Get ready to learn more about the book The Rainbow Lens in this discussion with sapphic author Katherine Blakeman.
Join us for an exclusive peek behind the scenes as we quiz Katherine Blakeman about The Rainbow Lens, writing, reading, and more.
This book is part of the Travel / Vacation category in the 2025 IHS Reading Challenge.
Why did you write The Rainbow Lens?
When I originally wrote this book, I wanted it to be a light, fluffy, beach-read-style romance. Originally, it was a romance borne of many years of unrequited longing, culminating in a one-night-to-forever situation. And the first draft was just that. Except it had no substance to it. So I left it to marinate for a while (and by a while I mean a couple of years), and picked it back up again last year after going to Italy for my 21st.
This time, I made a lot of changes. Both the ladies had bigger backstories – Lydia’s strained relationship with her children, Gilly having lost her daughter. I also made it a second-chance romance, them having been long-term girlfriends at university. I knew I wanted to write about mother-daughter relationships, so I did that twice over, in polar opposite ways. Especially in Lydia’s case – you see so many instances of homophobic parents attempting to squash their gay children, but it’s rare to find it the other way around.
Who is your favorite character in the book?
Honestly – you barely see anything of her, but Saskia. She was spiky, and quite entertaining to write, especially towards the end. Despite her unpleasantness! She is not similar to me in terms of world views, fairly obviously, but her pithiness and scratchiness can be… well, me on a bad day. Whoops. Now you’re probably all going to think I’m not a very nice person! (Saskia is going to get her own romance though… consider this your advance notice!)
What was the biggest challenge writing this book?
It might sound sad, but the biggest challenge was actually making something out of it. My first draft was weaker than a kitten’s yawn – it was first-person from Gilly’s perspective, and she was even irritating me with how passive she was. This was before I even thought of giving her a grief-based backstory. So the biggest challenge was definitely turning it around. Even towards the end of the creative process, when one of my fabulous beta readers sat me down and said it still wasn’t good enough. If it wasn’t for a last-minute brainwave and the addition of two extra chapters at the beginning of the book, it would probably never have made it to publication!
What part of The Rainbow Lens was the most fun to write?
Honestly, the argument scene. It was one of the first bits of the book that came to me, and indeed I have bits and pieces of it mapped out in my ‘plans and notes’ document, back when Lydia and Gilly were still Character A and Character B. It’s definitely got the most fireworks of just about any scene I’ve ever written… and it dredges up things that happened during their first relationship thirty years ago, which was probably why.
Coming a close second to this was the market chapter. The basis of it is rooted in truth: Bardolino does have a market every Thursday, and a lot of the stalls are mirrors of ones that I encountered when I attended. I even bought a dress, just like Lydia! The only things I made up about it were the essential oils stall and the amber stall. I have no idea if amber is big in Italy, but I like it, and it’s supposed to bring health and fortune to whoever wears it, so it fitted!
If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit about your plans for it?
Okay. Fine. All being well, my next book will be a crossover between The Rainbow Lens and my Cornwall set, the Bound By The Rainbow series. With Lydia’s daughter Saskia as the main character. That’s all I will say for now.
Where do you usually write, and what do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?
I think my answer has changed since I last interviewed with you! And that is completely down to the presence of my new noise-cancelling headphones! Okay, they don’t COMPLETELY cancel noise, but if I put on some music, I can write anywhere and everywhere, regardless of what’s going on around me. No longer do I have to hide myself away with the doors closed and curtains pulled! All I need now is my laptop, my headphones and some ambient music – recently I’ve been using the Cozy Crew Lofi channel on YouTube because (so far at least) there are no ads.
What animal or object best represents you as an author or your writing style?
At the moment, a tumbleweed. I’ve hit a wall with my next WIP. It’s why I’m doing this interview right now instead of writing like I planned!
Just kidding. But that is an extremely difficult question. Having sat here and thought about it for a few minutes, the best I can come up with is an extremely friendly cat. The kind that essentially wants to climb into your skin so they can heal you with their purring frequencies. Because climbing into other people’s minds is more or less what I do. It’s what I’m known for, and my literal motto is ‘Books That Break Boundaries’. Cats are more or less lawless – they don’t let stigma hold them back, and they won’t be told what to do! I’m a bit like that, but in a less obnoxious way.
What has helped or hindered you most when writing a book?
Hmm. Different answers for both.
In terms of help, I’d definitely say the noise-cancelling headphones I mentioned before. And the lofi music. But on top of that, just… reading. I’ve always been a voracious reader, even when I was at school, and it amplified my vocabulary to no end. I blame Enid Blyton in the first sense, but now I love to learn new words and phrases in any book I read. The only problem is making sure the words mean what I think they mean – knowing how to use them in a sentence is not the same thing!
And in terms of hindrance… my general distractedness. It drives me up the wall, the way that I can’t focus. And no, I haven’t been diagnosed with ADHD! Admittedly, I do have a lot of plates spinning (don’t we all?), but I really wish I could sit down to write and just… write. Even doing something like this interview – so far, I started this last night, picked it up again this morning, and got distracted by finding a recipe for some muffins for my cousin’s birthday, doing my daily Duolingo before I forgot, and searching up Pilates classes for my mother! So yes, that’s definitely my biggest frustration and hindrance.
What author in your genre do you most admire, and why?
It’s got to be Jae. I honestly think she must be superhuman – how on Earth does she run all the events she does, maintain two newsletters, a website, investigate wrongdoing, run the Sapphic Book Bingo, AND consistently write several fabulous books a year? I struggled enough when I ran the Sapphic Fiction February event last year! My hat goes off to her – I wish I had her stamina!
What books have you read more than once in your life?
I am a huge re-reader. Mostly because once I’ve read it, and then left it for a little while, I tend to forget what happened, so I go back into it with fresh eyes. But even if I do remember what happened, I still enjoy re-reading the books I love, because why shouldn’t I? I don’t find them boring, I find them comforting, a bit like rewatching a series for the millionth time. So I couldn’t name you a single book I’ve read once in my life – it’s more like a list, and a long one at that. I enjoy Max Ellendale’s Four Point trilogy and associated series, A Family Recipe by Veronica Henry (not Sapphic), The Roommate Arrangement by Jae, The Art of Growing by Jacqueline Ramsden… those are just the ones off the top of my head!
What book do you wish you had written?
Sorry, Roslyn Sinclair… I wish I’d written your Truth and Measure books! The original Devil Wears Prada fanfiction, at least. Never mind the fact that I was only ten years old when you published it. It’s a work of Devil-Wears-Prada art, as far as I’m concerned… and I just know I’m going to be disappointed in the new sequel to the film, if it doesn’t follow the same storyline!
What about it specifically do I admire? Well, firstly the detail. I don’t know how much research Roslyn put into the fashion industry, but it blows my mind. And the oh-so-intricate deconstruction of Miranda as a personality, while always maintaining her ice-queen status. It’s what I sought to emulate with Victoria Berry in my last book, A Different Kind Of Pride… I think I got there in the end.
