GUEST POST - WOMEN'S FIC AUTHOR KATHLEEN IRENE PATERKA

Thanks so much for inviting me to be part of Books by Banister, Tracie! Since we’re both avid royal watchers, I thought I’d share a little about my fascination with the British royals, and how that guilty pleasure ties into my new release, ROYAL SECRETS.

I’ve been a royal watcher since I was in my teens. My family and friends always made fun of how excited I’d get merely by the sight of yet another magazine cover with a picture of the royal family. I watched along with everyone else as Prince Charles (“The World’s Most Eligible Bachelor!”) dined and dated his numerous girlfriends. Who would it be? Who would he choose? When he finally settled upon his new Princess, I was right there watching the telly (ooh, how British!) with 750 million other people on July 29, 1981 as 20 year old Lady Diana Spencer walked the aisle of St. Paul’s Cathedral on her father’s arm to where 32 yr. old Charles waited at the altar.

But it wasn’t the idyllic scene we all believed. As Diana later commented to friends, “My wedding day was the worst day of my life… I felt like a lamb being led to the slaughter.” No wonder. Charles and Diana had only been out together on thirteen dates before they married. Diana later confessed that she knew, walking up the aisle on her wedding day, that Charles was in love with another woman: the infamous Camilla. Diana had discovered proof of her future husband’s notorious affair two days before the royal wedding. Her sisters stopped her from calling everything off. “Too late… your face is on the tea towel. You can’t chicken out.” And so, Diana married her prince. As the Archbishop of Canterbury said at their wedding, “Here is the stuff of which fairy tales are made.”

Unfortunately, we now know it was a fractured fairy tale, one which ended in despair, divorce, and ultimately, Diana’s death on August 31, 1997. The world mourned its princess, and grieved along with Diana’s two young sons, Prince William (15) and Prince Harry (12). Royalty watchers the world over rejoiced on April 29, 2011, as William married his Kate at Westminster Abbey. And as I write this, there is still a ‘royal baby watch’ on the way… and so the royal saga continues. 

Whatever you think about the British royal family, there’s no denying that they do a royal job when it comes to putting on a wedding. I love brides and weddings. My day job as staff writer at a real American castle which hosts numerous weddings (nearly 200 last year) feeds my fix for royalty and romance. When I began daydreaming about a plot for a new book, my love for all things royal and weddings came into play. But it wasn’t until my daughter and her husband settled in Las Vegas a few years ago, that I really started thinking. Royalty. Weddings. Las Vegas, the wedding capital of the world. Voila! The framework for a new story was born.

ROYAL SECRETS is the story of the Royal Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, and of Lily Lavender, whose family is distantly descended from the British royal family. Immersed in the regal world of weddings and romance, Lily grew up believing in brides, grooms and happily-ever-afters. It seemed her destiny and royal birthright to someday assume a position as wedding coordinator in their family-owned wedding chapel business. But when her mother Mimi’s third marriage eventually fails, Lily’s dreams of her own happily-ever-after quickly fade. She’s no longer interested in a life of assisting brides walk down the aisle into a life of disillusionment and possible divorce. Lily turns her back on The Royal Wedding Chapel and leaves Las Vegas to fashion a life of her own. Years later, Lily—now a single mom—discovers her teenage daughter has run off to Las Vegas, lured by Mimi to help run the chapel. Determined to save her daughter from the broken dreams of Sin City and the nonsensical world of which family fairy tales are made, Lily returns to Las Vegas. But nothing prepares Lily for the royal drama which awaits her… or the sins and secrets she stumbles across that threaten to close the chapel and ruin her family forever.

Author Bio:
Kathleen Irene Paterka is the author of numerous women's fiction novels which embrace universal themes of home, family life and love, including ROYAL SECRETS and the James Bay series (FATTY PATTY, HOME FIRES, LOTTO LUCY, and FOR I HAVE SINNED.) Kathleen is the resident staff writer for Castle Farms, a world renowned castle listed on the National Historic Register, and co-author of the non-fiction book FOR THE LOVE OF A CASTLE, published in 2012. Having lived and studied abroad, Kathleen's educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree from Central Michigan University. She and her husband live in the beautiful north country of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

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