A Date With Kate

I'll admit I almost forgot about this today -  the change from posting A Date With Kate on the third Friday of the month  to posting on the first Friday of the month caught me out. That and the  non stop row of the builders drilling through a wall!  But thanks to a timely reminder from one of the editors,  I've managed to get my post written and  up on the blog before too much of the day has gone by.

So today that's where you'll find me - over on the Pink Heart Society blog  where I'm talking about a subject dear to my heart - the romantic hero.  (And it 's a good excuse for another outing  for a that pic of Hugh in a towel!)

Radio Interview

I don't know how many of you can pick up Radio Humberside from Hull  but if you can then I'm doing an  interview with them this morning. 

This of course  is because of the workshop I'm doing on Valentines's Day - so just to remind you  . . . .

Dates: 14th February 2012

Time: 1:30pm to 4:30pm

Location: The Ballroom The Angel
Brigg Lincolnshire
Tickets cost £7 per person and are available in advance from Ashby, Brigg and Scunthorpe libraries.
Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment.
The event is for adults aged 16 and over. To book a place contact Emma Prideaux at North Lincolnshire Central Library on 01724 860161  or email library.enquiries@northlincs.gov.uk.

The interview will be at about 11.10  am on the David Burns morning show - and if you can't listen this morning, then I'm sure it will be available  on their Listen Again feature

Losing track of time

I'm sorry - I forgot   about this blog I wriote earlier.  I lost tack of time and forgot that MIchelel Fayard has asked me some questions about my recent Big Blog Tour,

The post actually went up on  26th January  but I've had a nasty cold, and  been out and about and  have only just got caught up enough to remember and link to it.

Sorry Michelle! I'm doing that now - you can find the blog post here.

Things that make you smile

It's grey and dreary and cold . . . and about to get very wet from the look of things, but  to brighten the day here are 3 things that made me smile -
1. An unexpected phone call from a dear friend (Thanks Duck!)

2. Some of you may remember that I sponsor a little girl  - J  - in an orphanage in Central African Republic throuhg SOS Children's Villages.   Two years  ago when the sponsorship started, I was sent a photo of her  - a wide-eyed, rather nervous looking little 7 year old. I just received this year's photo  of a much taller, healthy, smiling 9 year old, proudly wearing her new pink flowered dress - lovely to see how she's grown  and that smile  . . .

3. As I've mentioned, we have  builders here with work on the extension going on in the garden -  after days of gouging out earth  plus a great big hole in the ground ready for foundations there is now  one huge skip filled to the brim with unearthed  soil  – all soft and crumbly - just perfect for  one Charlie  Cat,  to scrape a nice neat hole  - well, making his own contribution to things,

Then jumping down with a ‘Man that’s SOME litter tray!’ look on his face!

 

Happy weekend everyone!

Bargain Price

Did you miss getting your hands on a copy of The Proud Wife?  (this is the book that  is nominated as Best Presents Extra 2011 at Romantic Times)

I just discovered that The Proud Wife is now in the Sale over on the Mills & Boon web site where you can get  a print  copy or an ebook for just 99 pence!  So if you missed it the first time round here's a chance to grab a bargain.

Oh - and about those workshops  - if you're interested in the one day workshop in Nottingham on 19th  May (10 am - 4.30pm) , then the easy way to find the details and download the  booking form to book your place on the course is to follow this link.
Places are limited so if you want to come along make sure you  get your booking in as soon as possible.

Updated

Thanks to lovely Heather from We Write Romance, my web site is at last updated with  all my news.

You'll find the covers of both the USA and UK editions of The Devil and Miss Jones and an extract from the beginning of the book. And there are the details of the  By Request Collection,  His Suitable Bride which contains  my book Cordero's Forced Bride  (which is also oiut in a Kindle Edition if you'd rather have an ebook.)

And most importsntly for those of you who are interested in coming to any of my workshops  there's now the full details  you need to book the workshop in Brigg, Lincolnshire  and the link to the page with the day workshop in Nottingham  in May.

The Brigg  workshop is on Valentine's Day

Dates: 14th February 2012 

Time: 1:30pm to 4:30pm

Location:  The Ballroom The Angel  Brigg Lincolnshire
Tickets cost £7 per person and are available in advance from Ashby, Brigg and Scunthorpe libraries.
Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment.
The event is for adults aged 16 and over. To book a place contact Emma Prideaux at North Lincolnshire Central Library on 01724 860161 or email  library.enquiries@northlincs.gov.uk.

I'm busy working on the Romance Writing weekend course in Fishguard next month (February 17th - 19th). The course is well booked already but we've had a couple of  cancellations from people whose circumstances have changed so they can't attend this time - so there's still time to book if you'd like to come along.  Booking forms and details are on the Writers' Holiday web site.

And of course then there's a week long course in Tuscany . . .   details coming up. . .

Liz's Little Book

I will be posting more details of courses and workshops - including that very special one in Italy -  soon - but if you're interested in learning to write romance then I have a new  how to book to tell you about  that could help you with your  novel.

It's Liz Fielding's  Little Book of Writing Romance

Liz has just released this book  as an ebook  this week. I knewshe was working on this project when we met last year, so I;ve asked her to give me a mini-interview about it to give you all the information you need.


Liz, can you tell me a little more about your Little Book of Writing Romance?

I've taken my model from the great thriller writer Elmore Leonard and I've left out the bits people skip over, kept it to bones of what a new writer needs to know. How to begin. Character. Emotion. Conflict.


What gave you the idea to write this? Did the ideas come from any workshops you've done in the past?
What will would-be authors find in this book

It all began quite a long time ago when I was approached by a publisher to produce a "little" book on writing for Mills and Boon. For various reasons it didn't happen, but I'd written the first chapter - Grabbing the Reader on the First Page - which you'll find on my website under "Writing". Then, this year, I did a talk on Humour and Emotion at the RNA Conference, talked to people interested in taking part in Mills and Boon's New Voices competition, mentored a finalist, and I realised that it was time to put together all the stuff I've learned over the years.



You say your book is a primer - will authors who have already tried submissions or read other books find things to help them in it?  (Personally I'm pretty sure they will -  so often it's not the advice that's being given but the way it's told that makes that light bulb moment happen and I'm sure your voice will reach so many people and help them.)

Thanks, Kate! There are some terrific how-to books out there. I always recommend your own 12-Point Guide, which is a fabulous book on the art of writing romance. Where mine differs is that I've gone with the basics, holding the hand of someone who isn't familiar with the publishing world, who is a total beginner. I've used lots of examples, broken down a scene to show what I'm doing. Can a more experienced writer benefit from this? I believe it will be useful for someone who has been submitting for a while without success. And I use the vital bullet points myself to make sure I'm getting the most out of every scene, thinking deeply enough about conflict, getting to know my characters. (Walking around a supermarket with your heroine will tell you a lot more about her than her star-sign!)


Where can readers who want to buy this book get hold of it?

My Little Book is online at Amazon (you don't have to have a Kindle, you can download it to your PC) and should be available on all other eBook platforms very shortly. It will be online everywhere  an eBook  (except Barnes and Noble - but will come as soon as Waterstones sign up for the Nook) by the end of the week, or so I am assured.




Thanks so much Liz! Congratulations on the publication of your 'little book' - I hope it's a great success!

As I said above I do believe that  the good thing about having a variety of how to books out there is that sometimes one author's way  of explaining things can work better for  a writer than any others - and it's always good to have two different approaches to anything in writing so you can see what works for you best. And  having been to some of Liz's workshops - and of course knowing her writing, I  know how helpful this book  is going to be.