Here There and Everywhere!

I've been busy blogging - yes, I know I haven't been busy blogging here  but that's because I've been busy blogging elsewhere!

So here are  a couple more links for you to follow if you want to read these posts

First one is courtesy of the lovely Tawny Weber  who invited me along to guest on her blog - in her special Quick Six  section.

She asks  six questions - well, no - she asks 18 questions but I picked which 6 I wanted to answer and the results are posted today.    There's a giveaway too - a signed copy of A Throne For The Taking - but also, I promised that if I got a lot of responses I'd add another giveaway  for someone else - a copy of The Proud Wife. 

And the second is for tomorrow  over on  Romance Reader.  I'll be busy this weekend - we have a friend visiting from Iowa so  I'll be concentrating on enjoying her visit. But hopefully these blogs will keep you occupied until . ..

Well, until  Sunday when I'll be doing my usual blog on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs!   What will I be blogging about? No idea as yet - but I'll think of something! I hope.

And don't forget  - last chance  to bid for my lots in the Brenda Novak Auction tomorrow.

Last chance to bid

I'm not sure what happened to May - I just know that there are only a couple of days left and that means just two days to bid in Brenda Novak's Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research  2013.

Here's what Brenda herself says:
Brenda Novak's Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research is gearing up for its biggest year yet. Thanks to all who have participated in the past — both donors and shoppers — we've raised a cumulative total of $1.6 million. This year we are hoping to surpass $2 million to help all those with diabetes.


So many people have donated lots for the auction and all funds go towards this great cause.

Every year in the past, I've donated two lots - in the past these have been a Readers' and Writers' Basket - and, previously, a critique of a partial aimed at the Harlequin Presents line.

Well, this year I'm still offering the Readers' and Writers' basket but, sadly, I am no longer able to offer the critique. I'm sure I don't have to explain why. This is the damage that the copyright infringement case has done to the trust between authors and unpublished writers. But I was determined to offer two lots as I have always done - so

The first lot is the Readers' and Writers' Basket -

The winner of this bid will receive these autographed books

12 POINT GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANCE

THE STRAIGHTFORWARD GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANTIC FICTION

A great selection of Kate Walker novels:

The Alcolar Family Trilogy (3 in 1), which includes:

THE TWELVE-MONTH MISTRESS

THE SPANIARD'S INCONVENIENT WIFE

BOUND BY BLACKMAIL

The trilogy Claimed by the Sicilian(3 in 1), which includes:

THE SICILIAN'S WIFE

SICILIAN HUSBAND, BLACKMAILED BRIDE

THE SICILIAN'S RED-HOT REVENGE

Also included are the following autographed paperback books by Kate Walker:

THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES (Presents Extra April 2012)

THE RETURN OF THE STRANGER (Presents Extra October 2012)

THE PROUD WIFE (Presents Extra October 2011)

THE GOOD GREEK WIFE? (Presents Extra April 2010)

All books are packed into one of my Kate Walker Tote Bags; bonus: Kate Walker pen.

Full details and how to bid can be found here


Lot 2 - 10 Book Autographed Collection

The winner of this bid will receive these autographed paperback books:

THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES (Presents Extra April 2012)

THE RETURN OF THE STRANGER (Presents Extra October 2012)

THE PROUD WIFE (Presents Extra October 2011)

A THRONE FOR THE TAKING (brand new title!)

The trilogy Claimed by the Sicilian (3 in 1), which includes:

THE SICILIAN'S WIFE

SICILIAN HUSBAND, BLACKMAILED BRIDE

THE SICILIAN'S RED-HOT REVENGE

THE GOOD GREEK WIFE?

KEPT FOR HER BABY

THE KONSTANTOS MARRIAGE DEMAND

All books are packed into one of my Kate Walker Tote Bags; bonus: Kate Walker pen.

Full details and how to bid can be found here

I hope you'll take a look - but don't just look at my lots - browse the whole site and see the amazing things there are on offer.
The auction has just  two days to go  - It's a great cause - so why not bid?

I Heart Presents . . .

Today's post is over on the  special Presents blog  - I Heart  Presents.

I'm talking about royal romances - because of A Throne For The Taking of course.  Is there a royal romance, modern or historical  that has grabbed your imagination? If so, tell me about it and you could be in with a chance to win a copy of A Throne For The Taking  to read this royal love story.

And another

So today I have yet another guest blog post to direct you to. But this one is slightly different.

This one isn't about me- except indirectly - or my book - or a craft post . . . It's about another member of the  family. The fact that it's on the Pink Heart Society site, in a series called Pets and Their Authors - plus the  picture on the left should give  you a clue.

This is part one in a miniseries entitled The Lady and The Tramp -  this one being about The Lady. The Tramp will have his own post too  in a couple of weeks.  But today it's The Diva's turn.

And another guest blog . . .

Today's post is over on the Romance Bandits' blog where I'm talking about - guess what - A Throne for The  Taking . But I'm also talking about  a very important book from my childnood.

Do you have any really memorable book that you read when you were young - and wish you could read again?   If so, perhaps you'd like to come along and join the chat to tell me about it.

More Guest Blogs -

It's a busy time for me out on various blogs right now - because of the publication of A Throne For The Taking  of course - so here's another couple of links to take you to more places to read about me or my books.

First of all, there's a great review of A Throne for The Taking over on The Good The Bad and The Unread.  It's always fascinating to read what another writer thinks of  your work  and novelist Lynne Connolly is an experienced and knowledgable critic  so her review makes interesting reading (and she liked the book too which is a relief!)

Following on  from that,  there is a longish interview with me that has just been posted -  you can find that here.

And soon  there should be a follow up post -with a giveaway of a copy of A Throne For The Taking - so if you've never visited The Good The Bad and The Unread, now's your chance to see what the site's like - and read  some of the reviews and posts.

PS If you want some more really great reviews of A Throne For The Taking then there are several over on  Romance Book Haven in the Contemporary Reviews - thank you so much ladies!

Revising and Editing

I was asked to write a craft post over on Revising and Editing -so that's where my main post is today -  it's about  Originality and Voice - I was asked to write a bit about plagiarism but I think we've done that topic recently!

It's publication day - in America anyway!  A Throne for the Taking is out in Harlequin Presents now  so thank you to everyone who has already been out to buy a copy.  

And perhaps it's time to remind you  that Author, Author! still has the very special offer on the Presents Edition of A Throne For The Taking -  the book normally sells at $4.99 but  Author, Author! has it on special discounted offer for just $3.25. Take a look.

Spotlight and giveaway

I've been so busy that I've neglected to blog for days.    I'm not quite sure where the time has gone but at least today I have a blog for you - if not quite here!

Because A Throne For The Taking is out very soon - tomorrow in fact, in  Harlequin Presents in America and   June 7th in  M&B Modern in  UK  - I'vebeen asked to do some blogs - and interviews here there and everywhere (well it seems that way!)

So today the first of those is published - with a special Spotlight Interview over on  Romance Book Paradise.  Lovely Nas Dean asked me a set of probing questions and now the interview is posted on the site.  There's also a giveaway of a signed copy of A Throne For The Taking for someone who posts a comment.

So maybe I'll see you there  - and there are other guest blogs and posts coming up in the next few weeks.  There will be more giveaways too.

Making me smile

Well that was a hectic week - celebrating my birthday seemed to go on for a couple of days.

Thank you so much to everyone who sent such lovely birthday messages and greetings. I appreciated every one of them - they all made me smile.

And here's another thing that's made me smile - I just discovered that over on the Mills and Boon site where A  Throne for the Taking is now on sale -   it's at #1 in their bestseller chart!  That has made my day.

Thank you to everyone who has bought a copy to put it in this special place.  Even the  rain that is bucketing down outside (Spring? What happened to spring?) can't dampen my spirits.

Tote Bags day

It's the first Sunday of the month so today is my day for posting over on the Tote Bags 'N' Blog site.

I'm talking about why May is one of my favourite months - and seeing as it's a long weekend,  the sun is shining, the Babe Magnet and The Offspring are watching the football while I relax with a  good book, it's not realy surprising that I like it so much - is it?

PHS Day

It's the first Friday  of the month so today I'm over on the Pink Heart Society blog with  Date With Kate.


I'm talking about writing my first ever royal romance - which is, of course -  A Throne For The Taking.

See you there.

TV star!

I was on TV yesterday.

Well, not me  actually - not in person. But my name and one of my books was prominently displayed.
There is a programme called The Intern  on Channel 4 in the UK where three young hopefuls are given the chance to work in their chosen jobs as interns for a week, and hopefully one of them  will end up with a job  as a winner.    Last night's episode was  described like this: Three more young hopefuls are given a week's trial in the job of their dreams at publisher Mills & Boon.

So the programme was set in the Mills & Boon offices in Richmond, with lots of scenes showing the editorial department, lots of insights into the way the editors and marketing work,

The walls of the Richmond offices are decorated with  big, blow up copies of book covers from all the lines and all the decades that Mills and Boon have been publishing.  And there amongst them, was a poster size copy of the cover  I have on  here -  No Holding Back  - which was published in  1995. 

The 'half a heart'  style covers didn't last very long. No one in the bookshops bothered to display them as they were designed - with two books next to each other to make a  whole 'heart' when appearing on the shelves! But I have to admit I did like the covers when they were in a range of colours so that the books didn't look quite so regimented and  'all the same'.


You can see the programme  replayed here  if you are in the right area. I hope it works for you.

Oh - and No Holding Back has been republished in  both the Harlequin Treasury and the  Mills & Boon Vintage ebook collections.  (It's currently only £1.80  or $2.74 right now)

It's May. . .

Happy May Day!   It seems that May has got off to a good start - the sun is actually shining, now if we could just get rid of that sneaky cold wind  it  would be gorgeous.

Reasons  to like May - I have a birthday coming up. So does my sister. Sadly she's in Tasmania so we won't be getting together to celebrate .

The Brenda Novak Auction for The Cure of Diabetes is now officially open.  Why take a look at some of the amazing lots - and maybe place a bid?  As I said earlier, I have the Reader and Writers' Basket  and the  10 Signed Novels lots on offer - and I'm delighted to see that there are already some bid on these. Thank you to anyone who has put in a bid.

Other reasons to like May -  A Throne for The Taking is now available on the UK's Mills and  Boon web site  and the Harlequin Presents edition will be released  on May 21st in USA.

Oh yes - and  A Throne For The Taking has  these great reviews over on  Romance Book Paradise.


The author lets her characters truly speak , as reader I was very glad to see that the author let me in


on just what each one of the characters were thinking, as I often find that I want to know what she or he is thinking and not knowing drives me insane, and in the case of Ria and Alexei it would have infuriated me, so thank you Kate!

I particularly liked the message this read gave me, not all secrets are as deadly as one may think, sometimes revealing the truth can save you, opening up the road to recovery.

I highly recommend this read for lovers of royal romances with intense secrets and all Kate Walker fans!   
Desere


A THRONE FOR THE TAKING is a very different, intriguing and thrilling story. It is full of conspiracy, scheming and plotting against the kingdom amidst the mesmerizing romance between Ria and Alexei. Author Kate Walker has yet again stunned her readers with a unique twist to her romance. She skillfully penned another gripping and compelling tale that would hook a reader in until the very last page.
Nas

Thank you both Desere and Nas

You can read the full reviews here.

So May has got off to a great start. Let's hope it continues that way.

PS Just discovered that A Throne For The Taking is already at #3  in the Harlequin ebook Bestsellers list today - another reason to like May!