Celebrating a friend's achievement

Today I have a blog in a very special place - I'm over on my friend Kate Hardy's blog, joining in  the special  - and very big - blog party she's having to celebrate her real landmark book - her  50th published title!

Some years ago I shared the day of my 50th book presentation with Kate  because  she was then celebrating her 25th silver pin.    And last Friday I was there after the AMBA lunch  to cheer and applaud when she was presented with her gold pin for her 50th title!

Er . . .yes  - five years later!! She's hit 50 and I'm plodding along with 61 . . .

That - and other reasons are why I call her Scary Kate. If you want to know more, then why not visit Kate's Blog today. I'm giving away two copies of my trilogy Claimed by The Sicilian (it includes my 50th title The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge)  as part of the celebrations.

See you there?

And many, many congratulations, Kate on this landmark book. At the pace you write, I'll expect to be celebrating your 75th . . .Oh - next year??

Advent Calendar Giveaway Day 4

The winner of yesterday's Advent Calendar prize - a copy of Mistress Material - goes to CHEY!

So Chey please email me - Kate AT kate-walker.com with your postal address and I'll sort that out for you.

Thank you all for your responses yesterday. It really wasn't a condition of entry that you had to include my name in your list of three - honest! But I was honoured by the number of you who did. And I agree that it is like choosing one of your children. So now you know what it feels like to be asked which of my books is my personal favourite.

That's just not possible to answer. But there are some books which are very special to me and they're more easy to list. Obviously, The Chalk Line which was my very first published title ever - or the book that is today's giveaway prize. The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge is a book I will always remember specially because, as many of you who have been reading this blog for a while will remember, this was my 50th title published back in 2007. And I can say quite honestly that this has one of my favourite ever covers. I love it.

I've chosen this as the prize this morning because I really think we need something red-hot to warm us up with the snow still so very dep outside and temperatures of -4 predicted for the rest of the weekend.

They shared one night of passionate lovemaking. Then in the cold light of day, her secret tore them apart. Now Vito has come back – and he’s determined to have his revenge.

Emily Lawton never expected to see him again. But Vito Corsentino has tracked her down and he wants Emily. This time he’ll take her and he’ ll be the one to leave when it’s over.
But Emily has one last secret for Vito . . . She’s having his baby and if he finds out, he’ll want more than revenge!

The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge is Part Two of the Sicilian Brothers duo, and obviously it's Vito's story. The other part of this series is Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride - Guido's story.

And the question for today's Advent Calendar giveaway is - The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge was a very special, landmark book for me - my 50th published title - so I celebrated that event with other writers, friends and family. And of course this year I've been celebrating my 25th year as a published author. Today I'd like to know - what special event (big or small) have you celebrated in 2010 - or are looking forward to celebrating in 2011.

Answers, as always, in the comments section.

And to answer Nicolettte's question - yes, you are allowed to keep on entering/answering right up until Christmas - I'd love to see your answers. And Sid will be happy to have plenty of cat treats to choose from.

One other thing - for those of you who are interested in the newly-released third edtion of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance , keep your eyes open all over the internet for special contests/giveaways for this special book in the run-up to Christmas. Several people/bloggers/writes I know will be offering a chance to win a copy over the next couple of weeks.

Here are two of them to start with:

Simon Says

The contest is already running

And coming next week:

Quiller's Place

There will be more - or you could just put a copy of this book on your list to Santa and hope to find it in your Christmas Stocking!
It's available to order from any good bookshop or on Amazon /Book Depository/ Amazon.com etc

Catching Up and Looking Forward

I made it back at last.

Thank you so much to everyone who left me Happy New Year messages- Nicolette, Nature Nut (Nancy) Madeline, Jenny and the Nooligan (though I think Flora is a Nooliganess) Cryna, Anna, Anne McA, T'Other Kate, Jan, Nell, Rachael, Sandra, Tammy, MammaDuck, Lee and Lidia - thank you all and Happy Happy New year wishes right back (only a little late).

And Rachael a very special thank you to you - the Christmas Cake was wonderful and delicious and was much admired and enjoyed by many visitors to our house at Christmas. And I did admit that I hadn't baked it but you had. Thank you!

I'm not quite sure what happened to last week, except that I seemed to blink and found it had gone past. There was a lot going on in there - New Year rituals, kittens - well, just one kitten but she's as crazy as a bunch of small furries. Nicolette asked me if Flora had had a mad half hour yet? A mad half hour? This girl had mad half days. She treats the house like a race circuit - out of my office, along the corridor, through the kitchen, along the hall, up the stairs, round the bedroom, over the bed, back down the stairs . . .. The Gentlemen Cats would like a little peace and quiet please and they are most happy when she finally fall asleep.

Oh yes, and as you're all watching with fascination the growing 'romance' between Sir Sidney and Flora the Flirt - they have finally started sleeping together - but only in separate beds.

What else happened in this week?

Well in this family, the final Christmas/New Year celebrations don't stop until 12th Night - because the feast of The Epiphany on January 6th is the day we celebrate the birth of The Offspring quite a few years ago. It does mean that when everyone else is starting to settle down and think of getting back to work and Resolutions and things like that, we are still planning parcels and parties and such. Having a baby on January 6th was not exactly the best planning - but then I didn't plan it. In fact, he wasn't due for another 2-3 weeks. He was supposed to be a last week in January baby . But then a combination of a major thunderstorm, a panicked elderly neighbour, a visit from my Mama all combined to bring the event forward - one or other or all of them created a huge spike in my blood pressure. I suspect it was my Mother's influence - she wanted to see her new grandchild and if he didn't arrive during her visit, she would be back at work and miles away when the actual event occured. So she probably muttered some sort of incantation behind my back and The Offspring was induced on January 6th in time for Granny to celebrate the feast of the 3 Kings with a brand new grandson.

But I did also have to get back to work - my Christmas post from my new editor was the proofs of the just-finished book now glorying in the title of Bedded By The Greek Billionaire but known to me and to my blog readers as The Black Angel,. So I had to correct Angelos's proofs and get them back on my editor's desk. Which I have done.

Also on the work front, I was delighted to receive a card from everyone at eHarlequin and specially thrilled when I found this message inside:

Kate, ebook readers love their Presents, and in 2007 you had two of our most popular titles! . . . .

Of course then I was intrigued and wanting to know which titles had been so successful. Thanks to my Editor, I've been able to find out that those two of the most popular titles were The Italian's Forced Bride (which I suspected as that sold at #1 in Waldenbooks) and my 50th title The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge. What a great result for that special book.

So a great big Thank You to every one of my readers who contributed to this success. I couldn't have done it without you.

In the email, my Editor also said that she'd also been told that my Mini Round Robin title Stolen by the Sheikh is a consistent top download on eHarlequin.com. I had such fun with that Writing Round Robin on the eHarlequin site and that;s when I got to meet a wonderful group of people who call themselves The Hoods. Nancy/Nature Nut - if you're reading this and you're still in touch with The Hoods please say Hi to them from me and let them know of the great success of our story together. And thank you too to the Hoods who contributed to that success.

The rest of the week was filled with reading - The Offspring gave me The Thirteenth Tale as part of my Christmas present I'm on the last section now and it has held me riveted for some nights. Unfortunately I couldn't say the same about one of the films he also gave me - Scoop - with Woody Allen and Scarlett Johansson - and some guy called Hugh Jackman. Let's just say this film did not hold me riveted - even with Mr Jackman in a swimming pool scene.

Oh yes and one thing that gave me a lot of pleasure was being able to buy the Essential Medicines from Oxfam Unwrapped as your Christmas Card from me. Thank you again for all the books you bought and the votes you posted so that I could do this for the second year running.

The Christmas Stocking prizes went out and I've heard from Julie in Scotland that her parcel of books has arrived - I envy her the chance to dive into all those books and I hope that Dawn's prize has reached her safely too. And all the 12 Days of Christmas prizes, together with the specials from my Newsletter list, have gone in the mail too. So that's the contests for 2007 - but there will be more coming up in 2008.

The rest of the time I have been planning and organising things - a new book, a series of guest blogs, celebrating special books with some author friends, new contests, new teaching plans, some events . . . and of course a very special year for Mills & Boon.

But this blog is already long enough so I'll come back later with Part Two - the Looking Forward bit.

Still celebrating

Remember this?

Just when you thought all the celebrations for the 50th title had died away, there's one last party to visit.

When I actually celebrated the publication of The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge in July and ran the Great Big Blog Party here in the summer, things were so hectic and life was so busy that I didn;t manage to celebrate with a special site and a bunch of people who have been so much a part of my life - writing and personal - for over seven years.

I'm talking about the eHarlequin site and specially the Community and the message boards there where I have 'met' so many of the writers I now call my friends, many of the wonderful readers who have helped my career by buying and reading my books and discussing them there - and I must specially mention the hosties(some of whom you met here in the summer) Dee, Rae, Danica and of course Boss Lady Jayne who runs the show.

As I said, I didn't get time to celebrate with my friends on eHarlequin before, so when Jayne discovered that I have the newest title -The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife - out now, she suggested that we celebrate both that and the 50th in a special party thread on the Simply Series section of the message boards.

So today - and the rest of this week - that's where you'll find me - I'm hosting a special celebration party thread and I hope you'll drop by. If you havr any questions about writing for Presents or just about my books, then ask away - I'll have a few random 'door prizes' to give away too so if you post a message you'll be in with a chance to win too.

Hope to see you there.

London

I'm back.

I've been back for a day really but I had so much catching up to do - plus unpacking, washing . . . and I needed to catch up on some sleep as I didn't do much of that while I was away

There are other reports on other blogs - Michelle Styles, Kate Hardy, and I'm sure Trish Wylie and Donna Alward will report back as soon as they catch up too. I'll just be able to touch on some personal highlights.

Thursday night was the Presents Authors dinner which Michelle Reid and I hosted the night before the AMBA lunch. There was a mixture of the older authors - myself, Michelle, Jacqueline Baird - and some of the newest signings - Abby Green, Christina Hollis, India Grey and Natalie Rivers. And as always once a bunch of authors get together then the conversation flows - and the wine does just a little bit. (So yes, lara a 'round' of romance novelists might well be a good title for a group of us.)

But Friday was the big day when the Association of Mills & Boon Authors met at the RAF Club Piccadily for lunch. The lunch is always well attended so I was looking forward to meeting so many friends. The first half an hour is always a flurry of hugs and welcomes and greetings meeting - in no particular order - Michelle Styles (who organised the whole thing superbly with Jessica Hart and who was wearing a stunning red and black vintage jacket that had belonged to her Grandmother), Fiona Harper, Nicola Cornick, Roger (Gill) Sanderson, special friends Kate Hardy and Trish Wylie, Christina, Jacqui, Abby, India and Natalie again, Jenny Haddon (in her Sophie Weston personna), Joanna Maitland, Catherine George, Carole Mortimer, Heidi Rice, Sharon Kendrick . . . I will just leave that as a selection as there were so many authors there and I'm bound to forget someone.

Michelle Styles making announcements at the AMBA lunch

I was thrilled to see everyone and specially snatch a few moments to chat with PHS creator and wonderwoman Trish Wylie - to congratulate her on finally getting the dreaded Gabe revised and bought - and to hear news of her plans for the PHS - some of which involve me personally - believe me, there are some good things coming up.

But this year I was looking for a special guest who had flown over from Canada for her very first AMBA lunch - Romance author Donna Alward.

With Scary Kate (Hardy) and Fiona Harper

You'll remember Donna from her appearance at my Great Big Blog Party back in June. I had 'met' Donna on the eHarlequin message boards but this was to be my firts opportunity to meet her in persona and as soon as I saw a beautiful, glamorous lady standing in the middle of the room I knew this had to be her. One of the great things about making friends on the internet is that you get to know them in a relaxed and open way and people I have really enjoyed chatting to that way have rarely been a disappointment in real life. Donna was no exception - she is warm, open and totally delightful. Meeting her made so so glad that there is the internet to keep us in contact - but so sad that wonderful friends like her actually live so very far away. Safe journey home tomorrow Donna and I hope that it won't be too long before we meet again.

With Donna outside the RAF Club

The lunch was fun and business with information about the company's pans for the Centenary Celebrations for 2008 - more on that later - and some new developments that are coming up for the Presents line in the near future too. More on that when it can be announced. And there was the great news that Mills & Boon are moving into India. Now I know that there are plenty of readers of romances in India - I have had many email messages from readers there and some of you have won my contests. But I know that actually getting hold of the books can be difficult. Hopefully this will now be easier. At the reception later on Friday I met the charming and enthusiastic man who will be in charge of this new venture and he is very keen to make it work. The launch of the first books will be, if I remember rightly, in November this year and there will be six Mills & Boon Modern novels in the first books released out there.

Between the lunch and the reception Michelle and I had been invited to afternoon tea but a nagging migraine meant that I needed a break if I was to enjoy the evening but at 5.30, together with Marion's husband and the Babe Magnet, we made our way to the Oriental Club off Oxford Street where all the editors from Richmond had gathered and there was champagne on offer and even more talking. The Reception was held in the beautiful library there, a fabulously ornately decorated room where of course the BM had to investigate all the wall to wall bookcases.

Being a Babe Magnet of course, he had also to live up to his reputation - which he did. He can be seen here with his - er - his Babes, all suitably magnetised!

The babes are Trish Wylie (with blonde hair) PHS Supremo and Romance and Modern Extra (now Modern Heat) author

India Grey new Presents/Modern Author

and the irrepressible Abby Green another new Presents author.

Other authors who are special friends joined us at the Oriental club including the lovely Julie Cohen and Natasha Oakley, and I managed to have time to snatch a chat with my editor (who looked even more glamorous than usual after a wonderful holiday and a promotion) and many of the other eds there including Executive Editor Tessa Shapcott who is here with Michelle Reid .

At the reception several awards were handed out by Editorial Director Karin Stoecker. Mary Nichols and my dear friend Scary Kate - aka Kate Hardy - both receieved their silver pins for their 25th novels (and I'm not even going to think of the short space of time in which Kate H has made this achievement). I was so delighted to be able to cheer and appplaud her as she received her pin.

And then it was my turn. I'll be honest and admit that really until this moment it hadn't actually really sunk in that I had had 50 titles published so when Karin announced it, I found that I was shaking and nervous. I barely registered the introduction - though I was stunned to hear myself called 'a force' on eHarlequin and now apparently on the I heart Presents blog. Apparently it has been spotted that a lot of the visitors to the blog come via this blog/website - so thank you all for going across and reading - it's been noticed!

Kate Hardy and her special award

Soon, like The Other Kate, I was clutching a turquoise box and a special letter from Donna Hayes, Harlequin's CEO. And then was amongst all my wonderful friends and fellow authors who wanted to congratulate me - and everyone wanted to see just what the 50th title pin looks like! What I wanted was to find the Babe Magnet and share it with him. He had promised he would take photos too and I could only hope that this time he had the camera the right way

round - last time he had to take important photos he ended up with a fabulous image of his own right eye!

But this time he managed to get things right as this picture of me with Karin Stoecker shows.

Soon the Reception was over - but not the evening. More friends arrived - Anna Louise Lucia who was looking very beautiful - as was Biddy Coady who is, I very much hope, is now getting very close to being yet another of my wonderfully 'deflowered' and about to be published ex-RNA-virgins. (Fingers tightly crossed Biddy).

Biddy had organised a dinner for many of us at Browns and so we all staggered there (staggered because of being unused to spending so long in elegant high heels, I assure you - not because we had had too much champagne!). It was a wonderful meal with lots of laughter and - guess what - lots of talking. During this part of the evening we finally decided what the group name for a bunch of romance Novelists must be - so, courtesy of Trish, Fiona, Donna et al - I can announce that the correct term is in fact -

A CLEAVAGE of romance novelists.

I do have a photograph to prove this perfectly but I am not displaying it here to protect the innocent - and no, the novelists in question were not - definitely not - the innocents - but I think I shall keep that photo to blackmail anyone I might need to have in my power later. The BM is still recovering from the sight of it!!

Anna Louise Lucia, Biddy Coady and Julie Cohen

Eventually, and very very reluctantly, I had to tear myself away and the BM and I headed back to our hotel. I have to send a very special thank you to Biddy for orgainsing a fabulous end to a wonderful day. It was a gorgeous way to celebrate once more that 50th title - what better way than to celebrate with friends and fellow writers who have come to mean so much to me as a result of this writing career of mine. I had a truly fantastic time.

And I think that's me caught up - except for one thing - I know that like everyone at the Reception, you'll all want to know what that special pin looks like - so here it is - and I have to add to this a special thank you to each and every one of my readers out there because without you reading my books and buying the next one - and the next - I would never have been able to keep writing, keep selling- and so reach ths special celebration and achievement. So here's the gold pin that I'm sharing with you all because you helped me to achieve it - Thank you so much

Catching up - and the Blog Party one last time

Well, I suppose it was inevitable. You know how it is when you've had a wonderful party and you finally get all the tidying up done. The ballons have withered and the flowers faded, the food is all eaten and the wine has been drunk - and you've picked up all the wrapping paper and ribbons and the gift tags and tried to make sure you remember who gave what . . . and then under the table or behind the settee or in a box you thought was rubbish, you find on last little gift that you'd manage to miss all this time.

And that's what happened this week. As I sorted out things and organised the last distribution of prizes from the Great Big Blog Party, I realised that there was one final giveaway that had not been given away.

I know what happened. When I said that I would write some Writers' Holiday at Caerleon specials to round up the Blog Party, I originally had two books from writers and tutors at Caerleon to go with those posts. Books by Zoe Sharp (First Drop) and an extra novel by Jane Wenham-Jones (Perfect Alibis) . Then the lovely Jane Jackson said that she wanted to join in too and she wrote a blog post and gave away her book Dangerous Waters. And in the final Caerleon post I rounded off the Blog Party with copies of The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge and Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride.

Spot the not- so -deliberate mistake? Jane W-H's book was never given away. And that's what I found this week, complete with the 'Greetings From Caerleon' message where she signed it for that Caerleon Special.

Well, this is a book that was meant to be given away - so, although the Blog Party is over, I need to organise a winner to receive this book. So I'm offering it as a final, very last Blog Party Prize - and all you have to do to be in the running for it is to leave me a message in the Comments section telling me what you liked best about the Great Big Blog Party - all 60 posts of it! Did you have a favourite visitor - a favourite post? What did you most enjoy about the party? If I have another one will you come again?

Leave a message and I'll get Sid to pick a winner in the usual fashion and you could end up with a copy of Perfect Alibis to go on your To Be Read Pile.

And talking of celebrations. Remember the real Writers' Weekend to celebrate the 50th title when my lovely, wonderful friends gave me flowers galore to celebrate - well, I just had to share this with you . .

Here (on the left of the picture) is a little patio rose bush that dear Jan Jones gave me back in June. I brought it home, found a larger pot to put it in and put it in my garden. This week I was checking on it after the rain and more rain and a little sun and more rain - and I found that it now looks like this -->

And guess how many flowers there are on this bush now - 50 - some in full bloom, some part open and some just buds - but there are 50 of them! That's really rather special.

So Thank you again Jan - your rose bush is looking wonderful.

And finally, for the fans of the Hecks, the hedgehog family. They are all doing well, in spite of the cold evenings and the rain. They were round visiting last night, looking for cat crunchies or cast-off cat meat. So I'll leave you with a picture of Middle Heck - who has grown over the summer in to Pretty Great Heck.

Great Big Blog Party #60 Caerleon Special

So - Caerleon has great courses, friendships, food - but that's not all. As the organisers my dear friends Anne and Gerry Hobbs always emphasise, it is a Writers' Holiday - so you can do everything or nothing. I've been to Caerleon and I've joined in everything - run one course, attended another, been to all the Main Lectures, a couple of After Tea Sessions, the Poetry Reading, the afternoon trip out, the Welsh Male Voice Choir Concert . . .Phew!

And I've been there and done nothing at all. There was the year I had a deadline and I gained a reputation for disappearing off to my room at every opportunity. 'Kate's locked in her room with a hot Italian' was the story that went round Caerleon that year. It did my image a power of good - and the resulting book - The Sicilian's Wife - was a brilliant success too!

But there's plenty of fun to be had in Caerleon as well as plenty to learn and to find out about. There's the final Concert Evening which I've mentioned and there are the trips out on the Wednesday Afternoon. You can visit Cardiff or the Welsh Folk and Country Museum at St Fagan's - or you can really go for Book Overload and take the coach to Hay on Wye.

Hay on Wye is the Town of Books. Mostly secondhand boooks - shops and shops of them - and streets and streets of shops!

Every year I lose the BM as he disappears into book heaven and emerges, blinking, several hours later with innumerable carrier bags filled to the brim with musty, dusty old books and an expression of pure bliss on his face. I just thank heaven that we're not flying to and from Wales - we would have to pay for excess baggage every time.

And I've barely mentioned Caerleon village itself where you can visit the remains of the Roman Fortress,find out about Caerleon's links with King Arthur, explore the wonderful little museum or simply sit in the sunshine and stare at the river. The BM's friend Les tells me that there is excellent beer in the local pubs as well and he should know - he organises the traditional Pub Crawl every year.

And the traditional Poetry Reading. Every year anyone who goes to the Poetry Writing Course - or who just wants to join in the reading - gathers for the 'Open Mic' evening. And it's at this event that the notorious Caerleon Mad Russians have appeared for the past 3 years or so.

The first Russian immigrant poet to appear was Dmitri Todgeroff who bore an unfortunate resemblance to the BM. He was soon joined by Vladimir - who looks surprisingly like Les and then there is the lovelorn Tatiana who sends Dmitri love poems every year. There are rumours of a Russian Poetry collection next time . . .

So that's Caerleon in brief - is it any wonder that the BM and I - and many many other Caerleon 'regulars' - Kathy, Val, June - sending you special hugs - are addicted and each time we go there the week just seems to fly by. Just writing about it makes me wish I was back there.

Oh yes, and just to prove that we do actually do just a little work - here's the BM holding forth on writing History.

And yours truly talking about How Not To Write A Romance

And so, to round off this Caerleon Special - and the whole Great Big Blog Party - is Guest Blogger number 60 - the brains (and the beauty) behind Writers' Holiday - the fabulous Anne Hobbs who thought of the whole idea 20+ years ago and has been running the fabulous event with her husband Gerry ever since.

I photographed Anne as she wrote her blog in the Bookroom at this year's Caerleon - and it's a picture that really sums up the mood and the atmosphere of Caerleon and the warm personality of Anne herself.

So if Caerleon is the writing event withe heart, then here's the heart of Caerleon : Anne Hobbs

Kate Walker kept me awake last night-again. To be more precise her 50th book did. Being really pedantic but, terribly honest, it wasn’t so much the book's fault as the Sicilian hero between the sheets - ahem - pages!

Not only am I a huge fan of Kate Walker's but I’ve had the pleasure of introducing her as a main lecturer at Writers’ Holiday this year. I wonder how many realize what a great sense of humour she has. Being a coward and of fairly sound mind I’m not going to repeat here any of the probably libellous, certainly comical instructions on “How not to write Romance”.

Writers’ Holiday is an annual event held at the Caerleon Campus of the University of Wales-Newport. My husband and I originated and run the holiday, without the aid of safety net or the dubious benefits of a committee. The whole thing began as an act of friendship and it’s the friendship of the speakers, course lecturers and that of the delegates that has kept us doing this insane thing for over twenty years.

As you can imagine it’s pretty hectic trying to look after almost 150 people and I need my beauty sleep more than most (my own mother will testify to the truth of this) so I really needed Kate’s fiftieth book like Britain needs more rain right now. Not that I’m complaining, but the two bottles of Champagne and a quantity of wine (undisclosed amount to protect the guilty from the Really Nice Alcoholics association) we consumed in order to celebrate the safe arrival of Kate’s fiftieth child didn’t do much to make the holiday the run without hiccoughs.

It would be quite a good idea to reach for the sick bag at this moment-but in truth, and with the benefit of over twenty years experience, I can honestly say the more successful the author the more willing they seem to be to pass on their hard won knowledge to would-be –writers.

Writers’ Holiday delegates not only receive tuition from the very best, they are royally entertained by them and where else can you go and find it perfectly normal to sit and enjoy excellent food, alongside top Mills and Boon authors, agents, publishers and above all, in an intoxicating atmosphere of fun and friendship… I think I just talked myself into running this event for another twenty years.

To the bags under my eyes - sorry, to the extra pounds in weight from the good food and unreasonable amounts of alcohol - sorry. To Kate and all my friends at Writer’s holiday a big thank-you and I look forward to partying with you all again next year!

ANNE'S GIVEAWAY QUESTION:
If you could ask any writer just one question - which writer would you choose and waht would you ask them?

GIVEAWAY PRIZE:

Well the prize was supposed to be a couple of books from some of the speakers at this year's Writers' Holiday - but then Zoe and Jane wanted to join in the Blog Party too so their prizes went into their blogs - and you've already had Marina Oliver, Iris Gower and Jane Wenham-Jones as guests on here. You've even had the BM aka Dmitri. I'd offer you the Mad Russians' Poetry Collection From Petrograd To Pudsey but that's still in production. So I thought we might as well go back to the beginning and I'll offer as a prize the whole reason for this Blog Party in the first place - that 50th title of mine. And because it's one of two linked books, then I'll throw in the other book as well.

So the final 60th Great Big Blog Party prize is a signed copy of

The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge and its linked title

Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride

And thank you all for coming to my party!

But I can't end without posting one last special picture of Caerleon - this is a wooden sculpture that is in the grounds of the college - I've passed it every day I've been in Caerleon and I love it. (If you can't imagine what it is - think of a wonderful Welsh Dragon disappearing underground and leaving only his tail sticking out).

And if these reports on Caerleon have whetted your appetite and made you want to think about trying the Caerleon experience for yourself then you can check out the details here

I won't be running a course next year - next one I'm doing is 2009 - but if you can't wait till then, then take a look at the Fishguard Novel Writing Weekend which you'll find here. It's a shorter event and hasn't as much variety to offer as Caerleon but the tutors are every bit as enthusiastic and welcome is every bit as warm - it's run by Anne and Gerry to so it has just the same atmosphere.

Maybe I'll see you at one event or the other.

Great Big Blog Party #48 and #56 Winners

I have more winners! More prizes to give away!

First someone who you must have thought had gone missing in action - the lovely Marion Lennox who was last heard of here on July 28th. Then she . . .well, I'll let her explain for herself . . .


No of course I didn't choose a winner, that would be a normal responsible sensible thing to do and this year that's all gone out the window. I'm still living in chaos after the house move. I'm having trouble finding the dog!!!! I've just come back from RWA Conference in Sydney where we gave Barb Hannay her Rita which was just lovely. I have a head cold, a deadline and I'm exhausted.And I still haven't given you a winner. The winner is Cherie.

Permission to post this response wherever you want. It might give reassurance to all those who think romance authors lie around and dictate to our secretaries while drinking pink martinis. Now where is that damned dog?

And secondly I have a prize announcement from Michelle Reid who persuaded her husband - affectionately known as 'Ginge' to pick her winner:




Hi Kate,

I had a great time reading everyone’s comments to my Blog at your Great Big Blog Party, thanks for inviting me!

A gave Ginge the honour of making the pick of 16 great posts and he chose No 2, which was crystalg

Congratulations crystalg! I will be sending you signed copies of The Ranieri Bride and The Italian’s Future Bride just as soon as I can.

All the best
Michelle

Winners - you know the routine by now - send me your postal address details at my email address and I'll organise your prizes for you.

Thanks again to Marion and Michelle

Great Big Blog Party 58 - Caerleon Special with Zoe Sharp

OK so - the Great Big Blog Party Caerleon Special.

How can I sum up Caerleon in a short space and few words. I have 3 Caerleon Specials but I also have 3 Guest Bloggers - all connected with Caerleon Writers' Holiday this year, so there's a lot to fit in.

I could tell you how Writers' Holiday was set up in 1986 by Anne Hobbs and it's run by writers, for writers - and receives no financial assistance from any source whatsoever. And I could tell you how the emphasis is on that word Holiday - but you can read about that on the Writers' Holiday web site just as you can read about next year's courses and the writers who are going to teach them. (several of whom heave recently appeared at this blog party.)

But I do have a quick way to describe this jewel of Writers' holidays - and that's the one that I wrote in a copy of Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride that I gave to Anne on my last night there this year.


Caerleon is the Writers' Holiday with Heart. And it's that heart that makes it special.


The BM and I discovered Caerleon some ten years ago - or a bit less. In 1997 he had just published Writing and Publishing Poetry with How To Books and many of the 'How To' authors were invited down to Caerleon to run courses. When Gerry rang up to discuss things, the BM casually said, 'I don't suppose you want a romance writer as a speaker as well?' The answer was a resounding yes - and a warmly welcoming, 'please both come' - and from then on we were hooked.

For one thing it was like going back to our student days when we met at university in Aberystwyth - we both came away with a love of Wales and now we had an excuse to go back every year. But our student flats weren't like the neat study-bedrooms with their en-suite showerfacilities at Caerleon. And we didn't have tea and coffee provided in the kitchens at the end of each floor. Those showers are in curious little bathroom cubicles - washbasin, shower and toilet all in one - and one thing you always have to remember at Caerleon is that you have to shut the door when using the shower -otherwise you set off the fire alarms! No - don't ask - I don't understand it either - but someone always does forget and ends up wet and embarrassed when the fire alarm sounds.

And someone always leaves their key in their room when the door slams shut behind them. This year it was me - the first time in all those years I've forgotten to take my key with me. But there was a lovely hunky security man just happy to come to my rescue - and the important thing is that things like that don't matter. The warmth of the welcome and the easy way of dealing with everything means that problems just evaporate. If there is anything you need help for then there is always someone in the bookroom - Anne, Gerry or their son Richard or sometimes my dear friend the other Kathy - night or day - and they will always help. From the moment that you walk into the bookroom in the mail college building to colect your key and the programme of the week's events, you are treated like a friend, a new friend if it's your first time - or an old friend if, like so many of the 'regulars' you are coming back for the second, fifth or even tenth time.

The bookroom. Ah yes. The bookroom is a vital hub of the Caerleon holiday. Here the visiting authhors can display books for sale, or talk about them, or sign them if you want to buy copies. Here the speakers all gather after 'Main' talks or between courses to chat with everyone and enjoy a drink. It's in the bookroom that I've met so many authors that I admire - Iris Gower and the wonderful Elizabeth Elgin, sadly missed since her death in 2005. Jill Mansell, Jane Jackson, Marina Oliver, Jane Wenham-Jones . . .

(In this photo you can see Iris , Lynne Hackles (who you might have seen on Deal or No Deal with Mr Noel Edmonds) with her back to the camera, Jane W-H in green and agent Teresa Chris after Jane's talk.)

. . .and it was in the bookroom this year that I met thriller writer Zoe Sharp who is today's special guest blogger.

It was Zoe's first visit to Caerleon and as you can see from this photograph her her - where else but in the bookroom - that 'new girl' feeling didn't last long. It doesn't usually. Zoe was there to teach the Crime Writing course in the second half of the week. (Each course lasts through 5 sessions in the mornings Mon-Weds or Weds- Fri). In the programme I spotted the fact that she was born in Nottingham and as I was born just down the road , in Newark, that gave us a point in common. We soon found we shared a sense of humour and lots more besides . As soon as Zoe knew that I was planning this special ste of blogs she was only too happy to sign a copy of her book for me to use as a prize - and to sign her latest - Second Shot for the Offspring which made him very happy indeed. And when he's finished reading his book, I'm going to grab it off him - having met Zoe I know it's going to be a great read - and after all, when I read a quote like- 'Zoë Sharp grabs hold of the reader's throat in the first sentence of the Charlie Fox debut thriller and never lets go " it just makes me want to read her book right now.

As well as being a crime writer , Zoe has the sort of job that makes my novelist's senses tingle and my fingers itch to jot down notes - she's a freelance photo-journalist, and makes a living writing and photographing mainly for the motoring press. That makes it sound so safe and civilised - it's when you hear Zoe's stories of hanging off motorbikes, coming really close to the ground, at great speed - just to get the best possible shot that you realise this is not staid, studio photography. I'm already thinking hard about a leather-clad, motor bike riding, photographer heroine! Just imagine what some macho Alpha Greek - or even a Sheikh would make of that!

So when she found out about the Great Big Blog Party and she asked if she could come along as a guest of course I said yes. I was thrilled to be able to introduce you to her and to her books - and to include her in this special section on Caerleon and the friends I've made there.

Oh yes - and I have to make one thing perfectly clear! When Zoe says that I have "a fine ladylike way with a pint glass of white wine" - I would like to point out that the wine was in a pint glass because all the others in the speakers' bar had been used - by other speakers - Zoe included! And it had just a normal glassful of wine in there - not actually a pint of the stuff! Honest - you know me!

Anyway, here's today's Guest Blogger - Zoe Sharp

Wow - fifty books! I’m lost for words, which - for a writer - is not a particularly good state of affairs, is it? But, honestly - fifty books. Many congratulations, Kate! You really don’t look old enough ...

I admit I’ve come late to this party. Although I was aware of her work, I only met Kate and her delightful husband, Steve, for the first time when we were both speakers at the Writers’ Holiday, Caerleon, at the beginning of August. (Did you get that Swiss Army knife you wanted for your birthday, Steve? I know I never go anywhere without mine.)

It was my first ever Caerleon and Kate was one of the people who made me feel most welcome, one of the ones who helped make it all such fun. She has a wicked sense of humour that really appealed to me, and no sign of the ego, which - let’s face it - she’d be more justified in having at this point in her highly successful career. (I mean, fifty books. Jeez!) Just a down-to-earth attitude and a fine ladylike way with a pint glass of white wine. Long may she continue to dazzle us.

Kate was generous enough to want to give away a copy of my crime thriller, First Drop, as part of the celebrations, which makes me feel very honoured. First Drop features my series heroine, Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Fox, an ex-Special Forces soldier working on her first assignment as a bodyguard for the agency run by her ex-lover, Sean Meyer. Charlie’s in Florida for what should have been little more than a working holiday, until it all goes horribly wrong ...

So, my GIVEAWAY QUESTION is this:

First Drop is set largely in Daytona Beach, Florida, over the Spring Break weekend at the end of March. A specific time and place that were the inspiration for the book. Where in the world would be your special location, and when?

GIVEAWAY PRIZE:

A copy of Zoe's First Drop - signed by her in the famous bookroom at Caerleon!

Zoë Sharp is the author of a paltry six novels (Her words - not mine! - Kate) in the Charlie Fox crime thriller series, the latest of which, Second Shot, is published by Allison & Busby in the UK, and St Martin’s Minotaur in the US, in Aug/Sept 2007.

PS - to readers in America - Zoe is about to set off on a tour of the US next month to promote Second Shot and she'll be kicking off things with a joint event with Lee Child at Partners and Crimes bookstore in Greenwich Village, New York, on September 6th. The full dates and itinerary will be posted on her website soon so you might be able to see in her person soon. (If you do maybe you could tell her you 'met' her here first!)

Great Big Blog Party #45 and #54 Winners

As promised, I have a couple more prize winners to announce.

First of all, did you think that Katie Fforde had got lost? Well - she was lost in the throes of writing a love scene and then she had to go to Ireland and she's only just got back. But she didn't forget the prize and so a signed copy of Paradise Fields goes to

Ray-Anne

Congratulations Ray-Anne!

And the second prize announcement if for Lee Hyat's prize. Lee offered a My Tote Bag Goddie package - with some great Presents titles in it. And now that we have some more cat crunchies in stock - much to Sid's relief - Sid the Cat of Superior Breeding has been able to pick a winner .

And the winner of Lee Hyat's prize is:

Olivia

Olivia described her favourite cover - which happens to be one of my favourites too - in just the way I might have described it.

Without a doubt, my favorite cover is The Italian's Forced Bride. There is no picturesque landscape as background. There are no fabulous diamonds adorning the heroine and nor is she in a flamboyant gown. But what strikes me is the intensity of the emotions of the characters as can be deduced from their body language . The hero pulling the heroine closer to him with subtle pressure. The heroine resting her hand on the hero's lower back. And the utterly sublime and anticipative expressions on them both. This cover always draws me back to re-read this story.

And this gives me an excuse to show this cover again. I think it looks particularly fantastic on the cover of the Spanish edition, where you can see so much more of the picture that Olivia has described.

Winners- please email me with your postal address details so that I can organise your prizes.

A Kate Bit - just when I thought the party was over

Well, that was supposed to be the very last Great Big Blog Party post.

I thought that I had a final total of 57 - count them - 57 - wonderful posts by 57 fabulous friends, writers and -er - animals! At the start of this celebration I had wondered if I was going to get 50 posts and I ended up with 57. . .

Well, no, I didn't.

Because then I went to Caerleon - Caerleon that Jane Wenham-Jones called "the jewel of writing holidays" (which it is) - and there I met old friends who have shared the Caerleon experience with me many times before.

And I met new friends, new writers - and the old friend and the new friends wanted to be included in the Great Big Blog Party too.

So I have news for you - we don't just have 50 - or even 57 - posts -we have 60 Great Big Blog Party posts! And the next three are going to be Caerleon Specials with reports from this summer's special week in Wales.

I was planning to write the first one up today but I've been so so busy. I've been preparing the course and the handouts for the residential weekend Write Away Course - Beyond The Hearts and Flowers - in Leicester than I'm running with Julie Cohen next weekend (17-19th August). That's taken up all of today and from next Friday I will be teaching in this lovely building in the University of Leicester.

(If you were interested in the course, then I'm afraid that this one is now totally booked up. But if you are looking for another course I'm running then the next one will be Fishguard in November - which coincidentally is run by the wonderfully warm and welcoming Anne and Gerry Hobbs who also run Caerleon. Details are on my website Events Page if you want them)

But for the next couple of days I'll be giving you some reports on my week in Caerleon - and there will be guest blogs from three of my friends there.

But first I have a couple of winners to annouce.

Great Big Blog Party 57 - Anne McAllister

There is another great writer friend that you must very important to me. And if you don't then you haven't been paying attention and Sid at least will be shocked to the ends of his whiskers. Because not only is Anne McAllister a very special and Dear friend of mine, she is also the Cat of Superior Breeding's beloved Lady Across the Pond.

The lady who knows just where to rub his head in exactly the right place, who brings him treats of salmon and occasionally greenies when she comes to visit. She is also the LATP who appreciates the long emails he sends her and replies to them in person.

Anne is another author whose books I 'met' before I met the author herself. And I loved those books.Again I still do. Anne is an author who can put a subtly different slant on a Presents book - she creates a hero who is so clearly an Anne McAllister hero. (To those who say that the books are all the same, I'd suggest you take a look at these two special authors -Anne McAllister and Michelle Reid and see how differently that Alpha hero can be created). And not just in the Presents novels -Anne's Code of The West books for Silhouette have that unique, individual slant that marks out a brilliant writer in my mind.

As a friend, Anne is another for whom the term 'soul mate' was invented - and the scary thing is that without the internet she and I would probably never ever have met. And so our husbands would never have met - perhaps and even more scary thought because if they hadn't then who would they ever have talked to quite so much!

If you check back in this blog you'll read about trips I've taken with Anne -research trips but at the same time trips that have been so much fun as we investigated either her ancestors or the Prof's - or occasionally mine. Seeing things through her eyes is a great way to refresh my own ideas and to look at things anew. As a result, I can never ever drive through the nearby village of Spital in the Street without thinking of explaining to Anne where the name came from

( The first part of its name, "Spital", comes from the ancient hospital for the poor which was situated there, this had its origins in a Hermitage. The Hermits or “Eremites” dwellers in the Eremos or wilderness, commonly placed their Hermitages in remote spots, often on lonely highways in order to extend hospitality to travellers)

Anne is the friend I shared a wonderful tour of Ireland with, who shared a fantastic seafood meal with me (and Marion Lennox) in Coogee , Sydney, Australia - And of course Anne is the other half of the Hugh-in-a-towel promotion campaign.

If you want to read more about my meeting with Anne then you'll find it here when I celebrated her books and our friendship back in 2006. And if you visit the Pink Heart Society today you'll find that she's writing about some of her favourite writing books in her first article as a PHS Columnist who's topic this week is FindDaBoo .

And here's Anne McAllister herself

(Kate crosses fingers that the paragraphing in this post works out right)

It all began with a castle. Maybe it was in Scotland. Maybe not.

It was close to ten years ago now, I know that. We authors had a Mills & Boon authors loop going and we were heady with the ability to finally contact each other instead of living in our isolated little garrets where we wrote our books and never saw another soul (well, another writerly soul at any rate). And in this headiness of instant contact, I asked for recommendations of castles to visit in Scotland as a son of mine was looking to visit Britain and thought focusing on castles would be a good way to go. Actually, I believe he thought focusing on whiskey would be a good way to go, but he didn't tell his mother that.

Anyway, I asked. And this Kate Walker person answered. I had known Kate's books for years (we began writing for Mills & Boon at about the same time), but I didn't know her personally. That began to change with the castles.

Then it turned out that we shared a childhood obsession with actor Robert Fuller in his role as Jess Harper in Laramie (and if you share a hero with someone, it means that you are On The Same Wavelength for sure), and since this has now evolved into an on-going international involvement with a certain man known as Hugh-in-a-towel, it's clear that Our Wavelength is strong indeed.

It also seems that we married men who never say a word to anyone for a year at a time (well, the BM basks in the glow of his admirers' fond glances and smiles, and even speaks to them, I suppose), but the minute they get together (hers and mine), they Never Shut Up. They have talked their way around England several times, from Guildford to York, from Millom to Bole. They have talked their way around a very large pond (a very large pond indeed) in New Zealand while mine was getting progressively later for a plane he had to catch. They have endured RWA and RNA conferences together. They have even talked all the way from Chicago to Denver (in a car, not on a plane) -- and all the way back. They apparently have a lot to say (to each other). Who knew?

So, this has given Kate and I even greater cause to bond. And talk to each other.

I have met a lot of wonderful writers and friends over the course of the last 25 years. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count all of them. But there are some -- like Kate -- who stand out as the ones who will be life-long friends, who have a generosity and kindness and enthusiasm and genuineness to make you thank God every day for bringing them into your life. They enrich your life in ways you never imagined (who'd have thought that I'd have a several volume correspondence with a cat, for example -- or an overhead projection of you-know-who-in-a-towel or memories of wandering up and down the hills of Millom and going into the bookshop which was formerly my gg-grandparents' house or of a house party in an Irish manor house that brought my book to life). Kate is responsible for all those things . . . and many many more.

There are far more than 50 reasons that I'm delighted to call Kate Walker friend -- and I can get there without even mentioning those 50 wonderful books. Congratulations, Kate! Here's to many many more -- and many more years of friendship as well.

ps: if this doesn't paragraph, would you please go back and put in the Hecks' "nevertheless" between each of them. It's a brilliant idea. Tell Sidney he deserves an extra cat crunchy (or ten) for that suggestion.

GIVEAWAY QUESTION:
pps: I have just realized that I need to come up with a question. So here it is: You are an an Irish manor house having a weekend houseparty. You can invite whomever you want (up to ten people). Who would you invite? Why?
Yes, I know it's two questions, but I'm always interested in the reasons (what writer doesn't want to know about motivation and inspiration?). And who knows, I might want to invite them to my next houseparty!

GIVEAWAY PRIZE:
Two winners will get copies of the book that started my latest mini-series, The Antonides Marriage Deal.

Anne's next book is The Boss's Wife For A Week which is out in September. You can read more about it on her web site or on her Blog