Charlie's Diary - Party Time!

Hello! It's been a while since I wrote my diary - but I've been having too much fun to bother with words. My Mum does the words - I do the  eating, the running, the climbing of trees, the eating, the chasing Flora round the garden,  the pouncing, the purring, the cuddling - oh, and did I mention the eating?   I love eating.

I love living here.   I've been here 8 months and it's great! It's my forever home and I want to stay here for ever.  Sadly we lost Old Dylan since I came, but Flora the Floozie is good fun to play with.  I chase her round the garden. She says she doesn't like it but she still joins in.   Sir Sidney, the Alpha cat is a bit elderly now  and so he just snoozes most of the time(though he likes eating too!)  but he's a great guy and we have long times when we sit together and I learn stuff from him. He's teaching me how to pick the prizewinners  for my Mum's contests - says it's a skill I'll need for the future. I don't mind - it involves cat treats,  so that's OK with me. I love eating!

Today is a special day - it's my birthday! I am ONE!  My Dad says I'm a right one and that's a fact. Anyhoo, today I am one year old.  And I'm celebrating. I've already had a birthday breakfast - I had chicken and so did Flora.  Sir Sid had turkey in sauce cos his mouth's a bit sore these days but he let me lick his plate I know it was good.    The chicken was good.  And the salmon that's for my tea will be good. And the cat treats  and the cat sticks will be good.  I love eating!

I'm having a party with my cousins - the cats who live with The Offspring - and we're going to have good things to eat.  I love . . . Oh, I already said that didn't I?

Anyway, Mum says we should do a round-up - I thought that was herding cows  but what she means is we should post some pics of me so you can see how I've grown and how handsome  I am.  Cos I am handsome and Blackie, Big Daisy and all the other girls in the neighbourhood say I am. So here are some pics of me growing up.  I was cute to start with, but now I'm dead handsome!

So - we're partying and my Mum says that means we can give away  some stuff.  That worried me I thought she meant I had to give away some supermeat with chicken, but she says that you'd all prefer books.  (That is all except Smudge and Jazz  who own  Raven McAllan ( See comments  here )  Big purrs to you  S&J!  So that's OK. We only have a box of a dozen supermeat with chicken and I'll need that for my party! My eating party!

Now my Mum says she'll do the books thing - so that's a relief. I get to choose the winners though - and practice what Big Sid has taught  me about  getting the names right!  We're not saying anything abot  the numbers  - just wait and see how many people join in and then what books are available but I know my Mum said something about The Duke's Secret Wife being around - don't know what she's doing here but if she brings grub then that's OK!

Anyhoo, all you have to do is to post in the comments place today - I'm told that today goes on for all sorts of times in different places in the world - wierd! But anyway 25th August is my birthday, and as long as there's a 25th of August anywhere in the world you get a chance to answer and maybe win.

So just post a birthday message- and maybe tell me how you celebrated your birthday last time or will celebrate the next one coming up, and I'll put what Sid's taught me into practice.

Phew! That was a lot of words! I'm worn out - and starving! I think I need a little smackeral of something to stop my tummy rumbling.  Salmon, anyone?

Happy Birthday to me!

Writers' Forum

Out any  day now  -  see page 7

Author interview    -  A life of romance
Mills & Boon’s Kate Walker    talks to Helen M Hunt

Writers' Forum

With thanks to Rachael who alerted me to this - I didn't know it was out now.

Putting a to do list on the to do list . . .

At least that's what it feels like this week - I have about six To Do Lists on the go - and on one of them  is 'Find Diary - and put To Do List in it!'  A couple of months ago I invested ina bran new iphone ( Ok - honest admission - I inadvertently put  my old phone in the washing machine because it got caught up with a bundle of bed lined I'd just stripped off the bed  and shoved in the washer.)   I love my iphone - it has my life in it now, so heavens only  knows what I'd do if I washed this one!  But I  still have a penandpaper To List  as backup and I haven't quite correlated the two yet.

Add in a book dangerously close to its dreadline

Add in major revamping plans on the house - knock through kitchen/build garden room/renew central heating . ..  all going to be fabulous - but all needing time and energy to plan

Add in a  new book coming out  - you know the one - The Return of the  Stranger with that fabulous cover. And  that means lots of blog posts - a Virtual Book Tour  - and one major interview (more of that later) because people want to know about this one  a lot.  (Can I also just sneak in a mention of the fact that it's still at #1  on the Mills and Boon site  - this is the 3rd week it's up there! )

Add in that I said I'd tell you more about it  and I haven't done yet . . .

Add in that there is the New Voices contest coming up - cue Worksop at Ashby Library  on 31st August .. .  You can find the details here - and the wonderful Heather from We Write Romance  who  updates my site for me has reorganised  my Events page so that it's easier for you to find out what's going on when (Thank you Heather!)

You get the idea? But talking of New Voices - don't forget to visit The Pink Heart Society today where Editor Flo Nicholls has given her Top Tips for those of you planning on entering the contest.  Lots of good advice there.

Tomorrow is an important day for one member of this household - clue - its one  of the ones with fur, whiskers and a tail.   There will be celebrations and  a party - with lots of treats  and maybe some give aways  for those of you who don't like supermeat with chicken . . .
So come back tomorrow to join in the celebrations.

Sad News - Sandra Hyatt

I heard some very sad news this weekend   that Harlequin Desire author Sandra Hyatt  passed away very suddenly while at the Romance Writers of New Zealand  Conference in Auckland. 

My husband and  were lucky enough to meet Sandra when we attended the RWNZ  conference in 2004 and we were at the RWA Conference in San Francisco when she  got 'the call' to say that she had sold her very first book.  She was a delightful person and   has been taken far too young, when her career was only just beginning to get going. My heart goes out to her family and friends,

Sandra was in my mind only a couple of weeks ago when I read a post which mentioned her over on Jackie Ashenden's blog.   This post had  a wonderful piece of writing advice in  it that I think is valuable to  all writers - but might be particularly useful to those of you who are planning to enter the  New Voices  contest.  Sandra was talking about  a Michael Hague  workshop she had been too  and - well, here's what Jackie said on her blog (Thanks Jackie for permission to quote)



Well, at our most recent chapter group meeting, the very wonderful Sandra Hyatt gave us a talk about the Micheal Hague workshop she did and part of it really resonated with me.

Our characters wear two faces - the face they show to the world, and the face they keep to themselves. The face they show to the world is their identity, the face they keep to themselves is their essence (the people they truly are). Now in the story, the characters should conflict at the level of identity, but they should connect at the level of essence.

I thought that was a very simple way of making sure there is conflict in a story, but also some real romance. Because it's the moments where the two characters connect that show the reader that these two are meant for each other. Of course what it means is that I need to figure out who my characters actually are, as opposed to the face they show to the real world. Tricky. I know the faces they show to the world but working backwards to find their essence is another thing.
It's great advice - and  as Jackie says-
>what it means is that I need to figure out who my characters actually are, as opposed to the face they show to the real world.

Little gems like that renew my spirit to write when  sometimes I'm tired and feel I'd rather watch paint dry. And thoughts of talented, vibrant women like Sandra who were here last week  - and  now are  no  longer with us - also make me remember that if you want to be a writer you need to get on and write no matter what stage you're at in your career.  Otherwise the stories in your head will never come alive on any page.  And no one will ever share them.

The paint will still dry anway, even if you're not watching it.

New Writers' Book Fayre and Festival

If anyone lives near West Bridgford, Nottingham,   the New Writers' Book Fayre and Festival  is taking place there on the 7th/8th of October.

I'll be talking about Writing Romance and The Babe Magnet (who is looking suitable sepulchral on this poster) will be talking about Writing Non-Fiction.

The full programme can be found here.

A Date With Kate

It's the third Friday of the month - is it really? How did it get to that date when I wasn't looking?  I meant to blog yesterday. . . and the day before but life has been so hectic and so many things to do that I blinked and found myself ast Friday before I realised it.

So - Friday is Pink Heart Society day and that's where you'll find my main blog.  I'm starting to talk about my next book out - The Return of The Stranger which is out on September 2nd  -  and today I'm adressing one of the, for me, really important points about this book and the whole mini-series it's in.  The Powerful and the Pure.

Now as I've mentioned before, some people have got their knickers in  a twist over the fact that these books have been  created by looking at the plots of four of the great classics of romantic fiction - Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Emma and , in my case Wuthering Heights.  Some readers have screamed  'plagiarism!' or 'stealing!' , but in that case they don't understand what plagiarism is. And these books are not stealing  from but inspired by the wonderful great books. - using that inspiration to create something new and hopefully enjoyable. 

I'm proud of the fact that, as one reviewer said over on the Mills & Boon web site -
 Mrs Walker triumphantly produces a powerful and intense novel which involves your emotions from start to finish.
That means I have done what I set out to do - to create a  book that stands on its own, can be enjoyed on its own - but if you know some of the references in it - references not copies or stealing! - then that can add an extra dimension to your reading.

Anyway - have a read of my full blog for yourself.

One thing  about this book that has thrilled me this week (OK, other than the fact it's been at #1 on the bestseller list on the M&B site for the past two weeks)  I meant to say yesterday, but time ran away with me. And that is that on Wednesday I heard that The Bronte Society  are putting a copy of The Return of The Stranger in their  collection of Bronte-inspired fiction in the research library at the Parsonage Museum. So it will be permanently stored there in the future.

For someone who once spent long day trips to Haworth first with my family, then with my husband, who has read and reread Wuthering Heights more times than I can count  and who studied the book both for my first degree twice! In Year One and then in the 19th century course) and then wrote my MA thesis on Emily and Charlotte Bronte  - to have one of my books acquired by the Parsonage Museum library , well  it doesn't come much better than this!

Kate's Corner

It's August 15th - and the 15th of the month is the date when I have my regular post on the blog over at  We Write Romance.

If I'm honest, I didn't know what to write today - until I went our for a long walk with one of my very best friends and her  two dogs . .  .

See you there !

Writing Help for New Voices

Over on Facebook there is a page for the New Voices Contest  - and it's buzzing. Everyone has questions they want to ask and  they are posting their queries and getting plenty of great answers.

But there are still more and more questions. To help with some of the queries, Nas Dean posted some links to posts I'd done in the past here on this blog - posts on Conflict when I did the Conflict series and Q&A  back in 2010.  That made me think of the other series of posts on writing I've done - All About Alphas for one. And the Writing Q&A  where I answered questions you sent in.

But these are scattered through  my blog, here there and everywhere. So I thought I'd try to make things a bit easier for you and I checked through, collecting up the dates  where I put most of these posts about writing, so that I could list themn for you to go back and find and have a read.

Writing for Presents-   1-4
Basic information about what I think is important if you want to aim for the  Modern Romance/Harlequin Presents line.
All About Alphas  1-22

A long  series of posts on the often vexed topic of  the 'Alpha Male' - love him or hate him, Mills & Boon editorial  have been heard to say that they only ever publish alpha heroes.  But  if you think Alpha means bully and brute, trampling a poor little heroine underfoot, you couldn't be more wrong. Read the contributions from so many successful  published romance writers and find out why there's so much more to this guy than being tal dark and handsome, successful - and snarling!

The link will take you to the first post - after that just scroll further and you'll find all you ever wanted to know about the Alpha hero.

Keep It Simple Dig Deep


Writing Q&A
A series of answers to questions readers sent in

Conflict 1- 21
Another long series of posts following on from the time that I taught a workshop on Conflict at the Romantic Novelists' Association conference  in 2010.  Why conflictr? Well, without conflict you don't have a story - but so many people get themselves in a tangle about internal conflict/external conflict/sustaining conflict/resolving conflict - it's all here. Just  start at post one and read on through.

And over on Sally Quilford's blog, I did a guest post for her  May -  You Write Your Novel  section - you can find that here.

Writing Category Romance

That should keep you quiet for a while - when you've read through all that lot, if you still have questions  - on these topics or anything else, then  come back and post them here and I'll start another Writing Q&A to  post some answers.

And of course, there  is a lot more information and advice in my 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance which is available in paperback or  on KINDLE both in America and the UK.

Workshop confirmed

Yesterday was the Babe Magnet's birthday so we celebrated with a day out at Filey on the North Yorkshire coast with The Offspring and his lovely partner.  We did the full seaside thing with fish and chips, ice cream cones, walking barefoot along the sand, paddling in the not too icy sea, and exploring Filey Brigg looking for fossils. We didn't find any, but a great collection of rocks and shells came back with us. Along with a large amount of sand between the toes.  Lovely.

Just to say that the New Voices workshop has been confirmed and will be going ahead on August  31st
at Ashby Library North Lincolnshire
11am- 1pm

Full details can be found here:  https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=159039720839370

As places are strictly limited please book  to ensure your place.

Great book news

My thanks to the lovely Abby Green who alerted me to the fact that The Return of the Stranger is currently at #1 on the Mills & Boon web site.

Abby's own book - The Sultan's Choice is at #3 this week too - and my dear friend Michelle Reid's new title  The Kanellis Scandal is at #2. Great news about great books!

Oh - and while you're over on the M&B site, if you missed out on getting a copy of any of these:
Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride
The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge
The Sicilian's Wife

Then check out this month's special sale - the 3 in 1 collection - Claimed by the Sicilian - is on sale for just £2.99. That's 3 books for less than the price of one -  a real bargain!

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.

Ashby Workshop

Sorry - I  have been reminded that I didn't give full details for the Ashby  workshop -  it is still being absolutely finalised but as it stands - and will probbaly stay  - it:

Ashby Library
Ashby High Street

Wednesday August 31st 11am - 1pm

New Voices Workshop(s)

Do you live anywhere near North Lincolnshire? 

That's where I'm doing my New Voices writing workshop this time around - at Ashby Library 
Ashby High Street
Scunthorpe
North Lincolnshire
DN16 2RY


I'll also have copies of my 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance for sale at this - and all events.

Numbers will be limited so Tel: 01724 296832 to enquire about bookings.



Or perhaps West Yorkshire is closer for you -
 I'm also doing a workshop at the Bronte Society Festival of Women's Writing on September 17th

Writing Romance with Kate Walker

10am-12pm, West Lane Baptist Centre

Romantic fiction writing is big business. This workshop, based on Kate Walker’s award winning

12 Point Guide to Writing Romance, is intended to provide information and advice for anyone

who wants to learn how to write in this popular genre. If you’re just starting out, or you’ve

written a manuscript or two but are not yet published and want to hone your skills, this

workshop is for you.

Tickets £15, includes refreshments.

Places are limited so early booking is recommended.

Also:

The Return of the Stranger:   Wuthering Heights meets Mills & Boon

2pm, The Old School room, Church Street

‘The Powerful and the Pure’ is a new series for Mills & Boon reworking

classics from romantic literature, including Pride and Prejudice and Jane

Eyre. Kate Walker discusses her newly published contribution to the

series, The Return of The Stranger, a reworking of her favourite novel,

Wuthering Heights.

Kate Walker wrote her first book for Mills & Boon, The Chalk Line, in 1984 and is currently working on her sixtieth title. A huge admirer of the Brontës, she wrote her MA thesis on the work of Charlotte and Emily Brontë and one of her most recent titles, Bedded by the Greek Billionaire, was loosely inspired by Wuthering Heights. She frequently lectures on romance writing.

Tickets £5 and should be booked in advance.

For all bookings and further  information contact the Brontë

Parsonage Museum: 01535 640188

Or jenna.holmes@bronte.org.uk

And if you can't get to any workshops - do you have any questiosn that are worrying you? Nigggling at your mind so you can't settle to writing?

In the run up to the New Voices contest, I'll be running a romance writing Q&A  - so now's your chance to ask!

NB - I keep trying to post this up by the Ashby Library workshop but for some weird reason it keeps disappearing  so I'm adding it here:

I'll also have copies of my 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance for sale at this - and all events.
Numbers will be limited so telephone 01724 296832 to enquire about the Ashby Library workshop on August 31st

And the good news is . . .

. . . I get to keep my title - that title!   Everyone in editorial agreed on it, America OKed it and so my newest book, out in March 2012 will be called The Devil and  Miss Jones. I am so pleased - it's the first time in ages that a title I've suggested has been used - and it's a long way from the  Billionaire's Revenge on the Vrgin sort of titles which can only be a good thing.  I just checked and the last time a title I suggested was used was with The Antonakos Marriage  and that was back in 2005!

Have you noticed the new banner up on the top of the page now? I think it's great - the lovely Heather from We Write Romance has just done all the updates  on my web site, so the new covers  for Return of the Stranger are up  and all the details of the coming events.

I just heard from the Arts Officer at The Bronte Society about the workshop and the talk I'm doing for their Festival of Women's Writing in September and apparently  both events are booking well - if you're interested - the programme is available to download here.

It's going to be a great weekend in Haworth - other authors Barbara Trapido and Joanna Briscoe will be there and the screenwriter for the new film version of Jane Eyre  Moira Buffini will be speaking too. Sadly I don't think the star of the film Michael Fassbender will be with her!

Oh - and if you're thinking of entering the New Voices contest -  there are some tips Tips on writing romance in this week's  Woman's Weekly Magazine (UK) in an article by Jane Wenham-Jones with advice from Jojo Moyes, Trisha Ashley - and someone called Kate Walker

Back home

Well I should have known better than to think I might be able to post agaion from Caerleon.  Apart from teaching the final four sections of my course, the last days are always hectic  and rather special with the  last talks -  John Townsend on The Writer's Curse) - the  Thursday night concert with the glorious sound of ther Cwmbach Male  Voice choir , then packing, the last evening with friends and, sadly, the round of goodbyes and 'See you next year.'

My thanks as always to the fabulous Anne and Gerry for making this  anothe really lovely Writers' Holiday, for their  generosity and warm welcome  every year - and for inviting us back again in 2012.  We always love arriving at Caerleon - hate leaving  - and look forward to the next year with  great anticipation.

Thanks too to everyone who came on my course. It was great to meet you all. I know too that some of you have already booked for the Advanced Course in Fishguard in Febrauary - so I'll see you there!
(Special note about February - if you're interested in booking for the Advanced Romance Writing Course, rememeber that the numbers are strictly limited to the  first 15 bookings. I know that some places are already taken and that there were  at least three who booked after this year's Writer's Holiday - so  don't lose out - get your name down now.)

The details of the 2012 Fishguard Course and the line up for Writers' Holiday 2012 can be found on the web site here.

Finally - as August has started, my newest title The Return of The Stranger  with its fabulous cover is now available - a month before it's in the shops - on the Mills & Boon web site. It also has a great review.   I'll be talking more about this book later in the month.

And about the New Voices Competition when I get my thoughts together.

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.