My First Kate Walker - Sarah Morgan

I'm a bit late with this - OK, a lot late !

As you know, I've been doing an occasional series of My First Kate Walker (or My Top Five Kate Walker books) from my writing friends and readers to mark my 25th anniversary of being published. The lovely Sarah Morgan wrote me a blog on this topic back in July and I've only just got around to posting it.

But I was in the middle of the posts on Conflict at the time - and I'm realy quite glad that I didn;t post this before now because it means that I can post it now and mark not only a special time for me (that 25th anniversary) but also a great moment for Sarah herself.

If you've been visting the I heart Presents blog recently, you'll have seen that as well as the list of Presents authors whose books have appeared on the USA Today bestseller list in the past week, two authors, have had their books hit the Top 50 on that list. Those authors are - Penny Jordan and my guest today - Sarah Morgan with her current Presents title One Night . . . Nine Month Scandal.

So Sarah, many congratulations on your brilliant achievement - and thank you for writing a post to share your first Kate Walker.

My First Kate Walker

It's surprisingly easy to list My First Kate Walker because it has stayed in my head (and on my shelf!) for years. It was called Constantine's Revenge. The heroine was called Grace and the story took place on a Greek island (I love Greece) but what I remember most of all was the intensity of the emotion and passion which sums up the essence of the classic Presents read and also classic Kate Walker, an author who knows exactly how to keep the reader reading long after she should have switched off the lights and gone to sleep. Another book that is firmly on my keeper shelf is Bedded by the Greek Billionaire (clearly I have a 'Greek' thing going on here.......) It was one of those books that makes your stomach swoop because the emotions were so up and down - fantastic.

Kate doesn't just understand her craft, she is able to pass on her skills to others, a quality I really admire because I am completely unable to unravel how I do what I do and the thought of passing on tips about my messy creative process to others makes me want to shrink with embarrassment. My writing process reminds me a bit of my children's attempts at cooking - it's a giant mess at the time and there's a lot of cleaning up required, but it all turns our fine in the end (usually). However there is no getting away from the fact that my best advice to an aspiring author would be 'whatever you do, don't write like me'. Kate, however, is a great teacher, a fact proven by the undying popularity of her book 'The 12 point Guide to Writing Romance'. If you're an aspiring writing and you don't have it, then buy it. If you're a writing who hates her process and would like to change it, you should buy it too.

Thanks for having me here, Kate, to celebrate your 25th anniversary. May you continue to pass on your wisdom and write beautiful stories for another 25 years.

Love Sarah

Sarah also writes Medicals and Dr Zinetti's Snow-Kissed Bride is released in November.

Thank you so much Sarah - and congratulations all over again.

Mills & Boon New Voices Contest - an update

The August birthday celebrations continue today with the special day for my lovely 3rd twin Donna Alward

(And if you think it's not possible to have three twins, then you've never seen Donna, myself and the other 'twin' Holly Jacobs together !)

Happy Birthday Donna!

With the announcement of the Mills & Boon New Voices Contest and the need to get your entries in between September 6th and 22nd, I have been asked by a few people whether there are any copies of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance still available.


As I've already announced, this book is currently being reprinted and copies are now really quite scarce and difficult to find.

So I thought I'd better let you know that if you are looking for a copy to help you prepare your entry for the New Voices contest then the publisher has just let me know that they have found a few extra copies that are available right now.


In the UK there are just 20 copies left in print - these can be bought from either Amazon.co.uk or The Book Depository- or indeeed from your local bookshop, particularly if it's Waterstones. Just take the information and the ISBN from the Writers page on my website to the shop and they should order it for you.



In America, there are about the same number of copies of the USA edition - available from Amazon.com or again to order from a bookshop - with these details:

ISBN: 9781842851319
Price: $19.99

From Studymates Publishing
Chicago Distribution Centre
11030 Sth Langley Avenue
Chicago IL 60628
Phone: 773 702 7000
Fax: 773 702 7212


Once these copies are gone, there will be no more available until the book is reprinted. (If you're coming to my workshop in Doncaster, I'll have some copies available there.)

And if you have any success with the contest and feel that the 12 Point Guide has helped you, please let me know.
Good luck!

I might be back . . .

. . . I don't know. Not sure

I have a new computer coming next week. And I grabbed the netbook back from the person who had borrowed it so that I can at least communicate just a little with the outside world. If you've emailed me in the past week, then I apologise if I haven't answered yet. It's become an endurance test to send emails so I've rather given up on that.

Add in the fact that I am so so busy that everything is piling on top of me.

So belated waves to everyone I saw at RNA. But that seems so long ago and now I'm busy preparing for the next event - which is the wonderful Writers' Holiday at Caerleon. Personally, I can't wait and neither can the Babe Magnet - we are so looking forward to this.

Now I have some news about this just in case anyone is thinking of looking at a course on writing romance. Because after discussions with the organisers of both Caerleon and the equally fabulous Fishguard Writing Weekend, my teaching at these two events will now combine to create a more detailed and in-depth course. And if you want you can combine the two to get the best possible benefit.

So as far as I can see it, what's going to be happening is that the Caerleon course (5 one hour sessions) will be a basic Writing Romance course, with the grounding you'll need to approach romance writing.

Then the weekend in Fishguard 6 sessions) will be Romance - Moving it On. This will have more intensive workshops, discussions, one to one assessments of your first chapter and
synopsis . . .

So you can do the basic course at Caerleon and then you have 6 months to absorb what you've learned, plan out a story, write a first chapter and a synopsis and come to Fishguard to learn more.

At the moment the Fishguard course is filling up fast - past students who've already been on that course with me are coming back - but there are still places at Caerleon for this summer if you wanted to get started now.

The dates are coming up fast but in case you're interested you can still book a place-
Dates - 25th - 30th July
Place: University of Wales Caerleon Campus
Cost £399

And that includes all accomodation, board (there is so much food on offer!) two courses . (You can find the selection on offer as well as mine on the web site), a wonderful selection of hour long talks, after-tea sessions, a half day trip out, the fantastic evening with the Male Voice Choir . . .

(Oh, now I really can't wait!)

Another important bit of news with regard to my teaching and writing - and this time it's about the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance.


I was delighted to discover that the second edition of the 12 Point Guide has sold out just like the first. The publishers are reprinting the book again. This will just be a reprint, the details of the new names for the lines coming up have been amended but other than that it's reprinted not revised.

There is one difference in that it will now be published by Aber Writers' Guides and the cover will be slightly different - but I don't want those of you who already have the second editon (the one with the white strip across the front) to think it's a new edition. It has just the same details inside.

But if you haven't already bought the amended and increased second edition, you might find it's not available now while the reprint is done. My latest information is that the reprint will be available from October so you won't have too long to wait.
(And if you want it sooner and are coming to my course at Caerleon, I will have some copies there.)

Coming up - I will be doing the Conflict Q&A as promised - so look out for that

And thank you to everyone who has bought a copy of The Good Greek Wife? and so pout it on the bestseller lists in Amazon etc . I can't post any pictures at the moment, but the fabulous cover is on show in the side bar.

Right, here's hoping this posts OK and if so I'll hope to be back again soon.

Fingers crossed!

My First/Favourite Kate Walker book- A Reader's Story

Another reader's story about her favourite Kate Walker books.

A few weeks ago I told you about some of the writers I've worked with who had good responses from the Presents writing contest and today's reader is one of those.

Because of course the writers who succeed are usually voracious readers too.

I met Rachel at one of my Workshops - for the Guildford Festival - and I'm hoping to see her again when I run a Writing Romance weekend course in Southampton. (There are spaces left on this course - and all my courses so far if you want to book check out the Events page on my site.)

See you there Rachel!

Here's what Rachel has to say about discovering my books - and her Favourite Top 5

About six years ago a little miracle happened when the second grumpiest baby in the world actually fell asleep in his pram going round a charity shop (the first grumpiest had just started school). After years of sleep deprivation and the self neglect most new mums go through, I was beginning to feel desperate. Desperate for something different, desperate for something just for me, desperate for an escape from the hideous routine of it all and then I saw it. The little paperback wasn’t a Kate Walker but it had a photo of Santorini on it, the blurb promised romance, luxury and of course a gorgeous Greek—just about as far from reality as it was possible for me to get right then.

I’d never read a Mills and Boon before, I’d never read a romance per se (far too much of a literary snob!) but that day I sat down on a damp park bench and read something properly for what felt like the first time in five years. It was bliss. That little book fitted snugly into my handbag and the chapters were just short enough for me to treat myself whenever I could sneak the odd half an hour. Before I knew it, I was hooked and fed my new habit from charity shops over the next two years—I truly believe those books preserved my sanity!

Then we got our first computer. The first thing I did was book my grocery shopping on line, the second was to Google Natasha Oakley whose lovely book I was currently reading. My eyes were opened wide that day when I read her biography, writing her first book on the kitchen table with all those children around and highly recommending a certain person’s 12 point guide.

My youngest was just about to start preschool and I thought ‘well if she did it, I wonder if…?’ I used my newly acquired internet shopping skills to order Kate Walker’s amazing 12 Point Guide and promptly went out to see if I could find a book by this mysterious Kate Walker. Blow me if I couldn’t find a single book by her in any of the five charity shops in town. Now I know why: everybody keeps them! Fortunately W H Smiths saved the day and I greedily snatched up At The Sheikh’s Command…

The rest, as they say, is history and Kate Walker is now firmly on my ‘buy without hesitating’ list, but I think my most favourite so far is The Spaniard’s Inconvenient Wife. This is a truly memorable book for me in so many ways but I won’t spoil it for anyone who’s not read it by revealing the best bits!

If that’s my number one then the rest of my top five would be:

Rafael’s Love-child

The Italian’s Forced Bride

The Antonakas Marriage

A Sicilian Husband

And Kate Walker ‘does’ the BEST Italian men, believe me!

Thank you Rachel! And good luck with your own writing - I'd love to be able to announce your first book on here.

Amazon (and Barnes & Noble) Grrrr!

So a couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog with good news for American readers - and American writers who wanted to buy a copy of the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance.

In that I was able to tell you that the publishers had reduced the cost of this book from $27.50 - which was the cost of the imported edition, together with shipping - to $19.99 which is what the new USA edition has been priced at. And I was really pleased to be able to say that Amazon had the book in stock at this price. I even put up a link to that page on Amazon so that you could find it easily if you wanted to buy the book.

That was the link that I put I the sidebar.

But I checked on this again over the weekend and infuriatingly I found that Amazon.com has put the price up to the former $27.50 but is now offering the book at a 'reduction' of $24.75 - which is $5 more than the price the publisher is asking. And it seems that Barnes & Noble has done the same.

Now Amazon and B&N are entitled to charge what they want on their sites but it's annying me becuase I've been trying to get this book made easily available to USA writers ever since it first came out in the UK.

And it it's a crazy situation because if you order it from a Barnes and Noble shop, you should be able to get it from the Chicago distributors at the cheaper price of $19.99

So I just wanted to remind you that you don't have to order it on line and pay that extra $5 - what you can do is take the details to any B&N shop or Borders - any bookshop in fact - and you'll be able to order the book at this great price. And you shuldn't have to wait the 2-4 weeks listed by Amazon either - the book is right there in Chicago, ready to be shipped to any bookstore that orders it!

Here are the details you need - just cut and paste them and print them out and take them to your local bookshop and they should do the rest

Please order:
KATE WALKER'S 12 POINT GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANCE
Author: Kate Walker

ISBN: 978-1842851319

Price : $19.99
Studymates Publishing

Chicago Distribution Center

11030 S. Langley Ave.

Chicago, IL 60628

Phone: 773-702-7000

Fax 773-702-721212

You can even phone the Distribution Centre yourself and they will supply the book and post it too you.

But you don't have to do that - that's what bookshops are for - to sell books!

For those of you who don't know, this is the Second Edition. And the new edition is not only revised and updated, it also has this 40+ pages extra with advice and tips from 21 currently published authors. Authors like Michelle Reid, Anne McAllister, Sandra Marton in Presents, Liz Fielding, Natasha Oakley, in Romance, Trish Wylie and Julie Cohen in Modern Heat (Trish in Romance too!) - and Kate Hardy in Mod Heat and Medicals - along with Gill Sanderson and Margaret McDonagh. And in Historicals there's Nicola Cornick and Michelle Styles . . . and that's only as a taster. There's also Holly Jacobs from Harlequin Everlasting - er - Superromance and Yvonne Lindsay from Desire.

Hopefully, whatever line you're aiming for you'll find something to help you there.

Personally, I'm wondering what Amazon will do about the people who ordered the book two weeks ago when they had the price at $19.99. Anyway, I'm taking down the link to Amazon until they offer it at that price again.

PS Amazon.ca have the book at CDN$15.87 and it's in stock! and The Book Depository.com has it at $16.39

More good news for USA writers - and readers

Thank you to everyone who commented on the new covers/new scheduling in the UK.

I tend to agree with you - Julie, Jan, Jill and Ellen - that I'm not keen on the 2 in 1 format for the Romance books - and some others. I often buy romance titles but only by very specific authors and I'm afraid that the inclusion of an author I'm not keen on in the bok - at a higher price than a single title - would make me think more than twice about buying that book. However much I wanted it. I will be considering buying the USA editions as long as they continue to offer me just the author I want to read.

And I'm not a big fan of that washed-out cover look, either Jan. To me it looks way too much the way that people used to think - and some still do - of an M&B Romance- washed out, 'pink and fluffy' and totally unrealistic. Didn't any of the designers read Liz Fielding or Marion Lennox before they planned a design? (No - don't answer that. I have a nasty feeling that the answer is they didn't read very much at all. These covers are just too insipid for me. The new design doesn't work so badly on the Intrigue books though - because the cover images aren't as insipid. I don't actually mind the new layout of the covers - just those pallid images.

Interestingly, the Modern Romance line doesn't have new covers - and as far as I know there are no plans for the new designs for this line or the Historical line either. This creates a rather strange effect on the bokshop shelves where the books now tend to look as if they are from different publishers - is that a good or a bad thing? I don't know.

Jill, you mentioned Harlequin Presents and Harlequin Presents Extra - and you've raised an interesting and rather complicated pint - so I'll talk about that in more detail in my next post tomorrow.

For a while now I've been singing the praises of The Book Depository as a place to get hold of books that are not easily available elsewhere or where postage costs are prohibitive for delivery.

Well, I just learned this morning that The Book Depository is now opening up in America, still with free delivery - and some very good prices for books that are more expensive elsewhere. I checked out the USA edition of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance in their stock and found it here at $16.26 - and that's with free shipping. It's a great deal.

Good news for American writers

I've heard from so many of you in America who want to write romance and have found it difficult to get your hands on a copy of my 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance. It's not easily available in the USA and when it is, it's dreadfully - just about prohibitively expensive.

I've been working with the publisher on getting a USA version of the book into America, and while I was in Washington and at the RWA we finally succeeded. After a bit of organising and negotiating it was there in the RWA bookshop - but the publisher's price was $27.50 - way too expensive, I thought. But that was the publisher's decision.

But after some more discussions and a bit more reorganisation, it was agreed to sell the book at a special promotional price of $19.99 - and the good news is that I've heard from the publisher that the prices is staying that was. So that's almost $8 less to buy it!

Great news I think!

Amazon.com already has the USA edition at this price so you can order it from there. And I think that Amazon.ca have the new price. The last time I looked, Barnes and Noble didn't have the new edition in stock on line but that doesn't mater - just take the details to any B&N shop or Borders - any bookshop in fact - and you'll be able to order the book at this great price.

Here are the details you need:

KATE WALKER'S 12 POINT GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANCE

Author: Kate Walker
ISBN: 978-1842851319
Price : $19.99

Studymates Publishing
Chicago Distribution Center
11030 S. Langley Ave.
Chicago, IL 60628
Phone: 773-702-7000
Fax 773-702-721212

For those of you who don't know, this is the Second Edition. And the new edition is not only revised and updated, it also has this 40+ pages extra with advice and tips from 21 currently published authors. Authors like Michelle Reid, Anne McAllister, Sandra Marton in Presents, Liz Fielding, Natasha Oakley, in Romance, Trish Wylie and Julie Cohen in Modern Heat (Trish in Romance too!) - and Kate Hardy in Mod Heat and Medicals - along with Gill Sanderson and Margaret McDonagh. And in Historicals there's Nicola Cornick and Michelle Styles . . . and that's only as a taster. There's also Holly Jacobs from Harlequin Everlasting - er - Superromance (see there's another of those lines that came and went) and Yvonne Lindsay from Desire.

Hopefully, whatever line you're aiming for you'll find something to help you there.

And don't forget that if you live in any of the coutries they serve, the Book Depository will deliver for free.

I'm excited - and so is Sid

It's been a busy week (are there any other sorts?) and it's been extra wearing as it's been so warm here but I think I'm finally catching up with things. I've crossed a few bits and pieces off my To Do lists anyway.

First of all, if anyone who came to my talk in Derby Library on Wednesday (was it really nearly a week ago?) is reading this, I just want to say Hello again and thanks for joining me then. And a special thanks too to Marie and Kirsty and all the other members of staff who helped make the evening so relaxed and provided the refreshments. I had a great time and from the feedback it seems that everyone else did too. Thank you.

So what's my exciting news?

Well, for ages now - ever since the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance was first published, I have hoped that one day I would be able to tell my American readers and would-be writers that they could buy the book direct in USA. I know that it's been available on Amazon.com, but not everyone likes to buy on-line, and some of you have had difficulty getting hold of it 'over the pond'.

The good news is that I heard today from the publisher that the first copies of an American edition, printed and published in Chicago, are being printed this week - as I write this in fact - and that means that you can easily order the book from any book shop and hopefully get a copy very quickly. That's the idea anyway.

So if you're wanting to track down a copy here are the details you will need:

ISBN: 978-1842851319
Price : $27.50
printed and published in Chicago by:

Studymates Publishing

Chicago Distribution Center

11030 S. Langley Ave.

Chicago, IL 60628

Phone: 773-702-7000

Fax 773-702-7212

This news means that there is also the hope that the book will now be on sale at the RWA Conference in Washington - if it isn't, it won't be for want of trying! So if you'll be at the conference please come and say Hi and if I can get the 12 Point Guide to be on sale there, I will.

Finally - why is Sid so excited? Well a couple of weeks ago I did an interview for a Lincolnshire Magazine called The Journal and tomorrow the photographer is coming to take the pictures to go with the article . (That's coming out in August to mark the publication of my next release Kept For Her Baby) When the photographer rang today to discuss times etc, he said that The Journal's editor has specifically asked for one photgraph of me with Sid, because he gets so much fan mail!

As the magazine is advertised as being 'For Lincolnshire homes of distinction' Sid, being A Cat of Superior Breeding, thinks this is totally appropriate.

I'll hope to get a copy of the photograph to show you but in the meantime here he is practising posing.

A certain Floozie Fora has had her pretty little nose put right out of joint.

We interrupt this All About Alphas discussion to say . . .

. . .that as it's May 1st, today's the day that bidding starts in Brenda Novak's On-Line Auction to Benefit Diabetes Research.

The 5th Annual On-line Auction for Diabetes Research will open today and run through the month. They hope to make this auction the biggest and the best ever. Last year, they raised $252,300. They hope to break $300,000 in 2009.

I've been in touch with a lovely lady called Olga (Olga if you're reading this - then Hi!) And I've been delighted to offer a lot for this auction and hopefully raise lots of bids to contribute to the final total.

My contribution is a Writers' and Readers' Basket' and you can find the details here.

The winner of this bid will receive the Writers' and Readers' Basket with these autographed books:

12 POINT GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANCE

THE STRAIGHTFORWARD GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANTIC FICTION

THE ALCOLAR FAMILY TRILOGY in one volume (Mills & Boon By Request Reprint)CORDERO'S FORCED BRIDE (Harlequin Presents February 2009)

BEDDED BY THE GREEK BILLIONAIRE (Harlequin Presents November 2008)

THE DUKE'S SECRET WIFE (Mills and Boon 100th birthday Special Novella)

SPANISH BILLIONAIRE, INNOCENT WIFE (Harlequin Presents June 2008)

All books are packed into one of my Kate Walker book bags.

Since I first mentioned this, many more lots have been added and there are some really wonderful items and treats to bid for. And it's all in such a wonderful cause.

So you'll want to take a little time to browse, see what's on offer and decide what you want to bid for - won't you?

Brenda Novak 's On-line Auction for Diabetes Research website can be found here. Go and see what's on offer and join in - it's for a great cause.

Oh and PS - about the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance - If you don't make the winning bid in the auction, then it looks like there is going to be a USA edition of this book - and maybe - hopefully - a Kindle edition on sale on Amazon too. More details when i know them myself.

So watch this space.

2008 Looking Back

Well that was quite a year. It had to be really, when it was the year that Mills & Boon celebrated their centenary, with all the fuss and interest that came with it.The celebrations started off in February and from then onwards things didn't seem to slow down much for the rest of the year.

Interviews, TV programmes (about the company, not me)Book Festivals, Library events . .. and that was before we hit the conference season. I seem to have been here there and everywhere this year, snatching a breath as and when I can, and really there was just a bit too much crammed in there.

London, Lincoln, Manchester, Hale, Chichester, San Francisco, Guildford, London again . . . I'm not sure I want to reckon up how many miles I travelled to do workshops. give talks. It was great fun, but I wouldn't want to do it all again - not all in one year anyway! The best part of the public appearences was the oppportunity they gave me to meet people - readers and would-be writers who came to the workshops. That's always a delight and to everyone who came to one of these and stayed to chat or wrote to me afterwards - my thanks. It's always so special to meet readers face to face - and that includes the readers who say that my 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance has helped them.

Because of course 2008 was also the year in which the 2nd (revised and expanded) edition of the 12 Point Guide was published and I was really thrilled about that. I've been delighted and honoured by the way that I keep meeting people - or getting emails from readsers - or reading reviews on Amazon - that have nothing but praise for this book. Not being a teacher, I'm thrilled to find that I can communicate my love of the romance genre and the skills needed to write it - and that those of you who have bought this guide find it helps. And when those people end up with their very first published books in their hands and my 12 Point Guide has played apart in it, that's an even deeper sense of satisfaction for me.

Of course, the travelling of 2008 was also wonderful for the way that it gave me extra opportunities to meet up with friends from the writing world - and I do mean the world. Being in London and San Francisco meant that I could spend time with Michelle Reid, Anne McAllister (who later came to stay her and visit Sid of course) Trish Morey, Abby Green, Sandra Marton, Holly Jacobs, Susan Stephens, India Grey . . . So many friends from eHarlequin too. I also got to meet new authors Jennie Lucas and Sabrina Philips and - new to me anyway - Ellen Hartman. And in a 'before she was famous' moment there was also the Instant Seduction winner Lynn Raye Harris. The RNA Conference gave me a bit more time to catch up with wonderful writers I don't see enough of - and some lovely friends grabbed at the opportunities of the workshops etc when they brought me nearer to them. None of it was ever quite long enough but it was so valuable.

2008 was The Year of Flora - as I've already noted. At first I think Sidney the Cat of Superior Breeding felt that his handsome nose was a little put out - but how could I let that happen? And his fans are still there, ardent as ever (he thanks the two beautiful ladies Josephina and Theodora for their messages on my last post and of course as he helps himself to Greenies from his Christmas package, his dear Lady Across the Pond, Anne McAllister is in his mind too) Of course, there is one important job that Sid has always carried out and that is picking the winners of my contests - Flora is way too flighty to handle anything so important. And while there is a a crunchie that needs choosing, then Sid will always have the Upper Paw.

There were also a few books published in 2008 - some new and some reprints. Two of which I'm particularly pleased about - the publication of The Duke's Secret Wife as part of the special Centenary Collection of shorter novellas - and the reprinting of The Alcolar Family trilogy as a complete collection in book form in the UK and then as an ebook Bundle available on eHarlequin. And thinking about these other forms of publishing that seemed to take such a leap forward in 2008 - there was the use of my Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife as the free book to launch and highlight Harlequin's links with Daily Lit's publication of books in instalments by email.

There were the new books too - that Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife and then Bedded By The Greek Billionaire which gave me my first Romantic Times Top Pick - with 4.5 stars too. This book has also ended my year of a real thrill because it has been shortlisted for the Best Presents of 2008 by Romantic Times too. I've been smiling and Snoopy dancing quite a bit over that particular book!

And now we're into the last hours of 2008. It's time to stop looking back and start looking forward. I'm not one for resolutions, certainly not for great assessments of what I did right or wrong achived or didn't achieve last year. To me that seems to have too much of 'shoulds' and 'musts' that end up being just more sticks to beat ourselves when the inevitable realisation that being human means not being perfect kicks in. As the Jewish proverb says - only God ever created perfection. So I'm not listing any 'I resolve to . . . ' here.

Instead I'm looking forward to plenty in 2009 and hoping to make it an emotionally satisfying, personally satisfying, career-wise satisfying year with lots going on ( that's pretty much certain already) but also lots of balance and quality - because quantity, in achievements, in experiences, in love - is NOT the same thing as quality - not at all.

And I'll be back to tell you more about what's coming up but first I just want to say before midnight sounds anywhere in the world of my readers -

HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope that 2009 and is a very special time for you. One that leaves you with some wonderful memories - of all sorts of things - when it comes to an end and you're looking back on it on December 31st next year.

Blogging about . . .

Still busy with these revisons but if you're interested in Harlequin Presents and maybe hoping to write them. I have a post over on We Write Romance Blog about what is most important in writing for this very special line.

You'll have a chance to win a signed copy of my 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance too. Just post in the comments and you're in the contest.

The post is part of the month-long Harlequin Presents special blog with lots of other interesting posts and new ones being added until the end of October.

Meanwhile, the contest to celebrate the publication of Bedded By The Greek Billionaire is still open - see yesterday's post. Just tell me what you're reading to be in with a chance to win.

Talking of the publication of my new book - I want to send a big thank you to all the wonderful American readers who have already bought a copy and so put Bedded By The Greek Billionaire on to the Waldenbooks list.

Thank you! If there was anything guaranteed to help me with my revisons - it was that!

Coming in November

Browse this book

Add to your site

Buy this book

And a reminder:

GUILDFORD BOOK FESTIVAL 16 - 25th October 2008

Workshop places are limited, so please book early!

Festival Box Offices: 01483 444789 / 01483 444334

FRIDAY 17 OCTOBER

Kate Walker – Writing Romantic Fiction

Guildford Institute (Old Billiard Room), Ward Street • 3pm-5pm • £8
Romantic fiction writing is big business, making up almost half the paperback fiction sold and generating billions in sales worldwide. This workshop is intended to provide information and advice for anyone who wants to learn how to write romantic fiction. It gives an introduction to all the skills needed for success, from creating realistic characters, sustaining pace and conflict, packing emotional punch, writing sex scenes and crafting a satisfying ending. If you’re just starting out writing romance, or you’ve written a manuscript or two but are not yet published and are interested in honing your skills, this workshop is for you.

Kate Walker has been writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon Modern Romance since 1984. Her novels have been published in over thirty-five countries and approximately twenty different languages worldwide

Kate Walker is also the author of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance which gives an introduction to the essential skills needed to succeed as a writer of romance

Guildford Book Festival

Guildford Book Festival 16-25 October 2008

Workshop places are limited, so please book early!

Festival Box Offices: 01483 444789 / 01483 444334

FRIDAY 17 OCTOBER

Kate Walker – Writing Romantic Fiction

Guildford Institute (Old Billiard Room), Ward Street • 3pm-5pm • £8

Romantic fiction writing is big business, making up almost half the paperback fiction sold and generating billions in sales worldwide. This workshop is intended to provide information and advice for anyone who wants to learn how to write romantic fiction. It gives an introduction to all the skills needed for success, from creating realistic characters, sustaining pace and conflict, packing emotional punch, writing sex scenes and crafting a satisfying ending. If you’re just starting out writing romance, or you’ve written a manuscript or two but are not yet published and are interested in honing your skills, this workshop is for you.

Kate Walker has been writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon Modern Romance since 1984. Her novels have been published in over thirty-five countries and approximately twenty different languages worldwide Kate Walker is also the author of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance which gives an introduction to the essential skills needed to succeed as a writer of romance.

Blogging elsewhere

I'm locked in the writer's cave with Ricardo and Lucy so I'm concentrating on that.

But if you are a would-be writer, don't forget that the 12th of every month is when I write my 12 Points on the 12th as an extra spin off from the second edition of Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance.

So I'm over on Tote Bags and Blogs and today I'm talking about that question that I've been asked so many, many times :

Where do you get your ideas? Hope to see you there

Tote Bags 'n' Blogs

Just a reminder to those of you who are interested in writing romance that I have a new post up on Tote Bags 'n' Blogs in the 12 Points on the 12th series I've been running over there.

Today I'm talking about Cutting for Pace.

Maybe I'll see you over there.

Back

I'm back and I had a wonderful trip to Hale. The library talk was fantastic, with a lovely, friendly, enthusiastic audience. And luckily I felt so much better so I was able to enjoy myself too.

(Kate sends a special wave to everyone in the workshop group on Saturday - you were great to work with and the time went so fast! Thank you!)

Full report and photos to follow when I can find my camera. (Special thank you to Nicole for takiing the pictures for me)

But before I forget, I just want to answer Linda C who asked me:

Has the 12 Step Guide 2nd. Edition been released in the U.S. yet? I went to Barnes and Noble, but it doesn't say which edition it is. I have the first one, now I want the second!

Linda - I went to check and the as long as you order the book where the edition of the 12 Point Guide that is advertised on B&N on line has the ISBN: 978-1842851319 that should be the second edition. I hope that soon they will have the cover up and you'll be able to see that the 2nd edition has the white band across the front where the first edition was just golden yellow.

Thanks for alerting me to this. It means that I can link to the B&N site from my own site.

Of course you can always order it from a bookshop with the details that are on my site . I believe that the RWA has put the book on the list of requested titles for the bookstall at RWA but I don't know yet if the bookshop will get stocks in. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

More later, but first I have to appease Sir Sidney and Flora the Floozie who are complaining loudly at the way I abandoned them for two days.

Busy weekend

Well, that was a lost couple of days. I was struck down by some vicious virus and spent the last two days in bed feeling rotten - so rotten in fact (and here's the really bad news!) that I couldn't even read because my head hurt so much. Now that is really mean.

But I'm back on my feet now, if a little wobbly, and it's just as well. Because this weekend I'm heading over the other side of the country, to Hale , Manchester where I'm running a workshop there on Saturday morning. This follows on from the opening of the Centenary Exhibition in the Central Library, which I told you about last month. And of course I'll be teaching from the 12PGTWR2.

I'm told the workshop is totally booked up so at least I know I won't be talking to myself or just one or two people. (I did have to do that once, when just two peole turned up for a talk I was giving!) So if you've booked for the workshop then I'll see you soon. I'm looking forward to it. I've never been to Hale so I shall be exploring a new place.

One other thing - as a small PS to my blog about the books I sent to Ghana and the lovely pictures of Hanana with them. Some of my lovely author friends (Margaret McDonagh and Anne McAllister ) have already written to me and asked if they could help by sending books too. So, not wanting to overload Tony, in case he could't handle an flood of books, I checked with him , and this is what he said:

Your idea sounds really good - the more books the better. Literacy in Ghana's northern regions is quite low, so any additional books would be great. Individual authors can send them to me direct and then there will be no customs duty to pay - it will be just be receiving gifts from the UK. I can stockpile them and then make a decision on whether the individual donations should go to the library or to a women's NGO.

So if any other authors reading this would like to get involved by sending a book, please email me for details and I can put you in touch with Tony. And maybe we can help put a smile on more faces and more women get lovely books to read!

I'll be back on Sunday - see you then.

The Alcolar Family

It's here! I finally got to see it - and to have a copy in my hand!

What am I talking about?

The Alcolar Family Trilogy, that's what!


My author copies arrived yesterday and I've been able to see it 'in the paper' for the first time.


And it's a wonderful feeling.

I always love the moment when the published editions of my books arrive. When I see the brand new covers, the actual pages with my words on them. And this time was really special. This is a substantial volume, 3 different stories, around 555 pages of text, and all of them mine! I've had 3 in 1 By Request volumes before now, but I've shared them with other writers - this one, with it's wonderful sunset on a beach cover is all mine! (OK - the cover's not entirely mine, but when I share it with a very special friend from 'downunder' on Trish Morey's great book A Virgin for the Taking, I'm not going to complain - and it is a great cover!)


I always loved the 'shout line' for this mini series -

Proud Spanish aristocrats . . . Passion is their birthright . . .

And there it is on the back of the collected volume, together with the names of all the three titles in the trilogy. The Twelve Month Mistress, The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife and Bound by Blackmail. The only thing that would have made it even more perfect would have been if the on-line story that started this whole thing off had managed to be included in this volume.

But at least that is in the ebook 'bundle' that is currently riding high on the eHarlequin ebooks sales charts - it's been the best selling 'bundle' all month, right from the start.

This ebook bundle does include that story Wife For Real so that every single one of those Alcolar brothers (and sister) are collected together in one place.

To have this trilogy republished as a collection is such a special moment for me - and to have it appear now, in the middle of Mills & Boon's Centenary year, is an extra special thrill. In August I'll be running a special contest to celebrate - and that will be as well as my usual Tote Bag of Books Contest which I run every summer which is also coming up. (You didn't think I'd forgotten that did you? I've been busily collecting up books to go in this year's tote and I already have a wonderful selection).


But if you want to get your hands on the print copy of The Alcolar Family Trilogy it will be available on the Mills & Boon Website from the start of July.


And for international readers, the good news is that the trilogy will also be available on The Book Depository in August, as will The Duke's Secret Wife in the same month. Don't forget that The Book Depository offers free international delivery - that's worldwide - on all the books it stocks, so if you're itching to get your hands on any of the special Mills & boon Centenary publications and they're not available where you are, then The Book Depository is the place to look. (And no, I don't get commission from TBD but I do like to think that my readers all over the world can get their hands on the books they want as cheaply possible. And they do also stock the 2nd edition of the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance which I know a lot of you have been looking for.)

Oh - and mention of The Duke's Secret Wife reminds me that I haven't announced the winners of the thank you prize for answering my questions about author's web sites and what you like or don't like about them. It's been a hectic week, but I finally managed to grab hold of Sid and put him to work. (work?) And the winners are:

Ellen and Dina

So Ellen and Dina will you please send me your mailing address and I'll get those copies of the book in the post to you. And to everyone else who answered both on my blog and in private - thank you so much - you've been a great help.

Writers' Q&A 3

Today's question comes from Lorrraine, who asks:

What do you do if your heroine wants to veer off in a different direction to the one you have planned for her? Do you ever, 'go with the flow', or do you stick rigidly to your outline?

So here's one of those times when I need to preface my answer by emphasising the point that TANR There are no rules - and IAITE - It's all in the execution.

I'm going to talk about the way I write - there are others who write differently, but neither of us is right - we're only writing right for ourselves. Some people are careful, deliberate plotters, some are total ‘pantsers’ – people who set of hopefully into the mist and ‘write by the seat of their pants.’ I’m one of those.So when I start out on a book, I usually don’t have a complete idea of where I’m going. I have a hero, and a heroine, and I have an idea of the conflict between them – or at least the way that conflict starts off because a conflict must have many layers. And then I write the opening scene, bring the hero and heroine together and off we go on a voyage of discovery.

So if I had a heroine who determinedly went off in one particular direction, then that possibly wouldn’t worry me as much as it might a plotter, because I am, in a way, waiting for the characters to tell me their story and sometimes when I do that I’m grateful for any input they give me at all! So I would probably go with the flow.

But if you are a plotter and have planned out your story carefully, knowing that this happens and then that happens and that . . . then a heroine setting off determinedly in what you might think is the wrong direction can be very worrying and set all sorts of panic bells ringing.

And now here I have to add something really, really important – and that is that at this point both the plotter and the pantser, and everyone, no matter which way they write - has to pause, think, and ask themselves . . .

DO I KNOW MY CHARACTERS WELL ENOUGH?

Because what I missed out – or skimmed over – in the way that I work is that before I set out hopefully into the mist, I know my characters as people so I know what makes them tick, how they feel about what has happened, who they are – and so, when something happens that in my rational mind I wasn’t expecting, I know that somehow it has come from my subconscious because I know these people better than even I realise.

That’s why I never plot out a book, or create anything by the most sketchy of outlines – nothing that I’d need to stick to too rigidly. Because for me when I’m writing romance I don’t think too hard about plot but I do think very hard about characters. Because in a romance, the characters and their emotional journey, the development of the relationship between them is the plot. And as long as I am portraying the development of that relationship then the scenes my characters and I create together are fine by me.

I do worry that if writers ‘stick rigidly to the outline’ then they can try to push their characters through hoops and into scenes that are there because they think they will have dramatic impact, that they are ‘great scenes’ that the author can just imagine inside their head. But are these ‘great scenes’ ones that the characters have given you or that you are trying to mould your characters into?

Only you can answer that. In the same way that only you can answer whether what your heroine is doing as she veers of in that different direction is telling you something that you need to know about her – revealing a vital part of her real personality – or if she’s simply being self-indulgent and wandering all round the houses, trying on scenes for size, because you’re letting her – because you don’t know her well enough to know if she’s messing about or giving you some really good stuff.

So you come back to Kate’s Favourite word – you ask WHY? Why is she doing this? Why is she going this way instead of the nice neat plan you though you had. Why is this what she’s telling you rather than what you thought she was. And why is this the truth about her – or not?

If the answers you get tell you a lot about your character, go deeper into her personality, her reasons for behaving in this way – and what the effect will be on her hero and how it will change his actions and feelings too- then you’re on the right path. But if you can’t imagine why on earth she’s doing any such thing – and what the effect will be on her hero and how it will change his actions and feelings too- then you need to haul her back into line.

But you’ll also need to look at the point at which she set off on that new direction. The bit just before she did it. Because it’s very likely that in that section you wrote something that just didn’t fit, something that didn’t set right with her character and that meant she baulked at going the way you were taking her.

It’s all about knowing your characters well enough to let them take you the way that grows from inside their true selves, the way that makes the plot grow from who they are and what they are, not what you’ve decided will make a good plot.

That’s why the 12 Point Guide has a l-o-n-g section on creating both a hero and a heroine – and a lengthy Character Questionnaire that asks so many questions, some that might seem at all relevant to the book you’re creating – but which help you dig deep into your characters and their motivations and then when you need to ask the question WHY – you’ll also know the way to answer it.

Writers' Q&A 2

Today's post for writers isn't here - because today is May 12th, so that means I'm over on Tote Bags and Blogs where my 12 Points on the 12th for this month is about ways of getting deeper inside your characters by looking at some things about them that you may not have considered.

So maybe I'll see you over there. And if you join in, post a comment you'll be in with a chance to win a signed copy of my latest novel, Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife.

Meanwhile, I'll be thinking about the next question on the list for the Writers' Q&A which will also be about character but in a rather different way.