Happy Birthday PHS

It's not an overly good morning this morning.

I just spent the night from hell with a Babe Magnet with the flu - let's just say 'man flu' and leave it at that.

I wake from the little sleep I've had to the joys of sore throat and swollen glands . . . oh, and earache. Haven't had earache since I was a kid. Girl flu here I come!

My email is down for the nth time this week

I have a dreadline

Oh and the sky is grey and gloomy and Flora has left a dead pigeon on the lawn that someone (ie me - not the one with the man flu) will have to clear up.

But at least there is something to celebrate.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PINK HEART SOCIETY!

Yes, it's hard to believe but the little pink dancing man is 3

Three years of great blogs, Male on Mondays, wonderful book talk - and prizes.

And seeing as today is a special celebration day then there is a prize on offer today - a great big prize of enough great reading to keep even the most voracious reader going for a long time.

So why not go on over and visit the PHS blog, tell us what you most like about the blog, the site, the whole darn thing - and you could be in the running to win .

Good luck!

And I'll start on another round of hot lemon, honey and paracetamol

Cats and Birthdays

Yesterday was of course the Floozie's birthday. Today I'm posting photos of another cat to help a friend celebrate her birthday. It also makes for a quick post as I'm deep in the word mines and looking at a dreadline coming way too close.

Dylan doesn't get into the limelight as often as Sir Sidney or The Floozie. He is, it must be acknowledged, a small cat. But a small cat with a big character. He's a cat of little drama and not prone to pushing his way into people's lives. He waits quietly for you to notice him - which people always do.

Especially Biddy. Dylan with his one working eye and his rusty purr and his swaggering 'shoulder power' walk is Biddy's favourite of all the cats. And always has been.

And today is Biddy's Birthday. She's over on the Pink Heart Society celebrating with the delights of Male on Monday. So I'm helping her celebrate with these new photos of her other favourite male taken the other weekend when the sun shone and he was out in the garden lapping it up.

Happy Birthday Biddy!

And special thanks go to my dear friend Mama Duck who took these photos - with fabulous memories of a long warm late summer afternoon just talking. Now she's back in Spain and I miss her . Hugs, Duck!

Happy Birthday Flora

Today Flora the Floozie is two. She is the only cat I have whose exact birthday I know - both Sid and Dylan came to us as rescued strays/RSPCA orphans so I don't really know when their dates of birth might be.

But I do know about Flora - it says so on her pedigree certificate. Not that she lives up to her long, detailed pedigree. She's - as her breeder warned us - 'a terror', a wicked ragamuffin who has recently discovered a nest or some other point of supply of mice in the garden and who spends her evenings chasing up and down the lawn in pursuit of one. She's very disappointed when they 'break'.

And today she's two. So to celebrate she and the boys have had a special tin of salmon and then I tried to take an official birthday portrait. But the sun was shining, the garden was calling and she was just not into posing - even with the promise of some Greenies from Anne McAllister.

But we got there in the end. And here's the result.

So Happy Birthday Flora !

Walking and Thinking

I may have mentioned that most mornings I go for a walk - I call it walking to work' because without it I would probably settle at my desk and stay there and rarely, if ever cross over the threshold of my home.

So I go out and walk and then I know I can sit for hours if I want/need to and it won't matter. I've already done those magic 10,000 paces that the doctors tell us will keep us fit and healthy.

One of my favourite aspects of my walk is the fact that, being early in the morning, and so quiet before many people are up, I can spot wildlife and I also meet the dogs out for their walks - and their owners along with them. So this morning I saw the robins, hordes of magpies, a woodpecker, three squirrels and a whole family of rabbits.

Dog wise, there was the German Shepherd, several springer spaniels, the gorgeous golden labrador who was swimming in the park fountain, the gang of terriers who come with the lady in a mobility scooter (and they occasionally get a ride in the basket, specially the oldest one.) There were the two Dobermans and the big bearded collie with her owner who looks almost exactly like her. OK, she (the owner) doesn't have the beard but the curtain of streaked brown hair and the heavy fringe are so similar that I wonder if she thinks she'd looking in the mirror when she looks at her dog! There was my favourite cocker spaniel Ellie, and the smooth collie Tilly (I originally thought her owner called her Silly and believe me it fits perfectly!) and the Jack Russell who normally carries a stick about three times her size but today had picked up a conker and wasn't going to let it go.

The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the trees were just beginning to start to turn into their glorious autumnal colours. It wasa a great way to start the day.

The interesting thing is that I saw all these creatures and people and many of them - human and canine - said hello as we walked past each other. but none of them spotted the tall dark, brooding Greek with the scarred face who went on every inch of that walk with me, talking to me as we went.

Perhaps it's just as well, considering some of the things he was telling me!

Presents competition chat 2

If you missed the live chat with editor Joanne Grant yesterday on eHarlequin.com then you can find the transcript of the whole event here on the site today

It makes interesting reading

Presents Competition Chat

Remember that today, Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 11am EDT / 4pm GMT / 8am PDT is eHarlequin's live editor chat with Harlequin Presents editor Joanne Grant about the Harlequin Presents Writing Competition.

Joanne will be taking questions and telling you everything she's looking for in the line. You could join the ranks of previous winners Lynn Raye Harris whose debut novel, SPANISH MAGNATE, RED-HOT REVENGE, is coming out in 2009 from Harlequin Presents and Lucy King who sold her novel Damsel in Distress to Modern Heat.

This will be a live event held in the eHarlequin.com Community chat room — click here to get there when the time comes!

Bring your questions (just remember it’s a protocol chat — you alert the moderator that you have a question and she will tell you when it’s our turn to ask) or just follow along! Jayne from eHarlequin will be live-blogging on Harlequin Twitter using the hash tag #presentschat as well and will post the transcript sometime on our Community pages afterwards.

Loving my job

There are many reasons why I love my job.

What other job do I get to do in my pajamas and a face pack?
What other job 'forces' me to do hard and heavy research into gorgeous heroes and wonderful settings? (Though not the really really hard research that Anne McAllister is going to have to do this week - darn her! If you want to know what I'm talking about, check out her blog and suffer the pangs of jealousy with me.)
What other job lets me listen to the voices in my head, even talk back to them, and not get labelled totally crazy?

But this last week I've been reminded of one very special reason why I love this job. And that is the way that it lets me reach out to people who are thousands of miles away, maybe touch their lives for a moment or two, and hopefully brighten a darker moment or lift a lonely mood.

I can do this by writing the books that they read to ease the stress or the unhappiness of a day even when they never know who I am. And sometimes, on rather special occasions, being Kate Walker the writer helps me do that little bit more.

Some years ago, through the message boards over on eHarlequin.com, I came in touch with a lovely lady from Quebec called Brenda and we chatted a few times. Brenda worked in healthcare, with elderly people and she told me about one special old lady in particular - a lady called Vera.

Vera was, sadly, too much alone. She rarely saw her family or anyone else. But she loved to read. And one day Brenda saw one of my books on Vera's table. She was able to tell Vera that she knew me. The old lady didn't understand the internet or email communication but that didn't matter - she was thrilled to have met someone who knew one of her favourite authors.

Through Brenda's help I was able to pack up a couple of my books and send them out to Canada where Brenda gave them to her. This was back in May 2004 and I remember that Brenda wrote and told me about Vera's reaction. I still have the email about that as it is one of those special ones that I like to remember. So I know how pleased Vera was just to get the small package.

Here's how Brenda described that time:

Just had to let you know that I took the books etc to Vera last night when I was working. She was absolutely thrilled! You really made her day, Kate. Couldn't have been more perfectly timed because she failed her driver's test yesterday afternoon and was feeling rather low.

When I work an evening shift at the apts, I'm not due in to Vera's until around 6:30 but I went straight to her when the package when I got to work at 4:30. Later, she was knocking on apartment doors showing all her friends what she recieved and made a point of showing off your autograph on the books.

Sadly, the message I got from Brenda this last week was that Vera had died. Even though I never met her in person that saddened me but at the same time gave me a lovely feeling that I'd been able to reach out to her through my books and bring some joy into her life. Apparently she kept those books on her coffee table and told visitors that they were written by a 'dear friend.'

It's an experience that makes me think about fame and the power for good it can sometimes bring. It's my books that are famous - I'm just the person who sits at home and writes them. But it's a good feeling to know that because of those books, I can bring a little sunshine into someone's life when it's needed.

Rest in peace Vera - and Brenda if you're reading this, a special big hug to you for helping me with this. I know you miss Vera on a more personal level and the care you give to the elderly people in the apartments where you work is invaluable. Thank you for that too.

Writing holidays and such

Sharon Martin says it's all my fault. Well, I suppose I have to take the blame seeing as I'm the one who agrees to do all the events in the first place - and then I write about them on here and people read about them and . . .

So in the comments yesterday, Sharon said:

It's all your fault Kate. Well at least I think it's your fault as it can't possibly be mine. There I was just casually browsing the internet when I chanced upon a link to a writing holiday. Sounds like fun I thought. Wonder what that's about I pondered.One completed booking form later and an Amazon order for your 12 point guide and here I am, embarking on a new career!Thank you for a wonderful blog which is clearly inspirational as I am now over £400 poorer than I was last week. Wish me luck and I'll see you in Newport.

What can I say in return? Well - first of all, thank you Sharon! For buying the 12 Point Guide and thank you from Writers' Holidays for booking a place on next year's event. You'll have fun, I know you will. I always do - and I go there to 'work' (OK I have fun too!)

And you'll enjoy the food. Only last week at the AMBA lunch, I was talking to Gill (Roger) Sanderson and when the name Caerleon came up his immediate response was 'They feed you wonderfully there!'

I don't know what the Babe Magnet and I would do in the summer if we didn't go to Caerleon. And we're already looking forward to going again next summer. This time we have some special plans to introduce a very special friend and writer to this great conference - more on that when I know the details are finalised.

But thinking about Caerleon remind me that I haven't brought you all up to date with the courses, workshops etc that I'm doing in the coming year. I know they are all listed on the Events page on my web site but they get more notice on here and I know that Carol W didn't know about the Calderdale Writers' Roadshow until I blogged about it . Now she's booked up for a session with my husband!

And the Calderdale event is the first one -

CALDERDALE WRITING DAYS
Event: One to one sessions in the morning. I',m meeting writers and talking to them about their work

Workshop: My husband Stephen Wade will be running a workshop on Writing the Past 1-3pm

Date: Saturday 10 October

Venue: Halifax Central Library Northgate Halifax HX1 1UN

E-mail: libraries@calderdale.gov.uk Telephone: 01422 392630

BARNSLEY CENTRAL LIBRARY
Event: A Day of Crime and Passion in Barnsley Library

I will be talking about writing Romance and working for Harlequin Mills & Boon. My husband Stephen Wade will be talking about his True Crime books as well — one of us in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Date: Wednesday October 14th

Times: 10-12 am and 2-4 pm.

Venue:Barnsley Central Library Shambles St Barnsley, S70 2JF

Telephone: 01226 773911

FISHGUARD WRITING WEEKEND

Event: Weekend Residential Writing Course

Course – Writing Modern Romance

Dates: 19 – 21st February 2010

Venue: Fishguard Bay Hotel Quay Road Goodwick Fishguard Pembrokeshire SA64 0BT

Cost: £209

This Writing Weekend is run by the same fabulous people who run Caerleon Writers' Holidays and you can find the details of both events here.

RESIDENTIAL TRAINING

Event: a two day residential course on Writing Romance held in the beautiful surroundings of New Place Shirrell Heath, Southampton.

Dates: 24th - 25th April 2010

Venue: New Place, Shirrell Heath Southampton Hampshire SO32 2JH

Cost: £285 – includes 10 hours of training, double room, all meals, tea and coffee, internet and use of swimming pool/gym

Further details can be found here

WRITERS’ HOLIDAY AT CAERLEON

25th July - 30th July 2010
Once again I’ll be going back to one of my favourite places and taking part in the Writers’ Holiday at Caerleon 2010.
I will be teaching a five part course on The 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance.

Further details and booking forms can be found here: http://www.writersholiday.net/

Cost: £399
Book online and save £10!

I've also had enquiries in the last week from Sheffield libraries and Walsall libraries about talks on romance or Crime and Passion events so watch for details on those.

And for the would-be writers out there, specially the ones who are planning on entering the Harlequin Presents Writing Competition 2009 - then make a note in your diearies for a very special event coming this week.

Wednesday, Sept 23rd, 11am EDT eHarlequin.com is hosting a live chat for you! The editors are coming to you to give you plenty of time to get your questions answered and your submissions in, so don't miss this chance!

You can find all the details here and if you miss the chat then a transcript will be posted later. So if you have questions, why not post them now - and log on to join in the chat on Wednesday.

And Sharon, I'll see you in Newport, Carol and Joanne in Halifax - and Rachel in Southampton!

Back home and catching up

I'm sure that life accelerates or something when you go away. Certainly, when I come back I always find that I have what seemes like twice as much to catch up with as normal.



But I'm back and I'm catching up after a fun and hectic visit to London. A visit that seemed to consist of talking, eating, drinking and more talking. But then that's what I go to AMBA etc for.


From the moment the Babe Magnet and I arrived in London (in the pouring rain - how did that happen? We left sunshine behind in Lincolnshire) it was a rush to cram everything in. The Magnet was busy researching his upcoming books - the Zulu war, artist Thomas Rowlandson who, The Magnet was thrilled to discover, was born in a street just behind the hotel we stayed in. And I was busy - well, busy lunching and dining and talking . . .



There was a wonderful relaxed lunch at Sharon Kendrick's lovely home, together with a roll call of Presents/Modern authors - Penny Jordan, Susan Stephens, Abby Green, Chantelle Shaw, Sabrina Philips. Many of the same authors plus some more (Jacqueline Baird, Margaret Mayo, India Grey, Natalie Rivers, Christina Hollis) all came together for dinner that evening - and again for the Assoication of Mills & Boon Authors lunch in Tuttons, Covent Garden the next day.



The lunch was organised with wonderful efficiency by Historical novelist Michelle Styles and you can read her account of the event over on Tote Bags and Blogs . It was wonderful to catch up with old friends, meet new authors Lucy King (Modern Heat) and Lucy Ashford (Historical) and congratulate them on their first sales.



Documentary maker Julie Moggan whose film project on Mills & Boon I mentioned way back in the centenary year was there filming the event for part of her documentary on the company which has grown from the small affectionate piece she originally planned to a major record of the worldwide phenomenon that is Harlequin Mills & Boon. She is off to Japan and India soon to add to the details she is collating. She persuaded some authors (myself included ) to do pieces to the camera. My mind went blank when confronted by the camera and microphone but I managed to say something and hope I didn't make a complete idiot of myself. I understand that the final project is planned t be shown in July next year.



After the AMBA lunch there was a special Toast to all the authors provided by HMB where presentations were made to mark Mary Masters' 50th title, Margaret Mayo's 75th - and Carole Mortimer's amazing 150th title!


I managed to forget to take my camera so the pictures I have here are thanks to lovely Liz Fielding who took the photo of myself and Kate Hardy - and someone (sorry I don't recall who) who snapped me with - on the left Sharon Kendrick and right (in black and white) Nina Harrington who last year was celebrating her very first acceptance.



The journey home was exhausting and expensive. A fatality on the line meant that all the trains were slowed and held up as they investigated - then ours was finally taken out of service so we were all turfed out on to the platform to wait for a train to Sheffield. This cost us extra as our tickets were advance train-specific ones. Then the train to Sheffield didn't stop at Sheffield because of all the delays. So we had to get another train to Sheffield and another one from Sheffield home - result a 7 hour journey instead of a 3 hour one. At least we were travelling with the wonderful Susan Stephens so between us we managed to make the best of a bad job and at least had some fun and laughter as we chatted through the worst of the delays.



So now I'm back home and working my way through the list of things to do to get up to date again. I've had some lovely emails while I was away, including a great message from the winner of the Summer Sizzler Contest I shared with Michelle Reid - she won a signed copy of Kept For Her Baby and wrote to tell me that she loved it:



Thought it was quite a risky topic area you tackled for Mills and Boon and you managed to capture it well, whilst keeping within Mills and Boon parameters - for that alone you get a gold star! More importantly, as a health visitor who has worked with many women with post natal depression, and a few unfortunate women who suffered post natal/partum psychosis (don't believe the facts - its not as rare as its made out to be!) I thought you gave credibility to the fear the women have of harming their children, how jumbled their thoughts can be, and how difficult it is to explain their feelings. Bravo Kate!



As the subject of the book made it quite a tricky one to write, I was thrilled to get this wonderful response.


Oh yes - and while I was at the Author Toast, I had some good news about an upcoming publication in the UK that I'll share with you when I have all the details to let you know.

On the road again

I'm dashing in to wave and say Hi before I set off on my travels again. This time I'm heading for London where I'll be attending the Association of Mills & Boon Authors' annual lunch on Thursday and also joining a group of Modern Romance/Presents authors for lunch at the home of Sharon Kendrick tomorrow. And many of us will be having dinner together that evening.

It's going to be a great opportunity to catch up with everyone, meet the new writers who have joined the Mills & Boon family since last year, eat lovely food. Even drink a little wine.

Sid, Dylan and Flora the Floozie will be well taken care of when Danny their favourite cat-sitter takes charge. (Who was it who asked what happened if the furs didn't get their favourite cat sitter? Well, the answer is that they tolerate the alternative - ie The Offspring because he does feed them after all. But they prefer Danny as he lives just 3 doors away and they can go and bang on his bedroom window if they think he's late with dinner!)

I'll be back for the weekend. But if you need a blog fix before then - and specially if you're interested in writing and maybe enetering the Mills & Boon Writing Contest, I have a craft post over on the Pink Heart Society blog tomorrow.

See you soon!

Free books . . .

Now there's a phrase to excite any reader - Free books.

The books in question are 10 free Mills & Boon ebooks.

To celebrate Mills & Boon 1st anniversary of producing ebooks in Britain, they are giving away 10 free books -- one from each series.

The full list is:

INTRIGUE: Diagnosis: Danger by Marie Fariella

MODERN: Mistress Hired for the Billionaire's Pleasure by India Grey

HISTORICAL: The Rake's Unconventional Mistress by Juliet Landon

MODERN HEAT: Pleasure, Pregnancy and a Proposal by Heidi Rice

MEDICAL: The Midwife's Little Miracle by Fiona McArthur

ROMANCE: Adopted Outback Baby by Barbara Hannay (a 2009 Rita finalist)

SPECIAL MOMENTS: Father Material by Kimberley Van Meter

MIRA: Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

BLAZE: The Player by Rhonda Nelson

DESIRE:The Billionaire's Baby Negotiation by Day Leclaire

You can find out more at: http://www.everyonesreading.com/

There is also competition to win a Sony Itouch reader.

And don't forget that the special free books download offer to mark Harlequin's 60th celebration is still on - with a set of completely different books to grab.

You can find the details of that offer here

Reviews and Fan Mail

I've had visitors staying so my time to reach the computer has been limited but everyone's still asleep so I'm catching up a bit.

I'll start with the fan mail - no, not fan mail for me but . . . well, you know A Certain Cat who has a purrsonality all of his own and who tends to be a Star in this blog? The one who picks all the prize winners? Yes Sid the Cat - a Cat of Superior Breeding. Well, he receieved a parcel yesterday. A parcel of goodies from his biggest fan in the whole world - his favourite Lady Across the Pond Anne McAllister.

Anne had found the most appropriate gift for ACOSB - a food bowl. In fact, as Sid himself would say, it was A Bowl of Substance. And what's more, if bore the label ' Bad to the Bone'. Obviously describing The Cat himself.

Sid is delighted with this - particualarly because if is a bowl that will take a sunstantial amount of food. He defends it from all comers, particularly The Floozie and is happy to eat his meals from it.

Thank you again Anne!

The review however was mine - a lovely review for Kept For Her Baby that was sent to me from Cataromance and written by the lovely Julie Bonello. Julie has been a reader and reviewer of my books for so many years that I'm always slightly nervous when I send her a new novel. I would hate to disappoint her! But luckily she loved Kept For Her Baby and she wrote a fabulous review of it. Here's just a little bit of it:

Kate Walker's latest Modern Romance, Kept for Her Baby, is a superbly emotional and highly poignant tale of unforgettable passion and devastating choices that, once again, kept me in thrall from beginning to end! In Kept for Her Baby, Kate Walker has written a powerful tale imbued with sensuality and pathos that had me reaching for the tissues and kept me engrossed and frantically turning the pages in the early hours of the morning.

Kate Walker’s name on a book cover is a surefire guarantee of high quality romantic fiction and her legions of readers will certainly lap up this enthralling tale from one of Mills and Boon’s most outstanding writers!

You can read the rest of the review here.

Thank you so much Julie! I'm as delighted with the review as Sid is with his bowl.

Busy (so what's new?)

The Babe Magnet and I spent yesterday in Todmorden doing one-to-ones with writers as part of the Calderdale Writers' Roadshow. We had a lot of fun, met some old friends, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The lunch laid on was fabulous.

This is the second of these Roadshows we've been part of (we had to miss one because we were away - at Caerleon Writers' Holidays ) and we've had a great time. The last event is next month, in Halifax which is a bit special as this is where I grew up. It's going to be a real nostalgic journet. The Babe Magnet is doing a workshop on Writing the Past and, as at Todmorden, I'll be doing one-to-ones with anyone who wants to discuss their work in detail. (Waves to Joanne - hope you'll make it!). There's an interesting line up of other authors there too.

And I've just - with the help of lovely Heather from We Write Romance (congratulations on your fabulous five years at WWR Heather!) - updated my web site to list everything that's coming up - including the publication of Kept For Her Baby and the 3 in 1 By Request I'd forgotten about - Chosen By The Greek Tycoon - which has a reprint of The Antonakos Marriage in it if you missed it the first time round.

Oh and today I'm blogging over on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs all about the new academic year and how I'm trying to get organised! Got any good tips for me? I need them as I've just been approached about doing another couple of talks/events in libraries early next year. So if you have any great getting organised advice, I'd love to hear it over there. There's a signed copy of Kept For Her Baby on offer for the best one.

Day Brighteners

It's wet - no - change that - it's WET!

We are having huge thunderstorms and violent downpours - no Indian summer here!
I spent yesterday with my computer switched off more than I had it on. Thunder. Lightning. Savage rain.

The cats came in soaked through and with muddy paws leaving prints everywhere . (My apologies to the latest RNA New Writers' Scheme submission I'm reading - there are Flora pawprints all over one page!) I went to bed to the sound of rain lashing againt the windows, woke up in the night to hear it doubled in strength - and now this morning it's even heavier!

And I'm supposed to be writing about hot, sunny Greece

But this morning's quick internet survey brought me news that brightened the grey and miserable morning and made me smile -

Over on eHarlequin, the Presents EXTRA edition of Kept For Her Baby (which isn't out in the shops until October) is riding high on their Top Ten Bestsellers List both in print format and ebook. In fact it's at #1 on the ebooks listing already!

I haven't actually seen this book on the bookshop shelves here in the UK yet but the Babe Magnet and I are at the Calderdale Libraries Writers' Roadshow in Todmorden on Saturday so I hope to spot some available then.

And then on Amazon.com the new edition of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance is at #2 on the list of bestselling books on writing romance . (Actually #1 is 'Emmanuel's Book II - The Choice For Love - which isn't exactly a writing how to book!)

So that's cheered me and made me mind a bit less about the rain. Though I just wish the nice news would do something to help protect me from the downpour as I venture out into it for my morning walk! And I want to send a very special Thank You to everyone who has bought a copy of either of these books to give them these great ratings so early in their publication history. You have really made my day.

PS Lovely though the rating on Amazon.com is - don't forget that the USA edition of the 12 Point Guide should really only cost you $19.99. So just to remind you - if you print out the following details and take them to your local Borders, B&N etc you should get it for that price -

Please order: KATE WALKER'S 12 POINT GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANCE

Author: Kate Walker
ISBN: 978-1842851319
Price : $19.99

Studymates Publishing
Chicago Distribution Center
11030 S. Langley Ave.
Chicago, IL 60628
Phone: 773-702-7000

Fax 773-702-721212

Right, I'm off out into the rain - I may need to start thinking about getting enough wood to build an ark!

WH 2 and other stuff - like contest winners!

Thank you all for your comments on the latest production of Wuthering Heights. I was glad to know that others agreed with me - having read some surprisingly (to me) positive reviews for thge programme. But then that's one of the things about books and dramas - and particularly about adaptations. Some work for some people and miss completely for others. I should know. The Modern Romance/Presents line comes up against this problem all the time.

I did watch the second part of Wuthering Heights but I was disappointed with that too. It was strange because there were some times when the actor who played Heathcliff showed real power - and then other times that I found myself thinking that there is a big difference between playing some who is 'stony -faced' and looking as emotional as a brick wall.

For me, the major problem ended up being the script. It really wasn't an adaptation of Wuthering Heights but a reworking and whether you love the original book or hated it, that was what Emily Bronte wrote so taking major liberties with the story/characters/events isn't a dramatisation of her novel. It's a whole new concept. And one that just didn't work for me. But then it was advertised as a drama of the greatest love stories of all time so that's what they tried to make it.

It's September 1st so that means that Sid has been busy picking a winner's name for the Summer Sizzler contest. Obviously he and Michelle Reid's husband are in psychic contact becasue they both picked the same name - so Susan Wilson from Ayrshire is very definitely the winner. I sent Sid back to the crunchie choosing (he didn't object) and this time he picked out the name of Summer Halls from Canada.

So Susan and Summer both win a signed copy of my September book Kept For Her Baby and Michelle's Marchese's Forgotten Bride. Congratulations to both of you and your prizes will be in the mail asap.

Finally, if you're interested in writing for Presents and have plans to enter the current Presents Writing Competition (and I know plenty of you are) then you'll want to head over to Lynn Raye Harris's blog where she's running a series of posts that could help you.

Lynn of course won the Instant Seduction writing competition last year and her winning boko - Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge was published in August (you can probably still find copies around if you missed it) Lynn is posting hints and advice under the title So You Want to Write For Harlequin Presents, staring with the very basic - and important - why do you want to write for Presents. And today she has a great post on the Alpha hero. All the posts are well worth reading - and not just because she recommends reading some book called The 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance. So why not go and take a look and maybe join in the discussion.

Tell Lynn the 'divine' Kate sent you . . . ;o)