belongs to - the Greater Vancouver Chapter of Romance Writers of America - has about 70 members who meet monthly to trade story ideas, take part in writing workshops, and generally offer support to one another.
She also gets plenty of feedback from readers, many of them younger women.
"It's funny, I don't write specifically for a young audience, but I tend to get a lot of letters from that group," she said. "Usually, it's just thank you for making them feel better when they were going through a bad time in their life. That sort of thing."
