12 Point Guide Launch party 3

My party post got delayed yesterday - I was too busy having fun!

The Babe Magnet had a signing in Borders for several of his Grim and Gruesome books (Yorkshire Murderous Women/Yorkshire Hangmen/ Hauntings in Yorkshire - do you see why we had to go to - well, Yorkshire for this?). So I went along and because a special friend - the lovely Susan Stephens who also writes for Modern/Presents - lives close by, we arranged to meet up. The Magnet and I went back to Susan's gorgeous home and had lunch with her and her totally charming Alpha Male husband, her beautiful younger daughter and the sweetnatured hound Her Royal Bettyship.



Thank you Susan! We had a fantastic time. So much so that we all forgot to take photos. Susan herself will be dropping into this party later on.



We were having so much fun and eating wonderful food that I forgot all about the time and about blogs and such like - so when I got home I had no energy left to post the next party post, never mind answer the Q&A - but I'll make up for that today because we have four more very special guests who have come to help me celebrate the launch of 12PGTWR2.


Today I have a real selection of guests who help to show just how much range there is in the romance writing worls. Each one of them is successful in their own line - some in more than one.
And each opf them has offered their own personal advice and tips on writing in 12PGTWR2

First up is Kate Hardy - aka Scary Kate.

Kate says:

Congratulations, Kate, on the second edition of a book which was already superb the first time round. It's one of the very few 'how to write' books I will recommend, because it's practical and down-to-earth and most definitely not scary!

Scary Kate of course has lots of books coming up - in Medicals there's The Doctor's Royal Love Child (UK April release) and in Presents Extra there's In Bed With Her Italian Boss (US April release - aka Breakfast at Giovanni's, which won the RNA Romance Prize 2008).

You can read more about these books on Scary's website

Kate's Prize:
Kate's offering a signed copy of The Doctor's Royal Love Child and she will pick her winner at random from posters of comments - so you know what to do!





Now a party wouldn't be much success without some handsome men around so here's Gill Sanderson (and it you didn't already know this - Gill is a distinguished gentleman with a moustache) who writes for Medical Romance,



Gill says:


I'm glad there's another copy of Kate Walker's Guide to Writing Romance coming out - I might have written 45 books for HMB, but I still find the Guide useful and interesting. It's also one of the most borrowed of my books. My present, much-thumbed, copy is now decidedly tatty. I need a new one!

(There's a new copy on its way to you, Gill - just as oon as I get my hands on them!)


Gill's next Medical title is Nurse Bride, Bayside Wedding coming out in May. It's one of the Penhally Bay series.

Now here's a very special friend who has her own reason for celebrating today. It's Julie Cohen's birthday (so go and wish her a happy birthday when you leave here!)

Happy Birthday from me, Julie love!
Julie says:

Before I was published, I was lucky enough to attend Kate's seminars and to get her advice on a book I was writing. She gave me two pieces of advice I will never forget, and which took my writing to another level. That book she helped me with went on to become my first published novel with Harlequin Mills & Boon. Since then, I've taught a course alongside Kate, and that was just as much a learning experience as a teaching one. Kate's a natural teacher and when she talks about writing you can see her listeners' eyes light up with sudden insight.


I've got a well-thumbed copy of the 12-Point Guide on my bookcase, with all my precious writing books, and I refer to it often. I still use Kate's character questionnaire every time I start a story. And I recommend her book to aspiring and experienced romance writers alike. It's easily one of the top titles out there about writing romance, and about writing category romance in particular. Im glad there's another edition so that I'll be able to recommend it more easily!

New books Julie has coming up:

For US readers, I've got a Harlequin Presents Extra out this month, Mistress in Private. It's about...well, let's cut to the chase, shall we? It's about hot sex with a male model. Yeee-haw!

For UK readers, my Little Black Dress book One Night Stand is on the shelves. It's the story of Eleanor Connor, an erotic comedy writer who gets pregnant by mistake after a one night stand with a stranger, and enlists her best friend and neighbour, serial-shagger and pastry chef Hugh, to search for the father.

You can find out more about both these books over on Julie's web site

Julie's Prize

I've got a copy of ONE NIGHT STAND to send to the most inspirational or amusing answer to the following question:

Julie's Question
What was the best (or worst) piece of advice you've ever received? I'll choose a winner from the comments.

Oh, and those two pieces of advice Kate gave me, which I'll never forget--one about emotional punch, and one about character motivation? They're both in the book, so you'll have to read it, if you haven't already, and see.

Finally we have New Zealand author Yvonne Lindsay who followed my advice to be brave - and now her courage has made her a very succesful author for the Desire line.

Here's Yvonne:

I keep my much-highlighted, well-thumbed, post-it-noted copy of Kate’s first edition of the 12-Point Guide nearby at all times. As well as being packed full of sound and logical advice, it’s a great reference to trigger off a new tangent in your work or even just to give you a judicious kick in the rear when your writing isn’t going quite as well as you want it to. Congratulations, Kate, on launching a second edition of this most excellent writing aid. Really, it’s like having you at my side while I work, and who couldn’t benefit from that?

Yvonne Lindsay’s next release is due out in the NA market in June 2008. Jealousy and a Jewelled Proposition is book 6 in the fabulous Diamonds Down Under Continuity and is available for pre-order now through Amazon.

You can find out more about this book on Yvonne's web site.

Yvonne's prize:

She's giving away a copy of my February 2008 release, TYCOON’S VALENTINE VENDETTA.

And Yvonne will pick her winner from everyone who posts.
Oh - and if you choose to answer Julie's question, then all those posts will be included in the draw for the other prizes as well as Julie's - so get posting!

And I haven't forgotten about the Writers' Q&A - I've just had no time. But I promise there will be more answers just as soon as I can manage them!