Saturday, April 12, 2008

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!

19 comments:

Dina said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dina said...

Hi Kate, thanks for bringing us these fab guests.

Congrats Kate on your next edition and for your upcoming books:)

To answer Julie Cohen's quesion on advice: I was told by my daughter to always "SMILE at least once a day", no matter what kind of day you're having. Also, "do whatever it takes to get what you want, just don't get caught", lol.

Yvonne, I love your title Jealousy and a Jewelled Proposition, sounds fun and devious. :)

Happy birthday to Julie Cohen, hope it's a fun one. :)

I had to delete 1st post, I oopsed. :)

Unknown said...

Hi Kate, I can see why you run out of time, you stay so busy. I am not a writer but I know how time can get away from you. I am not working right now and seem to stay busy but I do have the time to do what I want, but when I was working I had no time for myself and that was a bummer.

Jane said...

Yay, the party's still going strong. Happy Birthday, Julie. "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer" is one of the best pieces of advice I've gotten.

CrystalGB said...

Hi ladies. Happy birthday Julie. The best advise I have ever received is: Don't let your fears and insecurities stop you from pursuing your dreams.

Yvonne Lindsay said...

Dina, I love that smile at least once a day thing. Laughter, too, is important for a healthy soul, IMESHO. Too often we let ourselves get bogged down in the detritus of modern living and forget what it's like to laugh. Oh, and yes, Jealousy & A Jewelled Proposition is pretty aptly named. As the final book in our Diamonds Down Under continuity I got to tie off a few sneaky loose threads that had been unravelled through the continuity. It was great!

And many happies to Julie! Woohoo! I still remember meeting you in Reno a couple of years back. I've always loved your energy and your books. Your characters just leap off the page.

Virginia, oh yes, time to yourself is important, even if you have to schedule it into your daily planner. More soul food :-)

Jane, I've used that line in one of my books. It's very sage advice.

Dina said...

Yvonne, the advice from my daughter to Smile means more to me than anyone will know why, but it has has helped me out many times. :)

acdaisy95 said...

What a fabulous list of authors here today. Congratulations Kate on your next edition!

Julie - Hope you had a great birthday! The best advice given to me was to never give up.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe I don't own a copy of the First Edition of the 12 pt Guide! How did that happen?

Okay, okay. Scary Kate, Gill, Julie and Yvonne, you've convinced me. Shall rush out and get a copy of the 2nd edition asap.

Happy birthday, Julie. And the worse piece of advice I ever received (and I don't know why this is so either, but I love lists of worses more than I love lists of bests) It was given to me by my father who, when I told him I was going onto senior school, said "What do you want to do that for? You're only going to get married and have babies."

!!! Needless to say, I didn't follow said advice and leave school at 16.

Anonymous said...

Yvonnne - love the title.

Sue Child

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday Julie!!! The best peace of advise given to me is.
If at first you don't succeed try try again.

robynl said...

Happy Birthday Julie; it is my b'day also today. The sun is shining so it's a perfect day.

I love medical romances so everyone keep writing them.

My best piece of advice was 'stay true to yourself'. There is no need to go with the flow at certain times and one must listen to their convictions and stay true. Go against the grain(crowd) and don't worry that you are different.

Jan Jones said...

Great party, Kate.

Hi Julie - For inspirational advice, I quite like the one that goes - "before judging anyone, walk a mile in their shoes." (Because then, when you tell 'em those home truths, you're a mile away AND you've got their footwear)

Yvonne Lindsay said...

Oh Michelle, so your dad was a master of reverse psychology? I always think that's a bit risky with kids...you never know exactly what they're going to do or what they're going to quote back at you when you least want or expect it!

Virginia I lived your 'advice' for thirteen years until I sold my first book and even now not all my ideas are accepted. I'm a huge advocate of what acdaisy said about never giving up, but I love what crystalgb says about not letting your own fears and insecurities hold you back too. It's often not until we face our fears, or realise that we're the only person who sees them, that we liberate the talent within us.

Hmmm, Julie, you've provoked a very interesting discussion with your question. :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi everyone and thank you for the birthday wishes! I'm sorry I didn't get in here before but I was celebrating and then...well, recovering from celebrating. ;-)

Happy birthday Robyn! I hope yours was as great as mine was.

I can tell it's going to be difficult to choose a winner of the best advice (or, in Michelle's case, worst!).

Kate Walker said...

Hi everyone

My apologies - it loos as if I anbnounced my guests and then left them to it . Isn;t that the problem with parties - you can never enjoy your own?

I just wanted to say Hello to everyone and thank you for coming - what a great discussion is going on in here - and I love parties when people end up chatting

A special thank you to my lovely guests too - Yvonne and Julie, thank you for dropping in here

Life is pretty crazy for me at the moment - but I'll hope to keep dropping by and seeing what you're all talking about and see who wins the prizes!

Kate

Nathalie said...

For Julie... the best advice I have received is to always follow my dreams!

Thanks for this great lauch BTW!

Lily said...

Congrats Kate on your upcoming releases!

Julie, the best advice I was given comes from my mom who told be to always to do my best in everything I try... and to be satisfied with the result.

Kate Hardy said...

Umm - partying - apologies, I was out taking photographs for the current (nonfiction) book and as I've been on a screaming deadline the family slapped a ban on the computer, so didn't quite manage to make it here! Sorry, all, but it looks as if you've had a great time.

I think my best advice was from my mum: you can do ANYTHING if you try.

 

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