Tote Bags 'N' Blogs

It's the first Sunday in July, so  of course I'm blogging over on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs - talking about the month coming up in What I'm Doing on My 'Holidays'.

And as I know everyone's looking for a 'beach read' - or an  armchair read - for the holidays - I'm giving away a copy of  The Devil and Miss Jones to one commenter - just as soon as I get Charlie the Maine Coon to come back in from the garden. It's actually not raining at the moment so he's having a lot of fun out there - climbing trees, hiding in the bushes - jumping on the bird table . . .

Or perhaps I'll wake Flora who's sleeping on my desk . . .

See you over at Tote Bags N Blogs!

Tote Bags 'N' Blogs day

Today is the first Sunday of August so that means it's my day for blogging over on Tote Bag 'N' Blogs. So I hope you'll join me over there.

Todayu I'm talking about the new book I'm working on - and I'm looking for a little help with one part of it. I'm offering prizes too!

And while you're there - take a look at the contest lovely Lee is running for me on  My Tote Bag -  if you enter you could win a copy of  Bedded By The Greek Billionaire and  Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife!   All you have to do is to answer one simple question.

Winners -and more chances to win

 The winners of the One Night in Madrid giveaway are Summer and Caroline  so please send me your postal addresses and I'll get your copies of the book in the mail to you.

  And just to remind you that there are more chances to win over on My Tote Bag   where Lee Hyat is giving away copies of books from my backlist - this month the books on offer areThe Good Greek Wife? and The Antonakos Marriage!
This contest is of course to celebrate the publication of The Proud Wife which is out in Presents Extra right now - if you can find a copy, because people are telling me it's selling so well they're having to hunt to find a copy.

. . . . and talking of backlist books

Firstly I want to wish a truly Happy Birthday to my dear friend and fellow Modern/Presents author  Michelle Reid.    Have a wonderful day Michelle!

And backlist books - Each month,  with the help of lovely Lee Hyat on My Tote Bag , I'm currently running a series of contests to  mark the publication of The Proud Wife  - so that you can win copies of some of my backlist books. The prize for the April contest has just been sent out so there is a new contest running for May.
This month, the prizes are:  A copy of The Good Greek Wife? and The Antonakos Marriage.

Just answer this simple question:
Which 3 of Kate's books are reprinted in the collection Claimed by The Sicilian?

Hint: You can find the answer  on my web site!

Contest Deadline: May 31st, '11.

 
For entry details visit My Tote Bag - where Lee has lots of other great contests running every month so you might win in those too.

Good Luck!

Contest on My Tote Bag

There is a Kate Walker Contest  running on My Tote Bag  where Lee Hyat is running a series of contests where you can win copies of some of my backlist books.

Have you missed Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife? Never got a copy of The Sicilian’s Red-Hot Revenge? Check out this set of contests and have a chance to win some of the great novels you missed.

Marina thought her dreams had come true when her husband placed a wedding band on her finger. But their marriage was not the fairy tale she'd hoped for, and eventually Marina walked away, her heart broken.

Two years later Pietro D'Inzeo no longer haunts Marina's dreams. She knows the time has come to move on, and even a summons to join him in Sicily won't deter her....

However, with his wife standing before him, about to sign on the dotted line of their divorce papers, Pietro wonders why he ever let her go.

Question:What - or who - helps Kate pick the prizes for her contests?

Hint: You can find the answer on my web site!

Contest Deadline: April 30th, '11.



Prize: A copy of Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride & Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife!

Please email  with your answer and include your full name and mailing address. Please also mark the subject heading as Kate Walker Contest.

And another one . . .

I'm giving away books left right and centre at the moment - that's because I'm rounding off the celebrations for my 25th year in publishing - and I'm celebrating the USA publication of The Good Greek Wife? in Presents Extra as from next week. (Or maybe the end of this week as that's sometimes how the shops stock up on the books that come out mid-month.)

So, together with lovely Lee Hyat from My Tote Bag, I'm running a contest over on her web site too - so you can find the details here

I'm thrilled to see that The Good Greek Wife? is already heading up the bestseller list on Amazon.com, even when it's not actually released yet. And I've had some lovely reviews for this book.

Here's a taster

On We Write Romance Heather R has given it 4 stars out of 4 and says:

Brilliantly written, Kate Walker's The Good Greek Wife? is the perfect twist on the Greek myth of Odysseus. She weaves together the lost-at-sea Greek husband, Zarek Michaellis, his nasty 'step' family, and the ever-faithful wife, Penny, together into one entertaining and hard-to-put-down tale!

Zarek's past makes him driven to succeed in the family business and to make sure he has an heir to run that business should anything happen to him. So when he met and Penny and found they both wanted children, he married her. Only when his step-family start peppering her with a bit of the truth in a twisted way does she start second guessing why Zarek married her. On the eve of his departure to test a new ship, they have words and separate without finding peace. So when Zarek is supposedly killed at sea, Penny finds it hard to let anything about him go—including his company! But after two years of fruitless searching and waiting, she finally succumbs to the incessant needling of her husbands family and decides to move on with her life by having him declared legally dead. And that's when Zarek makes his reappearance!

So don't miss picking up your copy because you'll definitely enjoy seeing how the two lost lovers come back together and fight to reclaim the love they'd only just begun before Zarek was lost.

And Sarah, the reviewer for Romance Junkies says:

Penny Michaelis has not seen her husband, Zarek, in two years. His boat was captured by pirates and he was not seen again. Penny has held out hope but with Zarek's family pressing at her to declare him dead, she finally agrees. After all, it has been two years. If he was alive, he would have made it known. Unfortunately, Penny carries a load of guilt because the last time she saw Zarek, they were fighting bitterly. But before any legal proceedings begin, Zarek steps back into her life in a big way, with no warning whatsoever.

Zarek is not going to let Penny declare him dead and see his company handed over to his deceiving stepbrothers. He had hoped Penny had waited for him but it appears she is ready to move on. Can these two ever make it past two years of hurt, anger, sadness and emptiness to rekindle their marriage?

THE GOOD GREEK WIFE? is definitely high on passion and Greek intensity! The story takes place in a very condensed time but it works well for the shock and awe that comes with seeing Zarek again after assuming he is dead. Kate Walker has these two going at each other with hurt, love and anger from the get-go, but it is in preparation for the true reveal of their feelings. The emotions are so heightened in this story that it adds a lot of intensity and spirit to Zarek's and Penny's reunion. And even with the presence of the evil family in the background, Zarek was able to show Penny that he had more in mind for their reunion than a divorce.

Kate Walker ratchets up love and loss in THE GOOD GREEK WIFE?. It is a story that will put you through your paces. Zarek and Penny both feel they are the injured party in their dispute but at the same time, Kate Walker works reconciliation into the story through natural means. Penny brings him a meal after Zarek's first long day back. They still respond to each other with passion and love. But is it enough to bridge the distance between them? Homer's THE ODYESSY is cleverly worked into the story through names, places, and events but it is all given a very modern twist. Penny has put her life on hold long enough and she is ready to move on, with or without Zarek. Will that be the biggest mistake of her life? You will have to read to find out!

Thank you to both Heather and Sarah for these great reviews. They've really made my week!

I've also had some lovely emails from readers telling me how much they've enjoyed reading The Good Greek Wife? and these have meant such a lot to me. It was a real thrill to find out that this book had sold out on the MIlls & Boon site already and it's even more of a thrill to know that those of you have bought it have enjoyed it so much - that's the best news an author can have

Thank you!

Newswire

I don't know if you know this, but over on My Tote Bag, Lovely Lee Hyat runs a special Newswire service to tell readers the latest author news, more about the inspiration for the latest books, and offer exclusive excerpts. They also offer special fun contests that are only open to ASR NewsWire subscribers.

I recently had a Newswire sent out for The Konstantos Marriage Demand and once the newsletter has gone out to all the subscribers, Lee then posts them on the My Tote Bag site so that everyone can read them.

The contest is now closed of course - but if you look here, you can catch up with all past Newswires from many different authors about a great variety of books. You might even decide to sign up for the Newswire service yourself - I have!

Making my day 2

To celebrate the USA publication day of The Konstantos Marriage Demand - coming up on March 16th in Presents EXTRA - I'm running an extra contest together with lovely Leena Hyat over on My Tote Bag.

You can win a signed copy of one of my backlist books and one of my tote bags together with one of my brand-new special 25th Anniversary celebration pens.

You'll find the contest here

And talking of those pens - for USA readers Lee is running a special giveaway from her Goodie Room where if you send her send a stiff or padded self-addressed envelope with at least $1.49 postage. She'll send you one of the pens and my special bookmarks.

Send your request to-

Lee Hyat - Kate Walker Goodies

12819 SE 38th St. #243

Bellevue, WA 98006

UK readers, I'll try to organise something for you once my delivery of the pens arrives - watch this space!

On the subject of The Konstantos Marriage Demand, this morning I received a copy of a fabulous review for this book from Larissa at We Write Romance. She gave it 4 out of 4 stars (she wanted to give it 5 but they don't go up to 5 stars!) and it has started me smiling early today -

Kate Walker's latest is brilliant! Devastatingly emotional, intense and fast-paced, The Konstantos Marriage Demand leads you down the fairytale path in reverse!

Once upon a time, Sadie Carteret had it all. She'd fallen in love with a beautiful prince charming and they were set to be married. Then reality set in and she realized that he'd used her as a pawn in an age-old feud between their families! But what Sadie didn't know was that Nikos Konstantos wasn't really the man her father had portrayed him—and she should have followed her heart. Instead she allowed herself to be used by her father to destroy Nikos.

In the end the laugh was on them, though, because Nikos didn't take it lying down. He built back up his empire and systematically tore apart Sadie's family fortune until there was nothing left.

What Nikos Konstantos hadn't counted on when he'd been pulling that last rug out from under Sadie's feet was her love for her mother and younger brother. She'd do anything to keep them from harm...even if that meant facing the devil himself. So when the opportunity for a little more personal revenge presented itself, Nikos took it. He arranged for them to spend time together away from the demands of outside influences. What they found was each other and the love they'd never really lost.

There are many books released from Presents each month, but by far this is one you must pick up. It's a twist from the meet, fall in lust, fall in love type stories out there. This one is most definitely more intense. And while each character is flawed, they are perfectly written to make you want to see them succeed and come together. I must say that Ms. Walker certainly gets better and better with each new book!

Thank you so much Larissa!

When you're fighting with a book that has been difficult to really get going, that sort of review is a wonderful boost. Pietro D'Inzeo had better watch out today. I'm planning on wrestling him into submission!

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!)

Tote Bags 'N' Blogs

It's February 1st - the first Sunday of the month. And that is now my new regular blogging date to appear over on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs on Lee Hyat's great site My Tote Bag.

So that's where you'll find me today - talking about bright things to look forward to in dark and cold days.

And there's a chance of a copy of my latest release, Cordero's Forced Bride up for grabs if you come along and post a comment.

Oh - and over on eHarlequin there's a contest to guess which desk belongs to which writer. Check out the photos and see if you can match the desk to the author. Regular readers of this blog will have an advantage in spottting which one is mine.

See you there!

Two contests

Today's book from the Christmas Stocking Stuffed with Books is Appointment at the Altar by Jessica Hart.

As you'll remember from earlier in the year, Jessica celebrated her 50th title - Last Minute Proposal - in October this year. Her donation to the stocking is an earlier book that was published in 2007 but it's a classic Jessica Hart.

Here's a summary:

Three steps to the altar!

Monday - buy stylish suit

Bubbly Lucy West has always thought she can handle everything. That's before she meets charismatic tycoon Guy Dangerfield, who challenges her to find a 'real job' for a change.

Tuesday - Find proper job

So, determined to prove she has what it takes, Lucy secures a top job - working for Guy!

Wednesday - Fall in love with boss.

Lucy thrives in her knew world . . .and it's all down to her gorgeous boss. Lucy has a spring in her step and just maybe a ring on her finger!

And here's a bit more about Jessica herself:

Jessica was born in Scotland, where her mother continues to live. Jessica's earliest dreams were about sitting on a sand dune in the Sahara, working in the Outback, hacking her way through a jungle or bouncing along a dusty track in a battered old Land Rover rather than writing a book. Her itchy feet took her from Afghanistan to Australia, from Algeria to Belize, and Cameroon to Indonesia, with various stops en route, and she loved it all. Because she was always thinking about where she wanted to go next, she never quite managed a proper career. Instead she had a haphazard series of jobs around the world. Her last 'proper' job was on the foreign newsdesk of a national newspaper. Before that, she was on expedition in West Africa, cooked on an outback cattle station, taught English as a foreign language, was production assistant for a theatre company and research assistant for a publisher of restaurant guides and filled in the gaps between by working as a secretary, waitress, chambermaid and dishwasher. Regular readers will probably recognize how often she has drawn on her wide but lowly working experience for inspiration when it comes to setting and plot!

Now Jessica leads a rather more staid existence, dividing her time between city life in York and a country cottage in Wiltshire where her partner, John, lives. This involves a lot of driving up and down the motorway, which takes up a lot of time. After nine years of research, Jessica finally completed a Ph.D. on York's later medieval and early modern streets in 2004, but still never seems to have enough time to get everything done.

When she's not writing romance, she is usually busy doing something connected with food (cooking, meeting friends for a drink, eating, gossiping over coffee etc) or walking her Westie, Mungo, but she also loves history and gardening and reading and travelling, and there are still times, too, when she yearns for wider horizons. Jessica has written over 45 books for Harlequin Romance, and won the Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA award for the best traditional romance in 2005. In 2006, she was awarded the Romance Prize for the best category romance by the UK's Romantic Novelists' Association, and was short-listed for the same award in 2007.

You can find out more about Jessica by visiting her web site.

And now, as promised, here's news of another Christmas Contest - the Twelve Days of Christmas contest.

As before, I'm running this contest with lovely Lee Hyat of Author Sound Relations. So to enter this one you need to go to the My Tote Bag site where you will find details of the contest and how to enter here. Please send you entries direct to Lee and not to me!

And of course, as the name implies, there are 12 special prizes up for grabs. Good luck!

All details on how to enter the Christmas Stocking Contest together with the questions to answer can be found on the Contests page on my web site.

Getting back to normal

The house is so quiet!

There are no workmen banging and thumping and drilling at the wondows, my MIL and my neice have gone home after a lovely weekend visit, Flora is no longer confined to one room and is running happily around the house (OK, that it isn't quite so quiet!) and I'm back in my office, now clear of dust sheets and looking forward to getting back to work.

I have a date with a hot blooded Spaniard. Santos has tracked down Alexa after she ran out on him and he's not in a very forgiving mood, so sparks will fly - at least I hope they will as this book is supposed to be on my editor's desk in time to be a reading Easter Egg for her. But I'm so enjoying just having the house to myself and peace and quiet in which to work again.

Over the weekend when we toook MIL and Niece out and about I was able to see just how that other Spaniard, Raul's book , Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife, was doing in the shops. Very nicely indeed seems to be the answer which made me smile. It's a wonderful feeling to know that readers all over the country are buying my books and hopefully enjoying them. And before you ask, no, after 53 books, it's a feeling that, thankfully doesn't get any the less wonderful. Each new book is a new project and every time a new title is realeased I just hope that everyone enjoys it. The nervousnesss about sending in a submission never eases but that is more than compensated for by the glow of knowing that people are picking my title off the shelf and taking it home with them. Thank you!

And talking of submissions, the hard-working and very busy editors have been working extra hard recently as they ploughted their way through the 600 entries to the Instant Seduction contest which closed recently. And over on the I Heart Presents blog today they've announced that:

We have now made our decision as to who the victor is and also the runners-up and we will be contacting them to tell them the good news in the next week. We aim to make an announcement on the site before Easter. In April, we also hope to run the winning entries with critiques as to why they made it to the top and editor Suzy Clarke will also be posting a blog for those who weren’t successful with a few tips on general successes and mistakes, so that you can take something forward for your future writing endeavours.

I'm so looking forward to seeing who has won and to reading the winning entries. To come first out of 600, the winner must be something special. If you want to read more about the judging and see just how many piles of entries there were, then take a look at Tessa Shapcott's report at I Heart Presents today.

Finally, my own contest over on My Tote Bag ended at the weekend. Leena has drawn the winners and the two (rare) copies of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance go to:

Marian S. of Buda, Texas

Stacia H., of Bedford, OH

So congratulations to Marian and Stacia. and I hope the book helps you with your writing. This contest had well over 100 entries so obviously there are a lot of people out there wanting to write romance and hoping to get their hands on the 12 Point Guide. To those who didn't win, my commiserations but I will have some good news for you and for anyone else looking for this book very soon. And according to my publisher we are getting very close to the time when I can actually make an announcement - so watch this space!

12 Points

Today I'm blogging over at Tote Bags 'N' Blogs - for the 12 Points on the 12th and today I'm talking about Prologue and Epilogues.


I've also announced some news. And so I'll share that with you here too.


I spent this weekend working with the publisher of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance. Ever since we had the fantastic news that the first edition of this book had sold out, we've been planning a second edition and that will be coming very soon. And in order to launch it I will be running a special week long (or perhaps a bit longer if there's enough interest) Writers' Q&A here on my blog.


This will be coming up in April but obviously I have to have some questions to answer if I'm going to run it.


So if you have any writing questions you'd like me to answer then email them to me. Please put Writing Q&A in the subject line. And then I'll answer them on my blog - or maybe on Tote Bags n Blogs in one of the 12 Points.




And don't forget - the contest to win one of the remaining of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance is still open over on My Tote Bag. Lee has two copies to give away together with a Kate Walker tote bag and some other goodies. Entries need to be in by March 15th, so get your entries in today.

PS To Valentine's winners

I've heard from Doaa and she lives in Egypt - so she will get the prize of the calendar and the signed book.

Which means that Sid had to make sure there was a second winner of the book of vouchers and the winner he has picked is

Rachael Thomas from Wales

So congratulations to Doaa and to Rachael and your prizes will be in the mail to you just as soon as I can arrange it.

Thank you to everyone who joined in this contest - the 12 Point Guide Contest on My Tote Bag and the Here Come The Grooms contest are of course still open. I've already mentioned how much I loved reading Anne McAllister's One-Night Love Child and this afternoon I made the mistake of opening Liz Fielding's book that's the other prize in this contest - The Bride's Baby. It's all Anne McAllister's fault, she gave it such a great write-up I couldn't wait to try it - and now I can't wait to get back to it - I'm so enjoying it!

Whoever wins this contest, they'll get some great reading as a prize.

12 Days of Christmas Contest Details

So now the wonderful Lee has organised everything and put up all the details for the 12 Days of Christmas Contest and she's sent me a direct link for you all to follow so that you can find that and enter.

Remember you need to go to the My Tote Bag Web site to find the contest - and lots of others - so that you can enter. And you enter there, not from my site.

Here's the direct link:

Kate Walker 12 Days of Christmas Contest

Good luck!

Oh, and if you live in Australia and missed the first part of the Sicilian Brothers duo - Guido's story Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride, I just learned that it's available once more on the eHarlequin.com.au site leading a 'European Sexy Pack' with other titles by Anne McAllister, Cathy Williams and Lynne Graham. It's currently on sale here at a 33% reduction.

Contests

Right, so the 12 Days of Christmas Contest is organised.


Leena Hyat of My Tote Bag has all the details and is setting it right away. Hopefully that will go up later today or tomorrow at the latest.

I have all the details of the Christmas Stocking organised too - I just need to get them up on my web site Contest page - but for readers of this blog, here's a little advance notice.

The contest, as always, is to win one of two Christmas stockings that I have stuffed with books from lots of author friends of mine who have very kindly donated signed copies of their novels. Some of these were donated back in the summer when I planned to do the Tote bag full of books - but then the Great Big Blog Party took over and there were more than enough prizes on offer so I held over the generous donations for this contest.

So far I have these titles to give away: (in no particular order)

You Had Me at Halo - the brilliant debut novel by Amanda Ashby - complete with your very own halo as an extra gift!

Vintage Babes the brand new novel by Elizabeth Oldfield who used to write great romances for HMB and now has launched this new book with Accent Press

Also from Accent Press, One Glass is Never Enough by my Caerleon Writers' Holiday fellow addict and tutor Jane Wenham-Jones

Bedded By A Bad Boy is the debut novel of Modern Extra (now Modern Heat) author Heidi Rice.

Rich Man's Revenge is a Silhouette Desire release by up and coming Author Tessa Radley

Confessions of A Party Crasher or Dashing through the Mall come from my lovely friend and great writer Holly Jacobs

I also have the wonderful The Boss's Wife For A Week, Spence and Sadie's great story by Anne McAllister

My contribution will be a couple of copies of the Mills & Boon Annual for this year containing - amongst others - my short story Wife For Real which was the very first part of The Alcolar Family Trilogy.


And I have been offered contributions with a suitably Christmassy theme by Kate Hardy, Michelle Styles and Margaret McDonagh - but I need to gey back to these generous ladies before I finalise the details and let you know exactly the titles they are offering.

It's a GREAT prize and one I wouldn't mind winning myself, sadly I can't enter.

This contest will run for the next couple of weeks - until the 18th December when, hopefully, I will still have time to get the prize to the winners (there are two complete stockings on offer)
As I said, I will post the details of how to enter on my Contests page just as soon as I can - but if you're desperate to get started on your entry, then what you'll need to do is:

To check out my web site for the names of all of the books that I have published this year - there are four of them. (I'm talking about my separate titles - not any of the By Request Anthologies or reprints

When you have the list of four titles, I want to know the names of the heroes and the heroines of each book.

So your entry should read:
Title One - hero's name - heroine's name
Title Two - hero's name - heroine's name
Title Three - hero's name - heroine's name
Title Four - hero's name - heroine's name

Have those ready and the email them to me with the heading Christmas Stocking Contest in the subject line

Please make sure you put that heading otherwise your entry may get lost - I get a lot of emails!

One entry only per person. Any extra entries will be eliminated.

Good luck!

PS And don't forget that simply by staying on my Newsletter list you are also in the running for the special Newsletter 12 Days of Christmas Contest where you don't have to do anything - or answer any questions, just stay right where you are and you never know, Sid the Cat might pick your name in his bumper Christmas Bonus Prize Selection. That's just one of the extra benefits you get for being one of my extra special readers! So why not sign up today and join the Newsletter Group? (see the link in the sidebar)

Wonderful weekend

I'm trying to catch up with everything again. I didn't have time to do very much in the run up to the weekend and over the weekend itself and that's because I was celebrating an early Christmas with some very special friends.

I love Christmas. I love the way that it brightens up the dark, cold (well, it's cold here in the UK - and wet!) days of December with decorations and celebrations, I love the way that, when it's celebrated right, it brings together loved ones from near and far, puts you in contact with people you don't connect with the rest of the year, and brings friends and warmth into your life and home.

I just had my traditional early Christmas with a group of very special writer friends who all come to stay at my home for a long weeked. They only left yesterday afternoon, and then I needed to catch up with some much needed sleep! That's why I'm a little late writing this blog. We ate a lot, drank some wine, visited 'Christmas World' in a nearby village. We played silly games, laughed a lot, some of us had things they needed to shed a tear or two over as well. And we talked and talked and talked . .

There were different generations gathered together too - one of my friends couldn't make it last year because the birth of her baby was very close. This year, her almost one year old son joined us for the weekend - hopfully the first of many such visits by him and other new members of the 'family of friends'. The Offspring and his lovely girlfiend joined us too, and everyone blended together brilliantly.

For a time, for various reasons, I'd been feeling too stressed to think of Christmas without worrying but this weekend has brought home to me just what it's really all about.It's about sharing. About reaching out to other people and letting them know that they are important in your life. And that includes my readers. Every year as Christmas approaches, I run several contests to involve my readers in my Christmas celebrations. To reach out to them and let them know how much I appreciate them and how grateful I am to all the readers who buy my books and so keep me writing and published next year and for years (hopefully) to come.

Like this post, I'm a little late with organising this but now I'm in the Christmas mood I'm organising my 12 Days of Christmas contest and the details will go up on my web site just as soon as I can get them there. And then over on My Tote Bag Leena will be running my 12 Days of Christmas contest.

Every day for 12 days leading up to Christmas I'll be giving away a signed copy of one of my books and a little extra Christmas Gift to all the lucky winners. So why not keep chekcing out my blog or my Contest page on my web site soon to see when the contest is starting?

The other thing I do is ask my readers to help me with my Christmas Charity Card. I would love to be able to send you all a Christmas card to wish you all the happiness of this special season, but the planning and organising of all that is just impossible - so I'm going to be doingwhat I did last year, and that is to give a real, practical gift to those in need instead of cards. Last year's gift was a batch of essential medicines for a whole village - that was the choice voted for by most of the visitors to the blog. So this year I'll be running the poll again and I hope you'll drop by and vote for your choice of special gift that I'll be sending this year. It is, after all, in place of a card to say thank you to each and every one of you for your support for me all through this year.

And as I did last year, I will be posting up a special cyber card foryou all on my web site from December. I have at least got that organised and it's up on my web site from today so I hope you'll come by and see that.

And I have the Christmas Stocking contest to announce too - phew! I'd better get on with it!

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.

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.