Kate Walker: Amanda Grange

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Great Big Blog Party #41 - and # 43 - Winner - and a Kate bit about next week

I've heard from Anne Gracie that Hunkthighs and Shoulderman have chosen their winner

Troy Hunkthighs was very taken with a pome that talked about a lay in the hay - any idea of laying and hay gets his vote - but Clint wanted to go with pulling a name from his hat - and in the end, for fairness that's just what they did

So the winner of a copy of The Perfect Rake is Cherie J

Congratulations Cherie if you could send your details please. For speed you can send them direct to Anne and cc them to me to be sure

This is because for the next week or so I shall be on the move - going to Caerleon Writers' Holiday starting with driving to Malvern tomorrow. (Though with the rain still coming down we might be swimming!) . I'll be trying to log in every day if I possibly can and I hope I have all the blogs for the last few days of the Great Big Blog Party already lined up ready to post. But things can go wrong . . .

So if I miss a day, I apologise in advance and I'll make sure that I post all the guest bloggers as and when I can - and the collecting of addresses and sending them on to winners might bet a little delayed - but even if I can't keep as up to date as when I'm at home, everything will all be sorted out in the end - I promise!

Unless of course I end up trying to post from underwater in Wales

PS - I just heard from Amanda Grange - who was unfortunately away on holiday while her post was up . (Was it a very wet holiday Amanda?)

But now that she's back she has chosen a winner - here's the message she posted on the Comments section announcing her choice:

Thanks to everyone for dropping in! They're all great heroes, but I'm going to pick Anne McAllister as the winner because she reminded me about Max Ravenscar, one of my favourite Heyer heyeros! If you send me your snailmail details, Anne, at amanda_grange@hotmail.com, I'll put a signed copy of Mr Darcy's Diary in the post for you.Thanks to everyone for entering! Amanda

Congratulations Anne! I hope you enjoy reading Mr Darcy's Diary. I think we'd all love to know what was going on inside that particular hero's head!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Great Big Blog Party 41 - Amanda Grange

I first met today's Guest Blogger Amanda Grange at the RNA Conference in Durham in 2002. While not actually one of the the 'Virgins' she was at her first Conference there and a little out on a limb until she joined the original four and I in the bar and became part of our small group. Later, she was to take on the welcoming of the Conference First timers when the Conference was set in Egham in 2005.

Amanda writes adventurous historical romances set mainly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But she has also hit on the brilliant and original idea of writing Jane Austen's novels from the heroes' point of view. Mr Darcy's Diary is already out, with Mr Knightley's Diary due in October 2007.

Amanda's publisher, Hale, usually only publishes hardback, library editions in the UK which means that her books have until now only reached a limited audience. But just lately Amanda has had the great news that the paperback versions of Lord Deverill's Secret, Harstairs House and Mr Knightley's Diary will all be published by Be

rkley in 2007. Scheduled release dates are October for Mr Knightley's Diary, November for Lord Deverill's Secret and December for Harstairs House.

Wishing you every good luck with those, Amanda!

Another side to Amanda's talent is her ability to write great humour, combining her love of Jane Austen with her knowledge of the current popular market. Check out her vision of Jane Austen trying to make a pitch for her novels in todays publishing climate - you can find it here. I think it's brilliant

So here's Amanda Grange

The fact that Kate has hit the big 50 sums her up in one word - inspiring.
I first met Kate at the RNA conference in Durham about five years ago. It was my first conference and I was immediately drawn to her because Kate exudes a warmth and energy that attract people like a magnet. She'd hit upon the idea of organising a meeting for the conference first-timers, which shows you exactly what kind

of person Kate is, because it can be scary walking into a conference and realising you don't know a single soul there. I was soon part of the group and I met a number of other fabulous writers like Julie Cohen and Amanda Ashby who have since gone on to great things, encouraged by Kate. Kate must have helped more people on the path to publication than anyone I know.

But it doesn't stop there. As Kate's 50th shows, getting published is only the first step along the way. I know I'm not the only writer who thinks, 'How fantastic!' and feels inspired to reach the big 50 myself. With 15 books under my belt, I've only got 35 to go! And by the time I get there I hope Kate has reached her 100th so she can inspire me to hit those heights, too.

So thanks, Kate, for the inspiration. Thanks for the conference at Durham, which would have been a lot less fun without you, and let's hope we both make it to 50 conferences as well!