On-line Course with Pink Heart Society

 Join the Pink  Heart Society Aspiring Authors forum for information and discussion on writing

That's where I'm running the 12 Point Guide Workshop  to mark the publication of the revised and updated edition of the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance    (An Emerald Guide)  - now available on Amazon   as  both a print book and ebook form.

Also on  Amazon.com

Remember to look for those words: An Emerald Guide to guarantee you have the most recent and up to date edition - other have not been brought up to date,  even if they have the same cover.


Today's topic  Point#2 is CONFLICT   and over the weekend
I'll also add  #3  - which concerns dialogue. So  there's plenty for you to read and think about.  Ask questions too if you need more explanation.

PS To the last post

Wow! I was just checking the Amazon.com page for a link to the 12 Point Guide and I find this - already! A lovely little orange sticker as a bestseller!

 I should point out though - that the Amazon page says the book is 180 pages - er - no - I have a copy right here and it's a nice, substantial book of 274 pages- much better value for money.

 Thank you to everyone who has already stirred up interest in this new edition.

(Re)publishing news

I love the RNA Conference but so many late nights, so much talking, leaves me needing to catch up. 

Add into that mixture the fact that the BM and I had a wedding anniversary to celebrate, then meeting with friends in Harrogate and I just about think I've completed the washing/packing/unpacking/washing/packing/unpacking/washing cycle. At least I have had no trouble getting the clothes dry in this heat!

So now it's a new week and I have some exciting news - as people realised from the bookstall at RNA - and thanks to the interest of a new publisher Straightforward Publishing/Emerald Guides I can now announce the publication of a new edition of the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance.

 I've taken the opportunity to revise and update this and distribution should be more efficient too.  It's now available on Amazon.co.uk
and   
Amazon.com  

Also  The Book  Depository  


Looking at the Amazon pages for this, it seems the news has already leaked out - but I plan some extra publicity events, and perhaps some giveaways - an internet workshop too - so watch this space. I'm just glad to enjoy the special moment of a the parcel delivery and have the new edition in my hands.

More on the blog tour

I'm still trying to catch up on things  - this always happens when  a book goes off to my ed. Because I've concentrated totally on the book, focusing all my attention on that, and  ignoring a lot of things for 'when the Book is done'  (affectionately  know in this house as WTBBID!) then I have  so much to do when I have a moment to breathe.

And this time of course, when I wasn't focusing on the book then I was dealing with admin for the course for Relax and Write at Weetwood Hall!  So  my house/office/life is in a bit of chaos  right now.

Anyway - talking of courses  and teaching and such. Today's post on the mini blog tour to celebrate the publication of A Question of Honor is a craft post written specially for this blog tour.  It's also to mark the republication of the revised ebook of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance which is selling wonderfully - my thanks to everyone who has bought a copy !

 You can find it over on Revising  and Editing and  in  this post  I'm talking about How To Handle Transitions between Scenes  - or Chapters. 

If you're trying to get published and are interested in learning more about the craft, I hope you'll find it useful.

Now where was I . . .?

Sorry for the delay in updating this blog - one of the things about being a published author is that in order to keep that title you have  to write - and that takes time and focus. Life has been hectic anyway, and I've needed to carve out time to spend with a sexy Italian and his wife of convenience, to get their story told.  

So that's where I've been and what I've been doing  - on the writing front anyway.

On the teaching front, I've been thrilled by the response to the new Kindle edition of the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance  - and want to send many thanks to everyone who  bought a copy  at the special promo price |(and to the wonderful friends and fellow authors who spread the word that it was available.)  The ebook is now on sale at it's proper price - but as that is only $3.99 - or  £2.45 in the UK., I still reckon this is a bargain compared to the  price of the paperback. Plus,   the Kindle edition is easily available to more countries  - copies have sold in Germany, France, Australia and Canada - all with just one click! I love ebooks.

I'll admit I never thought I'd say that but I do love ebooks. I love the ease with which I can buy them, the way that I can store hundreds on my reader and not clutter up my room. I'm never without something to read, travelling is easy - just throw the reader in my bag and I  will never run out of  reading matter or if I should do, then  it's easy to get hold of something new.

Not that I'm ever likely to need to do that  . . . the problem is that my Kindle sits on my desk beside me as I

write this - and if during the day I spot an interesting title, then  the temptation is very strong . . . and I was never good at resisting temptation - at least not where books are concerned!

And as a writer, the great thing about ebooks is the way that old titles  get a  whole new lease of life as people discover them. When I was first published , Harlequin romances were in the shops for one month and that was it.  They sold, or they didn't and there was little chance of getting  a copy once the month was over. Sometimes, a book might be reprinted as a 'Bestseller'  - but that would be years later.  I often used to get letters/emails from readers looking for a replacement copy of an old book - or to catch up on one

they'd missed  and  it was difficult to help them.

Now I have old titles out in ebook  form - and it's great to see  - as I did this morning - that older titles like  Kept For Her Baby, At The Sheikh's Command,  The Italian's Forced Bride and Cordero's Forced Bride are out there in the list of bestseller for Modern Romances on Amazon UK.

Oh - and btw -  if you buy  your ebooks from the Mills & Boon web site - they've now introduced a brand new app  which is the best way to read Adobe® Content Server protected eBooks on your iOS device.

What else? Oh yes - courses - I need to update the info on the courses coming up   including one special

retreat style event called Focus on Writing Romantic Fiction - but there's an Italian calling to me so I'll post about that tomorrow.

If you're still looking for a basic course - check out the details  on the upcoming course at Weetwood Hall -   below -  it has filled up but if you're interested I can find another space for you.  Details are also on the Events page of  my web site and on the Relax and Write website here. 

More details on the other course(s) and the Focus retreat as soon as I get some more words added to my total for Dario and Alyse! 

Books and Courses

Thank you so very much to everyone who has helped to make the relaunch of  the 12 Point Guide in ebook such a huge success. I've been thrilled by the interest these has been in this book, and watching  it being downloaded in large numbers day after day has been fantastic.

It ended up at #1 on the Amazon lists for Writing skills on both amazon.co.uk  and amazon.com  and it's been up there ever since.   So a great big thank you to everyone who contributed to this - the friends and fellow authors who shared the news on Facebook and Twitter and the readers who down loaded  it so enthusiastically.  I've really appreciated it.

Of course, there has been a different sort of response to this  new interest in the book - I  said when I wrote it that my aim was to try and  give something of the feeling of being at one of my courses, to work through the most important points about writing romantic fiction (in fact, any sort of fiction - as one of the comments in the book says, even while directed specifically at romance,  this workbook can be used to help anyone who wants to write fiction).  I know that many people can't get to a course because they just can't get to one,  because they don 't have the spare  time, or the spare cash to  dedicate  even a  weekend to themselves and their writing.  I understand this. After all, it's why I wrote the 12 Point Guide in the first place.

But I'm getting messages from people  who have bought the book - and/or who have decided that this year is the year that they'll really focus on their writing  - and they want to know whether they would benefit from attending a course. They also want to know what  they could get from a course that the 12 Point Book, and its writing exercises, can't do.

I could answer myself -  my answers would be that the direct contact is such a valuable thing. Contact with your tutor so that you can ask direct question, go back over things you don 't understands. Contact with others who want to write   - and who want to write the same thing as you .  Contact that means you can discuss your writing with others who are at the same point as you, who have the same worries and doubts about what you're doing.  And that's  before you consider the fun and laughter - and sharing - and chocolate - and , yes post-it notes!  - that  are part of a course - for me anyway.

But don 't just take my word for it. I asked  my students from this year's Advanced Writing Romance Course at Fishguard what they got out of the  weekend they spent with me in Wales in February this yea

Fishguard Bay Hotel 

r.  Here are some of the replies:

I find that writing courses give me a goal to aim for in terms of submitting finished work because otherwise, being unpublished, there are no real deadlines and it’s difficult to stay motivated. I also love getting feedback on my work, and being able to focus on nothing but writing for a whole weekend is pure indulgence. Discussing romance with other people who have a genuine love for the genre is fantastic too, but the greatest benefit I get is that I come home buzzing with ideas, really inspired and re-energised.    Jo

As someone who has only just plucked up the courage to attend a writing course and expose my efforts to others, I couldn't have picked a better course. Not only did I learn lots but also everyone was so welcoming and friendly and we had a good laugh. It's just great to share ideas and experiences with like-minded people; I would highly recommend Kate's course to anyone who dreams of becoming a romantic novelist!    Claire

Kate's courses are special. They give me a chance to learn from an author who has had in excess of 60 books published, books I love. She gives her time generously and enthusiastically and every time, I'm inspired to do better. The classes are small and very friendly, so everyone feels able to contribute.  Sarah

Weetwood Hall  

I'm so complimented by these comments  - they remind me why I run these courses too.

So, if you're interested in coming on one of my course, watch this space - I'll tel you about the ones I have coming up.  There are weekends for all stages of your writing - beginners,  the special Advanced course in Fishguard - and newly decided on are writing retreats where you can concentrate on your  novel, with advice, input and help - and a detailed one-to-one  session too.  There are some details on my Events page - or you can find out more from Writer's Holiday 
or the Relax and Write websites

Maybe I'll see you at one of them.

The Big News

So, finally, I can make a full announcement of my big news  (though if you've been on Facebook today, you'll have spotted this already!)

I have just published a  new edition of my award-winning  (Cata-Romance Best Book For Writers), bestselling  (3 editions sold out) book on how to write romance - Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance - in an ebook version.

As of today, this edition is out on Kindle and is available at a very special introductory sale price of  just  77 pence (in the UK) and  for $1.28 on Amazon.com.  This is an amazing saving for anyone in America or Canada, where the kindle version  hasn't been available and I've seen the print edition at the ridiculous price of  $29.50 !! (or even -  a 'used ' price of $83.60!!!! (You have to be joking! I could ship out a print edition for  less than either of these prices). At long last I've even been able to make it easily available in Australia too . So  if you've been looking for a chance to get hold of a copy of  this book  - or you could never find a Kindle edition  - here it is!

This book has nine 5 star reviews on Amazon - and  there's a wonderful long review of it on my web site  Writers' page.

I've been asked if there is new information or advice in the book - basically, the answer is no - if you have a copy of the 2nd or 3rd editions,  (see the illustration - the last time I'll be using this image) then the same information is in those. But I have revised this new ebook edition to reflect the new names for some of the lines (KISS, Modern Tempted etc) and I do plan to make sure that the ebook is available in other formats too if you don't have Kindle.

This special introductory price is available for  just a week  - after that the price will go up to its proper published price  - but that will still be w-a-y lower than  even the £10+ charged for the last one.

This is the book that I wrote to answer as many questions as I could from the students who had been on my courses - both actual and on-line.   It's aimed at helping as many would-be authors as I can.  I still run the courses - with Writers' Holiday and now with Relax and Write. There are spaces on those still available at the moment (see my Events Page for details)  but if you can't make it one of them - or you don't live in the UK - or can't afford the cost or the time - this book will give you  so much of what is in those courses. (Without of course the post-it notes, the chocolate, the laughter . . .)

Oh yes - and if you  don't actually write romantic fiction , don't think this book is not for you -   Dr Karen Maitland (Creative Writing Tutor, Adult Education and author of Company of Liars, The Gallows Curse etc)  says this:

I regularly recommend the Twelve Point Guide to Writing Romance to my Creative Writing Students. I'm glad to say, they all agree it is one of the most helpful books they've read on writing and works for all types of fiction.   I think writers from beginners to experienced writers get solid practical advice from this book which is both clear, logical and jargon-free and as one of my more down-to-earth male students said, 'makes you actually get on and write.'

Romantic Fiction is big business. This book will provide information and advice for anyone who wants to learn how to write romantic novels.

Kate Walker’s 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance brings together all Kate’s expertise as a successful romantic novelist with over sixty titles in print all over the world. It will give the aspiring novelist the essential skills needed to master this hugely popular genre , but it is also an invaluable handbook for more experienced writers. The 12 Point Guide is more than just a how-to book; it’s also a practical workbook with exercises to help you learn the important skills she discusses, and advice on how to understand and apply the storytelling techniques demanded by the romance genre.

Topics covered in this book include:
• Creating and writing the emotion needed in your story
• Building characters that come to vivid life on the page
• Developing and sustaining the conflict between your hero and heroine to build a page-turning plot.
• Writing intimate, passionate and sensual love scenes
• Submitting your manuscript and working with editors.

Kate Walker’s 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance brings together all Kate’s expertise as a successful romantic novelist with over sixty titles in print all over the world. It will give the aspiring novelist the essential skills needed to master this hugely popular genre , but it is also an invaluable handbook for more experienced writers. The 12 Point Guide is more than just a how-to book; it’s also a practical workbook with exercises to help you learn the important skills she discusses, and advice on how to understand and apply the storytelling techniques demanded by the romance genre.

Published for  thirty years, award-winning author Kate Walker’s novels for Harlequin Presents are sold in over 50 different countries worldwide, and they regularly appear on the romance bestseller charts. She is an experienced tutor and has taught many day and weekend courses on writing romance.


I can't end this post without sending very special thanks to Lee Hyat of Author Sound Relations who helped me prepare the book for ebook publication  - and who designed that fantastic cover for this new edition.  Thank you for  everything, Lee.