Top Ten Books and Winners - and more

I have a lot of bits and pieces to post today so let's get started

Sid thanks everyone who sent him birthday wishes. He has celebrated his birthday by enjoying cat crunchies and picking winners:

So the very last, final prize for the Great Big Blog Party Caerleon Special goes to Kimberly L

Kimberly please send me your snail mail address and copy of Jane Wenham-Jones' Perfect Alibis will be on its way to you. More winners in a moment.

Next piece of important news - Anne McAllister has had a total revamp of her website and the wonderful new look is up now. The new look is to celebrate the publication of Anne's latest book The Boss's Wife for a Week which is out now in the UK and in October in Presents. I'm lucky enough to have my own copy already on my TBR mountain - all I need it a little extra time and no deadline to be able to read it. (Now where have I heard that before?)

Other important new - the Pink Heart Society birthday celebrations will be going on all month so keep an eye on their blog to find out what's going on. There's a whole lot of wonderful things lined up for your entertainment and delight and fabulous prizes to be won. Things start in fine form - in very, very, very fine form - with the annual (well it is now) Hugh Jackman Tour 2007 . You'll need to check out the PHS blog again for the details but just in case anyone else tries to jump the gun here then let me get in early and stake my claim.

No matter what others - who call themselves my friend - people with brand spanking new websites - may claim - Hugh in a towel is mine. I just let her borrow him every now and then.

Still on the topic of PHS, I have to apologise to Jenna who came over here hotfoot to see the famous pink shoes that I was wearing all day to celebrate the Birthday - and life had swamped me so I didn't get around to posting a pic of them. So - just for Jenna - here are the perfect pink shoes ---->

What next?

Oh yes - I have the final results of the

TOP TEN KATE WALKER NOVELS

as voted for by the readers. Actually, this is the Top Twenty.

Out of interest I've put the results from the last time I did this (2004) in brackets alongside so you can see that some books have held their places . Someof course weren't around then

A Sicilian Husband (The Twelve Month Mistress)
The Italian's Forced Bride (Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife)
The Sicilian's Wife (A Sicilian Husband)
Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride (The Sicilian's Wife)
The Antonakos Marriage (Wife for a Day)
The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife (Desert Affair)
Wife For A Day (Their Secret Baby)
Desert Affair (Bound by Blackmail)
12 Month Mistress (The Christmas Baby's Gift)
The Hostage Bride (The Groom's Revenge)
Bound By Blackmail (The Hired Husband)
At The Sheikh's Command (The Hostage Bride)
Fiancee By Mistake (Constantine's Revenge)
The Married Mistress (His Miracle Baby)
Leap in the Dark (The Married Mistress)
The Christmas Baby's Gift (Her Secret Bridegroom)
Their Secret Baby (Saturday's Bride)
Constantine's Revenge (The Unexpected Child)
Rafael's Love- Child (Game of Hazard)
The Hired Husband (Give and Take)

(Looking at this list, all I can say is there must be something about those Sicilians. Even though it's only just published, The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge came in a #21 this time, just missing this list by a vote.)

Dis also picked the final set of winners from the voters and the lucky winners are:

Jean M from Broomfield Colorado
Lily D from Canada
Donna Howard from Van Buren Arizona
Peggy Q
Gail H from Junction Kentucky

I'll be emailing the winners but if you spot your name here then please send me your postal address so I can organise your prize for you

Questions, questions . . .

So in the last Great Big Blog Party Post, Anne Hobbs from Caerleon Writers' Holiday, asked as her giveaway question :

If you could ask any writer just one question - which writer would you choose and what would you ask them?

And several of the questions in response were aimed at me. SO I thought I'd answer some of these here rather than on the comments section. (I really have to get used to going in and answering Comments - after months of leaving it to my guest posters, I'm out of practise.)

So to start with, Dena asked -

Well I would like to know Kate who and how did your husband get his nickname? it's adorable. Actually my question Kate is if there was another genre that you would be interested in writing a book in?

Dena, to answer your question about the Babe Magnet, I have to go back to 2002 and the RNA's Conference at St Aidan's College Durham. I was giving a Workshop there and so was my husband in his capacity (then) as Dr Wade, lecturer in Creative Writing. (He still does that a bit but he also is Writer in Residence in a prison and writes his own books on the Grim and Gruesome that I've mentioned) He was giving a talk opn Teaching Creative Writing and Marina Oliver who was organising the conference along with Roger Sanderson asked me to introduce him.

As part of the introduction, I said that I had never realised that my husband was a Babe Magnet until I brought him to RNA Conferences and saw him chatting to the delegates who are mostly female authors. The nickname stuck for that Conference and then for the RNA as a whole and eventually, when I first started writing a blog over on eHarlequin.com, and referred to my husband as 'affectionately known as the Babe Magnet' the name stuck. And to see the resulting threats of handbags of dawn etc that appeared amongst the comments when he posted for my Great Big Blog Party, it seems he still has the magnetism for so many of those Babes out there! Though there are some who find the abbreviation of BM less delightful!

And to answer the second part of your question, I've always wanted to write ghost stories. Really good ghost stories. I once met Barbara Erskine at a Readers' Day we both attended and I loved talking to her. I also love her books - ghost stories and romance - that's a wonderful blend and I'd love to be able to write it myself.

But as I have a deadline way too close and a new book that's way too far from the ending, for now I'll just concentrate on romance.

More answers to questions tomorrow.

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 #57 #58 #59 and #60 WInners

So to round off the Great Big Blog Party In have the final set of winners to announce.

Firstly - Anne McAllister's Prize

Anne says that her handsome hound "Gunnar has chosen Amanda and Christina as his winners of copies of The Antonides Marriage Deal. If either of them has it already, I can substitute another book if they prefer. "

Next I have the winner of Zoe Sharp's First Drop.

Biddy wins for her suggestion that the place for a murder mystery "would be Nashville and the time would be February/March when the country radio seminar happens there."

Jane Pollard has picked two winners of her book Dangerous Waters. Jane says:

It really was a tough call. I agreed with so many of their choices. But the two that stood out were
Kate Hardy - who chose Penitence Hurd and Henry King from The Vizard Mask by Diana Norman, and Ilona - who chose Leon/Leonie from These Old Shades and Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer. (I adore Georgette Heyer. Her books are my comfort reading, and a constant reminder of how authentic and effortless true historical romantic fiction should be.)

And the very last winner of this Blog Party is RobynL who is the winner of signed copies of my books

The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge and Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride

in the final Caerleon Special post.

So winners please make sure that I have your addresses and the final prizes will be sent out.

And once again my thanks to everyone who came to my Greate Big Blog Party and helped me to celebrate my 50th title - I hope you had as much fun as I did .

And huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to all the authors, family and friends - all 60 of you who wrote posts, came and visited and donated prizes for this special event - I could not have done it without you and your friendship and generosity is so appreciated.

Now all I have to do is write the books that get me to that 60th milestone!

And finally the winner of the Grat Big 50th Title Celebration Contest over on Leena's Goodie Room is Nathalie D. of Canada

Nathalie wins signed copies of the hardback editions of The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge and Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride and the heart shaped necklace. Congratulations Nathalie!

And that's it - unless you've voted for your favourite Kate Walker Top Five Titles where I still have one more set of prizes to give out. (You still have time to VOTE for your favourite books if you want to enter - just send me an email listing your top 5 )

Watch out for another exciting contest coming soon.

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

Great Big Blog Party 56 - Michelle Reid

Yesterday was fun - the BM had a lovely birthday - one that somehow involved 15 or more books. It also involved a trip to York, high tea at Bettys, where the waitress overheard us wishing him a happy birthday and went away then came back with a little cake with a candle on it!

He asks me to thank everyone who sent him happy birthday wishes on the blog as well.

So now it's back to the final days of the blog party. Sadly, ths party is now winding down and it will end this weekend - but we're going out with a bang and not a whimper. And I did promise you that I had some of the best still to come. So here's where I keep that promise . Because today's guest blogger is Michelle Reid.

It's no secret to anyone who reads this blog that Michelle is one of my very dearest friends and very special to me. But before she ever became a friend she was a writer I admired who wrote brilliant books that I loved - and still do. If you want to know more about how I met Michelle and the day our friendhips started then you'll find more details here .

Over the past couple of years, life has been throwing things at Michelle in a way that made writing difficult and those of you who are her fans - and I know she had thousands of you - will have noticed that there hasn't been a new novel from her since The Italian's Future Bride in January this year. I'm thrilled to be the first to let you know that this Michelle Reid drought is now over and her newest title The Marakonos Bride will be out in May 2008 - and I for one can't wait! I've missed my 'fix' to feed my Michelle Reid addiction.

On a personal note, if you look out got my next title - The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife - which is out in November - you'll see that this book is dedicated to Michelle. She may have had writign problems herself, but she was always there to support (and crack the whip over me!) to make sure I got on with my books. Thanks so much Michelle!

Michelle sent me her blog some time ago but I've only just got aroud to putting it up here. But as you'll see, she was inspired by the poetic posts that resulted from Julie Cohen's Blog back in June.

So here's Michelle Reid

This little ditty may not rhyme

Its rhythm is all out of time

Blame Julie Cohen, who set this ball rollin’

Now I’m stuck like a loon to blog out of tune

About that wonder of wonders our Kate



Let me tell you about my pal Kate

We met on a prestigious Author Day date

She looked gorgeous and glamorous

Hugh would have been amorous

But she had to make do with a new mate



We talked ‘til our breath ran out

And continued by letter - email wasn’t about

The telephone was better

Two hours instead of a letter

Or until the BM or Ginge gave a shout



Next time we met was in York

Poor Betty’s the venue to talk

In the middle of posh tea and cakes

Our lovely Kate shouts - more sex is what it takes!

To the clatter of a hundred shocked forks



After that it was back to the phone

To yippee at a new book – or to moan

Like - this damn hero won’t behave

To which I was heard to regale

One leg-over is worth 3000 words in a tome!



The guy fixing my new kitchen cracked his head

The guy up the ladder fell down dead

The one fixing a wire set his hair on fire

Which dear sweet Kate found hilarious

Matches my Betty’s, she said!



So there you have it in short

Fifteen-ish years of pithy retort

We banter and shock but then why the hell not?

We write, we create,

And she’s my very best pal fondly known as 50 books Kate!

GIVEAWAY QUESTION:

How did you meet your best friend?

GIVEAWAY PRIZE:

Signed copies of Michelle last 2 books - The Italian's Future Bride and The Ranieri Bride.

Great Big Blog Party #52 and #53 Winners - and of course Sid

I'm late posting today - that's because I've been doing my accounts (yeuch!) so I'm staggering in her with a frazzled brain and a blank mind - but the accounts are done!! And they've left the building so that my accountant has them all to play with - and I'm sure he'll enjoy the experience much more than I did.

It just made me think of that question - the one that people always ask me - 'How long does it take to write a book?'

The honest answer is 'I write 3 a year so that's one every four months - unless one of those months has an accounting date in it.'Then the darned accounts take up most of my time.

But they're done - I'm up to date even for part of next year! So I can relax a while. And I can celebrate by announcing some Great Big Blog Party winners.

Firstly, prizes from Samantha Storm and/or Chaoscat

She (they?) said:

I had a grand time hanging out at your blog. Loved reading all posts! Thanks for having me! And can't wait for your 100th book celebration!

Okay dokey I picked two winners:

Peggy - won a package with a four reads from the RJ book vault.

Sabrina - won a print copy of Eye of the Storm.

The winners can email me at chaoscat @ romance junkies .com with their snail mail addies

Peggy and Sabrina can you cc me in on your notes to Cat so that I know the prizes are sorted.
Thanks! And I hope everyone checked out Romance Junkies - it's a great site to visit and their Writing Contest always attracts a huge amount of interest.

And a second prize announcement from Anna Campbell (ably assisted by Sid the Cat)

Sid says he totally understands the way that creatures turn up at Samantha Storm's house - after all, that's the way he came to live here - I just opened the door and he walked in.

But when it comes to eating crunchies off a piece of paper with a name on it then the name was brownone and her turtle.

brownone will you email me with your postal address as Anna is at the Romance Writers of Australia Conference right now - so I'll collect your details and send them on to her.

Sid says he's never seen a turtle but of course all creatures listen when you talk to them! They just don't think you're talking very much sense unless you're saying how handsome and wonderful they are or announcing that very important moment of TEATIME!

Finally, on the post about Sid yesterday a sharp-eyed Rachel spotted something on my desk that had clearly been entertaining Sid and so in the Comments section she said:

Dear Kate,I think Sid is telling porkies. looking closely he's been up all night reading a very good book-just what is that intriguing pink book under his right paw?Rach

Well, Rach that book is a copy of Call Up The Storm by the late and great Jane Donnelly. I found 3 copies of her books when I visited Hay on Wye when I was in Wales. (More on that later) And as my friend Anne McAllister collects Jane's work, I picked them up in case she didn't already have copies of them.

But I was also going to post a scan of that cover on a blog that would follow on from our discussion of covers after lee's Guest Blog on that subject yesterday.

This is an example of that terrible moment When Covers Go Bad!

To me, the intense, passionate, Alpha hero looks like nothing so much as camp comedian Julian Clary right down to the head cocked slightly to one side - and I'm saying nothing about that yellow-brown suit!

Great Big Blog Party 54 - Lee Hyat

Today's guest blogger is a very special cyber friend - sadly, I've never yet me Lee Hyat in person. But we've known each other for . . .Oh, since Constantine's Revenge was published - and that came out in 2000 so that makes it seven years.

My first 'meeting' with Lee was through a message in a guestbook that I had on my very first web site. She visited, signed her name, and left me a lovely message. I responded and thanked her for dropping by.I'm so glad that I did because we've been together - working on web sites etc at first and later as friends - ever since.

Lee has been involved in romance writing and reading all the time I've known her and she's one of the most active and busy people on the internet that I've ever known. I've lost count of the number of web sites she's worked with, the reviews she's written, the message boards she's moderated. I do remember that one of them was called The Best Reviews - and that just about summed it up. Lee's read so many romances, so she always has a knowledgeable opinion on what she reads - and if she loves something she says so. It's an honour to get a positive review from her because she knows so much and has read so much.

Over the years, she's done interviews with me too and she always asks great questions - the sort of thing I'd want to ask an author myself if I was interviewing someone. Lee's worked on lots of web sites but now she's reached a point where she's set up her own set of sites and she manages those. If you're interested in Romance and want to read more about it - check out My Tote Bag - and if you'd like to get some freebies from authors and collect them, check out Leena's Goodie Room too. You can get your hands on Kate Walker bookmarks and pens that way if you do.

Because that's the other reason Lee's so valuable in my life. She's always there as a friend to chat about books and writers and life in general - but she's also a great back-up to me as an author. Living in the UK, I used to have problems getting things like bookmarks designed, printed - and distributed in America - it took time I didn't have and I am not skilled in design or anything like. But through her company Author Sound Relations, Lee comes to my rescue there. She designs and organises what I need, she distributes them to conferences etc - and I could never have managed to Great Big 50th title Contest that I mentioned in my last post without Lee's help. Just check out the wonderful Spotlight page she made for me - and then she deals with the entries, posts prizes out to the winners . . . and leaves me free to do what I'm supposed to be doing - writing.

Thank you for everything Lee - for your brilliant assistance with my publicity, for your friendship over the years, and for the love of my books that rbought us together. I hope one day we'll finally meet face to face and no longer been just cyber friends.

So here's Lee Hyat

Thank you, Kate, for inviting me to blog on your site. I’m delighted to be a part of your 50th book celebrations! I’m sure everyone’s been enjoying the celebrations with you and you’ve probably been looking back on your marvellous journey, feeling quite satisfied with this great achievement.

The word FIFTY takes on a bigger, more colourful dimension when one looks over all 50 gorgeous covers for Kate’s books, don’t you all agree? It’s like having all the colours of a beautiful rainbow on your bookshelf… delighting the senses and stirring the emotions. I’ve spent quite some time at Kate’s website this past month, reading all the summaries and making a list of the still-elusive Kate Walker books I need to get my hands on.

I know Kate’s mentioned it before in one of her posts but I’m going to repeat it anyway… Kate and I met several years ago when we both happened to discover, quite by chance, each other’s websites on the same day, at almost the same time. We had a good laugh over the coincidence later but it was sort of weird at the time. Like one of those wonderful incidents that hits home with a sense of déjà vu. I think we both knew that day we were destined to get to know each other better. And we did.

Her warmth, fantastic talent and caring attitude has been a great source of inspiration over the years. I think what I respect and admire most about Kate – aside from the fantastic novels she writes…. CONSTANTINE’S REVENGE being one of my all time favorites! – is that she takes the time to inspire aspiring writers and supports them in their achievements so enthusiastically. She always gives back 150% of what she gets. I don’t know quite how she finds the time to do all that she does but she’s brilliant at it.

Kate’s had several exciting events happening lately and I know, like me, lots of people have been checking out the books and summaries on her website. I’d love to know which cover(s) from Kate’s books are your favorites. I’m personally leaning towards all the older UK covers because they’re the colorful ones (before they all became blue), reminding me of the rainbow and in terms of titles, I adore the cover for HOSTAGE BRIDE and … of course…. CONSTANTINE’S REVENGE! So please, if you read this, let me know which cover(s) appeal to you. We all know the stories are fantastic and it’s more difficult to decide with those so I’m making it easy --- just mention the titles featuring the best covers. I’m going to ask Kate to let the marvelous Sid pick a winner from the comments and I’ll send the winner a goodie package with a few good Harlequin Presents novels.

Kate, I’ve enjoyed so many of your books and I’m absolutely thrilled to see you celebrate the 50th one! My heartiest congratulations! I’m looking forward to reading many many more from you in the years ahead!

Lee

GIVEAWAY QUESTION:

Which boks of Kate's do you think have your favourite covers? Which ones do you like the best?

GIVEAWAY PRIZE:

A My Tote Bag goodie package with some great Harlequin Presents novels.

PS From Kate - What a great idea, Lee - I'm so looking forward to the answers to this one. I'd love to know which of my covers you all like best.

For my self, I'd have to agree with Lee that the coer of Constantine's Revenge is wonderful - and I love Vito and Emily on The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge - and I think a lot of you do too.

Which gives me an idea - when Sid's picked a winner (that cat is going to be so busy!) I'll collect up some of the titles and the favourite covers and post then in a separate blog - I might also do one on the covers I like least.