A happy anniversary

I've 

sort of lost track of things and Christmas planning / organising seems difficult rather than joyful - but at least today has a happy memory attached to it. Five years ago, I visited the local Cats' Protection rescue centre and was adopted by a tiny bundle of black and white fur. 

Ruby has been a delightful part of our family ever since - less than half the size of her big brother Charlie but with a personality and a purr to make up for what she lacks in size. She runs to welcome us as soon as we walk through the door and her joyful presence is a delight that brightens some difficult days. She has the Babe Magnet wrapped round her paws and knows exactly how to work on him to get the maximum number of treats out of him.

So glad you chose us to live with Ruby! It's true what they say - nothing makes a house into a home so much as the presence of one small cat.

Advent Calenda6

Do you have an Advent Calendar in your home? One that you hang on the wall and open a numbered door each day marking off the dates from the 1^st of December  up to the 24^th – and Christmas Eve – to countdown the  days until Christmas?

I always loved to choose one of these when my son was small and it really helped him wait more patiently for the big day to arrive. At  least he knew when it was getting nearer and that there were -  twenty – fifteen – ten days left before he could put out his stocking and  leave a mince pie for Father Christmas, together with a carrot for Rudolph the reindeer to eat when they visited.  (There was always just a few crumbs left on the mince pie plate and the end of the carrot – nibbled by strangely human shaped teeth!) Opening the day’s door on the calendar became a special little ceremony  just before he went off to bed  - to dream of Santa’s sleigh and the sound of reindeer hooves.

So in the past I have tried to plan a book Advent Calendar to share  with friends and readers who visit my web site, my blog page, my Facebook page.  I   had planned to do this again this year but  several things got in the way. It has been a difficult week with sad news reminding me that not everyone will be celebrating a happy and joyful occasion just because it’s Christmas.

As a result, my planned posting of the Advent Calendar giveaway got shortened into a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway instead. And I’ll be hoping to post the 12 Days giveaway  for each day (or at least every couple of days) from now on.  But  because I’m well aware of the fact that not everyone is enjoying the  lead up to Christmas  and for some it is a very difficult and even sad time, I want my first 12 Days of Christmas post to be a traditional one that I’ve posted in the past and been able to bring just a little bit of brightness into someone’s life.   So this is what I’m going to do today.

What happens is this – you can nominate someone you know and care about who needs a little treat to bring some light into their days right now. Let me know who you would like to send

an extra little gift to – a giveaway of a book that I’ll donate in your name. And I’ll include an extra little Christmas gift in the parcel to hopefully bring some lightness into their day as well.

So – in the comments-  post the name of someone you’d like to treat – and add the reasons why you have chosen this person – and I will get Charlie the Maine Coon (who has his own Advent Calendar to open with treats in the pockets)– to pick out a winner  or two to send them a book from you – and from me.

Christmas time

I'm not quite sure how it got to  9th December already -  that means it's only a couple of weeks to the big day!  I'm not at all   ready and  I still have so much to do that I'm running around like crazy and trying to wrap  and post parcels, write cards, send them in the mail.

Tomorrow my dear brother in law is coming to stay for a couple of days so we are having a

n early 'mini Christmas ' to celebrate with him.

While we're doing that, I'll be posting up a little Christmas readers' giveaway  for the 12 days of Christmas - more details of that to come asap (hopefully tomorrow  before the visitor  arrives!)

So while I was planning and trying to get organised with that, I also checked out Amazon  and was delighted to find that they're running a small sale on some of my books  in the last minute Christmas deals. Not sure how long for, but if you're quick and want to grab a kindle edition of these titles, you can get one  for £0.99

 Titles available are:
Kept For Her Baby
The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge
Bedded by the Greek Billionaire
Constantine's Revenge
Wife for a Day
No Holding Back
Flirting with Danger

Oh, and the complete Alcolar Family trilogy (3  books in one)  is available for £1.99

Finally - if you are interested in learning about writing romance, then   Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance is on sale  with 11% off the paperback   bringing the price down from  £11.99  to £10.62 - maybe you know someone who'd like to find a copy n their Christmas stocking or under the tree?

Want to write a romantic novel?

Unexpectedly I've just heard that 3 of my students who had booked for the Advanced Romance Writing Course at Fishguard with Writers Holiday have had life changes, events that have meant they

have had to cancel their places for next February 2019.

So for the first time in  ages I have three places available for anyone who wants to join us on the course - lots of discussion, learning, fun, laughter. . . oh and a total focus on writing the best romance novel you can create. This is an advanced course so if you're looking for a basic 'starter course' then perhaps it's not for you but this is a rare event - I'm usually turning people away when they've booked before leaving the last course in February this year.

So if you're interested check out Writers' Holiday. net and grab a place while they're still going. I'll be happy to meet some new students.

Or if you don't want to write romantic fiction - there are also courses on

Poetry, 

Short Story Writing, 

 Travel Writing, 

The Novel or even 

Painting and Drawing 

 available on the same weekend.

Armistice Day

Red for the blood shed,

 black for the pain of those whose loved ones died

 and the green leaf as a symbol of hope.

Lest we forget. Never again.

"When you go home tell them of us and say: for your tomorrow we gave our today."

Starting my day well.

An unexpected little thrill - I just discovered this. 

 I thought that after the flurry of interest in the new revised edition of the 12 Point Guide, things had died down a bit - but today, when sending the details to new students who had asked for them - I found this. Made my day!

Lincoln Library talk

Thank you to everyone who came to my talk at Lincoln Library yesterday. The weather was so awful - cold and wet - that I was grateful to see anyone turn up. But - unlike the weather - the welcome was warm and the session went more than 30 minutes over time.

Thank you too to Tina and Louise - and all the other members of the library staff who made me so welcome and provided plenty of cups of tea to warm everyone through after the miserable day.

I h

ad a great time.

Because I was asked about the teaching of Writing Romantic Fiction that I do - here, specially for Michelle and Kim at the Lincoln Library event, and anyone else who might be interested - are the details of the next 'Relax and Write' course - organised by Lois Maddox -

16-18 November 2018
Write That Romantic Novel –
One-to-one guidance, advice on your writing and in-class discussions on important topics:
Creating realistic characters.
Sustaining pace and conflict.
Packing emotional punch.
Writing sex scenes.
Crafting a satisfactory ending.
Lilleshall Conference Centre
Nr. Newport Shropshire
All inclusive fee £255

The next one coming up will be in February 2019 when I will be back at the fabulous Writers' Holiday event at Fishguard. This is the Advanced Romance Writing Course - so you need some experience of my courses before signing up,. Though I think it might actually be already fully signed up - or close to it!

I'll check on that and post more details of other courses planned asap

Lincoln Library talk

Want to learn all the tricks of the romance writing trade? Come and learn the secrets of this hugely popular genre from one of their best-selling authors Kate Walker at #LincolnLibrary next week! Tickets are limited so book now on 01522 782010 or email Lincoln_library@gll.org

Favourite Covers 2 - my choices

So  now it's my turn. Andrea asked me to share my choice of favourite covers  and as she promised to make that lovely donation to the Tickled Pink collection for research into help for breast cancer, I want to thank her by doing just that.

There's a slight complication in that she had the UK covers to choose from - while I have the same books as her but often the UK and USA covers are rather different -  but I'll post  images of the covers anyway so you can see them - whichever version I use.

I mentioned in yesterday's post that like Andrea, I liked the cover for Man of Shadows (see above).  This was very like the image I had in my mind of my hero and heroine and although it's a long-ago title, I still like it.


One of my favourite covers - and a favourite book with literally thousands
of readers judging by sales  - is     Constantine's Revenge.  I have a thing about strong male arms  - and  hands - and this get the intensity of the story too.

There's a book called The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge  where, like  Constantine's Revenge, the cover is the same on both the USA and UK editions.   This cover is affectionately known as 'The Back' among fans - I 'm sure you can see why!   There is also, as one reader said - 'all that sexy non-touching' .
  Often when there is a sheikh in the title, and when it works for the art department , then it seems works I get  great cover art -  like  At The Sheikh's Command

In fact a 'Sheikh' title often works really well - like Destined for The Desert King where I  was delighted to see that my 'desert king' had the beard that is so much a part of his  appearance  at first.  There's a reason why he has that beard!

One of the few times when I've liked the UK cover better than the USA one has been  A Question of Honour - it's rare that I like a photo image better than a painted  cover.

But this one works for me:


These are some of my favourite covers, where the artwork comes close to the mood of the story and the hero and heroine I had in my imagination while writing the book.

It doesn't always work out that way though - sometimes I find I'm left wondering 'why?'  when I see a cover.

As an example - how about the one known in my family as 'The Headless Manicure'!

Hmmm!

Favourite covers - For Andrea

I must apologise to one of my readers and students on my writing courses - I have been so so busy that I've only just caught up on this,. 

So -  For Andrea

When I was helping with the Tickled Pink Collection for Breast Cancer Research,   Andrea wrote and offered a generous donation   to the collection if I would let her know which of my covers are some of my personal favorites.

To start this off, she listed these  covers as her personal choices  - and I have to agree with her on them really!

So -   Andrea said -
I loved the ones with the painted covers. Some of my faves are:

'Hers for a Night' (can't beat the James Bond dinner shirt and untied bow tie look),

 'Man of Shadows' (man in a jumper and old jeans ... enough said)



'The Konstantos Marriage Demand' - incredible story and incredible cover - the way the hero is kissing the heroine


 ... and 'Kept for Her Baby' ditto



  So now I need to go and check through my covers . . . only 60+ of them  - and see which ones I'd label as my  'favourites' . 

I have to admit that, long ago title though it was, that  Man of Shadows cover was one I always loved.

Anyone else want to join in?

Out and about

Well, the weather may have been a trifle wet - like constant downpour and huge flooded roads puddles wet - but a special, late birthday treat for the Babe Magnet took us to Oswestry to see the place where poet Wilfred Owen was born - and (almost) to mark the centenary of his death on November 4th 1981. So desperately sad to walk through the quiet streets of this small town and think of where he was born contrasted with the horrors of the 'front' where he died. There was a tragic letter to his mother saying that he was not 'at the front' but 'in the front of things'. I couldn't bear to read the rest of the description of the 'sucking mud' and the other miseries he and others endured. Another strong reason to mark the coming Armistice Day and to wear a poppy, not to glorify war but to mark the sacrifice of so many, so young.

After that, a wonderful long weekend with dear friends in a 'Coach House' on the Welsh Borders. The rain may have kept lashing down but inside we were warm and dry - with friendship and laughter to share - and much talk about writing and books. The weekend passed in a flash and I can't really believe we're home again and catching up.

Back home from Oswestry and the long weekend away - today was the day to celebrate Ruby's 5th birthday. Is it really that long since I visited the Cats' Protection League rescue shelter and a tiny black and white creature threw herself into my arms declaring loudly to anyone who would listen 

that she didn't belong in the shed, but was coming home with me! She found her way into our hearts and has been there ever since. To mark her birthday portrait, she settled herself on top of the suitcase as a sit-in protest so that we can't go anywhere else and abandon her again!

Collecting for Tickled Pink.

It was a cold, wet autumnal Saturday but the welcome to the #tickledpink collection couldn't have been warmer. My mother used to say that the older ladies and the mothers with young children were the first to come forward when she was collecting - and that was certainly largely true today.

But there were some wonderful guys who made generous donations too.

My heart is literally full after the stories that were shared - the girl who lost her mother only last week to

breast cancer - so many whose sisters, mother, aunt, mother-in-law have left a hole in their lives as a result of this horrible disease. But then there were the success stories - the lady who 'left that thing behind' her 30 years ago! The ones who have just passed their 5th year clear - and the collectors who took over from us after our stint was finished who were celebrating 13 + years clear by collecting for others.

There were stories that made me cry. Stories that made me cheer - and laugh. The little girl who was so excited by her sparkly pink sticker that she put her 10p donation in her mouth and her chocolate in the bucket! The lovely

sons who when their mother said she wished she had some change, said 'Oh I can do that for you' - and went off wearing their sparkly stickers with a smile.

So many - some who made generous donations that you wondered if they could afford them - and others who only had a few pence - but that all built up. But most of all there were the shared stories - some happy, some of the 'all clear' - some of harder news - that just proves how appallingly common this dreadful cancer is - with one woman diagnosed with it every 8 minutes. I'm just grateful that I could do some little bit to help.

'It's a generous store this' said the staff - and they were right. My bucket - and that of my lovely assistant - was heavy to lift by the end of the morning. So thank you to everyone who came and chatted and donated - thank you to everyone who shared their story - thank you to the staff at Asda - specially Ruth who helped us get organised and kept an eye on things.

My lovely assistant!

Thank you too to all my fellow Mills & Boon authors who gave their time in other Asda stores all over the country to collect for the #Tickled Pink campaign. And if you couldn't get to an Asda where one of the M&B authors was collecting, you can still go and buy one of our books as it means a donation! (a valid excuse to have to go and buy books - Oh dear! )