Writing Courses coming up

I've had a few enquiries about courses coming up  so I thought I'd just  bring things up to date.  The start of  September with the New Term and Back to School  promotions in the shops always makes me think of  going back to school/college/university and so I think about courses - taking them or teaching them -  and planning  at this time of year.

So my  plans for the next six month or so are these:

Today I'll talk about the courses with Relax and Write  

 9 - 11 October at The Hayes Conference Centre Swanwick Derbyshire - all inclusive fee £245 

  

'Focus on Writing Romantic Fiction' - a Retreat with Kate Walker.  This course has a limited number of places, so if you have not booked, please hurry.  Retreats are popular with those writing a novel.  They can receive feedback during the year, as Retreats are twice yearly, they will help you progress chapter by chapter!

'Write About your Uncle Joe' with Stephen Wade  (Author of  Uncle Albert etc) links you to not only writing short stories about the past, but putting into words the Family anecdotes that are more personal to each of us, whether for your memoirs or for fiction.. 

All the weekend courses are informal and fun and structured to help us paint word pictures and express your emotions in words. Encouraged by published authors with experience of writing many books and how to get your writing published.  Come and join us and enjoy a weekend with other writers and write 'all hours.' 

If you're wondering what makes the difference between a Writing Retreat and a Writing Course - the answer is in the title - it's to help you focus on your own writing.

Focus on Writing Romantic Fiction is a guided writing retreat for people who have been on a course before or who need to do exactly as it says on the tin – Focus on their writing.  On this course you will:

·         Have time and space away from the real world to write and reflect on your novel.

·         You’ll also have the opportunity to work with your tutor to discuss the novel, work through problems, brainstorm new ideas, and get it ready for submission.

·         There will be some relaxed group sessions designed to make you think deeply about your writing.

·         There will be scheduled for one-to-one time where you can ask all the questions that have been bothering you.

·         You will concentrate on writing – and have professional advice/input/discussion.

. This retreat is designed for people who have already started work on a novel and who want time to focus on that - and not have to worry about anything else. It’s an ideal course to get your writing moving ahead.  There are a limited number of places on this Retreat, so it is essential you book early, in order to send Kate your work in advance for comment and arrange a one-to-one.

Unexpectedly, I have a place on the latest retreat  coming up -  9th -11th October. If you're interested - contact Lois  at Relax and Write  as soon as possible.


The next course coming up will be in April 2016.  This will be held:

15 - 17 April 2016 at The Royal Agricultural University Cirencester. 

 The fee £245 includes Sunday Lunch.

Planning your romantic novel  - Beginning, Middle & End -   with Kate Walker

This weekend course will introduce you to writing that novel you have always wanted to see in print!   How to plan a basic synopsis and first chapters. Build your Characters and describe your scenes. A very popular Course Leader and a very popular course.

'Writing the Past' with Stephen Wade. 

You can write about a character or a place; an experience of your own or an event in history. Write about a family anecdote or a personality that has influenced your past. Short story or memoir, this course suits all levels and is fun and informal. Plenty of exercises and notes. 

Keep an eye on the Relax and Write advertisements in 'Writing Magazine - Writers' News' and in 'Writers' Forum or Facebook - we have about ten to twelve weekends planned every year. A chance to write away from home and work interruptions. A chance to meet other writers and compare notes. 'Relax & Write' all in fee - single accommodation for comfort  and privacy. Contact Lois for full details. e-mail loisbm@outlook.com or telephone 01454 773579 - book early and pay by installments.

Check out the Relax And Write web site for more details of these and all their other courses. 
Tomorrow I'll post the details of the courses/weekends with the fabulous Writers' Holiday in case a visit to Wales  would appeal to you.

Of course, if you can't make it to any of my upcoming courses - there is always my guide to writing romance - and workbook - 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance.

I was thrilled to see (courtesy of Nas Dean - thanks Nas!) that  the new paperback edition was on sale at the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference last week.   (It's also on Kindle)

For my Australian Readers - part 2!

You might remember that back on   - in this post -  I told you how some  of my books would

a. be republished

and

b. would be published at a  different time to the dates on which they were published in the UK and USA

I thought I had the most up to date information then - but it seems not . . .  The publication dates have changed again - at least for the two newest novels of mine to be published . So let me bring you  up to date.

I originally  said that following this lovely review on the Australian Romance Readers Association site – and the fact that they posted it as a Featured book on their Facebook Convention page, I’ve had people asking me when Olivero’s Outrageous Proposal will appear on the bookshop shelves in Australia. Usually the Australian publication is pretty much simultaneous with the UK and  USA editions, but this time  the books have been changed around rather – so the news is that Olivero’s Outrageous Proposal will not be out in Australia until December.

Now I have to amend that to - Olivero's Outrageous Proposal will not be published in Australia until January.

So  I’m sorry to everyone who is waiting to read it. It is coming – promise!  - but there will be a little wait before it does.

That's the bad news - but the good news is that the latest novel - Destined for the Desert King -

will be published simultaneously  with the UK and USA publication dates. So that is the book that will be out in Australia in December - and the  better news is that that book published in December will be followed  by the January publication of Olivero's Outrageous Proposal.   So instead of having to wait another few months for the next Kate Walker title, you'll be able to read both of these books one after the other - in December and then January.

I hope this makes up for the wait.

But if it helps  you get through the weeks before that release date – I do have news of two other  releases in Australia coming up in the next few months.

Firstly there will be a reprint of a 2001 book  - Her Secret Bridegroom.  This will be in a special  Latin Lovers collection together with books by Miranda Lee and Lynne Graham.   I'm calling  cover of this book ‘the Chest’ – I’m sure you can see why.

Secondly, there will be a reprint collection of

the three linked Alcolar Family stories –

The Twelve Month Mistress

The Spaniard’s Inconvenient Bride

Bound By Blackmail

Which tell the stories of Joaquin, Ramon and Mercedes Alcolar – Proud modern day Spanish aristocrats – passion is their birthright!

The trilogy will be released under the title The Notorious Alcolars, and this should be out in 

September.  I now have a copy of the cover to show you  - and I'm really pleased that they've decided to use my favourite cover from the 3 books in the series. You can see it at the top of this post  - this was the cover of The Spaniard's Inconvenient Bride.

And just in case you wanted to  remind yourself of the story that started this all off – before you read/reread the trilogy  then don’t forget that the story of Alex Alcolar – Wife For Real – is available on the eHarlequin web site  here.


PS  - a reminder for anyone who has bought The Alcolar Family bundle from the Harlequin web site - this originally had the wrong story included  in it. Where it should have  been my story Wife For Real  telling the story of Alex Alcolar, there was a book by Jennifer Taylor with the same name. Since then I've been working with editorial and  everything has been sorted out - with the correct version of Wife For Real included in this collection. So if you still have that story and you'd like the one I wrote - you can update your ebook by logging into the place you bought it.  (I understand that the problems have mainly been with Barnes & Noble)

Phew!I hope that brings everything up to date!  At least you know that the two books are coming - soon!  I'll remind you all about that when I'm celebrating the publication of Destined for the Desert King in December!

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What the Heck. . .

To answer  some enquiries about the Hecks - the family of Hedgehogs who live at the bottom of our garden.

I haven't mentioned them much recently because, to tell the truth, we haven't seen much sign of them and as the hedgehogs  who had been around have been for some years, we weren't sure if they were now very elderly Hecks or sadly ex-Hecks and we no longer had anyone living in Hedgehog Towers. We'd left supplies of hedgehog crunchies by the hedgehog house in the hope there was someone there to feed on them but we couldn't be sure that it was the Hecks and not the birds who had been eating them. A few bits of dung was all that we'd seen.

But this week we were delighted to see that, at the very least, we have one brand new baby  hedgehog - one who has just grown up enough to come out and about hunting for food.  He is more than happy to eat up old cat meat - specially chicken  -  but we have  also invested in a new packet of hedgehog crunchies just in case.

At the moment he's emerging to forage about 8.30 in the evening - both Charlie and Ruby are
fascinated but don't go too close  - those prickles are a bit sharp on inquisitive noses!

The main picture doesn't really show how small this little creature is - so I'm adding a second one to put it in proper proportion to the part of the garden he/she's in.

Tiny.  Hope it stays around - we're planing on feeding it well to encourage it to grow string ready for hibernation this winter.

Book of The Day

I often take a look at the Mills and Boon web site - just to see what's going on and what books are around at the moment,.

Today I'm really glad that I did!

Unexpectedly I found that a By Request collection I have a novel in has been  brought back  as an ebook  - and it's today's Book of The Day.

Which means that it's  on a reduced offer for today  at £5.09 instead of £5.99.

Here's what the web site says:

Back by popular demand! These great value titles feature stories from Mills & Boon fans' favourite authors.

A Sicilian Husband by Kate Walker One night was all it took for Terrie Hayden to fall in love with a stranger. One night was all that Gio Cardella thought he wanted from her. But some irresistible force dragged the proud, remote Sicilian back to her door…

This book was originally published in 2003. (22004 in USA)

The other two books in the collection are The Passion Bargain by Michelle Reid  and
The Italian’s Marriage Bargain by Carol Marinelli

I know that some readers have been looking for an ebook version of A Sicilian Husband  because I've had messages from you asking where you can get hood of it. For some reason there isn't a separate single edition of this book  yet - I talked with my editor about it and they're working ion it. But this is a great way to get hold of a copy and get two other great books in the bargain bundle too.

Tote Bags Day

Today's my day for blogging over on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs - so that's where you'll find me today.

Pink Hearts Day

Friday is my day for blogging on the Pink Hearts Society blog - so  that's where you'll find me today.

I'm talking about moving house - not me but  my characters - and The Offspring.

Coming soon . . .

I'm back from a fabulous  week at Fishguard for the Writers Holiday summer week. I can't believe I've been back  for some days now and still haven't caught up with all the emails, posts and other jobs I have to deal with.

And already people are asking about  courses coming up. Like the Focus on Writing Romantic Fiction Retreat with Relax and Write  in Swanwick in October.  (last I heard this was almost full)

The Advanced Romance Writing Course in Fishguard in February 2016. (Latest information is just 2 places left)

Planning The Romantic Novel - Beginning, Middle and End in  Royal Agricultural College in April 2016 (That's with Relax and Write too)

. . . even to booking for the  summer  Complete Writing Romance course  for the summer  Writers' Holiday  next year.

And in the meantime I have a deadline looming and too much book to write!


Oh well, I should be used to planning ahead - that's part of the game in the publishing world. For example, I just got a copy of the cover for my next book  - the American Harlequin  Presents edition - and that's not out until December!

But it's a great cover so I wanted to share it with you - and the blurb  to whet your appetite.  So here's the first preview of Destined For The Desert King.   

There's no doubt that their marriage is one of convenience and political maneuvering. But shy beauty Aziza El Afarim secretly hopes that her husband—the boy she once idolized—remembers something of the closeness they shared as children.

Except Sheikh Nabil Al Sharifa is far from the boy he used to be. The weight of loss and power has changed him beyond recognition. Where once there was warmth and generosity, now only a ruthless passion burns. He'll give Aziza everything…except his love.

But as pressure to produce an heir mounts, could there be more than duty in the marriage bed?