Kings Mountain author pens Italian romance Kings Mountain author pens Italian romance (August 27, 2003)

Romance novelist and local resident Carol Culver is celebrating the release of her latest work at a book signing on Wednesday, September 10, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the King's Mountain Community Center.

Ms. Culver, who pens her books under the name Carol Grace, lives in Kings Mountain. Fellow members of the local book club are sponsoring the event and providing wine and hors d'oeuvres.

"That's Amore," a romance set along Italy's scenic Amalfi coast, is a bit of a departure from her previous 25 books published by Harlequin/Silhouette, said Ms. Culver. It's part of the two-book deal she has with Simon & Schuster's Pocket Books.

"The heroine is a woman from California who is in her 40s, which is unusual. Usually, [romance novels] are about younger women and set in the U.S.," she said. "I'm glad Simon & Schuster was willing to take a chance on it."

Ms. Culver said she had been wanting to write something longer and more complex, with a bit of mystery to it. She said it took about four months to write, longer than the two to three months it usually takes her to write the Harlequin novels. A trip to Italy two years ago provided the inspiration.

"There's a scene where the heroine is lost in Sorrento, looking for the bus station. My family and I were also lost in Sorrento, looking for that same bus station," she said.

Her next book, "An Accidental Greek Wedding," has a May 2004 publishing date, and required her to take a research trip to Greece last summer, Ms. Culver said.

At a recent book signing in San Francisco, she said she was surprised to see so many working women coming in during their lunch breaks to have the book signed.

Since San Franciscans seem so sophisticated, she was surprised to see them loading up on romance novels.

"I would think that most of them would be reading books with their book clubs," she said.

Although she said her readers "tend to run the spectrum," they are mostly female.

"I think men tend to watch TV and women tend to read, especially when things are going wrong, with the country or with life. People like feeling like things can go right, and with these, you know they're going to get together in the end," Ms. Culver said.

INFORMATION

A book signing with romance novelist Carol Grace (a.k.a. Kings Mountain resident Carol Culver) is scheduled for 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, September 10, at the Kings Mountain Community Center, 13889 Skyline Blvd., Woodside. Information about Ms. Culver's books can be found at her Web site, CarolGracebooks.com.