Final reminder . . .

You have under 24 hours to bid in the Brenda Novak Online Auction for Diabetes Research.

. . . My contribution is still open - like the rest of the auction - just.

If you've forgotten what's on offer, here's what I've donated to the Auction

1. Critique of a partial aimed at Harlequin Presents

Do you dream of becoming a published romance author? Do you want to write for Harlequin Mills & Boon Modern Romance/Harlequin Presents? If so, this is a unique opportunity to have your work critiqued by Kate Walker, one of its best-selling, award-winning and most famous authors with 25 years of publication and 56 titles to her name! Kate Walker is also the author of not one but two amazing guides how to write romantic fiction.

The winner of this bid will receive:Critique of a partial (first 3 chapters and a synopsis) of the manuscript aimed at Harlequin Mills & Boon Modern Romance/Harlequin Presents by Kate Walker. Do not miss this great opportunity!

2. Kate Walker's Reader and Writer's Basket
The winner of this bid will receive autographed books from award-winning and Harlequin Presents bestselling author Kate Walker:12 POINT GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANCE

THE STRAIGHTFORWARD GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANTIC FICTION

A great selection of Kate Walker's novels:

THE KONSTANTOS MARRIAGE DEMAND (Presents Extra March 2010)

KEPT FOR HER BABY (Presents Extra October 2009)CORDERO'S FORCED BRIDE (Harlequin Presents February 2009)

THE ALCOLAR FAMILY TRILOGY in one volume (Mills & Boon By Request Reprint)

BEDDED BY THE GREEK BILLIONAIRE (Harlequin Presents November 2008)

All books are packed into one of her fabulous Kate Walker Tote Bags.
Bonus: Kate Walker pen.

You can find full details and bidding here

My thanks to the two current highest bidders who have helped me make a great donation to this worthy cause.

The auction ends tonight.

Harlequin Sale

I mentioned this a couple of days ago - so if you buy books from eHarlequin (or would just like to get a really good bargain!) then this Buy One Get One Free offer is available now until May 31st

Happy Birthday Big Sister!

From time to time I mention birthdays of people - fellow writers, friends etc. But today is the birthday of a special member of my family. I haven't mentioned her much - so today I'm going to remedy that and say Happy Birthday to my sister Tisha.

She's my big sister - the eldest of the five of us. (There's another sister between us in age and two younger ones)and she's quite a few years older than me but, dang it, she never looks it. Her real name is Laetitia - but from a very early age, lots of little sisters couldn't get their tongue round that so Tisha is the name most people know her by.

Growing up she was a great big sister to have - she introduced me to the theatre - she acted in the local drama group - and treated me to my very first ever visit to a London theatre. That was to the West End production of Camelot. That was when I visited her in her flat in London when she letme borrow makeup, her magazines (after she'd read them) and just occasionally her clothes.

We share a great love of books - Lord of the Rings and Jodi Picoult of just two of the wide range of books we've shared. When I was first trying to write she as the only member of the family who knew about my first attempts, the fact that I had been invited up to London to talk about the possible publication of The Chalk Line all tjose years ago.

She's lived in places that were such fun to visit - Oxford, London - and later Canada (Toronto) and Australia (Tasmania) and I've been able to visit her in all those. When we visited Tasmania in 2004, she helped me achieve an ambition to get to hug a baby wombat. It's not every sister who you can say that about. She's been a radiographer, done a degree (more than one) in Anthropology, and is really Doctor Tisha because of her Ph D. She has a wicked sense of humour and we often share the giggles over the most ridiculous things. And she's as cat-mad as I am. Her Daisy has to share the house with many starys in need of love and a good meal.

Sadly, the fact that she does now live in Tasmania means that she's too far away to visit very often but we do manage phone calls and there's always email. I just wish she was closer so that I could go ad wish her a Happy Birthday in person - but this will have to do

Happy Birthday big sister! I hope you had a wonderful day - and here's to many many more!

Just to remind you

. . . My contribution to Brenda Novak's Auction for Diabtete Research is still open - like the rest of the auction - for another week.

If you've forgotten what's on offer, here's what I've donated to the Auction

1. Critique of a partial aimed at Harlequin Presents

Do you dream of becoming a published romance author? Do you want to write for Harlequin Mills & Boon Modern Romance/Harlequin Presents? If so, this is a unique opportunity to have your work critiqued by Kate Walker, one of its best-selling, award-winning and most famous authors with 25 years of publication and 56 titles to her name! Kate Walker is also the author of not one but two amazing guides how to write romantic fiction.

The winner of this bid will receive:
Critique of a partial (first 3 chapters and a synopsis) of the manuscript aimed at Harlequin Mills & Boon Modern Romance/Harlequin Presents by Kate Walker. Do not miss this great opportunity!


2. Kate Walker's Reader and Writer's Basket

The winner of this bid will receive autographed books from award-winning and Harlequin Presents bestselling author Kate Walker:
12 POINT GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANCE
THE STRAIGHTFORWARD GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANTIC FICTION
A great selection of Kate Walker's novels:
THE KONSTANTOS MARRIAGE DEMAND (Presents Extra March 2010)
KEPT FOR HER BABY (Presents Extra October 2009)
CORDERO'S FORCED BRIDE (Harlequin Presents February 2009)
THE ALCOLAR FAMILY TRILOGY in one volume (Mills & Boon By Request Reprint)
BEDDED BY THE GREEK BILLIONAIRE (Harlequin Presents November 2008)
All books are packed into one of her fabulous Kate Walker Tote Bags.

Bonus: Kate Walker pen.

You can find full details and bidding here

The Hecks are back

We have had some wonderful warm and sunny weather over the past couple of days, in contrast to the cold and chill winds that have been blowing at the start of the week. So spring is very definitely here.

And as evidence of that, the Hecks - the family of hedgehogs who live at the bottom of the garden, have emerged from hibernation and are once more roaming about underneath the shrubs and amongst the plants.

First the Babe Magnet spotted a prickly creature at the far end of the lawn, and then, encouraged by the fact that I had put out scraps of unwanted cat meat (their favourite chicken varity - the Hecks' favourite, that it, not just the cats!) the bigger ones ventured closer to the house.

Then when we went to bed, leaving the windows open because of the warmth meant that we heard the familiar snuffling and grunting as these little creatures munched on chicken and cat crunchies. It's good to have them back and to know that we still have a family of hedgehogs as we had since we moved into this house 21 years ago. Those snuffling noises also mean they are getting ready to create new baby hedgehogs so hopefully the generations will continue - and I'll look forward to seeing some mini Hecks in the near future.

Where did the week go?

Is it just me or do you find that if you go away it takes longer to catch up than you were actually away for?

We had a wonderful weekend with Michelle Reid and her husband - the sun shone, we walked by the sea, ate wonderful meals, talked, laughed, talked some more. Michelle gave me an advance copy of her upcoming book - Mia's Scandal. This is the launch book for a new continuity The Balfour Legacy that starts in July. I'll have more info on that in a while and Michelle and I will be running a joint contest to mark the publication of our next books.

Mine of course will be The Good Greek Wife? and that's part of the mini-series The Greek Tycoons which has the shout line - Legends are Made of Men Like These! Some of the other books in the series are already out now and they are:

The Greek Tycoon's Achilles Heel by Lucy Gordon

The Power of the Legendary Greek by Catherine George

A Good Greek Wife? will be out in July

and the fourth book in the series will be

Powerful Greek, Housekeeper Wife by Robyn Donald (coming in September)

These dates are the UK ones. The first two books are out in Presents EXTRA in June and my book and Robyn's will also be Presents EXTRA in October.

Of course if you can't wait till then and you haven't already ready it, there's my other Greek book The Konstantos Marriage Demand still available on eHarlequin or Amazon. And as a sneak preview of good news, if you're buying from eHarlequin, from May 26th - May 31st they're running a BOGOF (buy one get one free) sale - so you could get twice the number of books for your money!

If you're in America, have you noticed the changes that have happened in the Presents line-up lately? This is how it was announced over on I Heart Presents:

On another note I wanted to talk to you, our most avid fans, about a recent change that you may have noticed within the Harlequin Presents line. In the month of May there are a few less Presents stories available than you may be used to, instead of 8 titles per month we will now be publishing 6 titles each month. We decided on this change for a few different reasons as we felt very strongly that we weren’t being fair to our authors or readers; with so many titles out there we noticed it was becoming difficult for our readers to keep up and we didn’t want anyone to miss out on any of the fantastic stories that were being offered.

The other change in the line-up is that the Presents titles that were originally Modern Heat/Harlequin Sexy in the UK and Australia will now be brought out in special collections in Presents Extra in America.

There will still be 4 Harlequin Presents Extras on-sale mid-month. Two of these will be regular Presents titles and two of them will be books that have been published in Modern Heat in the UK - these will now appear in their separate 'collection' in the Presents Extra instead of being in the first strand of publication when it wasn't easy to tell which ones had this rather different editorial content.

You should be able to tell them more simply now with the titles to the collections - Modern Heats will be in the ones with titles like Sex in The City/P.S. I'm Pregnant/Conveniently Wedded . . .And Bedded

And the traditional Presents authors' books will be in collections like: The Greek Tycoons/Her Irresistible Boss/British Bachelors. So there will still be 8 great 'traditional' Presents books each month - just split over the two lines.

Will this help you find the type of books you're looking for? And American readers - are you finding it easy to get hold of copies of the Presents Extras you want? OR even to get the info on which books are out in that line-up each month?

Oh yes - and talking about changes - there are some coming up in the UK lines as well. The number of books in the Modern line will be reduced to 8 - 4 in each two-weekly line-up and there are some BIG changes coming in the way the books will look.

I can't tell you more just yet but watch this space and you'll find out . . . (but looking at Michelle's book cover up above should give you a clue)

Neither Here nor There

I'm writing this from another writer's desk - the desk of Michelle Reid in her cottage in the Lake District.

The Babe Magnet are spending the weekend here to celebrate our (Michelle and mine) birthdays. We've just walked all round the village and along the sea fron so no it's time to relax with a cup of tea and our feet up.

Because it's the 15th of the month, it's the day that I blog in Kate's Corner over at We Write Romance. So while I'm chatting with Michelle perhaps you'd like to join me over there?

It's going to be murder

Lincoln Book Festival opens today and runs till the 16th May. I'm not actually involved this year but tonight - in my other role as Mrs Babe Magnet - I will be accompanying Stephen Wade crime and history author to a special Murder Mystery dinner which is a sponsored fringe evenmt to the festival. Several local authors and crime writers will each be hosting tables so my friend Karen Maitland,together with Stephen Booth and RJ Ellory will also be there. We're supposed to be doing some 'sleuthing' as well - not sure what that will involve! Will report later.

I'll also be able to take the opportunity to see if there are any copies of Claimed By The Sicilian still available in Lincoln. It officially leaves the bookshop shelves this week but I was delighted to see that it's at #1 in the By Request Bestsellers list on Amazon.co.uk. (Overseas readers who would like a copy of this book can order it with free international postage from The Book Depository)

I'd like to send a thank you to those who have already bid on the lots I've donated to the Brenda Novak auction for Diabetes Research. I'm thrilled to see that the bidding has been busy - but there's still time if you're interested in trying to buy either my Readers' and Writer's Basket or a critique of a partial (3 chapters) and a synopsis of a novel aimed at Harlequin Presents.

I'm back . . .

And I had awonderful weekend. The Babe Magnet definitely gets big brownie points for this. Two nights in a lovely country house style hotel with a spa, swimming pool. large grounds . . . The Offspring and his lovely partner joined us too so we have the whole weekend together.

I swam, I had a massage and a facial, lovely meals, I drank a little wine . . .It was fabulous. And I came back feeling a few years younger instead of older!

Oh yes - and that book - well, in my birthday post there was my very first ever manga edition of one of my books. I've wanted to see one of these for ages so to have the first one delivered on my birthday was just fantastic. Fascinating too to see my story - At The Sheikh's Command - told in this very special stylised format. Some bits of it, I could tell exactly which scenes were being illustrated - others. . . well - no . . .

So now to round off the birthday celebrations - a couple more prize giveaways - the names Sid has picked this time are:
Romy and
Linda C

Oh - and Host - you need to claim a prize from over on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs.

So if you could all email me I'll sort out a prize for you all - and thank you to everyone who sent brithday greetings here or privately - I had a wonderful celebration. Thank you so much for joining in

Thank you . .

To everyone who sent me special messages and ecards etc for my birthday - I'm having a lovely day in fact I'm dashing this off as the Babe Magnet's present to me is a command to pack a bag for 2 nights and we're about to set off for who knows where.

I am having a lovely day and I'll catch up when I get back including telling you all about a rather special book that has just arrived from M&B

But now I'm off on a magical mystery tour

Teenagers . . .

Ok - no - not really. I don't actually have any teenagers living at home. My son is well past that stage. But after yesterday, I feel as if I have a furry teenaged daughter causing trouble at home.

You guessed - Princess Flora Flooziebelle is now almost grown up and busy demanding that she gets things HER way all the time. It began when Judy Theobald came for the Radio Lincolnshire interview. Flora strolled in, inspected the newcomer, investigated her handbag, rooting round in it to see if there was anything worth having in there, then tried for some of the coffee and biscuits that had been provided.

Told to get off the table, she decided to jump on Sid and Dylan - particularly Dylan who she rode around the room until he was rescuded by the Magnet. Bored now, she flicked her tail at everyone in a real 'Whatever!' gesture, knocked a couple of teaspoons on to the floor, and went to the french door, demanding to be let out. Thinking this would bring us some peace, we let her go.

Peace? We were in the middle of the interview when she came back to the door with a couple of her boyfriends from down the road. These two - a handsome black gentleman and a big grey tabby - are arch-rivals for her attention and in a very short space of time the recording of the interview was interrupted by growls, snarls and hisses as the boys had a face off over who was going to spend time with the Floozie. I'm sure some of the fracas ended up on the recording so you might even catch a hint of it in the interview if you listen in.

Once 'the boys' had been sent on their way, Madame obviously felt she wasn't getting enough attention and so she went away for a little while and came back to the (luckily closed) glasss doors with a very large very dead bird in her mouth. I think she thought it was a better offer for our guest than a few paltry biscuits.

Once Judy had left, I went back to my office to get back to work. Flora followed me but very soon the appeal of watching the cursor move across the screen palled and she resorted to that regular adolescent complaint of 'I'm BORED!'

So she went out into the garden again. She knows she is supposed to be inside for the night when darkness falls, but not this night. She was far too busy playing with the first of the hedgehogs who had appeared - oh, and the boys were back.

She finally sauntered in at around midnight, but only then because it had turned very cold and there was a bit of warmth inside. Oh, and where was supper? I barely managed to bite back the words 'Amd what time do you call this?' If we thought that was it, we were deluded. We had barely got to sleep before she started chasing Dylan around the house, bounding up and down the stairs and running across our bed.

This morning she's the picture of sweetness and innocence, elegant and beautiful as can be. And the wicked ragamuffin who was roaming in the darkness has vanished under the perfect grooming she can display when she wants to.

Hmmm . . . sounds a lot like my latest heroine. Perhaps I should call her Flora!

Two birthday week winners this morning because there was no one new to pick on Tuesday - so would Jill and Robyn L please email me with your postal address and I'll sort out the prizes.

Mary and the two Denises, if you are visiting here today, your prizes are in the mail to you .

And of course if you live in the UK there's a General Election today so it's time to get out there and vote. It's going to be fascinating to see what the government of this country looks like by the time my birthday actually dawns.

And the answer is . . .

So yesterday I had avery quick (blink and you'll miss it) interview with Radio Kent - and that question came up again.

No, not the 'formula' one. Or even the 'How many of those do you churn out . . .' one. No this was the even more basic, even more frequently repeated one:

'Why do you think these books are so popular.'

So I gave the interviewer some answers - like the fact that they are about relationships and we are all fascinated by relationships. That they are about couples/people . . .ditto. They are 'comfort reads' where you know that you are going to get a happy ending and not be left disappointed. They deal in universal themes, appeal to international audiences. They are women's reads, easy to pick up and get into when you're tired, pressed for time . . .

But then I checked out some newspapers on-line and there was another major reason. Yet another celebrity - a TV star this time - admitting to having cheated on his wife, the mother of his children. He wanted to be open and honest, he said. He had been irresponsible.


Irresponsible? He'd been unfaithful. And apparently he was only admitting it now because his mistress had threatened to reveal all. (And there's 'mistress' used in the 'bit on the side' meaning, not the 'just his lover/not married partner ' romance type of meaning.)

And there's another reason why romances are popular. Readers want to know that it is possible to work through problems, weather the inevitable storms, dig deep into what brought you together in the first place and overcome the temptations/boredom/fights that inevitable come up along the way. They want to know that liars and cheaters are not heroes - not for me anyway. They want to feel that love and faithfulness can last and not be destroyed because a younger model/ glamorous other woman - any other woman is available. Tiger Woods, Ashley Cole, John Terry, Mark Owen . . . the list grows every day. And to be honest, I'm tired of reading about them. I'd much rather read stories like this one about childhood sweethearts who eloped to get married as teens become Britain's youngest golden anniversary couple.

Or read romances that show couples working through things and finding the real value in a relationship. It always makes me smile - wryly - when romance writers are given a bad press for giving readers an unrealistic image of love and marriage. Hmm . . . That probably comes from someone who hasn't read one but who 'knows' the books are just full of roses/chocolates/and women being swept off their feet by billionaires.

My books are about couples doing the working things through thing.

That's one of the reasons why I write them. And why I read them.

What about you? Why do you read romance? Why do you think they are so popular? I still have some prize books to give away in the birthday celebrations week. So I'd love to hear from you.

Oh - and talking of interviews - today the Babe Magnet and I had another(much longer) interview with Judy Theobald from Radio Lincolnshire - and we ended up talking about, and looking back on some of the major rows we'd had in 37 + years we've been together. So yes, I do believe it can happen. You can hear the interview on Sunday at 1.00 pm if you're interested. We also talked about writing and books and other things.

Today I'm talking about . . .

Some days I can sit here at my desk and it's just me and the keyboard. Perhaps a cat or two. Then at other times the world comes knocking, usually in the form or request for interview etc and this usually happens when Harlequin Mills & Boon are in the news for some reason or other and then people want to find out more.

So today I've already agreed to two interviews. One with Radio Kent and one with Radio Lincolnshire.

The Kent one is today at about 1.50 - I'm assuming that's on the Pat Marsh show seeing as it was their producer who contacted me. The reason for the interest this time is the story that historic Ham House is celebrating its 400th anniversary and as part of the celebrations, the house will feature in a M&B Historical novel Scandalous Innocent by Juliet Landon. If you have time to listen on the site, the interview is timed for 1.50 pm. Or it should be available on the listen again facility.

The second interview for Radio Lincolnshire is for the Judy Theobald show. Her Sunday show is focusing on the written world as a prelude to the Lincoln Book Festival which launches on May 12th. Judy will be interviewing the 'husband and wife team' - Kate Walker and the Babe Magnet in his role as Stephen Wade author of history, true crime and the 'grim and gruesome.' This will probably be broadcast on Sunday May 9th at around 1pm.

And now for some birthday winners - on Sunday Sid picked Mary from the comments. Monday's winner is Amanda Holly - so will Mary and Amanda please email me with yur postal address and I'll organise that prize for you.

. . .and again

Today I'm out and about again - blogging over on the Pink Heart Society site.

As it's Monday, my topic is the famous Male on Monday slot - but I've been greedy today and not limited myself to just one male but a type of man that sets my pulse rate pounding.

And if it's greedy, well it's my birthday this week so I indulge myself a little - can't I?

Talking of birthdays I want to send very special birthday greetings to one of my very special friends, and a real favourite writer of romances I just love to read

Happy Birthday Michelle Reid!

Michelle and I hope to celebrate our joint birthdays next week when the Babe Magnet and I will travel to visit her in her gorgeous cottage in the Lake Distract. But for now I'll just send my best possible birthday wishes.

And as it's a week for celebrations, I'm giving away a book a day to someone who posts a comment - so why not join in and maybe you'll be celebrating too.

Blogging about again

It's the first Sunday of May today - and regular visitors will know that that means that today I'm guest blogging elsewhere - over on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs to be precise.

I'm talking about a special event that's coming up later this week.

And because of thatI'll be celebrating a bit here on my blog - and for me celebrating means sharing with my readers so why not call back through the week and see if you can end up celebrating too?