Caerleon 2

It's Thursday already. As the saying goes - time flies when you're having fun. And I've really been having fun. I always do at Caerleon.

Yesterday the new courses started so that everyone could move on to their second choice - Writing Poetry, Writing the Historical Novel, Writing Publishable Long Fiction,  Writing Non-Fiction Artilces and Books, adding Power to Your Writing  - and of course my own Writing Contemporary Romance.

The Main Talks sessions have been great  too - Brad Ashton was as funny as his reputation and illustrated perfectly how we make our own luck  - being prepared to write  and committing ourselves fully to the job, not waiting for the contract to come along. He is running a course on Writing Comedy next year.  Yesterday evenninbg was the traditional Poetry Reading  - with some very silly 'Roman Poets' who looked like the Babe Nagnet and a couple of friends.

And last night, when everyone was back from their day out to the coal mine, Cardiff or the book town of Hay on Wye, crime novelists Susan Moody and Janet Laurence gave us a sparkling  hour of 'Women of Letters' with  a selection of letters written by women, some sad,some happy, some poignant, some indignant and some truly hysterically funny.  I was particularly moved by the letter of the wife of a slave whose husband had escaped and fled to earn his freedon  and save up enough money to buy her freedom, only to find that here cruel owner wouldn't let her husband buy her. It was a real relief to learn that eventually she too escaped to freedom.

Today classes continued, with a lot of work on Building Characters and how to 'dig deep' into them. Tomorrow it's Conflict and Sex!

Now I'm off to the afternoon Main Talk by children's writer John Townsend - I've met him already several times this week and it promises to be a lot of fun.

Then tonight we will have the traditional concert by the Cwmbach Male Voice Choir.

Caerleon

I'm back in one of my favourite places, Caerleon, Newport Wales, where I'm teaching Contemporary Romance at the wonderful Writers' Holiday here. My course doesn't start until tomorrow so I'm relaxing and talking to old friends, meeting new ones  and enjoying the sunshine.

We've already had some great main talks - one by comedy writer Raymond Allen (who wrote Some  Mothers do 'Ave 'Em) ande Yesterday Julie Cohen gave a great talk on My Writing Life. I've known Julie and her writing for years but her talks alwaysw give me new food for thought and her description of what she had learned about writing  - and herself - as her books grew from her original Mills & Boon romance to her current 120,000+ Getting Away With It was fascinating and stimulating.

The Babe Magnet looked after Julie's little boy while she was speaking, showing him the Roman exhibits in the museum, and enjoying ice cream in the sun.  Julie and I joined them later and we wandered round The Forum, looking at the amazing carvings and relaxing.

After talks on self-publishing and publicising your work, tonight's  Main speaker is comedy writer Brad Ashton who is celebrating 50 years of writing for many greats like Tommy Cooper, Les Dawons and even Groucho Marx. I've hear him speak before so I'm looking forward to that.

Tomorrow, the choice of courses changes and the Babe Magnet is teaching Writing Poetry while I'm  busy with the Writing Contemporary Romance - and in the afternoon, those who want can go on the excursions and see more of Wales.

Now I'm off to an 'after tea' session entitled Death in The Afternoon with crime writers Susan Moody and Janet Laurence.

Kitten Romance

Charlie has fallen in love  - but he's a bit of a fickle hero - he only longs for his heroine when she's on the wrong side of the door and he can pine hoplessly wishing she was with him.

The Offspring and his partner are having work done on thier house - the bathrrom is being taken out and competely redone.  So while chaos rules in their home, their cats have come to stay with us for safety and peace and quiet.

Well, peace and quiet when our cats don't realise they're here. 
Stumpy the Rag Doll and Creature the tiny  female black and white kitten are living in our dining room, while Charlie and Flora have the run of the rest of  the house. Sid just likes to snooze in  the calm of my office so he stays out of everyone's way.

But between the living room and the dining  room is  adouble door with panes of glass set into it - and Charlie spotted  Creature through this.  They then spent  most of the day with noses pressed up against the glass, reaching out paws to each other, with the windows between the,  She obviously thought he was a real alpha hunk - and he thought she was pretty cute.

For one day. Today I thought perhaps they could meet in reality. But it's obvious that the idea of being tragic, star-crossed lovers  kept separate by a cruel fate  is much more of  an enchantment  tahn actually coming nose to nose in reality.

When that happened,  Charlie fluffed up his fur, arched his back and hissed furiously. It was obvious he was declaring that he wanted nothing to do with her at all and that he had never loved her . . .

Creature, like the feisty little heroine she is, refused to back down or run.  'Fine' she seemed to declare. 'If you don't want me I will be fine on my own . . .'

Creature has gone home for the night now - and Charlie is wandering around, wondering where she has  gone - it's obvious he's missing her! But like a real alpha, he's just not prepared to admit it - not yet . . .

It's funny seeing the perfect feline romance being played out day to day.

New Voices 2011

Welcome to Mills & Boon New Voices 2011!

On September 13th 2011 we launch our second global search for fresh writing talent to join Mills & Boon’s galaxy of romantic fiction stars.

A celebration of romantic fiction and romance, New Voices will put entrants through their romantic fiction paces – and we want the Mills & Boon readership to have their say every step of the way!
The winner of the competition will win some fantastic prizes, including publication by Mills & Boon and a Mills & Boon editor for a year!

There will be workshops again - I believe I'll be running one somewhere - details to be confirmed later - but if you live anywhere near Haworth West Yorkshire, I am running  a workshop on writing romance there on September 17th   - see my Events page for details.

And keep your eyes on the Romance Is Not Dead site for more details as they are added.
In the meantime - get writing! And then you'll be ready to submit when the contest opens.

And good luck!

New Writing Course 2012

So - I promised you news of the brand new week-long residential writing course I'm going to be running - in what has to be one of the most beautiful settings possible!

I love the weekends I teach in Wales - right on the coast in Fishguard - and  the setting of Caerleon Writers' Holidays  in a village filled with Roman history is so special that it now feels like a second home to me. I've taught writing all over the UK  - I tried to get to Scotland but there wasn't enough interest to make the courses run . . .

But now I can offer you the chance of a writing course in Italy!  In Tuscany to be precise.

How does this grab you . . .

Our beautiful and historic watermill stands beside the River Rosaro in the small village of Posara. Peaceful and secluded, yet part of the village, the mill is just a mile or so from the walled medieval town of Fivizzano with its cafés, restaurants and shops. This is the heart of Lunigiana, in the North-west of Tuscany.

Set in a gentle valley with mountain peaks in the background, the mill is a peaceful spot, yet is within easy reach of the sea and the tourist attractions of Tuscany.

We have lovingly restored the historic buildings and created five self-contained apartments around a courtyard. These apartments come together for our painting and creative writing courses. When the courses aren't on, the apartments are available for holiday lets. The bright and airy rooms are well decorated and tastefully furnished. All enjoy lovely views of the the river, the gardens or the mountains.

Around the mill there's a walled garden, a vine verandah, a winding rose pergola, and riverside gardens, all with tables and chairs and providing delightful spots for sun-kissed or shady relaxation and contemplation. Then there are further secluded private gardens where you can stroll beside the millstream for about a quarter of a mile.

Sounds wonderful doesn't it?   What a fabulous setting to talk about writing, discuss techniques, put what you've learned into practise  - and hopefully make new friends or meet up with old ones.

I have been asked to set up a week long course on writing romantic fiction at The Watermill next year and of course I didn't really have to have my arm twisted very hard to agree.  So here are the details  if you're interested -  This is the 'blurb' on the main page.


Writing romantic fiction: beyond the hearts and the flowers

with Kate Walker

Author of the 12-point Guide to Writing Romance (now on Kindle) and a prolific Mills & Boon writer, Kate will explore the world of writing romantic fiction and give lots of practical advice.

Kate loves working with students who want to learn how to craft a novel that sells in the popular genre fiction market. Talking about writing, explaining how things work is always stimulating and she always returned home from her courses freshly inspired.


And here's what I have to say about my course:

Romantic fiction writing is big business, making up almost half the paperback fiction sold and generating billions in sales worldwide. This course is intended to provide information and advice for anyone who wants to learn how to write a popular genre novel. It gives an introduction to all the skills needed for success, from initial research to the final submission of the typescript. With advice and exercises, I'll guide you through creating realistic characters, sustaining pace and conflict, packing emotional punch, writing sex scenes and crafting a satisfying ending. If you're just starting out writing romantic fiction, or you've written a manuscript or two but are not yet published and are interested in honing your skills, this course is for you.

The course is intended to cover the main aspects of writing romantic fiction that from my experience of teaching over the years seem to create the most problems for unpublished writers. While the focus may be on romance novels, the techniques – dialogue, characters, tension, pacing, settings, hooks etc will also be relevant to all forms of popular fiction. I also hope to have plenty of time to discuss your own work with you either in one to one sessions or in an open critique forum with the rest of the group.


You can find all the details of the course, what the timetable and planned classes will cover - and anything else you want to know here on The Watermill's  main site  where you can see  more about this beautiful place and the fabulous setting  for this course.

I know it's going to be fantastic - I can't wait! The trouble is that I'm going to have to - the course doesn't run until October 2012 - 6th - 13th October to be precise.

But that gives you plenty of time to save up for this great experience.

Friends and titles

I'm having one of those  'how did I ever find the time to write' weeks. I have an strong idea buzzing in my head, characters wanting to talk to me all the time - and I'm rushed off my feet doing so many things.Account books up to date and delivered - check!
Writing Romance Course prepared, handouts copied, etc for Caerleon Writers' Holiday - check!
Washing and ironing done ready to pack for self and Babe Magnet to go  to said Writers' Holiday - check!
Letters  to write - some of 'em
Web site up dates . . .errr
And today and the rest of the week I'm kitten sitting. The Offspring and his partner are having their bathrom redone and so their cats - Stumpy the large Rag Doll and Creature the wicked not yet  3 month old kitten have come to saty.  Charlie and Flora  are in  the garden so they don't yet know about their visitors!

So it's chaotic - but fun.

But today and all the rest of this week I havce to send you to visit another site - for lots of fun, celebrations and books! And one of the loveliest people in the romance writing world!

This week the fabulous Liz Fielding is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the day she signed for Mills and Boon - and that's somwthing well worth celebrating! 

Liz is one of my favourite people and favourite authors of all time  and I was so delighted to be asked to share in her 20th anniversary celebrations.

Liz is having a week long blog party to mark this special occasion and so many of her friends - it's no wonder she has lots of them! - are joining in to celebrate - and give away books to visitors who come and join in.   So why not visit Liz's blog today - and all the rest of the week?  And wish her a wonderful 20th anniversary.
Titles? I heard from my editor yesterday that they love my The Devil and Miss Jones title for  Diablo and Martha's story - but America hve to OK it yet. So keep your fingers crossed!

Oh yes - and if you are interested in writing romantic fiction and would like to come on one of my courses - watch this space! I have news for you about that fantastic one week course I'll be running - in the most fabulous setting!

Come back tomorrow  for more news on that!

Blogging around again

It's been a busy week  - and that's an understatement. I  say this every time I finish a book and then rush round  trying to catch up on everything that didn't get done when I was finishing it/doing revisions. There's accounts, updating the web site (havn't completed that yet - or the accounts for that matter)

 There are new events to agree to, organise - anyone in Nottingham in October? There's the New Writers' Festival on the 7th and 8th

And there's the prospect of this year's New Voices contest just around the corner too. There will be workshops for that too  . . . watch this space.

And I had  a special reason to celebrate this week that took me away from the keyboard  for a while. If you want to know what, then check out my Date with Kate blog over on the Pink Heart Society's blog where I'm talking about that special event  - and how as writers we need to think about this when we're making our characters fall in love.

And later today (ie when I think of something to blog about)  there's my Kate's Corner blog for We Write Romance.

But first I need to go into town for my hair appointment  so that I will look reasonably presentable for  my wonderful week in Caerleon at Writers' Holiday  from the  24th - maybe I'll see some of you there . . or on those other blogs.

I wish I was in Wales. . .

So many of my friends are spending the weekend at Caerleon, Newport in Wales. This is where this year's Romantic Novelists' Association  annual Conference is being held at the Caerleon Campus of the University of Wales.

For various reasons I have been unable to join them this year so I'm missing out on the talks and the discussions and - most of all - I'm missing  catching up with my friends  and  having fun with them.

But at least i will be in Wales myself in a couple of weeks  because on Sunday I'll be at the same Caerleon Campus to  share in the fabulous Writers' Holiday for the week.  (24th - 30th).  I can't wait!  I'll be teaching a five session course on Writing  Romance   and the Babe Magnet will be teaching Writing Poetry.  And as I hear that preparations for another Mills & Boon New Voices contest are in progress this could be a great way to get in some early preparation for that!

There are still some places available at Caerleon this year so if you'd like to know more about it, take a look at their web site and maybe I'll see you there.  

You can also learn about my Advanced course at Fishguard where  we go into more depth and build on the things we've dealt with in the basic Caerleon course. (You need to go on one before the other.)  You can read what some past students have said about this course here on my Events page.

Anyway, I'm busy preparing my classes, handouts etc for  the week at Caerleon. It's not quite as much fun as being there right now - but at least I'll be at Writers' Holiday in a couple of weeks.

Here we go again . . . . yawn

So yesterday I was celebrating the fact that No Holding Back was being reissued in the Harlequin Treasury ...   Celebrating because this is a book  that is 16+ years old and has come round again for readers to get a chance to read it.

And today  I discover that in an article  in the Telegraph  the cover of this book - this  sixteen year old book is being used to illustrate an article about the reasons why Mills & Boon books are 'bad' for women because they  cause marital breakdown .   Can I say same old same old?

And in the case of the Violet Winspear book also used to illustrate this  accurate and up to date article - not! -  the poor lady died in 1989 - and the book illustrated came out in 1961!

Can I just say  those couple of little words  over again -  accurate and up to date?

And as for the fat that we romance writers never ever include the use of a condom in our love scenes . . .yawn!  Probably not in 1961 but as I just wrote  a love scene where the heroine  had the condoms with her in her handbag . ..  get some accurate information  journalists!

Still, it was nice to see my  elderly book get a showing

Harlequin Treasury

I didn't go to the RWA conference in New York last week, but I've been catching up on the news from the event from friends and fellow writers who were there.  One of the big topics they've been talking about is  the new project - the Harlequin Teasury.

This is  the huge undertaking of taking the backlist of many authors - right back to the 1980s  - and bringing them out as new ebooks so that readers can catch up with the first books and backlists titles of their favourite authors.   They will have the original covers with a logo designation which shows which  decade they appeared in. 3000 (!)  of the backlist has been converted so  far.

I didn't know if any of my books were appearing in this  first run of  formatting, and I couldn't track down anything  on Amazon.com so far. But then  Liz Fielding pointed me in the direction of Amazon Germany  and that's where I did find some books - dating back to No Holding Back which came out in 1995.  (Though the picture on Amazon at the moment is a book by Alison Kelly, not mine.)

The other books I found in this format  so far are:
The Groom's Revenge   1997
Flirting With Danger  1997
Hers For A Night   1996
No Holding Back 1995
The Unexpected Child 1997

I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to going through the new ebooks and finding some of my old favourites from  10, 20 years back and downloading copies of them! 

Which past titles would you most like to find again now  in ebook form?

60!

I'm  sixty!

Well, no - not me - but the number of books I've written for Harlequin Mills & Boon.

I  just heard from my editor and the  'tweaks' -  aka the unravelling and knitting up the book again - have worked for her so the book is now accepted and sent off to copy-editing. And I can relax for a little while at least.

It really doesn't get any easier, waiting for a response!

Anyway, the book will be out in March 2012 - This is Carlos Diablo  and Martha's book  and I'm still waiting for a title to be confirmed. My editor loves my working title of The Devil and Miss Jones, but it has to be approved by all the Presents team - so watch this space! 

Now I need a new idea and a new hero - I shall have to do some really hard research . . .

Tote Bags 'N' Blogs

Today is the first Sunday of July so  that means that it's my day for blogging over on Tote Bags 'n'Blogs so that's where you'll find me today. I'm talking about why I love July - for several rather special reasons.

And while you're over there, why  not  take a look at  the rest of the My Tote Bag site - over on the contest page, you'll find a chance to win two of my backlist books.

All you have to do is to anwer a simple question - this month the prize is a copy of The Antonakos Marriage and Bedded By the Greek Billionaire.  
You have until July 31st to enter.

Romancing the Book

Three years ago I spotted a request by Jen Karalfa who was looking for authors to interview for her new site. I offered to join in and had the honour of starting off the  new venture with  the first interview. That was July 1st  2008.

So today is Romancing the Book's  3rd Blogoversary Day  - and I was delighted to be asked back by Jen to start off their 3 year anniversary celebrations  with a special blog post.  I found this really interesting as it meant I could look  back on what had happened to me in those  intervening  three years.

So that's where I am today, on Romancing The Book's Blog looking back, looking forward - and  offering a  couple of copies of The Proud Wife  as a giveaway to celebrate.  Hope you'll join me.

Where did the week go?

This is a bit late as Blogger wouldn't let me on until now  . . . but better late than never.

It's been a hectic week. Life continues to be complicated, and I've been concentrating hard on 'tweaking' Carlos Diablo and Martha - aka The Devil and Miss Jones. It's been one of those sets of revisions where you 'tweak' something somewhere and it has such an effect further along that the result is more of a rewrite in places. So that's where my attention has been.

But today is the 30th June - so that makes it the day when over the Pink Heart Society site The Proud Wife is their Pink Heart Pick for June - and I'm blushing at the wonderful, generous review that Donna Alward has given it.

It's such an honour when another author, one who knows what writing romance is all about and how difficult it can be at times, says she enjoys your book - but when I found that Donna has said that The Proud Wife 'is right up there as one of my favourite KW romances' then it has just made my day.

Donna even says that my hero, Pietro 'is giving Guido (from Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride) a run for his money as my fave KW hero. Maybe it's a Sicilian thing?' and I know how much she loved Guido so that's quite some achievement for Pietro even to challenge him!

But most of all, it means such a lot to me when a fellow author's assessment says, on the subject of heroes : 'My favourite heroes of Kate's are the ones who appear uncompromising and domineering on the outside but are really intensely emotional and tender on the inside - and the books that do it best for me is when that is immediately apparent to the reader.'

That's exactly what I try to aim for when I'm creating a hero. And I think it's specially important when creating a Presents Alpha - getting that balance between the uncompromising and domineering outer mask and the inner emotional and tender person behind it. So I'm thrilled that that's exactly what Donna found.

Anyway - the discussion is open over on the PHS site so if you've read The Proud Wife maybe you'll join us over there. I know Donna and most of the Pink Hearters are over in New York and the RWA national conference - so I'll try to visit through the day - in between adding what I hope are the final tweaks for The Devil and Miss Jones (well - a girl can hope that will be the title!)

Constantine's Revenge

Last week I blogged about my very first Greek hero.  He appeared in the book Constantine's Revenge which was first published in 2000.  The reason I was talking about it was because Constantine's Revenge has just been re-sissued as an ebook. 

I knew that this book was very popular when it came out and that a lot of people have written to tell me hat ti is one of their favourite - if not the favourite  - of my books but even so I  was stunned to see the speed with which this particular title was rushing  up the bestseller lists of my own ebooks  over on eHarlequin. Starting at the bottom of the 40+ titles I've had issued in ebook form, it raced up first ten and then twenty places in the blink of an eye or so it seemed.

I was delighted but not quite sure why this had happened - but then over on We Write Romance where I'd written my  Kate's Corner blog also last week, someone commented that she ahd been waiting to get hern hands on a reissue of Constantine's Revenge because she had read about it in my 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance  and so wanted to read the book itself.

I'd forgotten that in the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance I had used Constantine's Revenge  as an example of how to use a synopsis to put in the emotional reasons and the emotional changes in  a story, giving first the plain simple facts and then a second version using the emotionas to deepen the story.  When I wrote the original  workshop of the 12 Point Guide of course copies of Constantine's Revenge were more easily available  - now they are less easy to come by. So the renewed interest in the reissue in ebook form.

Funny how I'd never registered that might happen - and I'm so glad that the reissue has created such interest as a result.

Oh, and if you are into ebooks, then don't forget there has been a recent reissue of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance on KINDLE - and the publisher is working on an edition that will be available on other ebook readers too.

Return of The Stranger

A quick look at Amazon.com this morning brought me the discovery of my latest Presents cover  - the one for The Return of The Stranger - out in October  (October 4th according to Amazon - though I think that's a little early.)

It's interesting that when I know my editor had suggested a scene in the middle of the night - in a thunderstorm where my hero arrives at the heroine's house after he has been attacked, his shirt ripped, his face bruised, this is the result.,  She also did mention the emerald stud in one ear.  Which doesn't show on this or the UK M&B Modern cover.  Personally I'd rather have seen him look a bit more - ruffled,  a little less as if he's just come home from a business dinner.

So now I'm wondering - do you prefer the more rugged hero of the UK edition?   Just to remind you - that looks like this:

Which cover would grab you more?

The USA one seems to have a good setting - though we can't quite see it. It may show up well on the Australian cover and there is a look of passion about it -

But  would you rather a cover showed a more rough and ready hero image if that was his character in the book? Or if it suited the scene better?  And what abot the emerald stud?   A yes or a no?

I know which one make me think more of my hero - but which would make you take the book off the shelves?

May - You Write Your Novel

I don't know if you know this already, but over on her special blog, Sally Quilford has been running a special  challenge to write an 80k novel in 80 days - any style, any genre. She's been posting word counts, encouragement - and guest blogs from published authors to offer advice and help to get you writing  - and keep you keeping on.

Sally asked me to join in by writing a guest post too - specifically on writing Category Romance, but offering advice that could be useful for every genre too. (The brilliant historical novelist Karen Maitland - author of The Company of Liars  and The Gallows Curse has been kind enough to say that: "I  regularly recommend your Twelve Point Guide to writing Romance to my Creative Writing Students. I'm glad to say, they all agree it is one of the most helpful books they've read on writing and works for all types of fiction." )

Anyway, my post is up now on Sally's blog I hope it helps anyone aiming at this sort of fiction - or any other genre.

And I need to announce a couple of winners -  Sid has done his job, and the winners of a copy of The Proud Wife  are:

Becky  and

Lolarific

Please can you email me - see the link at the bottom of the page - and let  me know your postal address so I can send your prizes on to you. I hope you'll come along  to The Pink Heart Society and discuss it on June 30th - and I'll hope to see lots of you  there.

A Date With Kate

It's the third Friday in the month so that's my day for blogging over on  The Pink Heart Society in A Date With Kate.

Today my blog is  about A Question of Balance - Why Too Much (Even of a Good thing) can be just too much. So I hope I'll see you over there.

And tonight I'll get Sid the Cat to pick some winners of a copy of The Proud Wife so that you can join in the PHS Book Club on the 30th. So you can still add a comment on the post below to be in with a chance of winning.

Kate's Corner

Today is the 15th of June, and  so that means it's my day for blogging over on We Write Romance in Kate's Corner

Today I'm talking about the old and the new  - books and covers, that is, which gives me a chance to talk about that new sexy cover for The Return of The Stranger. And to look back at an old favourite with the republishing in ebook of Contantine's Revenge.  Both great covers.

And you can still give yourself a chance of winning a copy of The Proud Wife so that you can join in the Pink Heart Society  Book Club discussion on  June 30th. Just leave a comment on yesterday's post and you'll be in the draw.

Win a copy of The Proud Wife

So, as I mentioned,  my latest book - The Proud Wife - is the Pink Heart Society's Pink Heart Pick  at the end of the month - June 30th to be exact.

If you don't know about this then what you need to now is that every month the Pink Heart Society web site editors pick a particular book for the Book Club to read and then join in a discussin about it on  the blog at the end of the month.

And this month's pick to read is my own The Proud Wife.

That's both a  lovely honour and a little bit nerve-wracking. The thought of everyone discussing my book does make me a little apprehensive, I'll admit. But of courtse in order to discuss the book, you first have to read it - and as the UK paperback isn't easily available on Amazon - the kindle edition is there of course, and the paperback is on the Mills & Boon site - I promised I'd offer you a chance to win a copy to read so that you can join in the Book Club discussion.

So -  all I ask is that you post a comment to say why you'd like to win this book. Or what you're currently reading - just come by and chat for a moment  - and in a couple of days' time -  on Friday -  I'll get Sid the Cat to pick a winner or two so that there is still time for you to read the book before the end of the month.

I just posted off a bundle of prizes  after a special Newsletter contest (you can join using the link at the bottom of the page) so while I'm in prize-giving mood, here's your chance to win a copy of this best-selling book! And all you have to do post in the comments.

New Cover

My editor sent me my new cover last week, and then I discovered that it's on Amazon.co.uk now too - so here it is -   The Return Of The Stranger   - coming on September 2nd

The shading is slightly funny on this Amazon reproduction so he looks a little redder in the face than in my copy  so if I can get a better version, I'll put that up as soon as I can.  (PS Have now amended the coer so it looks better - and less red!)

And here's the blurb:

Standing high on the windswsept moors, the lone figure of Heath Montanha vows vengeance on the woman who destroyed the last fragments of his heart.

Lady Katherine Charlton has never forgotten the stablehand with dangerous fists and a troubled heart from  her childhood. Now the rebel is back, his powerful anger concealed under a polished and commanding veneer.

When ten years of scandal and secrets are unleashed with a passionate, furious kiss, Heath's deepest, darkest wish crystallises . .  .

Revenge - and Kat - will be his!

Just one little point - this book is part of the The Powerful And The Pure  miniseries - where the four books in the series are  inspired by some of the Classics of romantic fiction.  There seems to be some confusion on the part of some readers that this is 'stealing'  from the originals  - but right from  the stories of Cinderella and such, plots have always been taken and reworked,  turned into something new.   So  just to repeat  - these boks are inspired by the Classics - because it's as I'm always saying in workshops etc, that we could all be given the same hero, heroine, setting and start to a plot and we would all come up with something new.

So the books in this mini series - The Forbidden Innocent (Sharon Kendrick)  - Jane Eyre

In Want of A Wife  (Cathy Williams) - Pride and Prejudice

 Mr and Mischief (Kate Hewitt)  Emma

and my The Return of The Stranger  - Wuthering Heights

 are all inspired by the spirit and the characters of the originals and then as authors ourselves, we created a brand new story as a result.

I'll be blogging more about how I worked on The Return of The Stranger  when it gets closer to September.

And talking of my books reminded me that I promised  to run a contest so that a couple of you could win a copy of The Proud Wife in order to join in the discussion on the Pink Heart Society where it's their Pink Heart Pick for June.

So I need to think of a contest to do that - watch this spaceThen you'll have time to read it before the discussion starts on June 30th.

My very first Greek hero

It seems amazing now,  but back in 1999 I had an editor who suggested the I might like to have a Mediterranean hero - for a change! Back then it didn't seem like every single hero you read in a Modern Romance/ Presents novel was  a sheikh, Italian, Spaniard, Greek . . .   My heroes had been Englishmen,  or Irish.  But the Mediterranean hero was really becoming popular and more and more of them were appearing in the novels.

Just after my editor made this suggestion I was in a small hotel in a West Yorkshire town. The Babe Magnet and I were having breakfast in a tiny dinind room - it was in the basement I remember!  Suddenly a couple of men appeared in the doorway, making me look up - as a writer, I'm always curious  - nosey!  These two guys were both  striking but the younger one was absolutely gorgeous.  I later found out that he was  Spanish and his name was Javier something.   My husband had to work that day and I was happily settled in a coffee shop with a notebook and pen - and inspiration for a whole new idea.

Along the way, Javier the Spaniard changed nationality and became Constantine the Greek - and so my very first ever Greek hero - or Mediterranean hero  - was born.  The book was Constantine's Revenge.

I've never know quite what it is abot Constantine but he seemed to grab the imagaination of my readers and never let go. I have had more letters, emails about this one hero than any other. The book has been frequently reprinted, some years ago when I ran a poll of my readers' top ten favourite Kate Walker novels, Constantine's Revenge topped the voting right from the start - and stayed there.

Perhaps it has something to do with the cover art - one of the best covers I've ever had. I loved it so much that I used the cover on my business cards for a time.   Whatever it is,  I'm always grateful for the fact that one unknown man walked into a room over twelve years ago!

And I was thrilled to discover this week that as part of their programme of reissuing my backlist in ebook form,  Harlequin have reissued Constantine's Revenge as a brand-new ebook out this month.

His plan was to make her his mistress...
When Constantine Kiriazis reappeared after two years, Grace thought he'd finally forgiven her for her lack of trust in him - and for canceling their wedding. Certainly Constantine's desire for her had not waned. But neither had his desire for revenge...
He fully intended to seduce Grace, but vowed she'd only be his mistress - never his wife. It was only when she melted in his arms that Constantine began to wonder who was exacting the revenge and who was paying the price!

Another backlist book is also coming out in ebook form in June  this one has an Irish hero - not that that gets mentioned much! Ronan Guerin appears in Wife For A Day - and this is a book that I always remember with a blend of horror and relief. I had such a struggle to get this one accepted! But since it came out I've had a lot or response from  readers and again it often appears in Top Ten Favourite Kate Walker booklists. So I'm glad to see that Wife For  Day  reissued as well.

What about you? Do you have a favourite of my books?  And in heroes - do you prefer the Mediterranean hero? Or would you like more  Englishmen, Irishmen . . ?

Taking stock . . . and looking ahead

 I sent off  Diablo's story - aka The Devil and Miss Jones (sort of running a campaign to  hint that I'd like that for a title  but I'm not overly hopeful! And I haveto get the book accepted first) and now I'm in the middle of all the sorting out and planning that comes after one book and before another. Which means I'm  buried in paperwork and sorting things out.

So I was looking ahead to see what I have coming up and as I've had a few enquiries about courses or workshops  that I'll be doing, I thought I'd run a quick recap so  you can plan/book/think about them -

First things first - I will of course be heading for Wales for the fabulous Writers' Holiday week in July  (July 24th - 29th  to be exact).  Although I'm teaching, that's only for half the week and my time in Caerleon is always one of my favourite weeks of the year. (It's the same for the Babe Magnet too - he's teaching Writing Poetry there this time!)

If you're interested in Writers' Holiday - over the  six days there is the opportunity to take two different courses choices can be found here

There are also main speakers, who give talks to everyone there - at the moment, the list of speakers reads -

Raymond Allen Susan Moody  Janet Laurence  Lesley Horton

But I do know that my dear friend and brilliant writer Julie Cohen will be at Caerleon this time because we've just been in touch about finalising the details.

But of course it is  a 'Writers' Holiday' - so if you don't want to do a course and you just want to sit and read - or sleep - or even write! - then nothing is compulsory and love Anna and Gerry want you to do just as you choose.

Last time I heard there were still some places left at Caerleon - you can find the details and book here

Of course thinking of Caerleon means that I also think of Fishguard Writing Weekends - the next one isn't until February 2012 - but I'm already looking forward to that - I look forward to the next one almost as soon as the old one is over. 
Just to remind you that the course at Fishguard is the Advanced Romance Writing course - one that follows on from the basic Writing Romance course I run in Caerleon.  People need to  have been on a basic romance writing course to come along on this one. Again, although it's early, people are already booking. 

This is an intensive weekend course - Friday night to Sunday lunchtime and we cram  a lot into that time!

Here are some comments from past students at Fishguard -

 A blinder of a course. I learned so much and  . . . You were an inspiring teacher and brought so many useful guide posts to life for us. And made it all fun! . . . I ended the weekend with a much clearer idea of just what emotion and conflict mean in terms of novel writing. So thank you so much for laying so many riches before us. I really enjoyed every minute of the weekend.   Janet Laurence

Your course was fabulous: interesting, stimulating and empowering.. .  . thank for your dedication to all of us. You're a marvellous teacher.  Susan Moody

Thank you so much for all your energy and thoughts this weekend - a truly fabulous course which left me happily exhausted and full of enthusiasm for my upcoming week away writing.   Sarah Jane V

The details on the Fishguard Writing Weekend site still have the dates etc from 2011 - but if you are interested in booking, email Gerry and he'll add your name to the list of students. Last year this sold out almost as soon as it went on the site and I know there are already names on the list - numbers are limited to get the most out of this intensive course.

And just last month I finalised the details of another workshop I'll be doing in September - this one might be more suikable for people in the north of England. I'm really excited about this one as it's connected to another great interest of mine- the Bronte sisters and their books and particularly Wuthering Heights. And as many of you will be aware, my next book out - The Return of The Stranger is part of a mini series inspired by the classics of romantic fiction  - Jane Eyre, Emma , Pride and Prejudice  and my  book Wuthering Heights. (This and the other books are in the mini series The Powerful and The Pure - titles by Sharon Kendrick, Cathy Williams and Kate Hewitt) 

So I was thrilled to be invited to appear at the Bronte Society Festival Of Women's Writing in Haworth on September 17th.  I'm running a 2 hour workshop in the morning  and then giving a talk about writing The Return of The Stranger and using my reading  of Wuthering Heights to in spire me in the afternoon.

I don't yet have the details about time and place for bookings yet - though the workshop should be 10 - 12am and the talk 2 -3 pm - but as soon as  I do I'll post them here and on the Events page on my web site.

Finally - can't reveal full details yet - but just yesterday I finalised the discussion about another, wonderful course coming in 2012. And that wonderful is not me boasting about the content of the course  but anticpating this one with real excitement  because it will be in such a lovely place. 

What I can say is that this will be a week long residential course - and it's not going to be in England or even the United Kingdom . ..  Watch this space!

I hope that I'll get to meet some of you at one or other of these events! 

Catch up

Well, that was a busy week - I was racing to finish my latest book by the end of the month so that's why I've been MIA - I finally pressed 'send' to have it winging its way to my editor and I hope she likes Martha and Carlos  Diablo's story.  My working title for this has been  first The Ortega Inheritance  - and then  another title was The Devil and Miss Jones.  I don't suppose that the last one will be used but you never know.

I was thrilled that my lots in the Brenda Novak Auction had such a great response - the critique of a partial went for $325,  the Reader's and Writer's for $62 - so that's a great contribution to a fantastic cause - and the whole auction raised $300,500 ! That's brilliant.

And I'm just waiting to hear how much the Make For Macmillan book auction made - that's closed now.

Oh yes- and as it's the first Sunday of the month, today I'm blogging over at  Tote Bags'n' Blogs  where you have a chance to win a copy of One Night In Madrid .

And there's a new contest running on the Tote Bag Contest page where you can win 2 more of my backlist books.