Charlie's Diary - One Year on

This should have been posted at the weekend, but  my Mum was busy with blog tours and such and I was busy helping her pick winners. I've enjoyed  doing that as I have eaten a lot of cat treats over the past few weeks - there have been so many of you entering  her contests  that I've had a good  time eating treats and picking winners. 

My Mum  asked her newsletter group to let to her know what you most wanted her to blog about and it seems that LOTS of you asked to know how  Charlie was getting on - well, naturally I suppose. I am a superstar  -and I'm getting very good at picking winners. (Not as good as the late great Cat of Superior Breeding Sir Sid - but I'm working on it.) Anyway, seeing as lots of you asked, Mum said that I had better write a blog post to let you all know what's going on in Charlie-world.  So here I am.

So - on Saturday it was a whole year since I came to live in my forever home here, And  it's been great.  I love it here. I have a great bed - but I prefer to sleep with Mum and the Babe Magnet - though  the Magnet takes up more than his fair share of space and  I have to lie on top of him to be able to stretch out. I get them up at about 5.45am to let me out - scratching on the wardrobe  gets them out of bed pretty fast and then I can go and explore in the garden.

I love the garden. There are lots of trees to climb and bushes to hide in. And there's the  little house thing where Mum puts food for the fluttery things she calls the birds. One day I'm going to catch myself one of those bird things - they look quite tasty, if a bit feathery.

Sadly we lost the  two old gents in this year - Dylan and Sid are much missed but it was good to get to know them and Sid taught me all I know about picking winners and important stuff like that. He also taught me about lots of good stuff -  like Teatime. Sid knew good stuff when he saw it (or ate it ) and Teatime is very good stuff. 

So now there's just me and Big Sis Flora. Flora's OK but she can be a bit of a diva at time - she has a mouth on her sometimes- real hissy fits and bad growls. But I know she doesn't mean them - she just doesn't like me pouncing on her tail.  Sometimes I chase her up and downstairs - that's a lot of fun. (And a lot of noise my Mum says) .

Tomorrow it's December and Flora says that;s when we start the Advent Calendar - it was sent to us (well it was sent to the Great Sid ) by Anne McAllister The Lady Across the Pond and we get treats every day  till Christmas. That sounds good to me. I must have had an Advent Calendar last year but everything was so new that I didn't notice it - and besides I had to share all the treats with 3 other cats so it wasn't so exciting.

There are still lots of books here - there are always lots of books. Books are quite boring really, but Mum says they help to pay for Teatime - so I suppose they're OK. And she says a lot of you like these book things and that's a good thing.   But they don't taste very good - and I get into trouble if I try to chew one so I'm really not that bothered  - when it comes to books, I'll pass. I'd much rather have Teatime!

In fact it is Teatime now - Mum just opened the cupboard and took out the tin  - so I'm off!  Teatime is the best time of the day. It's one of the reasons why I love living here - so that's me caught up with everything for now.   See you!  

Purrs
Charlie

Big Blog Tour - the last stop

Well  it's been  a l-o-n-g tour, - I started way back on September 11th and I feel as if I've been all over the internet in the time since then.  I've had blogs in America, Australia,  Fiji  . . .  I've talked of all sorts of things - reading writing, cats, school days, The Brontes .. . and of course, the book  that was the reason for this  major tour in the first place - the celebration of the publication  of The Return of the Stranger.

I've met lots of great people - readers and writers. I've chatted with  you all through your comments  on the  posts and I've given away books all over the place. I've sent out copies of The Return of the Stranger, backlist titles  and even a couple of copies of The 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance.  And I've made some special friends along the way - people I know I will keep in touch with in the future, and I'll be going back to visit their blogs  either as a reader or a guest blogger if they invite me. (Some of these have already been planned.)

But today is the last stop on this official big blog tour this time around.   After today the tour comes to a halt, apart from the round up party and final giveaway of the main prize which will be on December 1st. So today's last stop is over on Romance University. 

As the name implies, Romance University is a great site  which declares as it's aim: "Dedicated to helping writers establish and advance their careers, introducing readers to a variety of authors, and delving into the ever-inscrutable male mind."  So obviously my post there is with my 'teaching hat' on  - I'm talking about the tight focus and word  count that goes into a category romance  and the need to 'Cut for Pace'.  So maybe I'll see you there.

After today that will be the end of this actual tour - but don't lose sight of the Author Page  that Nas Dean of Romance Book Paradise has set up. Nas has been my help and support  and kept me organised - just - through the whole of this tour. And She has already listed some of the upcoming blogs where I'll be posting in the not too distant future. So if you keep an eye on her listings, you'll know where to find me.

A great big thank you to Nas for keeping me on track over the past months - without her I would never have been able to organise this tour, or to take you to so many fatastic sites.

Pink Friday

If  you haven't already noticed  - today is Pink Friday over on the Mills and Boon  web site. There are over 150 bargains to pick up - with Modern books at  99p and bundles of 4 or more titles from  £99.99.  These discounts only last until midnight - so take a look before they're all gone.

 And while you're there - it isn't listed in the Pink Friday list, but right now my own Claimed by The Sicilian trilogy is currently at a sale price of £2.99 - that's reduced from the original price of £5.49 so you can grab yourself a bargain there too.

It was while I was over at the Mills & Boon site that I realised that they'd been busy and had now put several of my older books on to ebook format and these are now availble for anyone who wants to catch up - or reread an old favourite.

There are 8 of them in total -

At The Sheikh's Command

Fiancée By Mistake

His Miracle Baby

Rafael's Love-Child

The Antonakos Marriage

The Christmas Baby's Gift

The Hired Husband

The Hostage Bride

So if you have an ereader with some gaps in your Kate Walker collection on it, now's your chance to catch up on some golden oldies.

In other news, the Big Blog Tour is almost coming to an end. There will be another stop on November 28th and then there will be the wrap up party and the annoncement of the big winner on December 1st.



Blog Tour - reader or writer?

Today, by accident, I have two posts on the Big Blog Tour.  I was originally booked to post at The Book Bordello  with Xandra James - so that's where my post my readers can be found - and I'm givig away a signed copy of one of my backlist books there.

But then the lovely Serena Tatti who has a special blog in her Story Editor role asked me if I would write a guest post on some aspect of  the writing craft for her - and they've both ended up coming out on the same day - and - guess what - there's a backlist book giveaway there too!  But if you're a writer  then this is where my post on writing can be found.

So whether you're a reader or a writer, there is a post for you to read - or maybe you'll try both? If you do then please post a comment - so that Charlie will be so very happy as there  will be lots of names for him to pick a winner - two winners, one from each site -  from which means lots of cat treats to snarf.

More on the Blog Tour

Another stop on the Big Blog Tour today - we getting close to the end of the tour now and I've really enjoyed meeting everyone and chatting with them. It's been a challenge to think of topics to write about  along the way, though - specially when some people have wanted craft posts, others have wanted interviews . . .others have wanted just 'any post'!

And Seekerville was SO busy - it took me two days to keep up with all the posts

So today I am over at Fresh Fiction  where I'm giving away a copy of my latest novel - which is of course The Return of the Stranger.  My blog is about the challenge of writing this book.

And that reminds me  - I have some winners to announce so that people can collect their prizes -

Seven Sassy Sisters winner  was   Veronica Scott
Pink Hearts  Society Winner was Kaelee
We Write Romance  winner was Denise
Seekerville -   Jenna V   won a copy of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance

Winners please email me with your choice from this list of backlist books:

The Greek Tycoon’s Unwilling Wife

Bedded By The Greek Billionaire

Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride

The Sicilian’s Red-Hot Revenge

The Good Greek Wife?

Kept for Her Baby

The Konstantos Marriage Demand

Cordero’s Forced Bride

Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife

The Proud Wife

There bwill be a few more posts coming up this week and with them there will  be chances to win backlist books.

2 Stops on the Blog Tour - A Date With Kate and SEEKERVILLE

This counts as part of the Big Blog Tour  but today is one of my regular guest blogs anyway -
A Date With Kate    is over on the Pink Heart Society  blog  as it always is on the third Friday of each month,

The third Friday of November? How did it get to that?  When I next do my Date With Kate post Christmas will almost be here . . . which is really what inspired today's post.

As it's part of the blog tour there is a giveaway - always supposing I can find Charlie! He owes me the pick of several prize winner names. These young apprentices, they're not quite so reliable  . . . .

And today I'm double booked because there is another Big Blog Tour Stop  over on a great blog site - Seekerville - this is a brand new blog to me so I'm looking forward to meeting lots of people here.  And I'm looking forward to seeing what I'm blogging about! I've written so  many posts in the last few days that I've forgotten which one is up there right now . . .I'm just going to see. . . and I need to sort out my time zones on this one.

PS Don't forget that the Big Blog Tour  - which is organised to celebrate the publication of The Return of The Stranger - still has a few more stops, a few more giveaways . . . and you can either start to join in the fun - or continue 'stalking' me to be in with a chance of a final prize at the end.

All the details are here on the Blog Tour Author Page - and some new dates and stops have been added coming up soon!   I'm not not sure how many stops there will have been in the end  - but I  think I've given away over 25 books!

Another extra . . .

Last week I did an extra post when I visited Romantic Friday Writers with a guest post to encourage them in their Nano writing.  I talked about why I write romance.

It must have been a popular post because L'Aussis invited me back and asked me to write aniother post with some hints about writing in it.

So that's where I am today -wth a post on Training Yourself as  a Plotter.  Hope to see you there.

Thanks for inviting me back Denise!

Another stop on the blog tour - 5 Reasons to be Cheerful

I think this is . . .18? But really I've lost count!
Anyway, today I have another stop on the Blog Tour and a visit to one of my regular Guest Blog spots - over on We Write Romance where I'm at my  Kate's Corner slot for the 15th of the month.

Today I'm writing about 5 reasons to be cheerful - a post inspired by something I saw this morning that really made me smile.

And I'd love to know your reasons to smile too - so why not come along and tell me - and you can make Charlie the Maine Coon really cheerful as he gets to pick out the name of someone who posts as the winner of the giveaway at this stop.

See you there?

Big Blog Tour - Stop some-number-or-other

OK so it's official  - I really can't count!

On October 26th I had Blog Tour Stop 14 - then a bit of a quiet spell - then November 6th was Stop 15 - fine
November 7th - see - Stop  - err  - Stop 15 again! 
And then there was the extra stop - over at  Romantic Friday Writers' Blog . . .
So officially I'm at stop . . .16  - 17?

It doesn't matter - it's an amazing blog tour and I'm really enjoying meeting so many new people and chatting with them.  And today I have another official stop on the tour -

So today I'm over with the Seven Sassy Sisters - who I think actually have eight sassy sisters now in the group  .. .  so it seems I'm not the only one who can't count!

Anyway, they sent a great interview with  some interesting quesions - so I hope you find the answers equally interesting!

PS I maybe didn't say when I sent the answers in - being forgetful as well as unable to count!  - but I will offer a giveaway there to someone who comments and as usual Charlie will pick out the winning  post  - once he comes in from chasing pigeons in the rain!

Big Blog Tour - an extra stop!

This Blog Tour is taking me all over the place - right now I seem to be spending time down under - and unexpectedly I was invited along to an extra guest post -
L'Aussie asked me along to talk on her blog while everyone is so busy with NaNoMo for November - she wanted me to talk about writing romance, how I got started and how I feel about it.

Now I've always felt that romance does not equal fluff and pink marshamallow and chocolate box images- for me romance is about real people dealin with real problems and . ..

Well, that's what I'm talking about over on  Romantic Friday Writers blog - why not come over and join us . . .  I'll tempt you with another giveaway.

Great Big Blog Tour Stop 15

 . .  .  And here's one I did earlier.

Luckily I prepared some posts for the Big Blog Tour ahead of time  and this one was easy - a great interview with interesting questions - so  today I'm visiting LoveCats Downunder - Charlie and Flora are coming along too.

And of course there's a giveaway  - both  Flora and Charlie are picking winners.
 See you there!

Great Big Blog Tour, Stop 15

I'd hoped to post today before any one got worried about my absence   - but I see that Kaelee  got in before me and has already asked how I'd doing - thank you for your concern Kaelee - that's so kind of you.

I've had a bit of an enforced break from writing, working on the keyboard, looking at the screen, just recently. It wasn't what I wanted but it's been necessary and I hope it will be doing me some good. A few health problems have meant that I'm having to follow doctor's orders to 'pace myself' and one of the things I'm supposed to 'pace' - or in this case 'ration' is my time at the computer screen. A series of bad headaches that have a nasty tendency to turn into flashing migraines if I over do it means that I need to restricrt the time I spend at the computer and do other things. Hopefully the new medication will work on this but if my posts are a bit hit and miss for a while - that's the reason.

Anyway, today I needed to blog because my regular post is due over and Tote Bags 'n' Blogs - so that's where you'll find me.   It's another stop on my Big Blog Tour (yes that's still going on!)  and  there's also a giveaway again.

This time it's  a special giveaway because when I could put the screen on and read emails, I got some  very good news this week -

The Proud Wife is nominated for the Best Presents Extra 2011 Reviewers' Choice Award over  at Romantic Times. 

You may remember that The Konstantos Marriage Demand won Best Presents Extra 2010 so I was really thrilled and honoured to be nominated again this year.

And if you'd like a chance to win a copy of The Proud Wife, perhaps you'd  like to join me over on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs.

There will be a few more stops on the blog tour coming up this week  and a few more giveaways.

So I hope I'll see you more often!