Back from London - and off again

Quick catch up after the trip to London - It was a great couple of days (if a bit crowded) The highlight of th

e Wednesday night was a trip to The Globe and a performance of Love's Labours Lost in the Sam Wanamaker theatre - a smaller, indoor theatre, built on the same lines as the actual Globe - and all lit by candlelight. Very atmospheric and a really fun production.

Thursday was a guided tour of the Globe itself including a chance to watch a rehearsal of 'EYAM' - a play about the plague of 1665. We were warned to expect rotting 'corpses' and possible nudity - but neither appeared! My long-ago Amateur Dramatics experience at university surfaced as I watched.

Thursday afternoon was a visit to the Harlequin offices, meeting with my editor and Flo Nicholls (Senior editor Modern/Presents) - then dinner with my editor. I don't think we stopped talking for hours. Also took away with me a great booty bag of books for future reading - you have to love working with a company where you're asked 'would you like some books?' (silly question ) then taken to a room lined with bookshelves and told to help yourself! I had to force myself to remember that I had to carry a suitcase as well as the books - and I was 

going on to Kent to visit my sister for the weekend.

The AMBA lunch was so much fun - great to meet up with so many friends - Katherine Garbera, Kate Hardy, Michelle Styles, Liz Fielding, Heidi Rice (with special thanks to Heidi for the photo of the Presents cover of A Proposal to Secure His Vengeance - after a l-o-n-g wait for it to come round in the cycle of covers on display) Abby Green, Trish Morey . . . . too many others to mention.

The weekend was spent in wonderfully sunny Kent meeting up with my sister and her husband - and getting to know my gorgeous great-nephew for the very first time. We spent a fabulous evening at the Gulbenkian Theatre to see a stunning dance production of Medusa choreographed by Jasmin Vardimon 

More food - wine - conversation - family memories - visiting Folkestone . . . until we had to tear ourselves way and head home. Ruby has just about forgiven us for abandoning her . . .I daren't tell her that tomorrow we're heading off again - but only for 2 nights this time. More of that later.

Missing all the excitement at Romance Writers of America  Conference in  in Denver - specially missing meeting up with so many of my dear friends who are there.

But it seems that one of my books was well represented there - as Abby Green shared with me:

(though as you can see, there was something missing from the image!)

I thanked Abby for sharing, but pointed out that as my  heroine in A Proposal to Secure His Vengeance was Irish, the photo would be perfect with her face there - as my Irish heroine Imogen! 

She obliged and had her photo taken - with this result.  Thanks Abby!


 Also,  lovely Danica Favorite shared this pic with me so that I can see her smiling face and my great book cover at the event even if I can't be there. Thank you Dream - miss you!

It was obviously a popular photo opportunity this year - as then there was this . . .er  -  . . . starring  librarian   David Faulkener.

I wish I could have been there to join in all the fun - and see the cover photo opportunity for myself.

Great book news

My thanks to the lovely Abby Green who alerted me to the fact that The Return of the Stranger is currently at #1 on the Mills & Boon web site.

Abby's own book - The Sultan's Choice is at #3 this week too - and my dear friend Michelle Reid's new title  The Kanellis Scandal is at #2. Great news about great books!

Oh - and while you're over on the M&B site, if you missed out on getting a copy of any of these:
Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride
The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge
The Sicilian's Wife

Then check out this month's special sale - the 3 in 1 collection - Claimed by the Sicilian - is on sale for just £2.99. That's 3 books for less than the price of one -  a real bargain!

Happy St Patrick's Day

A Happy St Patrick's Day to everyone - specially my two Irish writer friends Abby Green and Trish Wylie. And of course to all the Irish side of my own family. Just the thought of the celebrations in the 'Emerald Isle' makes me think about going back to Dublin again and sharing a special drink with Abby to mark the day.

I'm sure you've spotted that I actually dedicated my current Presents EXTRA title The Konstantos Marriage Demand to Abby as a thank you for her company and generous chauffering duties when the Babe Magnet and I have visted Dublin in the past and when she and I went on writers' retreat to Delphi Lodge in spring last year. Happy St Paddy's Day Abby!

Today I'm celebrating St Patrick's Day with another guest blog in the company of the Mamawriters. It's a long time since I combined writing with fulltime motherhood, but I remember it only too well. And that's what we'll be talking about over there if you'd like to come and join us.

Oh - and the winners of yesterdays RNA prizes were:

Romantic Novel of the Year

Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts - Lucy Dillon

Love Story of the Year

Animal Instincts - Nell Dixon

Maeve Binchy and Joanna Trollope were presented with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their contribution to romantic fiction, as the Romantic Novelists' Association marked its 50th anniversary.

Many congratulations to all the winners - and to the RNA on this very special anniversary.

Oh I'll take the high road . . .

First of all - it's time to announce the winners of the Here Come the Grooms Contest, Sid the Cat, Mitch and Micah McAllister and - well whoever Liz Fielding gets to pick her winners - have all chosen a name and the winners are:

Nikos' winner - Mary Anne D from Michigan

Kal's winner - Alison L from Scotland

Christo's winner - Dena W from Washington

and the winners of course each receive copies of The Konstantos Marriage Demand, Loves Me, Loves Me Not (the RNA anthology) and One-Night Mistress . . .Convenient Wife.

I also ran an extra prize draw alongside the Here Come The Grooms Contest and the winner of that was Laurie B.
Congratulations to all the winners!

Special thanks go to Anne McAllister and Liz Fielding for joining in this special contest with me - we've had a lot of fun since we started the very first Here Come the Grooms Contest four years ago - here's to the next one!

So March 1st was St David's Day. Later in the month we'll have St Patrick's Day. And just to cover almost all parts of the British Isles, towards the end of March I'll be heading for Scotland.

I've never done any workshops/talks in Scotland before so this will be a new experience for me.

There are two events that have been organised by HI~Arts - Highland and Island Arts. And if anyone in Scotland is interested then the details are these:

1. Thursday 25th March 2010

Royal Highland Hotel, Inverness
7.30pm - 9.30pm

2. Saturday 27th March 2010

The MacPhail Centre, Ullapool.

2pm- 4pm

Both events will be seminars - part talk and (probably the most useful part of the seminar) a Q&A session

For further details and to book - please contact:

Peter Urpeth
Writing Development Coordinator HI~Arts

Suites 4 & 5 Fourth Floor Ballantyne House

84 Academy Street

Inverness Scotland IV1 1LU

t: 01463 720 885

f: 01463 720 895
http://www.hi-arts.co.uk/

Today would have been my mother's birthday sadly, she's no longer here to celebrate with personally - so instead I'll celebrate with a special friend who shares Mother's date - and who lives in the city of Dublin where my mum grew up -

Happy Birthday Abby Green!

My First Kate Walker - Abby Green

As part of the celebrations for my 25th anniversary of being published, I asked some of my writing friends - and others - to let me know which was the first of my books they read - if they could remember .

The first one to reply was Irish author for Modern Romance/Harlequin Presents Abby Green

To be perfectly honest I'm not sure I can remember my very first Kate Walker - I think she sunk into my brain and thought processes by osmosis and suddenly I couldn't ever remember not having read Kate Walker..! But the one that sticks in my memory in particular is probably 'Fiancee by Mistake'.(1998) It was such a modern take on a traditional romance and I love the bit where Leah, the heroine first meets the hero at the side of an icy road where their passion for each other pretty much melts the snow around them! And then they're stuck in a house together, and all that passion is building and ooohh it's delicious. Plus the hero has a great and very Irish sounding name - Sean Gallagher.


My top five Kate Walker reads are:
The Hostage Bride;
The Hired Husband;
The Sicilian's Wife;
The Twelve Month Mistress;
Desert Affair

I have a couple of memories about Fiancée By Mistake - it was unusual for me in two ways. One, it was a Christmas book and secondly it was the first one I ever wrote where I added the hero's point of view . And yes, Sean Gallagher was meant to be partly Irish!

I understand that it was partly reading the tango scene in The Hostage Bride that sparked off Abby's personal interest in dancing the tango.

Abby's latest Modern Romance Ruthless Greek Boss; Secretary Mistress is out now in the UK and in America, Ruthlessly Bedded, Forcibly Wedded is also on sale. So you can treat yourself to a brand-new Abby Green book to read over Christmas.

You can read more about her latest news and her books on her web site

Reading

Sunday afternoon and yesterday, a migraine kept me away from the keyboard so I had a rare opportunity/excuse for some concentrated reading. For the first time in ages I worked my way through three of the recently published Modern Romance titles, one after the other and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

What I loved about the experience was the way that each of these three titles was so typically a Modern Romance with the passion, sensuality, sophistication and emotional intensity that the line demands, and yet they were very clearly individual works by very different authors each with their own special voice and unique approach to the demands of the line.

First was Abby Green's Ruthlessly Bedded, Forcibly Wedded - with a vulnerable but spirited heroine and a hero who started out cold-bloodedly determined on revenge but then had to learn how wrong he was and gradually change his mind. Cara's confrontation with Vincenzo at the very public setting of the ballroom shows she's no pushover and his the journey of growth from avenger to lover was so clearly marked out - no miraculous 'conversion' at the end which made this so satisfying.

India Grey is still a 'newbie' author in the numbers of her books but with her RNA Romance Prize win she's already marked herself out as an author to watch and her latest release Spanish Aristocrat, Forced Bride will continue that reputation. Personally I've always loved a wounded and tormented hero and Tristan is certainly that. His icy cold facade is so obviously (to the reader) a shield put up to protect his more vulnerable self that the reader can't wait to see it shatter into a thousand pieces - which it does of course! And Lily's warmth and giving is a natural foil to Tristan's brutal control so that you just know she will eventually break through to him and teach him how to love.


Finally, a book that I'd been keeping for a personal treat and when I finally got to read it, it didn't disappoint. But then a romance by Michelle Reid never does. Marchese's Forgotten Bride is a reunion story with a twist - As the title reveals, the hero - Sandro - has lost all memory of his time with Cassie six years before. And so when they meet up again the past reaches out to grab him with a violence and shock that devastates him. I totally believed in Sandro's reasons for the way guilt had wiped the vital 6 weeks from his mind and taken all memory of Cassie with itWhat I loved about this book was the way that the feelings each had had for the other in the past were revealed as swiftly and urgently as they had done when they had first met so that the passionate relationship was once more - seemingly - back on track very fast. But there was one vital element of Sandro's past that hadn't yet been revealed and to have that brought to light just when it seemed that everything was going to fell into place had an impact that was all the more potent because of the reconciliation that had already been growing.

So if I couldn't work on my own book I had a lovely time reading these three great stories - books that reminded me yet again that no matter how many ill informed critics sneer and declare that romances are all the same, there are plenty of very distinct and individual and talented voices in the line-up. Voices that brought me to romance over 25 years ago and still keep me interested now.

Tote Bag of Books - Presents Special - Abby Green

To start off the Treasure Hunt here is the first Presents author to contribute to this fabulous Tote Bag full of books - Irish writer Abby Green

Hello everyone, hopefully you're all enjoying a glorious summer and it's not raining.

Thanks to Kate for letting me come and blog a little in her absence. My UK July release is called Ruthlessly Bedded, Forcibly Wedded. It's about an arrogant Italian called Vicenzo Valentini, and an innocent Irish woman called Cara Brosnan.

The story sprang out of an idea I had in my head of what might happen if a girl went on a package holiday to a gorgeous Italian island, Sardinia, and fell instantly in lust and love with a dark handsome stranger. I wondered what might happen if she acted completely out of character and allowed this man to seduce her and become her first lover, without even knowing his full name!

My book has changed a little from that first idea, but essentially it's the same.

Vicenzo and Cara have both come through traumatic times. Vicenzo believes Cara to be largely responsible for his beautiful younger sister's tragic death. In fact Cara is entirely innocent. When Cara finds out that the devastatingly handsome stranger who seduced her, did so for his own revenge, she is heart-broken.

There are drastic consequences to their actions and Cara finds herself having to confront Vicenzo, when she'd hoped to never see him again...

If you'd like to be in with a chance to win this book and lots of other goodies being given away by the extremely generous Kate, go to my website and find the answer to this question on my June News Update -

Who is the well known author running a summer competition on her blogs, giving away lots of prizes to lucky readers?

All About Alphas 17 - Abby Green

Well, how about that - this discussion is being talked about all over the web. I found people mentioning it in the new Mills & Boon Community and then this morning I've discovered that it's also got a mention on the I Heart Presents Blog! If you want to add your comments on what you love about t he Alpha male - or what you've learned about him here - or anything - then you can find the post here.

But don't go before you've read todays post - because we still have a couple of comments to put up before this whole subject is done with.

Today's post makes me think in amazement of just how quickly time has gone by - alpha males discussions, tweaking revisions, Bank Holidays can do that to you.

Just this time last week I was settling back at home after an amazing week in the west of Ireland - in Connemara to be precise. We stayed at Delphi Lodge, a beautiful place where it was so peaceful and quiet you couldn't help but relax, where 'rush hour' meant that there were four or more sheep on the roads, and where I learned more about fly fishing than I ever wanted to. (To be honest I wasn't interested in much of it but as that made up the majority of the conversations over breakfast and dinner, I was sort of obliged to absorb some.)

(If Caroline from Galway is reading this then Hi - and thanks to y0u and Tom for some conversation that wasn't about fish! And Hi too to Sandra and her partner from Paris - it was great to meet you all)

My companion there and the person who found the place, invited me along, generously did all the driving and introduced me to seaweed baths at a nearby spa, was today's author - up and coming Presents star Abby Green. Thanks to Abby I woke to this view every morning from my bedroom window and took my daily walks along lakeside roads edged with yellow gorse while the birds called from every tree. I even heard my very first cuckoo, declaring that it was very definitely spring.

Thank you Abby! Delphi was a glorious place and the memories will stay in my mind for ever.

And thank you too for today's contribution to the alpha discussion.

Here's what Abby has to say:

My Alpha hero is the ultimate man. He is at the top of his game and knows
who he is and what he wants. And invariably what he doesn't want is the
distraction of a female he can't control. He has everything he wants and needs
at his fingertips and has become perhaps a little arrogant (!) along the way
because he is so used to dealing with sycophants and success. However much he
thinks he's not ready for commitment and love, somewhere deep down, he is. And
when our heroine comes along, she effortlessly taps into this need within him.
Even though at the start she might not want commitment either!




The Alpha male is the boy who everyone fell in love with at school,
he's the twenty-something you wanted at college, and now he's the uber-male.
Totally unattainable, unfathomable. Cloaked in an air of mystery, he proves
lethally seductive to anyone with a pulse, and yet the only person fighting that
attraction turns out to be the only person he wants.




Did I mention that he's also, absolutely gorgeous?!

For Abby's next novel, USA readers should look for The Spaniard's Marriage Bargain which is coming in June. Her next UK book will be Ruthlessly Bedded, Forcibly Wedded, which is out in July.

Back in her husband's bed...

Rowan had discovered two things that would change her life forever. The first filled her with joy - she was pregnant! The second was something that she felt compelled to keep to herself - even from her husband...

Rowan had been Isandro Salazar's bride of convenience. But, knowing that he would never love her as she loved him, her choice was to make her unborn child her priority and then, once he was born, make her dark journey by herself...

But in Isandro's eyes Rowan's decision rendered her a gold-digger who had committed the worst possible crime. However, he couldn't stop her seeing her baby son - or deny that the passion between them was as raw and intense as ever...

Happy Birthdays and Lemons!

I'm preoccupied with a difficult Greek hero who is taking up most of my time and attention but I have to blog today to say Happy Birthday to one of my favourite people - the lovely Abby Green whose special day is today.




As well as being a great writer, Abby is a wonderful friend. Her surpise visit to Fishguard was a real highlight of that weekend. She's also a great hostess on our frequent visits to Dublin - now more frequent because of her company - a tireless and generous chauffeur and a great sharer of Kir Royales in selected hotels etc. She also shares her birthday with my late mother so that's a special connection for me.



Happy Birthday Abby! I hope you have wonderful day.

(Abby's next book is The French Tycoon's Pregnant Mistress - out in April)


While I was away, another friend, Anna Adams sent me a special award for blogging - the Lemonade Award - for the ability to make lemonade out of lemons - metaphorically speaking. Anna, I'm so sorry to be late with this as I've been struggling to catch up since I got back from Wales.



I'm supposed to pass this on to 10 people who brighten - and sweeten - my days with their blogs but when I checked out Julie Cohen's blog (she's one of the ones I'd nominate but she already had the award passed to her by someone else) I found that at least half of her list matched mine.


But there's no harm in mentioning some people twice. So Julie, Janet Gover, Anna Louise Lucia, Biddy Coady Donna Alward consider yourselves re-nominated! And I'm adding in Anne McAllister, my dear friend Duck in Spain, Anna Adams back at her, Liz Fielding too. And I'd nominate Abby if she had a blog - oh, what the heck I'm nominating her anyway!



Thank you to Jo and Caroline wo have posted writing questions for me - I will answer those in the coming week - so long as Nikos gives me a moment's peace to do so. Still not sure what I'll write about for the Pink Heart Society blog but I'll come up with something.

Tote Bag Full of Books Contest

Drip. . .drip . . . drip . . .

It's supposed to be summer! It's AUGUST! It's supposed to be warm and dry and sunny . . .

But outside it's pouring down. And when I got back from my morning walk, my hair was soaked, so were my feet and socks, and water was dripping down my nose. And it was COLD.

Oh well, I'm still going to carry on running my 'Summer' Tote Bag Full of Books Contest. Even if it's raining - specially if it's raining - you can still curl up somewhere dry with a good book. And I have lots of good books for you to win.

And as a special message to Dina - yes this contest is open to absolutely everyone. I always promise to send the prize to absolutely anyone anywhere in the world - I must be mad but I do!

So here are the first two -

Stage By Stage by Jan Jones

Stage By Stage is about Beth (an English teacher and mother of two teenage children) whose husband leaves her after twenty-five years of marriage mainly because she is an English teacher and mother of two teenage children. In order to supplement her severely depleted income, Beth opens her Cambridge house to Bed & Breakfast visitors. Three of her guests are Cate - the young ASM-with-attitude of a touring musical theatre company, Seb - the newest actor in the company who happens to be staggeringly good-looking and with whom Beth's daughter Natalie immediately falls in love, and a character actor of about Beth's own age called Owen Pendragon...

As well as romantic comedy, Jan also writes Regency novels and her next book out will be Fair Deception published by Robert Hale Ltd and this is what Jan told me about it -

As the novel opens, Susanna Fair is employed as an actress at the Sans Pareil theatre in the Strand, London. Susanna is being opportuned (I just love Regency-speak) by the Dishonourable Rafe Warwick. Fortunately, heroic devil-may-care Kit Kydd is at hand...

Don't know yet when the book will be out, but you can read the first chapter on my website.

The other book I want to tell you about today is

is Bought For the Frenchman’s Pleasure by Abby Green

As a top model, Sorcha Murphy can command a high price. But her fame hides a terrible secret from her past - one she has tried to put behind her, but which is about to return to haunt her...

Romain de Valois knows Sorcha is damaged goods - her hedonistic reputation speaks for itself. But he needs and wants her for one final assignment, and he's prepared to pay...

So when Romain discovers that Sorcha hasn't changed her ways, he decides to change the deal...her pay-cheque will be recouped in the bedroom - as his mistress!

Abby has two new titles on sale around now, one in the UK and one in Presents.

The Mediterranean Billionaire’s Blackmail Bargain was a Mills & Boon Modern Romance in July 2008 and its still around on Amazon etc. And in September in Harlequin Presents is The Kouros Marriage Revenge.

Abby's web site is here.

Details of the contest and how to enter can be found on the contest page on my web site.

The closing date is August 18th

Tote Bag Full of Books Contest

It’s back!

The great big Tote Bag Full of Books Contest is running again this year!

As you probably already know, for the past two years I’ve run a special Summer Reading Contest in which you can win one of my handy Kate Walker tote bags stuffed full of a wonderful selection of books to read on the beach, by the pool, or just curled up in your most comfortable chair at home. And this year is no exception.

This year to mark the publication of The Alcolar Family Trilogy collection, I’m linking the Tote Bag Full of Books Contest to the Alcolar Family collection – and as well as the two tote bags stuffed with books that are on offer, there will be two runners’ up prizes of signed copies of The Alcolar Family Trilogy. And all you have to do is to answer a couple of simple questions and you can be in the running for one of these great prizes.

Here are some of the great books you can find in this year’s summer tote bag prize:
Run Amongst Thorns by Anna Louise Lucia
Falling for Mr Dark and Dangerous by Donna Alward
Bought For the Frenchman’s Pleasure by Abby Green
Outback Boss, City Bride by Jessica Hart
Stage by Stage by Jan Jones
The Novice Bride by Carol Townend

And to add to this great selection and celebrate the publication of The Alcolar Family Trilogy, I’m adding a signed copy of the collected Alcolar Stories to the bag.

And there will be two signed copies of The Alcolar Family Trilogy as runners’ up prizes.

Of course I'm in San Francisco as you're reading this, but when I get back I'll tell you more about these great books and their authors. (wellI thought I'd be in SF but that posting while I was away didn't work out but I'll soon be telling you about these books just the same)

So what do you have to do?
All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning this great prize is to answer these simple questions —

1. What are the titles of the books in the Alcolar Family collection? (Remember that although the By Request Collection is the Alcolar Family Trilogy, there are in fact four stories in the whole of the collection.)

And

2. What are the names of the hero and heroine in each of the four books you have listed?
Put your answers in an email and send them to me here

Make sure you put Alcolar Family Contest in the subject line on the email.

Closing date is August 18th when Sid the Cat will be given the task of choosing the winners as usual.

PS I've just heard from another great author who is adding a signed copy of her book to the booty in the Tote Bag this year - and that's Annie Burrows who has sent me copies of her second Historical Novel My Lady Innocent. Thanks so much Annie !

12 Point Guide 2 Launch Party 4

I'm dashing today because I'm setting off for London, literally any minute.
This afternoon I'll be at the London Book Fair for the real launch party for 12PGTWR2, but I'll leave you with some really wonderful guests who will chat with you and I'm sure you won't miss me.

My apologies to the people who have sent in questions for the Writers' Q&A which has been rather pushed to the side in the chaos that has been my life this past week or so. I have not forgotten you and I still plan on answering the questions just as soon as I get back from London and can breathe again.

So watch this space.

And when I get back I will have winners to annouce as well.
So I'll see you Thursday and in the meantime, enjoy meeting today's guests.

The first of these is Holly Jacobs who says:

Kate Walker's book is a must-have for any writer's bookshelf. It's clear, concise, informative!! Okay, so when I say things like that you might think I'm biased since I think Kate's one of the loveliest ladies around, but my copy of the book is on my reference shelf, within arm's reach of my desk! Congrats, Kate!

Holly's prize:

The winner can pick a book from my backlist (although there are a few that I'm now out of, I have copies of most.)

Holly's next book out is Same Time Next Summer, SuperRomance, in August.

I don't yet have a cover for Same Time Next Summer, but the lovely House on Briar Hill Road is still around on Amazon. And you can read more about Holly's books on her web site

My next guest is a lovely author from Australia - Ally Blake who writes for both the Modern Heat and Romance lines. Welcome Ally!

Ally says:

The second edition is here! The second edition is here! For anyone out there who does not have a copy of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance, run, don't walk, down to your local bookshop and buy one now. And I just ain't saying that, Kate, because you sooooo kindly asked me to be involved ;). When our published members of the Pink Heart Society get together to say which book helped them most on their journey to becoming a romance author, your wonderful book comes up trumps time and time again. And if that ain't a stamp of approval I don't know what is. A big fat humungous congrats on the release of the second edition and here's to it helping spawn a new generation of romance authors for us all to fall in love with!

Ally's next Modern Heat novel The Magnate's Indecent Proposal hits UK bookshelves in May . You can find her at her website.

Now I'd like you to say hello to Nicola Cornick who writes such fabulous historical novels.

Nicola says:
It's been great to be able to recommend The Twelve Point Guide to lots of aspiring authors who have contacted me for writing advice and I'm thrilled to know that I've been able to make a small contribution to the new book. Thank you, Kate, and I wish the book every success. When it comes to good, practical advice for would-be authors the 12 Point Guide is the best!"

Nicola's next book is The Last Rake in London - May 2008 from Mills & Boon Historicals and June 2008 from Harlequin Historicals

Nicola's Prize:

I'd love to offer a copy of The Last Rake in London as a prize

Nicola's question is:

Which historical period would you like to have been born in?

(Answer in the comments as usual please)
You can find more about Nicola on her website.

And last but not least is Presents auhtor Abby Green .

Here's what Abby has to say:

HUGE congratulations to Kate on this occasion, the launch of the second edition of her world famous 12 point guide to writing romance. It helped me along my way and then I was lucky enough to meet Kate and get her to sign my copy, and I've subsequently ordered it and also lent my own precious copy to various other aspiring authors.No doubt it's featuring right now in someone else's path to publication and the new edition will be even more fabulous than the last one. Even more encouraging. Even more inspirational and even more jam packed with helpful advice and exercises.Thanks for all the hard work you've put into it Kate...x Abby Green

Abby's next next book out is The Mediterranean Billionaire's Blackmail Bargain in July

You can read more about Abby and her books on her website

And don;t forget that all these fabulous authors are partying with me because they contributed to 12PGTWR2 by offering thier own personal tips and advice on writing romance in general and the lines they write for in particular.

Keep commenting for a chance to win - and I'll be back before you know it!

Here We Go Again

I was going to put up a post about an article in today's Guardian newspaper - an article entitled : Mills & Boon: 100 years of heaven or hell?

You can find the article here if you want to read it in full - and of course I suggest that you do that before you comment, which is more than most critics do for Mills & Boon.

Because of course with a title like that you can tell what's coming can't you?

Though, to be fair - again unlike some! - the first part of the article is a well written, balanced, articulate and intelligent discussion of the 'pros' of Mills and Boon. I'd expect that though as it's written by M&B author Abby Green in her real-life guise as Daisy Cummins. I know that she's worried that what she actually wrote was cut to ribbons, but I don't think she should worry. She came across as intelligent, thoughtful and someone who at least knows her subject .

Unlike - and you were expecting this, weren't you? - unlike the writer for the 'cons' - against M&B -Julie Bindel who of course takes the lazy wayout, writing about 20 books she read 15 - that's 15 years ago and dragging out the tired old quotes from Violet Winspear in 1970 and Hilary Wilde, writing in1966 . So that's over 40 years back now! Oh, and treating those titles that we all love to hate as if they were actual true descriptions of what happens in the books. Her other 'evidence' means she's done nothing more than look at the back-blurb of three current releases. Blurb, incidentally, which isn't even written by the author.

Doesn't she realise that simply quoting opinions that were out of date even when she was doing her research in 1992 only shows her up rather than proves her point?

I could go on - but to be honest such lazy, biased, inaccurate ranting just isn't worth it. Though I do wonder at her qualifications for even commenting on this topic.

And anyway, another intelligent, articulate and balanced set of comments has already been made on this article here - comments I can't really better so I'll just direct you to read them if you're interested.

They're written by another intelligent, talented and articulate writer - Natasha Oakley. She's said just about all I'd want to say - she even grabbed the same headline.

Hmm - two M&B authors who actually take the time and trouble to read this article before commenting on it - 3 if you include me - more if you read the comments on Natasha's post - doesn't that tell you something?

Having read Natasha's comments on Ms Bindel, I see that along with her focus on sexual violence, transexualism and other delights, she also hates vegetarians. Well, that's me doubly damned then.

Do I care? Not a bit.

To be honest, earning any of Ms Bindel's approval for anything I did would have me worrying about myself.

Bits and Pieces

I'm busy preparing the weekend course on Writing Romance that I'm teaching at Fishguard next weekend. So until I have that done, I'm just posting some bits and pieces and I'll write a proper post when I can -

Firstly, those of you who have been following the story of Abby and Eamon over on Anne McAllister's blog, the third and final part is posted today. So if you want to read that then visit Anne and see how A & E reached their happy ever after ending.

Then there are a couple of contests that you can enter and try to win prizes -

Firstly, over on My Tote Bag there is a contest to celebrate the publication of The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife where you have a chance to win a signed copy of The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge and a Kate Walker tote bag and pen.

Then Romance Junkies are holding their annual Halloween Contest. Enter the spooky house, wander through the rooms, find the Trick or Treat links and you can win all sorts of prizes. There's one from me in the Magic Shop.

Finally I have a blog post talking about amnesia stories over on I heart Presents . Obviously, this is because my November release The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife is an amnesia story - but I'm hoping that you'll come along and join in the discussion and tell me some of your favourite amnesia themed romances too. See you there?

And if you're booked on my course at Fishguard then I'll see you on Friday! There are still some places left, so if you're in the UK and you'd like to join us, it can be done even at this short notice. Just check out the Writers' Holiday website for details.

Dublin Wednesday - or how much can you fit into a day?

Well, the Black Angel is tweaked mercilessly and sent back to my editor. And now I can back to giving the details of the Dublin trip. There has of course been a sort of secondary blog on Dublin over on Anne McAllister's blog where the story of Abby Green and Eamon has been attracting lots of attention. For those of you who have been following this serial, the third and final part will be posted just as soon as Anne can manage it.

In the meantime, back before Abby met Eamon and was transfixed with love, she and I had arranged to meet around lunchtime on the Tuesday so that we could go off exploring together. The BM was spending the morning tramping the streets of Dublin and taking the photographs he needed for his book so I spent the morning in Grafton Street wandering around the shops. That at noon the BM joined me and Abby to go exploring further.

The rest of the day was just wonderful. Abby had remembered that I had talked of wanting to go to Sandymount, just outside Dublin. This was where I spent so many of my childhood holidays, staying with my grandfather and my aunt, my mother 's father and sister, and it was where I grew to love Ireland so much. So Abby drove us to this village that has such happy memories for me.

It had changed so very little - a few more shops, restaurants that were never there beofre, but the little village green was there, with the house where I spent many happy hours with my cousin overlooking it. I could also remember exactly where to go to find my grandfather's house which was still there. And I could find my way to the beach - 'The Strand' just as I had done all those years before. Perfect nostalgia. Such great memories

Then we needed to find a place for lunch. Abby suggested we drive to Powerscourt in Enniskerry - a beautiful great estate where there is a fantastic old house and gorgeous gardens. They had a lovely restaurant there too - in Avoc, a great shop. And She was right. Powerscourt is just beautiful. So beautiful that it has been used many times as the setting for period films. And that was what was happening when we arrived. (Yes India - this is the bit you wanted to know about!)

At the moment, Powerscourt is part of the setting for the filming of the second part of The Tudors. Part one is currently showing on BBC 2 in the UK. As you'll remember from our earlier trip to Ireland this year, Abby's 'day job was as a second assistant director on many film and TV projects. So when we arrived at Powersourt to find they were filming parts of The Tudors she was able to introduce us to many people working on the set. The stars weren't filming there that day but we were able to watch a 'royal' procession and see the filming of that before we went into the house for lunch.

It was such a gorgeous day, sunny and mild , ridiculously so for late October, so we were able to sit outside on the terrace to eat lunch and look out over the huge gradens and the wonderful waterfall in the distance, with the Sugarloaf mountain over on the horizon. And once we'd eaten then Abby and I raided the Avoca shop where it would have been popssible to spend a small fortune. Believe me, I was tempted by lots. But I contented myself by buying a black embroidered wool coat - and persuading Abby to treat herself too, to a pink jacket that looked just great on her. The BM took this photo of two happy shoppers on our way back to the car.

The next stop was at the film studios at Ardmore - where the filming of the Tudors was also going on . Again we met lots of the crew and people who Abby had worked with (which is where I fell for a very handsome Irishman - but then I always has a soft spot for Irishmen, after all my father and my uncle were both handsome 'Paddies). They had been filming Anne Boleyn's execution but we missed that! Perhaps just as well as the stories of fake blood being squirted all over the place was enough to make me feel a little queasy as it was.

But we were lucky enough to meet Irish costume designer Joan Bergin and congratulate her on her recent win of a Creative Emmy Award for the costumes on The Tudors. And we wandered round the great sets for the production, watching them set up for a banquet scene the next day - and Abby and the BM were able to sit on one of the great four-poster beds. I'm not sure if it actually was King Henry's bed or not - but it looked fine enough to be so!

I loved being able to get close to the fantasy pretence of the sets and see the makebelieve that goes to make up the wonderful images that will appear on the TV scenes. It reminded me of the bits of amateur dramatics I did at school and university and it was fascinating to see the way that the 'food' for the banquet was fake and sprayed with varnish etc to make it look as if it was freshly cooked. It was great to see the way that old and new - even a tree - was all bundled together behind the flats ready for use when needed.

Eventually we made our way back to Dublin, had a quick chance to refresh ourselves and then set out again (with Abby and I both wearing our new coats!) to head for the Shelborne Hotel on St Stephen's Green where, in real lady novelist style we drank champagne and toasted our new books - and a couple of wonderful reviews ) and one really nasty one too! But after a glass of champagne we just didn't care.)

Finally, needing something to soak up the champagne, we headed for a restaurant for dinner and sat talking late into the night again.

It was a fantastic day filled with so many wonderful moments, reliving special memories and creating new ones. And it wouldn't have been possible without lovely Abby's generosity with her time, her car, and her knowledge of Ireland.

Thank you Abby, love. It was a day I will always remember.