Here There and Everywhere!

I've been busy blogging - yes, I know I haven't been busy blogging here  but that's because I've been busy blogging elsewhere!

So here are  a couple more links for you to follow if you want to read these posts

First one is courtesy of the lovely Tawny Weber  who invited me along to guest on her blog - in her special Quick Six  section.

She asks  six questions - well, no - she asks 18 questions but I picked which 6 I wanted to answer and the results are posted today.    There's a giveaway too - a signed copy of A Throne For The Taking - but also, I promised that if I got a lot of responses I'd add another giveaway  for someone else - a copy of The Proud Wife. 

And the second is for tomorrow  over on  Romance Reader.  I'll be busy this weekend - we have a friend visiting from Iowa so  I'll be concentrating on enjoying her visit. But hopefully these blogs will keep you occupied until . ..

Well, until  Sunday when I'll be doing my usual blog on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs!   What will I be blogging about? No idea as yet - but I'll think of something! I hope.

And don't forget  - last chance  to bid for my lots in the Brenda Novak Auction tomorrow.

Last chance to bid

I'm not sure what happened to May - I just know that there are only a couple of days left and that means just two days to bid in Brenda Novak's Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research  2013.

Here's what Brenda herself says:
Brenda Novak's Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research is gearing up for its biggest year yet. Thanks to all who have participated in the past — both donors and shoppers — we've raised a cumulative total of $1.6 million. This year we are hoping to surpass $2 million to help all those with diabetes.


So many people have donated lots for the auction and all funds go towards this great cause.

Every year in the past, I've donated two lots - in the past these have been a Readers' and Writers' Basket - and, previously, a critique of a partial aimed at the Harlequin Presents line.

Well, this year I'm still offering the Readers' and Writers' basket but, sadly, I am no longer able to offer the critique. I'm sure I don't have to explain why. This is the damage that the copyright infringement case has done to the trust between authors and unpublished writers. But I was determined to offer two lots as I have always done - so

The first lot is the Readers' and Writers' Basket -

The winner of this bid will receive these autographed books

12 POINT GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANCE

THE STRAIGHTFORWARD GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANTIC FICTION

A great selection of Kate Walker novels:

The Alcolar Family Trilogy (3 in 1), which includes:

THE TWELVE-MONTH MISTRESS

THE SPANIARD'S INCONVENIENT WIFE

BOUND BY BLACKMAIL

The trilogy Claimed by the Sicilian(3 in 1), which includes:

THE SICILIAN'S WIFE

SICILIAN HUSBAND, BLACKMAILED BRIDE

THE SICILIAN'S RED-HOT REVENGE

Also included are the following autographed paperback books by Kate Walker:

THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES (Presents Extra April 2012)

THE RETURN OF THE STRANGER (Presents Extra October 2012)

THE PROUD WIFE (Presents Extra October 2011)

THE GOOD GREEK WIFE? (Presents Extra April 2010)

All books are packed into one of my Kate Walker Tote Bags; bonus: Kate Walker pen.

Full details and how to bid can be found here


Lot 2 - 10 Book Autographed Collection

The winner of this bid will receive these autographed paperback books:

THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES (Presents Extra April 2012)

THE RETURN OF THE STRANGER (Presents Extra October 2012)

THE PROUD WIFE (Presents Extra October 2011)

A THRONE FOR THE TAKING (brand new title!)

The trilogy Claimed by the Sicilian (3 in 1), which includes:

THE SICILIAN'S WIFE

SICILIAN HUSBAND, BLACKMAILED BRIDE

THE SICILIAN'S RED-HOT REVENGE

THE GOOD GREEK WIFE?

KEPT FOR HER BABY

THE KONSTANTOS MARRIAGE DEMAND

All books are packed into one of my Kate Walker Tote Bags; bonus: Kate Walker pen.

Full details and how to bid can be found here

I hope you'll take a look - but don't just look at my lots - browse the whole site and see the amazing things there are on offer.
The auction has just  two days to go  - It's a great cause - so why not bid?

I Heart Presents . . .

Today's post is over on the  special Presents blog  - I Heart  Presents.

I'm talking about royal romances - because of A Throne For The Taking of course.  Is there a royal romance, modern or historical  that has grabbed your imagination? If so, tell me about it and you could be in with a chance to win a copy of A Throne For The Taking  to read this royal love story.

And another

So today I have yet another guest blog post to direct you to. But this one is slightly different.

This one isn't about me- except indirectly - or my book - or a craft post . . . It's about another member of the  family. The fact that it's on the Pink Heart Society site, in a series called Pets and Their Authors - plus the  picture on the left should give  you a clue.

This is part one in a miniseries entitled The Lady and The Tramp -  this one being about The Lady. The Tramp will have his own post too  in a couple of weeks.  But today it's The Diva's turn.

And another guest blog . . .

Today's post is over on the Romance Bandits' blog where I'm talking about - guess what - A Throne for The  Taking . But I'm also talking about  a very important book from my childnood.

Do you have any really memorable book that you read when you were young - and wish you could read again?   If so, perhaps you'd like to come along and join the chat to tell me about it.

More Guest Blogs -

It's a busy time for me out on various blogs right now - because of the publication of A Throne For The Taking  of course - so here's another couple of links to take you to more places to read about me or my books.

First of all, there's a great review of A Throne for The Taking over on The Good The Bad and The Unread.  It's always fascinating to read what another writer thinks of  your work  and novelist Lynne Connolly is an experienced and knowledgable critic  so her review makes interesting reading (and she liked the book too which is a relief!)

Following on  from that,  there is a longish interview with me that has just been posted -  you can find that here.

And soon  there should be a follow up post -with a giveaway of a copy of A Throne For The Taking - so if you've never visited The Good The Bad and The Unread, now's your chance to see what the site's like - and read  some of the reviews and posts.

PS If you want some more really great reviews of A Throne For The Taking then there are several over on  Romance Book Haven in the Contemporary Reviews - thank you so much ladies!

Revising and Editing

I was asked to write a craft post over on Revising and Editing -so that's where my main post is today -  it's about  Originality and Voice - I was asked to write a bit about plagiarism but I think we've done that topic recently!

It's publication day - in America anyway!  A Throne for the Taking is out in Harlequin Presents now  so thank you to everyone who has already been out to buy a copy.  

And perhaps it's time to remind you  that Author, Author! still has the very special offer on the Presents Edition of A Throne For The Taking -  the book normally sells at $4.99 but  Author, Author! has it on special discounted offer for just $3.25. Take a look.

Spotlight and giveaway

I've been so busy that I've neglected to blog for days.    I'm not quite sure where the time has gone but at least today I have a blog for you - if not quite here!

Because A Throne For The Taking is out very soon - tomorrow in fact, in  Harlequin Presents in America and   June 7th in  M&B Modern in  UK  - I'vebeen asked to do some blogs - and interviews here there and everywhere (well it seems that way!)

So today the first of those is published - with a special Spotlight Interview over on  Romance Book Paradise.  Lovely Nas Dean asked me a set of probing questions and now the interview is posted on the site.  There's also a giveaway of a signed copy of A Throne For The Taking for someone who posts a comment.

So maybe I'll see you there  - and there are other guest blogs and posts coming up in the next few weeks.  There will be more giveaways too.

Making me smile

Well that was a hectic week - celebrating my birthday seemed to go on for a couple of days.

Thank you so much to everyone who sent such lovely birthday messages and greetings. I appreciated every one of them - they all made me smile.

And here's another thing that's made me smile - I just discovered that over on the Mills and Boon site where A  Throne for the Taking is now on sale -   it's at #1 in their bestseller chart!  That has made my day.

Thank you to everyone who has bought a copy to put it in this special place.  Even the  rain that is bucketing down outside (Spring? What happened to spring?) can't dampen my spirits.

Tote Bags day

It's the first Sunday of the month so today is my day for posting over on the Tote Bags 'N' Blog site.

I'm talking about why May is one of my favourite months - and seeing as it's a long weekend,  the sun is shining, the Babe Magnet and The Offspring are watching the football while I relax with a  good book, it's not realy surprising that I like it so much - is it?

PHS Day

It's the first Friday  of the month so today I'm over on the Pink Heart Society blog with  Date With Kate.


I'm talking about writing my first ever royal romance - which is, of course -  A Throne For The Taking.

See you there.

TV star!

I was on TV yesterday.

Well, not me  actually - not in person. But my name and one of my books was prominently displayed.
There is a programme called The Intern  on Channel 4 in the UK where three young hopefuls are given the chance to work in their chosen jobs as interns for a week, and hopefully one of them  will end up with a job  as a winner.    Last night's episode was  described like this: Three more young hopefuls are given a week's trial in the job of their dreams at publisher Mills & Boon.

So the programme was set in the Mills & Boon offices in Richmond, with lots of scenes showing the editorial department, lots of insights into the way the editors and marketing work,

The walls of the Richmond offices are decorated with  big, blow up copies of book covers from all the lines and all the decades that Mills and Boon have been publishing.  And there amongst them, was a poster size copy of the cover  I have on  here -  No Holding Back  - which was published in  1995. 

The 'half a heart'  style covers didn't last very long. No one in the bookshops bothered to display them as they were designed - with two books next to each other to make a  whole 'heart' when appearing on the shelves! But I have to admit I did like the covers when they were in a range of colours so that the books didn't look quite so regimented and  'all the same'.


You can see the programme  replayed here  if you are in the right area. I hope it works for you.

Oh - and No Holding Back has been republished in  both the Harlequin Treasury and the  Mills & Boon Vintage ebook collections.  (It's currently only £1.80  or $2.74 right now)

It's May. . .

Happy May Day!   It seems that May has got off to a good start - the sun is actually shining, now if we could just get rid of that sneaky cold wind  it  would be gorgeous.

Reasons  to like May - I have a birthday coming up. So does my sister. Sadly she's in Tasmania so we won't be getting together to celebrate .

The Brenda Novak Auction for The Cure of Diabetes is now officially open.  Why take a look at some of the amazing lots - and maybe place a bid?  As I said earlier, I have the Reader and Writers' Basket  and the  10 Signed Novels lots on offer - and I'm delighted to see that there are already some bid on these. Thank you to anyone who has put in a bid.

Other reasons to like May -  A Throne for The Taking is now available on the UK's Mills and  Boon web site  and the Harlequin Presents edition will be released  on May 21st in USA.

Oh yes - and  A Throne For The Taking has  these great reviews over on  Romance Book Paradise.


The author lets her characters truly speak , as reader I was very glad to see that the author let me in


on just what each one of the characters were thinking, as I often find that I want to know what she or he is thinking and not knowing drives me insane, and in the case of Ria and Alexei it would have infuriated me, so thank you Kate!

I particularly liked the message this read gave me, not all secrets are as deadly as one may think, sometimes revealing the truth can save you, opening up the road to recovery.

I highly recommend this read for lovers of royal romances with intense secrets and all Kate Walker fans!   
Desere


A THRONE FOR THE TAKING is a very different, intriguing and thrilling story. It is full of conspiracy, scheming and plotting against the kingdom amidst the mesmerizing romance between Ria and Alexei. Author Kate Walker has yet again stunned her readers with a unique twist to her romance. She skillfully penned another gripping and compelling tale that would hook a reader in until the very last page.
Nas

Thank you both Desere and Nas

You can read the full reviews here.

So May has got off to a great start. Let's hope it continues that way.

PS Just discovered that A Throne For The Taking is already at #3  in the Harlequin ebook Bestsellers list today - another reason to like May!

Important Auction

It's almost May 1st and if you don't know what that signifies then you should!
May 1st is when Brenda Novak's  Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research starts for 2013.  

Here's what Brenda herself  says:
Brenda Novak's Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research is gearing up for its biggest year yet. Thanks to all who have participated in the past — both donors and shoppers — we've raised a cumulative total of $1.6 million. This year we are hoping to surpass $2 million to help all those with diabetes.


So many people have donated lots for the auction and all funds go towards this great cause.

Every year in the past, I've donated two lots -  in the past these have been a Readers' and Writers' Basket  - and, previously, a critique of a partial aimed at the Harlequin Presents line. 

Well, this year I'm still offering the Readers' and Writers' basket but, sadly, I am no longer able to offer the critique. I'm sure I don't have to explain why.  This is the damage that the copyright infringement case has done to the trust between authors and unpublished writers.  But I was determined to offer two lots as I have always done - so

The first lot is the Readers' and Writers' Basket -

The winner of this bid will receive  these autographed books

12 POINT GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANCE

THE STRAIGHTFORWARD GUIDE TO WRITING ROMANTIC FICTION

A great selection of Kate Walker novels:

The Alcolar Family Trilogy (3 in 1), which includes:

THE TWELVE-MONTH MISTRESS

THE SPANIARD'S INCONVENIENT WIFE

BOUND BY BLACKMAIL

The trilogy Claimed by the Sicilian (3 in 1), which includes:

THE SICILIAN'S WIFE

SICILIAN HUSBAND, BLACKMAILED BRIDE

THE SICILIAN'S RED-HOT REVENGE

Also included are the following autographed paperback books by Kate Walker:

THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES (Presents Extra April 2012)

THE RETURN OF THE STRANGER (Presents Extra October 2012)

THE PROUD WIFE (Presents Extra October 2011)

THE GOOD GREEK WIFE? (Presents Extra April 2010)

All books are packed into one of my Kate Walker Tote Bags; bonus: Kate Walker pen.

Full details and how to bid can be found here


Lot 2 -  10 Book Autographed  Collection

The winner of this bid will receive  these autographed paperback books:

THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES (Presents Extra April 2012)

THE RETURN OF THE STRANGER (Presents Extra October 2012)

THE PROUD WIFE (Presents Extra October 2011)

A THRONE FOR THE TAKING (brand new title!)

The trilogy Claimed by the Sicilian (3 in 1), which includes:

THE SICILIAN'S WIFE

SICILIAN HUSBAND, BLACKMAILED BRIDE

THE SICILIAN'S RED-HOT REVENGE

THE GOOD GREEK WIFE?

KEPT FOR HER BABY

THE KONSTANTOS MARRIAGE DEMAND

All books are packed into one of my Kate Walker Tote Bags; bonus: Kate Walker pen.

Full details and how to bid can be found here

I hope you'll take a look - but don't just look at my lots - browse the whole site and see the amazing things there are on offer.
The auction starts in two days time -  It's a  great cause  - so why not bid?

A box full of heroes

The Babe Magnet and I have been away, visiting York. The sun actually shone, afternoon tea at Bettys was wonderful as always, and I managed a little shopping while he browsed the second hand bookshops.  His carrier bags were much heavier than mine - but my  contents were much  prettier!

Came home to find there had been a delivery - a box full of  heroes!  The UK editions  of A Throne For the Taking - library editions and paperback ones -

had arrived.  This is always a fantastic moment - to hold the copies of my latest in my hands. It's something ebooks will never replace.

But I'm still not sure about that waistcoat!

Incidentally, coming in August, there will be some changes to the Presents covers in America - about time I think - they needed a refresh. Some of the new covers are already appearing on Amazon so look out for those and see what you think.

Books and Friends

One of the really great things about being a writer is that I get to meet some really great peple who are also writers.  In fact I get to meet so great people who are also great writers.

And those great people prove how great they are by giving me copies of their books.

So this is what arrived in the mail this week.

I've known Julie Cohen since  - well, I can't quite recall exactly when but I know we met at the RNA Conference before she was ever published. I  was thrilled to share the celebrations of her first ever Mills & Boon Modern Extra, Featured Attraction and the other books she had published with them and then Little Black Dress. I've watched her career grow as she moved on the bigger books -  Getting Away with It and The Summer of Living Dangerously.  I've even taught  a weekend course with  her in Leicester - and had a great time doing so.

And I've been waiting to read this new book ever since Julie told me all about it. Well, not all  - she didn't tell me how it all works out and I didn't want her to. That's part of the pleasure of reading it for myself. 

Claire and Ben are the perfect couple. But behind the glossy façade, they’ve been desperately trying – and failing – to have a baby for years. Now, the stress and feelings of loss are taking their toll on their marriage. Claire’s ready to give up hope and get on with her life, but Ben is not. And then Ben’s best friend, Romily, offers to conceive via artificial insemination and carry the baby for them.
Romily acts in good faith, believing it will be easy to be a surrogate. She’s already a single mother, and has no desire for any more children. Except that being pregnant with Ben’s child stirs up all sorts of emotions in her, including one she’s kept hidden for a very long time: Ben’s the only man she’s ever loved.
Two mothers—and one baby who belongs to both of them, and which only one of them can keep.

So the other books on my TBR pile are going to have to be put aside for a while - sorry Robert Goddard, Diane Chamberlain . . . The Edna O'Brian and Billy Joel biographies are going to have to wait - even the book on Perkin Warbeck that I'm half way through. All I can say is that I'm glad I'd finished Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) and The Good Father (Noah Hawley) before this arrived. Otherwise I'd have had a real problem.

So if I'm missing for a few days - you'll know the reason why.

Thanks Julie!

Review and Offer

Thanks to Michelle Styles, I have been able to see the Romantic Times  review for  A Throne For The Taking   and I'm  thrilled to find that  they have given my new book  4 1/2 stars.  That's great news.

Here's the review:

10 years ago, Ria Escalona had her friend Alexei exiled from Mecjoria. But now she knows the truth, and she needs him back to save their country from tyranny and civil unrest. Can she do it without revealing her true feelings?

Alexei Sarova has spent the past decade forgetting Ria, building a successful but lonely life. Now she’s back and needs his help to claim the throne of their homeland. Will she agree to his unscrupulous terms?  

The majesty of Walker’s fictional principality shines, and her frenemies-to-love story is  perfectly passionate.

Thank you RT - and thank you Michelle

I don't know if you remember but last year sometime I asked blog readers to suggest a name for this

ficitional country and Caroline was the one who suggested  Mecjoria.  I promised a copy of the book to the person whose name I chose - so Caroline, the book is on its way to you, if you haven't received it already.

And the offer?
Well, if you're in America, and  want to get your hands on a copy of A Throne for The Taking - the bookshop  Author, Author!  is running a special offer on this brand new title.   As they say on the offer page:

This book is regularly $4.99 but we've discounted it to $3.25 for this very special offer. This book should ship on or around May 21.

$3.25 is selling this book at cost with just a reasonable shipping fee, so it's a really great offer.
My special thanks to Author, Author! for organising this.

Oh - I just checked - Author, Author!  staff are at a conference this weekend - but they're back onn April 23rd.

Updated

New book - new look!

Heather of HR Web Concepts has updated my web site with news, covers of the new book - and a brand new colour scheme . We'd had the red white and bronze colour scheme for  ?? years (can't actually remember how long!) so it was definitely time for a chage. 

So we've tweaked it as well as updating it - and added a new 'shout' line -  Emotionally  rich and passionately intense! (Many thanks to Virginia from Booked Solid with Virginia C who gave me this line as her description of my books  and who uses it for  the page where she reviews my books too.)

We had a strange moment - well, I did , where the changes didn't quite take and I was left with a half and half effect  with the new colour scheme at the top of the page and the old red and bronze colouring  on the rest of it, but I think that has all settled down again now and everywhere is refreshed and 'tweaked'! And there's a brand new banner for A Throne For the Taking as well.

So  - this is the new look now. I hope you like it.

Vintage offer

If you have a kindle and you're interested in collecting   my older titles - the M&B  Vintage edition of The Groom's Revenge  is currently available at the special price  of just £1.80 on Amazon UK right now.   (And it seems to be $2.76 on Amazon.com but that's not totally clear)

Not my most favourite cover! But that doesn't matter so much on a  kindle does it?

Changes coming up

I've been busy, working with the lovely Heather from HR Web Concepts who designs and maintains my web site.   We've updated it recently, with the details of my new book A Throne For The Taking  ready for  publication day in June  (or May 21st in America).   And, as I'm sure you've noticed,  there's a brand new banner at the top of the pages to advertise that.  When it gets closer to the date, I'll be running a contest (with Lee over at Author Sound Relations) to celebrate having this book out.

We've also been planning to refresh the look of the site, with a new colour scheme. The red and bronze colours have been on the site ever since Heather took over - and I'm scared to think how many years ago that was! So we're looking into 'tweaking' it with a new look.

I've also updated the Events page which now shows the dates for the courses I'm running in Wales - Caerleon in the summer (28th July - 2nd August)  and the Advanced Course in Fishguard in February 2014.  And then . . . more changes.

If you look at the Writers' Holiday web site, you'll see that this will be the last ever Writers' Holiday at Caerleon. Yes, I know I said that was a possibility last year but this time it's definite. The whole format of Writers' Holiday  is changing - and we're moving. From July 2014  all the Writers' Holiday events will be at the Fishguard Bay Hotel  and the summer event will have a  different format. So  although we're going to be sad at leaving  the Caerleon university campus whihc has been 'home'  for  this event for so many years, we're also looking forwars to the new style event in the  venue that has welcomed us every February over the past years.

And I'll still be teaching  the Writing Romance course - but  that will have a diferent format too, with more hours of workshops (8 hours instead of 5) and  people will just sign up for the one course each summer.

I'm still working on the exact design of the course right now  - I've been looking at the Advanced Course  (the February one) and the prospect of the summer course and trying to see what I can do

that helps most people.  It's all to be finalised yet  but as soon as it is, I'll let you know. 

 But I do know the dates -   so for now - here's what's coming up -

Writers' Holiday at Caerleon -  Sunday 28th July - Friday 2nd August 2013 - where I'm teaching the Complete Introduction to Writing Contemporary Romance.( For details of the other courses and accommodation etc check out the Writers' Holiday web site)

Writers' and Artists' Workshop Weekend at Fishguard Friday 28th February - Sunday 2nd March 2014  - where I'm teaching the Advanced Contemporary Romance Workshops  (NB I think there is just one space left on this course already. Otherwise it's booked up!)

Writers' Holiday at Fishguard Monday 21st-Saturday 26th JULY 2014 - at the moment this will be the longer, fuller  Introduction to Writing Romance but I'll let you know more details when I have them.