These Christmas Romances Will Warm Your Heart

Who doesn’t love a romantic Christmas story? Today my friend, author Patricia Kiyono shares her writing process and how The Partridge Christmas Collection came to be. Welcome, Patricia!

Talk about the book(s) you’ve written. What was the first seed of an idea you had for your book? How did it develop?

The Partridge Christmas Collection is a five-book series (with a sixth non-holiday story thrown in for good measure) that came about quite by accident. After I wrote The Partridge and the Peartree in response to a multi-author regency romance series called “The Twelve Dukes of Christmas” I was astonished at how popular the genre was. The title of my book lent itself to subsequent titles following the verses of the popular Christmas carol. I had so much fun coming up with the titles and plots for Two Tutor Doves, Three French Inns, Four Calling Bards, and Five Gold Rings.

How would you describe your writing process? Do you outline? Let the muse lead you? Or something else?

I guess I’m what’s described as a “plantser.” I do a lot of planning, character development, and outlining, but when I start writing I often take detours. I also discover that things I planned won’t work, so I have to change course.

What do you keep in mind as you write? An overarching question? A theme? The last line of the book?

I often write a book like I build a sandwich. I write the beginning, then the end, and then fill in the middle. When I get stuck, it’s usually somewhere in the middle, so having an end goal for where the characters need to arrive helps me focus on what they can or can’t do to get there.

Do you work with a conference partner, writer’s group, or other organization? Where do you get support?

All of the above! I belong to two in-person groups, the Grand Rapids Region Writers Group and the newly formed Michigan Romance Writers. I also belong to several online groups such as the Regency Fiction Writers (formerly the Beau Monde), the Seasoned Romance Writers, Authors Helping Authors, and several Facebook groups for authors. I’ve also attended numerous write-ins both online and in-person. All have been helpful in keeping me motivated as well as assisting with book promo, brainstorming various scenarios, and just getting my work done!

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on a sequel to The Samurai’s Garden, a historical set in Japan during the early Meiji period (1870). The sequel, tentatively titled The Plum Blossom Covenant, is the story of the next generation.

What conflicts did you find as you put your book together? Conflicting opinions? Resistance to your writing the book? Something else?

I’m not sure this would be considered a conflict, but rather a challenge. Before I started writing The Partridge and the Peartree, I’d read many regency romances and thought I’d understood a lot about the era. But I quickly learned that there was much I didn’t know. This was made evident through the writing, editing, and reviews. I was thankful for the chance to correct several errors when I took back the rights to the book and re-submitted it to a different publisher.

What surprised you as you wrote this book?

I learned that I’m not always drawn to heroes who are strong and powerful. While Phillip Peartree is a duke, he’s painfully aware that his deafness and the scars from his hunting accident make him less appealing to women. I also discovered that I didn’t like all the restrictions that the Regency era placed on those in the aristocracy, and began to feature those in the growing middle class. In Two Tutor Doves, the protagonists are the duke’s valet and the duchess’ maid. In Three French Inns, the hero is a former English soldier and the heroine is a young French nurse whom he’d met while fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. Four Calling Bards featured a footman and a vicar’s daughter, and Five Gold Rings is the story of Grace, an activist fighting against the incoming railway and an architect in charge of designing the railway station. 

Thanks for adding to our selection of Christmas romance stories. All these stories would go perfectly with a cup of hot cocoa and a couple Christmas cookies. And I see you have a story in a newly released Christmas anthology, Nine Ladies Dancing.  I can’t wait to read it…with a cup of hot cocoa and a couple Christmas cookies, of course.

The Partridge Christmas Collection is available only at Amazon.

Author Bio: Patricia Kiyono lives in West Michigan, USA, not far from her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Current interests, aside from writing, include sewing, crocheting, scrapbooking, and making music. A love of travel and an interest in faraway people inspires her to create stories about different cultures.

Patricia Kiyono can be found on her website and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Bookbub, and Amazon.