Behind the Scenes 1: Sweet Caroline

Ah, as promised. A behind the scenes look at Sweet Caroline! So, I'm a few weeks, maybe months late, but better late than never.

The beginning

Sweet Caroline started out years ago as straight up chick lit called "Cooking with Kate." I thought it would be humorous to have a woman hosting a cooking show, but be a disaster in the kitchen!

Her show would be sponsored by a cookware company - think Tim "Tool Man" Taylor and Benford tools - and find herself in some sort of "cook off" with a top male chef. Of course, he'd be the love interest and hero.

Flash forward a couple of years - The story idea had been set aside, but I needed to come up with my next book for Nelson.

I pulled up the "Kate" idea, but like the title "Sweet Caroline." This could be my non-cooking cook story.

In August of '06, Tony and I visited friends in Poughkeepsie and one of the couples went to Beaufort, SC on a fun whim and showed a video they'd made. I loved the setting and decided Beaufort would be home for my Caroline.

The synopsis I submitted to my editor, the lovely and most-intuitive Ami McConnell had Caroline co-owning a Cafe and in order to save it, she agreed to host a cooking show to raise the money.

I took a road trip to Beaufort, checked out the area, met the fabulous citizens and came home to write.

About two months into it, I realized being a cooking show host just didn't work. One, hosting the show was a story unto itself. It was too much to roll in the Cafe and have any story depth. One thing about me, I always add too much or go over the top. Like, the hero wasn't just a football player, he was Rookie of the Year, All Pro, Best Ever!

Also, hosting a cooking show in small town Beaufort didn't feel very realistic to me, though now I think I could've done it, but cooking shows have a staff, a stage, and it would be hard to set the production and crew in Beaufort.

Caroline's family was also a factor. After sinking her inheritance in the Cafe, they were upset with her. And, I couldn't figure out her love interest. Though, I think it was still going to be Mitch, a country singer.

As I wrote, her family didn't feel authentic to me, nor the way I had set up the Cafe, so I tried to rethink the angle.

That's when I had the dream...