Bestselling Author Author Kate Frost loves Greece and Greeks so much–she married one! Read on to learn more about her and her books.
Q&A with Kate Frost
Like me, Kate is a Brit who married a Greek. Many of her novels are set in Greece and they’re the perfect escapist reads. Meet her!
ABOUT KATE FROST
Where are you from?
I’m from Bristol in the southwest of England.
Where do you live now?
I still live in Bristol, but in the south of the city rather than in the north where I grew up. I love where we live as it’s in a vibrant and creative area where it’s possible to walk into the city centre, but we also have lots of green spaces on our doorstep, so the best of both.
Do you have a day job?
No, I’m incredibly fortunate that writing is now my day job, but it took many years of hard work to get to this point. I self-published my first novel in 2013, but it wasn’t until 2020 that I started to earn a full time living from my books.
TRAVEL TO GREECE
When did you go to Greece for the first time?
In 2001 with my Greek boyfriend (who’s now my husband) to meet his family for the first time!
What made you fall in love with Greece?
Well, I fell in love with a Greek man before I fell in love with Greece! But I adored everything about my first visit to Greece from the food and scenery to the people and the language (despite finding Greek so difficult to learn). Not that it wasn’t overwhelming – I met the whole of the family, from grandparents, aunts and uncles before we even got to the family home and met my boyfriend’s parents. It was quite an experience but a wonderful one that has been fed into many of my Greek set books.
WRITING ABOUT GREECE
When did you start writing?
I started writing when I was seven following open heart surgery for a hole-in-my-heart. I was off school for months recovering and had a home tutor. I remember her teaching me two things: about dinosaurs and how to write stories, and I was hooked on writing from that point onwards and knew I wanted to be a published author one day. It took until I was 36 years old to achieve my dream.
When did you know you had to set your books in Greece?
After that first visit to Greece and being immersed in a Greek family, which was such a different experience to staying in a hotel or at a resort.
Where do you get your ideas/inspiration?
Place has always been important in my writing and usually the inspiration behind many of my novels. It was certainly the case for my debut novel The Butterfly Storm where the setting of Greece and north Norfolk – two places I know well and love – was the backdrop for the love story.
BOOKS
When did you publish your first book?
After years spent writing and rewriting The Butterfly Storm and having some interest from agents to read the whole manuscript but getting comments such as ‘we love it but it’s not commercial enough’, I took things into my own hands and self-published it in 2013.
How many books have you published so far?
This summer saw my eighteenth book, An Island Promise, published!
How have they been received?
On the whole, really well! After initial success in 2013 when The Butterfly Storm climbed to just outside the UK Amazon top 100 (after a free promotion), I really struggled to make an impact with my books and didn’t sell very many at all! However, I did learn a lot along the way about marketing and most importantly writing to market, so by 2020 I started to get some real traction with my romantic escape novels, growing a readership, garnering some fabulous reviews, seeing orange bestseller flags pop up on Amazon and then capturing the interest of Boldwood, my now publisher.
Since then I’ve had five Kindle top 100 books, reached #5 in the whole of the Kindle chart with A Greek Island Escape, been shortlisted for an RNA award for One Winter’s Night and have sold nearly half a million books in total (a combination of self-published and traditionally published with Boldwood).
Tell us about your latest book.
An Island Promise is another of my getaway romances, this time set on the island of Ibiza and follows Belle and her friends Gem and Laurie across two timelines – the Ibiza holiday ten years before when at the age of 21 they were there to party, and the present day story when Belle returns to Ibiza to work for the summer and her focus shifts to repairing fractured friendships and of course romance.
WRAPPING UP
What’s next for you?
I’m currently writing the first book of the second six-book contract I have with my publisher, Boldwood, this time set on the island of Sardinia (all of my books with Boldwood have predominately island settings).
Anything else you want to share?
Just thank you so much for having me! It’s always a pleasure to chat about writing, books and Greece!
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