Exciting news

I'm really excited about this - I've been wanting to share this with everyone  for - well, it seems like ages but it's actually three months.

But it's felt like a long three months!

Anyway -  here's part one of my news, with special thanks to the lovely Lee Hyat at Author Sound Relations

More news to follow soon - watch this space!

My First/Favourite Kate Walker - Leena Hyat

Today's choice of a personal Top 5 Kate Walker novels comes from a lovely lady who has done so much to help me and my books over the years.

I first 'met' Leena Hyat through my very first web site, way back in 2000 when she wrote to tell me how much she'd enjoyed Constantine's Revenge. Since then through the various review sites etc that she's worked with, she's helped to promote my work in a way that's been totally invaluable. And now, with her own wonderful Author Sound Relations, she helps me to keep in touch with my American readers in a way that would otherwise be impossible from here in the UK.

If you've had one of my bookmarks, or my pens, entered a contest on My Tote Bag, or read a blog on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs, then Leena has been responsible for that. Right now she's working on some special pens for my 25th anniversary, and I'm looking forward to knowing what she thinks of the latest book The Konstantos Marriage Demand.

So of course I had to ask Leena when she first read a Kate Walker novel and which one it was. I'll admit that her answer surprised me. She's been reading my books a lot longer than I thought! And I think her answer shows just how international the world of writing and reading romance is. I've never been anywhere near Dubai - but my books have!

Here's Leena

I think the first Kate Walker book I read was Leap in The Dark. (1989) It was pure chance I picked it up. I was in Dubai in the back of a small little bookshop that stocked more stationery than it did books! Amidst the sci-fi and horror, I found a few romances – all M&B – and picked up this one because the blurb appealed to me. I can’t recall more than that after all these years but I do remember it was the only one I walked away with that evening


I’d say my favorite KW book is a toss between Constantine’s Revenge, Hostage Bride and Rafael’s Love-Child. I’m leaning more heavily towards the first two but I know I really liked Rafael’s book too. It’s a tough choice!

My first 5 favorite KW books would be –

Constantine’s Revenge
Hostage Bride
Rafael’s Love Child
The Twelve-Month Mistress
A Sicilian Husband

Thanks Lee. And thank you for all your help!

Lee's sites are a great place to visit - lots of information about your favourite authors, fabulous contests and great blogs - so why not take a look?

(I'm hoping that when the silver anniversary pens are done we'll be able to send them out to American readers who send in a self-addressed stamped envelope - and maybe in the UK too. So watch this space!)

12PGTWR2 - USA Availability

In a quick aside from the party - I need to answer a couple of questions about 12PGTWR2 because some of my American readers are concerned because they don't think they can get hold of it.

First, thank you all for your interest in the book - it should be easily available to American readers and here's how -

Here are a couple of examples of the questions.

Nicola says:

Will you be listing your new 2008 edition of this book for sale on Amazon.com as well as Amazon.co.uk? I do hope so. :-)
If you are - do you know approximately when?

Nicola - the answer to that is that once the book is listed on Amazon.co.uk. then it's up to Amazon to list it on their other, international sites. So it should - it will be listed on Amazon.com. The only problem there is that I can't say when. But if you're in America and a would-be writer and you'd like a copy of this book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com - you can can help yourself and others by emailing their Customer Services and asking them to stock the 2nd edition.

The easiest way to do this is to go to the page on Amazon.com where they list the first editon and scroll down to where you can click to provide feedback. There you can post a message saying that this book is now available in a second edition - and ask when they will list it on their site.

If enough people do that, it will get the book on there far more quickly than anything I can do.

Then in the Comments yesterday Madeline (Hi Mads!) left this comment

I definitely plan on buying your book as soon as it is released here in the US. I look forward to getting some sound advice from one of my favorite authors.Thank you for writing another edition. Maybe I can get a copy, before it is all sold out this time.

Well my book is actually released in America but at the moment not many bookshops are actually stocking it. But it is easy to order - and to be honest, the more that shops see there is a demand for it, the more 'word of mouth' is passed arouns, then they are more likely to put it in the stores. I know that Barnes and Noble are looking at the new edition right now, to see if they want to stock it.

Here again, you can help. You can send an email to Barnes&Noble Customer Services, asking where and when they will stock it. Or you can simply walk into a B&N store - or Borders - or Chapters/Indigo and ask them to order it for you.

Do what Louise B said in the Comments a couple of days ago:
Like Chris above, I'm eager to get my copy of 12PGTRW2 by ordering it from my local Borders. I've printed out the web site info on how to do that so the clerk knows what to enter. :)Louise B

Thanks Louise!

If you do that, the details you'll need are these:

12-Point Guide to Writing Romance

(Studymates Writers Guides)
By Kate Walker

2nd Rev Ed edition Pub April 8th
RRP: £10.99
Publisher: Studymates Ltd
ISBN: 978-1842851319

In America you should be able to order it from Barnes & Noble, Borders, Chapters/Indigo - just tell them to order it through Transatlantic Publishers (http://www.transatlanticpub.com/)

Or get one of the special bookmarks from Lee at AuthorSound and take it in to the shop.

If you're in the USA and you'd like one of these bookmarks - and a free Kate Walker pen - then
send an SASE (USA postage naturally) to:
Lee Hyat
Kate Walker Goodies
4411, 76th Ave. West # 2
University Place,
WA 98466
If the envelopes are addressed as above, then Lee will know what you're interested in.

Basically, the more people who ask about it now, the more the bookshops will realise there is a demand for it, and they;re much more likely to get it in stock and on the shelves.

But don't let them put you off or say it's not available - it is. Just give them those details above.

And hopefully you'll be helping to make it more easily available to lots of other would-be writers who'd love a copy.

Thanks! Please let me know if you get hold of it.

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.

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.