As you may know, I'd published 14 novels and had written two series of books before I began writing To Melt A Frozen Heart, the first book in a new romance series titled, The Anderssons. Starting a new series is always a little daunting, but also exciting. You can create a whole new world, with new characters and plots from scratch!
This time, the "world-building" began with the setting. For a while, I'd had the idea to set a romance in Ylläs, which is a ski resort in Finnish Lapland that I know well, so that was the first decision made for me.
I knew the novel, and the series, would be contemporary romance, so the type of the story was also clear.
However, I didn’t yet have the characters for the novel. All I had was the memory of skiing in the stunning winter wonderland setting, evenings gazing at the twinkling stars over an ink-blue sky, or the spellbinding Northern Lights. Or cosying up in front of an open fire in remote a log cabin.
This is me a few years ago about to go cross-country skiing in Ylläs.
It wasn’t until I imagined a ski instructor from a wealthy family at odds with his privileged life that Mikael Andersson was born. A confident young guy whose love of the Lappish fells and skiing had taken him away from his sheltered upbringing, giving him a different perspective on life.
I wondered what would happen if this outwardly self-assured guy fell for a recently heartbroken, feisty young woman with fierce environmental beliefs. And there was Kate Wootton, the half-Finnish food producer who’d just been betrayed in the most hurtful way by a famous French TV chef.
After I had Mikael and Kate, the rest of the story began to form quickly. As is often the case with my novels, I revelled in writing the villainous character of Jacques Beaumont, the womanising TV personality. I know he is horrible, but I also hope that readers fall for his charms, or at least understand why Kat did.
Kat’s mum was another character that I rather enjoyed writing about. Simona Wootton is self-centred but deeply wounded by her past relationships. Her battle for survival has made her blind to her children’s needs. Again, even though Simona is a “bad” character, I enjoyed exposing her complicated background, and the possible reasons why she is the way she is. No one, after all, is wholly bad, in my opinion. Or that's true inside my stories anyway.
I very much hope that you, my lovely readers enjoy discovering Kat and Mikael’s story against the backdrop of magical Lapland, and that you, just like me, fall in love with the stunning landscape of Northern Finland.
If you want to know more about the resort and Lapland, read my post about Ylläs here.
I am now working on a prequel and the second book in The Anderssons series. Watch this space for the two next books, which should be out late this year.
To get your copy of To Melt A Frozen Heart for just 0.99 (this offer ends 3 March 2024), go here.
Happy reading!