Started planning my next course - Advanced Romance Writing at Fishguard Writing Weekend with

Writer's Holiday. Also collected some of the 'treats' that are needed to help inspire and sustain the writers on this course.

An interesting fact - whenever I go to get the chocolate (for inspiration!) the local supermarket has set up a lovely discount price on it. Do you think they keep an eye on my blog/facebook page? 'If it's February she'll be coming in for supplies for Writers' Holiday.' So maybe they have a note in their diary - April means she'll need supplies for Relax & Write' Weekend Coursesx .

.

The  Writer's Holiday course is absolutely over-full right now - but as they say 'Other courses are available.'

The next  one will be a Focus on Writing Romantic Fiction Retreat at  Royal Agricultural University  in Cirencester - dates   6th - 8th April.

If you'd rather just have a library talk - with Valentine's Day coming up I have one of those too -  The ABC of Love in Doncaster library on February 14th

I'm sharing this with another author, Lynda Stacey  - from 11am to 12.30 in the Central Library Doncaster

Busy busy

It's going to be a crazy couple of weeks  so if my blogging is a bit intermittent, that's why
I have  the Valentine's Day workshop in Brigg Lincolnshire  on - well, obviously  on Valentine's Day next week and then straight after that I'm travelling to Wales  for the Fishguard Writers' Weekend to teach Writing Romance for the wonderful residential weekend there. I love this weekend and am so looking forward to it.  We have a lot of fun, discuss writing, do some great writing exercises, drink a little wine . . .

And of course I have the small matter of a book to write myself. Health problems and family crises have interrupted my creative process viciously so I'm fighting to get back on track. I really think that the workshops and talking about writing and discussing the process will help with this so  if I'll be seeing you there, then you'll be  helping me as well as I'll be helping you!


And  - a special message for Maria for her comment  on my Tote Bags 'N' Blogs post on Sunday - you mentioned Girl About Town as the first M&B you found down the back of a sofa in 1975 -  and said you couldn't recall the author. Could  it be this one?

Don't you just love the diesmbodied heads and the 'sophisticated' hero  Sean  lighting up a cigarette - I mentione d that smoking was so much more common in thoese earlier books - I recall one where the hero was driving his sports car along some narrow, windy moutain road in Italy or somewhere  and he lit a cigarette as he drove along. And of course no one was wearing a seat belt then! 

Anyway, Maria if this is the book you remember - there is a single copy available on Amazon right now.

Oh - and  the 'oldie' of mine you mentioned - Bedded By The Greek Billionaire, that came out in 2008 and  sold out on the M&B site but is still available in ebook. It's also being reprinted in a Greek Affairs  collection coming up in May.

Conflict Q&A 3 - EXTERNAL

One of the questions that I was asked over and over again when I said I was going to do a workshop on conflict was:

How do you define the difference between Internal and External conflict ?

As Susan said: I would love an idiot's guide to external and internal conflict

So today I'm going to define the first of those types of conflict:

EXTERNAL CONFLICT


EXTERNAL CONFLICT is what happens to your characters, the obstacles outside themselves which they have to overcome to get their happy-ever-after.

External conflict is also called PLOT.

EXTERNAL CONFLICT comes from the plot and circumstances or is created by other characters.

EXTERNAL conflict is the struggle between people over opposing goals. It is out in the open. It is visible to witnesses

EXTERNAL is SITUATIONAL – it arises from the place and the plot. It can create the SITUATION that forces the H&h together so they have to deal with emotional issues – eg snowed in together etc.


SITUATIONAL can work with the EMOTIONAL issue
But

SITUATIONAL can never substitute for EMOTIONAL

External Conflict can be

- visible - a wildfire, a villain

- Situational - a situation that will cause turmoil for your character - eg working with their former husband/lover

- should be tailor-made for your characters, no matter how big or how small, it should truly affect them in more than a passing way

- should be directly tied to the essence of your characters, perhaps stemming from and adding to their internal conflict.

To quote Trish Morey -

The external conflict brings your characters together (to solve a problem, deal with a crisis, resolve an issue. . . )

The internal conflict then drives them apart.

So more on internal conflict tomorrow

(c) Kate Walker 2010

Looking ahead

It must be the start of new term effect or the fact that for years of my life September always meant new beginnings - new term, new school, new courses - and then when I went to university etc new places to live . . . But I always feel more like a new start around the beginning of September than I do at the turn of an old year into a new one.

Updating my web site (with the help of wonderful Heather from We Write Romance) has made me look forward at what's coming up for me. And as I know that some of you want to know about courses, workshops etc that I'll be running, I thought I'd let you know about some events that are on my calendar for the future.

First of all, there's Guildford Book Festival. This runs from 16 - 25th October.

I've been asked to take part in a panel discussing the appeal of romantic fiction together with the fabulous Katie Fforde and Matt Dunn - with Jane Wenham-Jones (who you will know about from my reports on Caerleon Writers' Holidays) acting as compere and asking the questions.

This event will be on 17 October at the Electric Theatre. Time: 7pm

I've also been asked to run a workshop based on the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance - the details have yet to be finalised, but I expect that the workshop will be on the 17th as well - and it will last for about 2 hours. As soon as I get more details, I will post them here - and on the Events page on my website.

A couple of other teaching events I have been booked for are coming up in 2009. The first of these is in February - Februrary 20th - 22nd to be precise.

And that's when I will be teaching on the Writers' and Artists' Workshop Weekend at Fishguard. As many of you know, I have taught in Fishguard before, at the Winter Novel Writers' Weekend but this is a slightly new departure for me. I will be teaching a course on The Novel, not just Romance and I'm really looking forward to the challenge.

And if anyone wants to learn more about writing poetry, then I should let you know that the Babe Magnet will be adopting his poet and Creative Writing Lecturer hat and joining me in Fishguard to run the Writing Poetry Workshop.

You can find more details about this weekend in February here. And as this weekend is run by the fabulous Anne and Gerry Hobbs who run the Caerleon Writers' Holidays then this will be a welcoming and fun event as well as a chance to learn more about writing.

And talking of Caerleon - although being in San Francisco this summer was wonderful, bit the Magnet and I were really sad that the dates for RWA and Caerleon clashed and in order to be in SF we had to miss being in Wales.

But we will be back at Caerleon in 2009 - and I'm already looking forward to it. The Writers' Holiday this time will be a really special one as it is their 25th event.

The Magnet and I will both be teaching a full course (that's 5 one-hour sessions ) at this Writers' Holiday - where I will be teaching Writing Romantic Fiction and The Babe Magnet will be running a brand new course called Writing the Past - this is a course for those wanting to write creatively from the past - biography, historical non-fiction, and fiction. It covers research, writing techniques and writing for publication.

(And if you should want to take both our courses, you can as we are teaching in different parts of the week so the teaching hours don't clash.)

You can find out more about Caerleon Writers' Holidays - and all the extras that they provide as well as the courses - on the web site here.

So these are the teaching events I have coming up in the future - so far. If anything else crops up, I'll let you know. And you can always find these and any further details you need on the Events page on my web site where I'll post anything and everything I'm doing as I get to know about it

And maybe I'll see you at one of these events - if so, please do come and say hello.

St David's Day

Happy Saint David's Day!

And a very special greeting to all my readers and friends in Wales. I have a soft spot for that beautiful country - I spent five years of my life in Aberystwyth where I studied for my degree and my MA at this wonderful old seafront college and, more importantly, met the Babe Magnet in my final year of the first degree.

And as regular blog readers will know I spend many happy days teaching in Wales at both the Writers Holidays in Caerleon and the Fishguard Writing Weekends. Sadly, because of other commitments, I won't be able to get to either of them this year, but here's a bit of advance news if you're interested in writing courses - I will be at Caerleon in July 2009, running a 5 session course on Writng Romance , and I can now let you know that I have been asked to run the Novel Writing course at Fishguard in February 2009. And the extra added bonus there is that the Babe Magnet has been asked to run the Poetry Course then too.

Talking of Caerleon reminds me to send special St David's Day greetings to Anne and Gerry Hobbs who run those wonderful Writers' Holidays and Writing Weekends - and an extra special wave to the wonderful Liz Fielding who lives in Wales and whos fabulous book The Bride's Baby is one of the three fantastic books given as a prize in the Here Come The Grooms Contest . That contest has now closed and I'll be getting Sid to draw the name of the winner just as soon as he comes in from patrolling the garden to see what's been happening out there during the night (possibly a few uprooted bushes or battered plants after the high winds of the night).

So the winner will be announced just as soon as Sid does his job and when I hear from Anne McAllister and Liz who their winners are, I'll post the information here.

And talking of those contest prizes - as it's now March, then officially Anne's One-Night Love Child is out in America, and my Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife should be on the shelves in the UK. Actually, they're bopth there already in some places as Anne has seen Flynn and Sara's story in her local stores and the BM spotted Raul and Alannah in Lincoln yesterday. So they're out there.

Finally, here's a newspaper story that will bring hope to all those struggling for publication and getting nowhere - at the moment . It's always good to know that the famous and successful have been through it too!

Oh - and if you're reading this in the UK before 10 am then you might like to know that the BM will be on Radio Humberside this morning. He's talking about one of his grim and gruesome books Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Grimsby at around 1o past 10. And you can listen here.

It's Wednesday?

I'm not sure what happened to yesterday - catching up, I suppose you could say.

Catching up on:

Emails - and yes, I know I still owe some of you answers

Letters

On phone calls (there's a big part of the day gone)

Shopping - we had no bread, no veg and - worst of all very little cat food in the cupboard. So we had to go and get some more before the cats left home.

Cat appeasing. We've had the sulks, the 'how dare you abandon us in this way' - then they moved on to 'I wasn't fed at all while you were away, so I need a little smackeral of something on the hour, every hour until I catch up and get my body weight back to normal'. Then, in between the snacks on the hour every hour, there was the 'I want you to open this door and let me out NOW!' and as soon as they're out there's the - 'I want you to let me in NOW - just because I can demand it. And I'm going to keep on demaning it on the hour every hour - and more at 3 am!'

(Note photo of Sid obviously wasting away!)

Washing - and drying - so of course it poured with rain

I think I've got caught up now, though there are things I still have to do. It's great to go away and I really enjoyed the stay in Fishguard - and the course. the group really gelled and that helps so much - specially when you're discussing their work with them. If would-be writers can't take editing now then they'll not be able to work well with editors in the future when - hopefully if - they get accepted. This wasn't a problem with the Fishguard group. No prima donnas amongst them -they all wanted to learn.

I've had two lovely messages from members of the course since I got back and a fantastic card from Rachael who often visits this blog (Hi Rachael!) Not only that but she went to the trouble of making me a lovely Christmas cake as a way of saying thank you - that was so kind Rachael! Thank you again and I'll think of you and Fishguard when I have a taste of it on Christmas Day.

So I had a lot of fun and as always it was great to talk writing and to meet up again with lovely Anne and Gerry who run the Writers' Holidays, and the Fishguard Writing weekends. Saying goodbye was tough as we probably won't be able to make Caerleon in summer 2008 as we're planning on heading for the RWA Conference in San Francisco and I don't think there will be a Winter Novel Writing Weekend in 2008.

I'm going to miss the great atmosphere of the weekend - and I'm really going to miss the wonderful views I woke up to each morning of my stay in Fishguard so I took a few extra photos to keep some memories while I'm away from there.

But there will be the Writers' and Artists' Workshops Weekend in 2009 when I've been asked to run the Novel Workshop and Caerleon in summer 2009. There are even rumours that the BM will be teaching courses then too. So I won't be away from Wales for too long - but I am going to miss it for a while.

Back . . .

I'm back . . . just!

The journey was pretty horrendous - crawling queues that meant we took hours longer to get home. But we're here now - and I need a stiff tea and a series of head butts and purrs from Sid before I feel human again.

I did have an internet connection at Fishguard - but no time to use it. I was too busy teaching or eating great food or having fun and talking, talking talking . . .

It was wonderful to see Writers' Holiday organisers lovely Anne And Gerry Hobbs again, to meet up with my great co-tutor Lesley Horton who was teaching the Crime Fiction course - and of course my students. A small but enthusiastic group who were so keen to learn and asked so many questions I could barely keep up with them. A group like that makes it fun as well as work - so, Rachael, Frances, Brenda, Kate and Nigel - thank you all for making it easy for me.

I'll be back to chat as soon as I can but if you head over to The Pink Heart Society blog today, you'll find that in my role as a Pink Heart Columnist I'm talking about one of my favourite sources of inspiration and the man behind a couple of my own personal favourite heroes in Male on Monday.

On the road again . . .

Today I'm travelling again. Heading for Wales and that weekend course at Fishguard. (Thank you Rachael for reccommending it - and for joining me for the second time! You're a glutton for punishment! I'll see you soon.)

We're following our usual route and staying over in Malvern so I hope I'll be able to call in from there. The BM will no doubt be exploring the secondhand bookshops in his research). And then on to Wales.

So if I don't manage to get back for a little while, enjoy yourselves. And if you're booked on the course then I'll see you soon.

Can't wait - I love being beside the sea - and talking writing. The food's wonderful too . . .

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.

Postal deliveries

I have had a bumper postal delivery today, with lots of lovely surprises - and some expected things too.

So here are 5 Reasons to be happy that the postal strikes have stopped

1. I have an update on the preparations for the Fishguard Novel Writing Weekend. Another couple of weeks and I shall be heading for Wales and beautiful Fishguard Bay where I'll be teaching the Contemporary Romance course. I'll be able to meet up with my great fellow tutors Jane Jackson and Lesley Horton who are teaching the Historical and the Crime Novel courses.. We always have great fun as well as getting a lot out of the course. There are still places left so if you're interested, the details are on my Events page or the Writers' Holiday site here.

2. Someone must have realised that I'd actually made a small indent into my TBR mountain - because my lovely writer friends decided that I needed the pile topping up! And no sooner had I mentioned Donna Alward's Marriage at Circle M than - as lovely Donna herself let on yesterday - there it was in my post pile ready to - errr - ready to add to my slightly diminished and now getting bigger again TBR

3. My great friend from 'downunder' Trish Morey has sent me her next book too - we're 'shelf-mates' in November in the UK and USA with my Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife and Trish's The Boss's Christmas Baby.

Thank you both so much Donna and Trish - now all I need is a little more (a lot more) time to read. If only I didn't have to write . . . And I'm still waiting for Anne McAllister's The Boss's Wife For a Week (and stop telling me how much I;mn going to enjoy it! I know that - I just want to read it!)

(Oh and Donna - watch your own mail box! And no, I'm not going to explain!)

4. Author's copies of the joint book on writing that the BM and I have collaborated on that is out this month - Being a Professional Writer - it looks good!

5. Unexpected foreign editions - always a thrill. This time I have copies of the Polish edition of The Married Mistress where my book is in a duo with Sara Craven - and as readers of this blog will know, I'm a huge admirer of Sara's books, so I'm honoured to be linked with her.

And the Spanish edition of that 50th title - The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge under the fabulous title of Venganza Siciliana (Sicilian Vengeance). And that cover always looks great no matter what size it is or the colour it's set against.

And the BM got a couple advances for books he's delivered and a contract for a book on local ghosts . . .

So we were both more than happy that the postal deliveries are getting through properly. The postie wasn't too pleased at having to carry all those extra books though.

In other news, thanks to the fantastic Heather Reed who maintains my web site, I'm all up to date over there as well. So if you want to read all about The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife, see photos of the presentation of the lovely gold pin for my 50th title and all my other news then why not visit now? There will also be a new contest for the publication of The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife coming very soon over on My Tote Bag just as soon as Lee gets it up there - I'll let you know when it's ready.

Fishguard Novel Writing Weekend

I had a letter yesterday from Fiona who was interested in the Novel Writing Weekend in Fishguard. She started off brilliantly - telling me she'd bought the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance - and even better, she'd followed the advice!

But then she had a question. As this is a question that I've been asked several time about the course I run, either at Fishguard or anywhere else, I thought it wold be helpful to answer it on my blog so that anyone who needs to can read the answer.

Fiona gave me permission to quote from her letter here: (Thanks again Fiona)

Having read your 12-point guide to writing romance and taken your advice to read before you start writing. I read and read and in the end decided that my heart wanted to write paranomal romance.
So, having seen the next course is on contemporary romance would it still be suitable for me? I have started character building and writing the first chaper for a paranomal romance set in a contempory setting.

Thanks for your advice, Fiona.

And here's my answer:

Well - you're off to a great start! Thank you for reading the 12 Point Guide - and for taking my advice! I meet so many people who want to write romance but have never looked at the publishers' contemporary output and I have seem some truly old-fashioned - not to say prehistoric - attempts at writing romance

OK, so - I'm assuming that you mean my next course in Fishguard in November? Well,I think my answer to you wold be a resounding yes - it should definitely be suitable and hopefully helpful to you

You see, the title Contemporary Romance is in the details for the course largely to differentiate it from the Historical Novel which is a completely different topic and taught very differently. I'll go back to my first paragraph - I teach what contemporary publishers are looking for.

I teach the Romantic Fiction course really - romance in all its forms (some of which would cross over into the Historical Novel topic) You see, if you are writing romance then the growth of the emotional relationship is what is central to the book - and that's wht my course is about - creating characters, adding emotion, working on emotional intensity. After that the idividual author adds the elements they most want to concentrate on - intrigue, paranormal, medical . . .whatever.

On my courses I have had would-be historical writers. medical romance writers, thriller writers who want to add that emotional content, MA students who simply want to learn popular storytelling techniques, inspirational romance writers, chicklit writers . . .

So yes, I would think that the course would be suitable and hopefully very helpful for you - and if it's as much fun as it was last year then very enjoyable too

If you do decide to come along please let me know and I'll look forward to meeting you

The point I'm making is that my courses - and the 12 Point Guide - are not just narrowly aimed at wrould-be category romance writers. The book and the courses are designed to help anyone who wants to write a novel in which the emotional relationship is central to the development - which is Romantic Fiction in its broadest definition. The books I write have the concentrated focus and intensity on the contemporary romance in a style and approach that fits the Modern Romance/Presents lines - but what I teach can be applied to every line, indeed every type of romance/romantic fiction published.

In fact, the lovely Karen Maitland who as well as being a Creative Writing tutor

has two great historical novels - Company of Liars and The Owl Killers coming out in 2008 and 2009 - said of the 12 Point Guide:

I genuinely think the book deserves as wide a publicity as possible. There are a lot of writing books out there and some, it has to be said, are less than helpful, but I think writers from beginners to experienced writers get solid practical advice from your book which is both clear, logical and jargon-free and as one of my more down-to-earth male students said, 'makes you actually get on and write rather than sit there meditating on your inner child for three months before you can get started.'
Title - in this capacity, Dr. Karen Maitland, Creative Writing Tutor, Adult Education.

Though I must add that in my other role as a writer myself I have also found it really useful.

So if it's considerations like Fiona's that has you wondering if the course can help you, then please don't worry. The weekend should have something for everyone - just ask the students on the Write Away Beyond The Hearts and Flowers course in Leicester last month.

We had all ages, all interests all styles and levels of writing on that course and from everyone's comments and the feedback sheets everyone got a lot out of it.

So if you're wondering about the Fishguard Course - or any others that I might run in the future - I hope you'll decide to come along and I can meet you and hopefully help you take your writing a stage further.

Maybe I'll see you there?

PS Don't forget that it you are a member of the RNA, then you will get a discount on your booking - check out the back page of this month's Romance Matters for details.

Looking forward

Last week I had planned a Back To School themed post as the children from the local secondary school are once again walking past my house every morning and home again in the evenings. I've always loved the Back to School time - or, really for me it was Back to University that was best - with new plans, projects, and best of all lots of excuses for new stationery. (I've just been stocking up so I have enjoyed that bit!)

But that post - and a lot of the week - got highjacked by other events so instead of that I thought I'd just mention some of the things that I am looking forward in the rest of this year.

Starting with Thursdday this week when the BM and I will be heading for London for the annual Association of Mills & Boon Authors lunch on Friday. This will be followed by a reception give by HMB for their authors. I will have a chance to meet up with lots of friends - Michelle Reid and I always stay in the same hotel and we start talking the moment we meet and are still talking when we have to go to catch our separate trains. Luckily our husbands get on well too!

And this time I'll be meeting a new author I've 'met' on the internet but never seen in person. Donna Alward will be coming from Alberta, Canada and after some time chatting with her on the eHarlequin message boards I'll actually get to see her face to face. Along with so many other friends - can't wait!

When I get back I will be guesting on the Pink Heart Society loop for the last weekend of the month. At the moment I haven't thought of a specific topic to chat about - maybe I'll just do a Q&A. But if there are any PHS members here who'd like to suggest a topic then I'll be glad to see your ideas. And I'll be playing my part in the PHS Birthday celebration Treasure Hunt by announcing the gift I'm giving the Little Pink Dancing Guy.


Then there are a couple of books coming out - one of which is a joint project between myself and my husband. Being a Professional Writer was originally planned for July but is in fact coming out in October. This is takes the reader from the foundation of all varieties of creative writing through to finding publishers and promoting their own works. It combines a handbook concerned with the everyday realities of writing and a workbook with practical exercises.

In October too, the BM has to do research in Dublin for one of his new Grim and Gruesome books in the Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths series so I hope to go with him and this time the Offspring and his Lovely Girlfriend plan to come with us so I'll get a chance to show them one of my favourite cities - and hopefully meet up with my two favourite Irish romance writers Abby Green and Trish Wylie.

The next month of course is when my next novel is out. The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife will be published in both M&B Modern and Harlequin Presents in November. So I expect that the means it will be out in Australia in December. I love the cover on this one so I can't wait to see it on the bookshop shelves. And I expect I'll run a contest to celebrate its publication as well.

Also in November I'll also be heading for Pembrokeshire in Wales and the Fishguard Novel Writing Weekend. Anyone who's read the blogs I posted about the wonderful time I had in Caerleon this summer will know just how much I'll be looking forward to meeting up with Anne and Gerry again, and my fabulous fellow tutor Jane Jackson who runs the Historical Novel course. There's also a Crime Writing workshop with Lesley Horton. The weekend courses are intensive and concentrated but they are always a lot of fun as well. Like last year I plan on doing some one to one discussions with the students about their work - and I expect that, also like last year, we'll end up having extra sessions in the evening - either in the classroom or the bar!

If you're interested in joining us, you can find all the details here.

Which brings us to December and that C word - Christmas. As I do every year I'll be running the Christmas Stocking Stuffed With Books contest, and I'm sure that, as in past years, there will be lots of wonderful books donated as part of the prize. I had no sooner mentioned this contest in passing than a couple of wonderful writer friends emailed me and offered their Christmas books as well. (Bless you Kate Hardy and Margaret McDonagh). I haven't yet finalised just which books will be in the prize bundles this time but I already have romance titles by Holly Jacobs, Heidi Rice, Tessa Radley. Amanda Ashby's fabulous You Had Me At Halo is in there too along with books by past guest bloggers Elizabeth Oldfield and Jane Wenham-Jones.

Oh yes, and that M&B Annual with Wife For Real in print.

What else - Oh yes - writing! (Did you hear my editor come up behind me and crack her whip then?)

The other thing I have to do is to finish the current book with Angelos (The Black Angel) my sexy Greek hero - and then write another! After all, that's really what it's all about - I have to write the books to get them out onto the bookshelves otherwise no one's going to come and visit this blog or attend any courses I teach . . . I'll admit that this latest one hasn't been the easiest of books to write. Which may be some consolation - or a cause of astonishment to those who think that after 50+ titles it's all plain sailing. But I'm wrestling Angelos to the ground now (I hope!) and I have an idea for the next one that excites me so that is somethng I'm looking forward to writing. Plus I can go hunting for a brand-new hero . . . Actually, I think I've found him - but he's going to have to wait his turn until The Black Angel has his HEA ending

And then as 2008 dawns there will be all the excitement of Mills &Boon's Centenary year and the celebrations they have planned.

So that's what I'm looking forward to - what about you?

And finally, if you'll indulge me - I couldn't find this photo when I was blogging about Bob last week - but it really is my absolute favourite of him when he was a very small cat. And I did want to share it with you. Anne McAllister says that it should have the caption :

If I hold real still, maybe no one will notice I'm breathing

Bob Redford 1989 - 2007 A very fine cat indeed

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.

A Kate Bit - Writing Courses

I just wanted to do a quick catch up on the appearences and writing courses that I'm teaching in the next few months.

Doncaster Library was fun yesterday - if you're visiting here for the first time because I told you about my blog then- you're very welcome. And thank you for the warm welcome you gave me. I had a good afternoon.

Now - courses -

While I was at Leicester University for the RNA Conference, I met with one of the orgnaisers of the Beyond the Hearts and Flowers - Writing Romantic Fiction course I'm teaching at Leicester University in August (August 17th - 19th) with Julie Cohen. If you want the details of this course - you'll find them here on the Events page on my web site.

But if you're interested in signing up for this, then I suggest that you act now. As of Monday, there were only a couple of free places available on the course, and as I know that one of those has already been booked up since then, the course will very soon - if not already - be sold out.

Contact Arts Training Central Leicester Tel: 0116 242 5202 for details

If it is full then there is always the Fishguard Novel Writing Weekend in November which I believe still has some places available - or at least they did the last time I heard.

You'll find more details of this course on my Events Page again - or here on the Writing Weekend home page. I am teaching Writing Contemporary Romance on this course and there are also courses on Crime Writing and the Historical Novel.

And of course the Fishguard Novel Writing Weekend is run in the same warm and welcoming spirit as the wonderful Caerleon Writers' Holidays - which is where I shall be heading in just a couple of weeks. I shall be doing one of the main talks and probably joining i one of the novel-writign classes too. So if you;re going to be there, please come up and say hello

And maybe I'll see you at one of these events.

8 things . . .

Apparently Tessa Radley has tagged me to reveal 8 things about myself – I’ll have to take her word on my comments section because for some reason her site and her blog adamantly refuse to open so I can read for myself.

As this is just after my birthday and I’m thinking in this way, I thought I’d reveal 8 things that are coming up for me in this ‘new year’

1. Saturday May 19th – Readers’ and Writers’ Day – Borders Charing Cross Road 12- 4pm. This is to launch Wannabe A Writer by Jane Wenham-Jones and many of the authors who have contributed to the book will be there, meeting people and signing copies of their own books.

2. As you all know already – that 50th book. Officially June 1st is the date for the UK publication of The Sicilian’s Red-Hot Revenge though I’ve noticed that it’s already riding high in the Amazon.co.uk hourly bestsellers list – and yesterday they claimed they only had one left in stock. I received my own author copies of the book the other day and I love the cover. Which reminds me, I meant to talk about covers . . .

3. June and July are the months for The Great Big Blog Party – to celebrate the publication of that important book . The last time I looked, I had 32 visitors and guest bloggers lined up to come and chat with you and offer prizes – all you have to do is to come along and join in the fun. You might win a great prize – you’ll get to meet a lot of fabulous authors. And I’ll be willing to bet that your book-buying fund will start to groan under the pressure as a result.

4. June 9th is the real party – the launch party for The Sicilian’s Red-Hot Revenge. Again lots of my very special friends from all parts of my life – the authors I’ve met, friend from home, my sisters, editors, people from Caerleon Writers’ Holiday - even my university tutor are all coming to help me celebrate the publication of my 50th title. I wish I could invite you all - but I promise you there will be reports and photos just as soon as I can get them to you.

5. July 6/7/8 I’ll be at the RNA Conference in Leicester. For the first time in 6 years I’ll not be doing anything - no teaching, no speaking . . . (You promised Jan!) So all I have to do is to enjoy myself, meet up with old friends and hopefully make new ones. If you’re going to be there, please come up and say Hello.

6. 29th July – 3rd August - Caerleon Writers’ Holiday. I’ll be there again for a wonderful week in Wales, meeting other writers and would-be writers, talking , laughing, eating (just a little bit!) sharing a few drinks (just a few) and oh yes, giving a talk to earn my keep. I’m not running a Writing Romance course this year – I did that last year and maybe next ? – but I am doing a talk and so is the BM who is also running some evening classes on the grim and gruesome books - Writing and Researching True Crime and Crime History. His talk is on Writing the Past - how to write and publish historical writing. Again, it you’re going to be there, please come and say Hi and introduce yourself.

7. Back to Leicester! Beyond the Hearts and Flowers –to run the residential course Writing Romantic Fiction, with Julie Cohen (17-19 Aug). I’ll be putting up more details on this on my web site – just as soon as I can get myself organised - but for now here’s what the publicity leaflet says - Write Away courses are held at University of Leicester, in accommodation within close proximity to the Harold Martin Botanical Gardens, a quiet haven of sixteen acres. Easily accessible by road or rail the venue provides en-suite single rooms and full catering for all participants. And I’m posting a photo of the setting – I’m so looking forward to this.

8. Another thing – another course – I’m looking forward to is of course going back to Fishguard to run the Contemporary Romance section of the Fishguard Novel Writing Weekend. I had so much fun last year when I ran this course that I can’t wait to do it again. A weekend in a comfortable hotel by the sea, with wonderful food, enthusiastic students, lots of conversation . . .I don’t think I set foot outside the hotel all the time I was there – I was so busy teaching and discussing and talking – and drinking a little wine! This time I’m going a day earlier so that I can see more of the area.

One other event that I don't yet have a date confirmation for yet is that I'll be speaking at Doncaster Central Library - probably the afternoon of August 11th.

Phew! I can hear another Kate making some comment about post and kettles after she’s read this!

And then I suppose I should add in the publication of another book – The Greek Tycoon’s Unwilling Wife – (aka Andreas’ story for those who remember him) in November – and of course the small matter of at least another two novels to write to make sure I maintain my 3 books a year output into 2008.

Because of course 2008 is going to be a very important year for Harlequin Mills & Boon as we celebrate out 100th anniversary. More on that as I get it.

And there’s also going to be the 2nd edition of Kate Walker’s 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance. I’m busy working on that right now – revising and expanding it to make sure it will be out towards the end of 2007.

So there you are – 8 things about me – 8 things coming up for me this year. It’s going to a busy time - I was going to say a busy year but then I realised that all these events are in the next 6 months! Make that a ‘hectic time’! But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

PS Now there's a coincidence. Just as I finished writing this, the mail arrived and in it was the letter giving all the details for Caerleon Writers' Holiday 2007. This gave me the news that there are already less than 20 places left on this year's holiday - so if you were thinking of booking a place, then do so now. Every time I've been to Caerleon, the holiday has always been totally booked up. I mean- where else can you get 5 nights' single room, en suite accomodation, 3 cooked meals a day, tea and coffee - and intensive writing tuition on TWO different courses. Plus the main speakers, the 'after tea' sessions AND an afternoon trip out - all for £379?

It's the same with Fishguard - Friday/Saturday night in a comfortable hotel, ensuite accomodation, all meals, concentrated tuition - 8 sessions - one on one discussion of your work - long late night talks with your tutor - and I mean LATE night talks! And that's for £199. (if you're in the RNA there will be a report on Fishguard in the coming issue of Romance Matters - and RNA members will get a £10 discount)

Yes - I'm biased but I love these events. Maybe I'll see you at one of them?