My Heart Lies In Pisciotta - Author Interview with Cate Nielson Raye!!
- Victoria Roe
- Jul 13, 2020
- 6 min read
Synopsis
Anabella’s life has been controlled by her father since she was ten years old. After finally finding the strength to reject his plans for her future, she chooses to pursue her own dreams of becoming an artist.
Needing time to reflect on her chosen path she travels to Italy to stay with her eccentric, supportive Nonna. Join Ana as she takes the summer to explore the beautiful seaside town of Pisciotta and encounters handsome painter Sam - who throws her love life into a frenzy.
Leaving those she loves behind, Ana returns to England to start her life as a student in York. But a shocking reunion between her and Sam, and the complications that arise from it, threaten to derail Ana’s focus on her future. The summer of a lifetime could never have prepared her for the perils of adult life and its complicated relationships.
How can she focus on her career when her heart lies in Pisciotta?
Interview
What inspired you to write a book?
CNR: It sounds strange but when I am listening to songs I tend to imagine a music video for them. Either that or a movie they can appear on the soundtrack of. I had been listening to a song on the train to work, called Human by Christina Perri, and a vivid image played out in my mind of a summer romance. I made a note of it and eventually forgot about it. One night I had a very vivid dream about the main character Ana. After that, I dreamt about her story most nights and would conjure up scenes when I was daydreaming on my commute. Eventually, I had 50+ notes on my phone and I thought, "Yeh, I better write this thing!"
Why did you choose this genre?
CNR:I believe that love is the root of everything...and I'm a hopeless romantic. I love stories of falling in love and all the emotions that go with it. It is truly one of the most disorientating experiences to have, and it tends to sneak up on you. I like exploring emotions and I think a character experiences the most varied emotions when love is involved.
Why did you choose to self publish verses that of a publishing company?
CNR:By the time I had decided to combine all of my little notes into a novel I had been sitting on this story for 2 years. It was then another year to write it and get it to a point I could publish. I suppose I am impatient. I didn't want to have to wait potentially for another few years to be traditionally published. I wanted my story out in the world NOW. It has also given me a great sense of achievement. Self-publishing is an awful lot of work and it has been a steep learning curve.
What made you choose Italy as the predominant setting? And more specifically Pisciotta?
CNR: I said for many years since I was a pre-teen that I wanted to learn Italian. I love the culture and landscapes of Italy. I began learning Italian (I'm still not very good) and I visited Rome in my early twenties. I then found Eat, Pray Love, and Gabriels Inferno, books steeped heavily in all things Italian, and I fell in love with Italian culture even more. I chose Pisciotta because I prefer the smaller towns to the bigger tourist traps - you get to see a more authentic Italy.
Were any of your characters based on anyone you know or even on yourself?
CNR:I definitely see parts of myself and my own journey in Ana's story. I do think I used to be a bit of a people pleaser, I definitely had a knack for having no faith in myself or my talents, always thinking I was mediocre at best in anything I did. I don't think like that anymore. It took many years but I definitely grew as a person, just as Ana grows throughout the book.
Did you always have an image of how you wanted your characters to be perceived by your readers?
CNR: I always knew that character perception is completely personal to the reader. Since receiving feedback on the book I have had some pretty strong and surprising reactions to characters that I hadn't previously given much thought to. In my mind, Ana was always broken but willing to reinvent herself. Abby was always supposed to be the polar opposite of Ana.
Why did you choose to make the protagonist a female?
CNR: Purely because that's how it came to me. That's the voice I heard when I was writing.
After creating an original outline for the story how much did that change and develop as you begin writing?
CNR: The main plot didn't change too much. Some scenes were changed up here and there but nothing drastic. The ending has changed considerably though. I originally had a completely different ending, a not so happy one, that was not too well received. The reasoning for the negative feedback was sound and I realised I had gone the wrong direction with it. I didn't have an epilogue to start with either, I wrote that literally a couple of weeks before the final edits.
Did you set Ana's journey? Or did it develop on its own?
CNR: I always knew how things were going to go down. I tried to get in the moment as much as I could to make her authentic, so I hadn't particularly detailed her reactions or emotions beforehand.
The story touches on some sensitive issues, such as difficult family relationships and unexpected pregnancy. What made you want to include them and how did you approach writing about these subjects?
CNR: I don't think you can show growth unless your characters go through some challenging events. I think a lot of people end up in a life that is not of their choosing because they want to please the parents that have raised them in privilege. Ana is a very selfless person but it is in a very negative way. She thinks she is growing as a person but she needed something jarring to show her that she actually wasn't. When you become a parent it is the most selfless thing you can do. I think I wanted her to learn what true selflessness was and for her to truly want to change for her child.
There are some Romance writers that choose not to include sexually explicit content within their books, why did you choose to include them in yours?
CNR: I don't tend to include sex that is simply gratuitous. Any sex scene I write and keep in a book is for the advancement of the story. I think if you focus more on the emotion of the act rather than just the physicality, it can become an extremely useful tool to show a character's true feelings. It becomes less explicit and more about baring the soul. Sam uses sex to say goodbye when he doesn't have the words. Ana uses sex to lose herself and close off her mind in her most painful moments.
How would you respond to those of your readers who believe sexually explicit scenes to be unnecessary?
CNR: I don't always think they are necessary. Could I have written the book without the few sex scenes I included? Yes, most definitely. But during sex, we show a vulnerability that is not always portrayed with our words, and while it is not always necessary to include such scenes, it can really tie us emotionally to the characters. I also believe that what one individual sees as uncomfortably sexually explicit, another reader can believe it is what shows the true love between characters. When you realise that true passion in sex can mostly be about love and not just lust and debasement, you come to accept it more easily in the Romance genre. When the sex scene is used correctly it can really advance a storyline and character relationships.
The ending to the story seemed open-ended, can your readers, therefore, assume there will be another book?
CNR:I tried to make it so the book could stand alone but still give the option of returning to the story. Ultimately the story is about Ana's growth to become the woman she wants to be, and I think the book achieved a conclusion to that with the ending I provided. That being said, I am currently writing a sequel to My Heart Lies in Pisciotta. It won't necessarily be from Ana or Sam's perspective though.
Where do you see yourself and your writing in five years' time?
CNR: Hopefully, with a finished and published trilogy, a larger author following and a good head start into many more storylines.
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