Katy Regnery on her 'Proposing to Preston' research
Katy Regnery, author of Proposing to Preston, book two in her The Winslow Brothers series and book eight in her The Blueberry Lane Series, did some extensive research for her latest romance.
Katy: To write the characters of Preston Winslow and Elise Klassan for Proposing for Preston took more research than I had originally anticipated — well, to write one of them, anyway.
I chose the law for Preston's profession, and since I have already written four lawyers in this series — Fitz English (Falling for Fitz, The English Brothers #2), Weston English (Wild About Weston, The English Brothers #5) Kate English and Etienne Rousseau (Kiss Me Kate, The English Brothers #6) — I was comfortable writing Preston as a lawyer. My challenge was Elise.
About one-quarter of the way through writing Proposing to Preston, I decided that Elise had been raised in the Mennonite faith, and I needed to weave that character history throughout the story because it was a really important part of who she was. I did a tremendous amount of research about the Mennonite religion and culture so that I could properly portray Elise and her family, and I hope I succeeded in painting the picture of a family-oriented, forgiveness-centered community. The other challenge with writing Elise? She had turned her back on her tight-knit farming community to become an actress in New York City. Since I knew very little about the life of a struggling Broadway actress, I spent a couple of days reading through blog posts by various Broadway actors. I've had a lifelong love affair with the stage, so I had a marvelous time learning Broadway lingo about auditions, call-backs and performances, and imagining Elise making her way through such a cut-throat, competitive world.
My last challenge with Proposing to Preston was the backdrop of New York City. Although I have lived most of my life within an hour of New York City, I haven't been inside the New York Public Library in years, I've never been to Juilliard, and I only remember attending one off-off-Broadway show many years ago. But, honestly, I can't think of a more romantic setting for a love story than New York in the spring, and I loved bringing it to life for my readers. I hope I captured its magic. You'll have to let me know.
About Proposing to Preston:
Preston Winslow has a heart as open as the sky and room in his life for someone special. When he falls in love with Broadway actress, Elise Klassan, he holds nothing back.
Elise, who has made tremendous sacrifices to forward her career, is swept off her feet by handsome, charming Preston...but the stage has been her first love for so many years, she doesn't know if there's room for Preston in her life. When the day comes that she must choose between her ambition and her heart, she profoundly hurts the one man who could have made her happy.
Two years later, Elise has become a world-famous actress and Preston is a very successful lawyer. But fame has not equaled happiness for Elise, and Preston is much too bitter and cynical to ever consider falling in love again.
Is it possible that the only person who can mend Preston's heart is the one who originally broke it? Only if Elise can figure out a way to make him believe in love all over again.
Find out more about Katy and her books at katyregnery.com.