TuesGay Spotlight: Kate Christie

For this week's TuesGay Spotlight, I was lucky enough to interview Kate Christie about her newest book in the "Girls of Summer" series. Book Four, The Road to Canada, was released on February 29. If you haven't read the first three books in this series yet (seriously, what are you waiting for), the story follows Emma Blakeley and Jamie Maxwell. Book one starts out with them meeting at soccer camp in high school and the books continue to follow their story as they become professional soccer players. If you don't immediately fall in love with these two characters, I question your sanity because these two are just so darn cute and complex, albeit being frustrating to the point that you just want to shake them sometimes. This series will provide you with all of the feels, as well as an awesome insight into the world of women's soccer. Much to my wife's displeasure I actually have these books to thank for the fact that I am now obsessed with watching soccer (so if my marriage ends, I'm coming after you Kate). 

Enjoy the interview, then use the link below to get the book! You won't be disappointed!

How did you come up with the idea for the Girls of Summer books?
The most common writing advice I heard growing up was to write about what I love. Other than writing, the thing I’ve loved most the longest is the game of soccer. I’ve pretty much always wanted to write a USWNT novel, but I decided to wait until I had a few books under my belt. When my wife and I attended the World Cup 2015 final in Vancouver, BC, that was it. I knew it was time to start the Girls of Summer series. Originally I thought it would be two books, but at four and counting… What can I say? Jamie and Emma have minds of their own, as befits a pair of world-class athletes.

Can you share your favorite line from the newest book? 

I’m tempted to pick something funny, but the line that actually resonates with me the most comes from head coach Jo Nichols in the pre-game huddle before the 2015 Algarve Cup final: “You’ve all heard me say before that in sport, as in life, there’s no looking back. There’s only moving forward… Leave what happened in France where it belongs: in France.”

Leaving things in the past and starting each day with a clean slate is something that I’m personally terrible at, but it’s also something I continue to work at. And leaving what happened in France back in France? Easier said than done, at least for my viewpoint character Jamie.

Do you know how many books there will be in the complete series? 

Five for now to take us through the 2015 World Cup, but I am open to post-2015 titles, too, if it makes sense and there’s interest from readers. I’ve kicked around spin-offs and shorts from the series, too!

Can you give us a brief synopsis of this book? 

Book four, The Road to Canada, takes the US Women’s National Team through the lead-up to the 2015 World Cup, from January camp at the National Training Center in Southern California through a pair of European friendlies in February, the Algarve Cup in March, and into April when the final World Cup roster is announced. For Jamie and Emma, the couple at the center of the series, the novel follows their attempts to balance the external forces acting on them both individually and together with their shared goal of making that all-important roster.

How much time do you spend researching to get all the information correct for the USWNT storyline? 

A lot, actually. I’ve documented big picture USWNT research in an Excel file, such as what games were played when and where with how many players and how long of a training camp (Wiki and the US Soccer website have excellent content in this regard). NWSL and Champions League details are on different worksheets. I’ve taken some liberties with those aspects to make books three and four work out from a thematic perspective, but I try to keep the USWNT details as accurate as possible. This requires doing additional research on the fly as I write, too. Fortunately, US Soccer helps by posting tons of content.

Did you base any of your characters off of real USWNT players? If so, are you willing to tell us who any of them are? 

As a rule, I don’t base my characters off of real people in anything I write. For the Girls of Summer series, I was definitely inspired by real people, including Abby Wambach, Christie Rampone, Hope Solo, Megan Rapinoe, Ali Krieger, Ashlynn Harris, Shannon Boxx, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Kelley O’Hara, Meghan Klingenberg, Christen Press, Tobin Heath, and others. But my general approach is to create composite characters with bits and pieces of myself and my friends and family members, and throw in a whole lot of make-believe.

Who are your favorite soccer players?

Becky Sauerbrunn because she is so steady in back and is an unabashed member of the nerd squad; Megan Rapinoe for her courage off the field and her brilliance on it; Christen Press because she has been admirably open about her struggles with confidence, and you never know when she’s going to kick it into second gear and absolutely demolish the other team’s back line; Crystal Dunn because she can play any position well—except maybe GK; Ashlynn Harris for her GK skills and for her work with TWLOHA; Julie Foudy for her intelligence and commitment to the women’s game; Marta because she’s MARTA.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

When I was ten years old, I wrote my first collection of short stories about a canine crime fighter named (naturally) The Dogged Crusader. I was immediately hooked—on coming up with puns as much as on storytelling, probably.

What is your process when writing a book? Do you like to plan everything out or do you just jump right into it? 

I’m a pantser—I usually just jump in. Most of my books have started with a “What if…” that I find intriguing. Leaving LA was “What if a closeted Hollywood A-lister fell in love with her daughter’s nanny?” Gay Pride and Prejudice was “What if some of the characters were queer?” The Girls of Summer started with the question, “What if two players on the USWNT fell in love?” But then I realized they probably would have met when they were younger, at tournaments or on the youth national team, and Training Ground was born because suddenly the question was more about how Jamie and Emma become the people they are than the original “What if…”

On average, how long does it normally take you to write a book? 

Four months start to finish, including revisions.

Do you ever work your own personal experiences into your books?

Absolutely. I was in Europe with a club soccer team when I was fourteen and saw one of my friends being dragged off, drunk, into the back room of a bar. Three of us followed and got her out of there, but that experience played a huge role in my eventual development of the Girls of Summer series.

Which is your favorite book in the series so far?

Training Ground because that’s where the story begins? Or, maybe The Road to Canada for the travelogue stuff and the angst? Crap. Can I just say I love them all?

What are your writing goals for 2019?

They are way too broad so will probably change, but right now I’m hoping to (a) finish book five of the GoS series by June; (b) rewrite my SuperCorp fanfic into an original sci-fi novel over the summer; and (c) launch my new “Queering the Canon” series in the fall by rewriting either Emma, Jane Eyre, and/or Little Women with queer content (much as I did in Gay Pride and Prejudice a few years back). I also have notes on and a start to a “What if a sports photographer fell in love with a professional athlete?” contemporary romance.

What is your favorite romance trope?

I like Second Chance at Love (Jamie and Emma; also Solstice, my first novel) and Friends to Lovers, though like most people, I cringe when I hear the word “lover.” Also, Fake Relationships rock!

Who is your favorite lesbian character from a book, movie, or tv show? 

Right now, JULIANTINA from Amar a Muerte. I’m obsessed; it’s a little scary. Before the past few weeks, though, definitely Lexa. I still miss her, to be honest.

Do you prefer e-books or paperback? 

E-books. Print books are pretty, but they’re heavy and awkward and I drop them on my face when I fall asleep… Doh. Plus I can collect e-books secretly and not have to admit when I don’t finish them—turns out I’m ADD when it comes to reading.

Who are your favorite lesfic authors? 

While I’ve been un-secretly obsessed with fan fiction for the past few years, I’ve also really enjoyed books by Clare Ashton, Jae, Maggie Cummings, Lesley Davis, AJ Quinn, KL Hughes, Yolanda Wallace, Alex K. Thorne, and G. Benson, to name a few.

Do you have any advice for new writers?

Write what you love, but don’t think that other people will love what you write as much as you do. Readers have expectations, and if you want to sell books, it helps to understand and, to some extent, conform to those expectations. This means reading widely in your chosen genre and doing careful research. If you’re only writing for yourself, have fun!

This blog is all about the not-so perfect times in life. Do you have any funny stories about you and your family that you would like to share?

When our older daughter was learning to speak, she routinely confused “me” and “you.” For example, if she wanted to be picked up, she would say, “Mama, pick you up?” Kris and I thought this was funny—until the day she experienced a particularly egregious diaper blow-out and informed one of her grandmothers, “Grammy, you peed on the couch. You pooped on the couch, too.” Then we thought it was hilarious. Fortunately, Grammy did, too.

My favorite more recent story goes like this:

Twin A: “What’s a gangster?”
Me: “A gangster is a criminal who steals money and hurts people.”
Twin A: “So, like Donald Trump?”
Me:
Twin A:
Me: “Yep. Pretty much.”

Visit Kate's Website

The Road to Canada on Amazon