Goodreads book giveaway

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Indebted to Moreno

by Kate Walker

Giveaway ends September 30, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Happy Birthday Charlie!

Charlie the Maine Coon  has  a birthday.

Charlie  Rumpuss - aka Kyamron Rumpusscat is  6 today!  He refuses

to acknowledge the time when he was a small, cute, blue-eyed boy but he was once!

And then he grew  a bit bigger - but he could still fit on to the bird table under the birdhouse where he pretended he was waiting for his prey. (He can't manage that any more)

He's coped with the arrival of his   new baby sister Ruby, and even quite grown to like her - though he still reckons she  has no right to invade his territory on the bed!
 And tonight he has extra treats and  a big bowl full of  food to celebrate his arrival at the 'mature'  age of 6 years and a  bit . (He was actually 6 years old while we were in London but he doesn't realise that. Any day to celebrate his birthday with lots of treats is fine by him.

So happy birthday Charlie and here's to many more to come!

Here is the official 6th birthday portrait!

Charlie says that if you're interested in a special book celebration and giveaway, then check back later in the week for the day Indebted to Moreno is published  for more news and details.

A Fabulous Time In London

I'm back from London - and  have recovered from the travel, the heat, the meetings, the lunch/dinner/party  . . .

Well, that was a hectic - and fun time. Let me see - there was the trip down to london and the unexpected heatwave that of course got warmer the further south we went.

The first evening we were at the Garrick Theatre where we had seats for  The Entertainer - with Kenneth Branagh. A  great evening - I have to say that the play is not one of my favourite ever  and I have some problems with it  where at times it's rather static and wordy - but the music hall scenes were brilliant - and that's where K B came into his own.  So glad we saw it.

Andie Brock with her cover display

Thursday was spent visiting the Harlequin office in the News Building (next to the Shard) at London Bridge.  Another unexpectedly hot day   but it was great to be shown round the offices (on the 16th floor!), meet all the editors  - specially Grace who knew just how to make this author's day by telling me how much she had loved Indebted to Moreno when she read it! -   and get to know (again!)  my new editor.  Except she isn't my new editor  - we worked together in the past  (can you believe 20 years ago!)  when the first book we worked on  was The Groom's Revenge which was published in 1997!!  It was great to catch up again and renew our working relationship and friendship.  That evening  was a great time to get together with some lovely friends - Rachael Thomas (who regular readers will know is one of my ex -Fishguard Writers Weekend students who is now building a successful writing career and into double figures with her  accepted titles.)  Chantelle Shaw and Lara Temple who you met on this blog some weeks back.

My lovely friend Anna Sugden and her book cover

Friday was the AMBA lunch and  then the fabulous Harlequin party - back in the News Building  - but this time on the 17th floor!  It was  great to meet up  with some many lovely friends old and new and make some new ones amongst the   Mills and Boon Authors.   There were celebrations of some authors 'milestone' books, prosecco and other

With my sexy Spaniard cover

 celebratory drinks  and canapés - not that  I could manage any after the  AMBA lunch.

More lovely friends Rachael Thomas and Chantelle Shaw

Scarlet Wilson and Kate Hardy looking glamorous

Great goody bags for everyone 

     

 

Rachael Thomas  again with author  Louise Fuller

And finally  - my  favourite editor ever  - lovely Lesley Stonehouse. Why is she so very  special to me?
Because Lesley is the lady who picked my book out from the slush pile   over 30 years ago  -  the book the became The Chalk Line - my first ever published novel - so she started me on this wonderful career and she's  taken a great interest in what I do ever since.

Thank you Lesley!

Tote Bags Day

Today's my regular day for  blogging over on  the Tote Bags 'n' Blogs web site.   So that's where you'll find me.

I'm blogging about the joys of Autumn  and one of those joys if the imminent publication of my new book Indebted to Moreno.

I've just found a really lovely review for this book  from Arpita over on the Mills and Boon Web site

Kate Walker has used succinct repartee, wit , sparring dialogue, engrossing and engaging plot to keep the readers guessing what will happen next? It is truly an exceptional, brilliant page turner for those who love fantasy world to the nth degree. Go for it! A must buy for all! Unmissable!

Thank you so much Arpita!

And another of the joys of autumn is that on Wednesday I shall be heading for London  and the Association of Mills and Boon Authors annual lunch followed by the Harlequin Mills and Boon author party. I'm also having lunch with my  editor.. Can't wait to meet up with so many friends and catch up with all their news.

Oh yes - and I have a special treat - tickets to see Kenneth Branagh in The Entertainer.  So it's going to be a fun - if rather hectic week.

So  if I don't find time to blog very much, I'll catch up again on Sunday when we're back. 

September 11th thoughts

September 11^th   

9/11

 It’s one of those dates, a combination of numbers that strikes hard as soon as you hear it, isn’t it?  15 years ago and yet I still recall so clearly  - as  I’m sure everyone does -  the moment that just turning on the news, or catching an internet reference seemed to freeze life and mark a point after which things would never be quite the same.

It doesn’t take a world horror like that September day.  My beautiful sister in law went out of the house on the way to work one day when she was 36. We  don’t know what happened exactly.

Only that she crashed the new bright yellow car  she was delighted with and she never came home. The rose we planed in her memory still flowers on her birthday and her wedding anniversary - that's on Tuesday   and the glorious blooms are there  now to mark the date.

So the thought of all those thousands who went through that terrible experience 15 years ago today still tears at my heart.  

Every time September 11^th comes around, I remember  a poem by Dawn MarieHuddlestone called If I Knew . It contains this verse:

IF I KNEW

If I knew it would be the last time

that I see you walk out the door,

I would give you a hug and kiss

and call you back for one more.

 But the trouble is, we never know, do we?

When the Babe Magnet and I were in New York, we went to Ground Zero and tried to honour those who never came home from that event.  That huge great space where two huge great buildings had once stood, each of them teeming with thousands of people brings home in the saddest, shocking way how quickly today can become the past.   And  how terrible the words ‘if only’ can be.

Which brings me to another great quote:

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.

Nobody seems quite sure who originally said this but it’s so much in my thoughts today.

On a day of remembrance, I hope you and your families can share a hug for this present. 

September 3rd is Pink Hearts Day!

Today's the 3rd September so that means it's my regular day to blog over on the Pink Hearts Society blog. 


 After yesterday's lovely card from the friends Indebted to Moreno is dedicated to, my post on the blog is all about dedications and I've been looking at some past books, past dedications and the memories they bring. And I'll admit I shed a few tears over some of the memories as well!

The joy of dedications . . .

I came home to a lovely reminder of one of the special joys of being an author. Publishing a book gives me the happy moment of sharing the publication day with a dedication to people I care a lot about. (Or, sadly, sometimes people I used to care a lot about, but thankfully there are few of them.) Today a lovely card let me know how pleased the special friends to whom Indebted to Moreno is dedicated made me smile with happiness at the thought that I have such fabulous friends in my life and that they are happy to discover that I shared the book with them. Regular readers will see that several of the dedications have resulted from the many happy times I've spent at Writers' Holiday - and I hope to share many more.

The 'Mal' half of Malison is also the major support behind the self-pubbed paperback new edition of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance. Luckily, both these friends know I love cats - as do they - so the card (see to the side) made me smile for other reasons