Kept For Her Baby

UK  readers  - did you miss out on a copy of Kept For Her Baby?

Or would you just like a really good buy in an ebook in the M&B site's sale?

Secret Love-Child - a 3 in 1 collection  with two other books by Catherine  Spencer and Tina Duncan is currently available for .99p as an ebook on the site and on Kindle.  It's  a great deal if you grab it now.

The postman just brought a bundle of foreign translations  including two of my favourites -  one from Czechoslovakia where I'm  'Kate Walkerova'  and another new manga edition - I love getting those. The illustrations are so great. this one is  Sicilian Husband Blackmailed Bride

 with the Sicilian hero looking like a secret agent in his black trench coat arriving at his heroine's wedding! (He isn't a secret agent however!)

RITA reading with Ruby

I have been sent books to read and judge for the Romance Writers of America   Awards.  I have a selection of different romance genres  and authors. some I know of already, some that are new to me.

I finished one of the books last night. I'm not allowed to say which book or which author  or what I thought of it - but I can tell you that Ruby the cat thought it was a book she really   could get her teeth into.

And this is only the outside back cover.

She really enjoyed the rest of the novel!

Courses coming up 1 - Cirencester in April

OK  - so as I've been asked to let you now about my teaching plans for this year   - the first course coming up is the Advanced Romance Writing Course in the Winter Weekend and Fishguard but as I said yesterday there's only one place left on that   weekend  so I'll list the rest of the course planned for this year.

The first one is a weekend course at the Royal Agricultural  College Cirencester .  That's coming up in April. There has already been quite a bit of interest in this one  - so if you are interested in a place on them course, contact Relax and Write and  put your name down for it.

RELAX  AND WRITE

CREATIVE WRITING WEEKEND COURSE

‘Beginning Middle and End’

Planning your novel from start to finish

15 - 17 APRIL 2016

Attend as a Day Visitor or Residential Member

at

THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

CIRENCESTER

Was your New Year resolution to ‘write that novel’?  Did you start out hopefully, wanting to write the story that was burning in your head ... Only to find that now you’ve slowed down, lost the plot, lost your way, become bogged down in a ‘sagging middle.’  Could you do with a route map - some guidelines to help you find your way?

This course will teach you how to plan out your novel so that you have a much better idea of where you’re going and how to create the best read possible.  It will show you how to:

l  Start well

l  Use opening hooks

l  Use a synopsis to keep yourself - and your characters - on track

l  Avoid the ‘sagging middle’

l  Maintain pace to keep the reader turning pages

l  Create a satisfying end - making the reader want more from you

All inclusive fee £245 and includes Sunday Lunch.

For further information Contact Lois Bird-Maddox ‘Relax & Write’ Course Organiser  :  www.malagaw

orkshops.co.uk 

Write to: The Secretary, ‘Relax & Write’ 9 (D) Langthorn Close, Frampton Cotterell, Bristol BS36 2JH.

Groups are kept small to benefit from the writing experience. Please let your Writing Group know about our ‘Relax & Write’ weekend courses, which are held at different venues during the year.  Book early to guarantee a place. Book early and pay by instalments. Non-participating partners welcome. Free Parking is available.

Also at this weekend: 

'Writing the Past' with Stephen Wade

This course is intended to help both fiction and non-fiction writers at all stages of their writing lives. The aim is to provide help and guidance in all areas of writing which is concerned with the past. The course topics include the full range of writing and research skills you need to write in any category about the past. All inclusive fee £245 and includes Sunday Lunch.

Pink Hearts Blog Day

I really have no idea at all what has happened to the beginning of 2016.

I'm sure it was only yesterday that it was  New Year's Day and the year was starting over all fresh and new. . . and now it's  - what?! January 24th?! How did that happen?

Well, I have some ideas, -
Revisions
Family birthday
Revisions
Organising   the redecoration of a. the bedroom b. hall stairs and landing
So that involved a. finding  new wallpaper we could both agree on b buying said wallpaper - and then going back  to the shop to get more wallpaper when we didn't have  enough with the same batch number!
Finding the paint we liked to go with the wallpaper  - see above
Revisions
Discussing and planning new courses coming up for the next year - with Writers' Holiday and Relax and Write and a couple of other workshops thrown in for good measure.
Revisions . . .

So now I'm hoping to get the revisions off my desk before the decorator comes and sets to work on the hall stairs and landing (could there be a part of the house that guarantees more chaos than that?)
And I need to have the course planned, the handouts printed, the critiques planned for the one to ones before I head for Fishguard in February.

So that seems to be what's happened to - well, most of January.
But today is my unexpected day for blogging over on the Pink Hearts Society Blog. So that's where

you'll find my blog post today (or perhaps I should say my other blog post!)

Oh and talking about courses and writing weekends and such - I've been asked to post details of what I am doing this year so you can know if any courses suit you. So I'll do that this week - there are
two courses with Writer's Holiday and two courses plus a Focus  on Writing Retreat  with Relax and Write 

Details coming up

Oh  but if you are interested in the Advanced Romance Writing Course at Fishguard in February this year - I have unexpectedly got one  free space because a student can't come  -  so if you're interested - act now! And contact Writers'  Holiday asap.

Trying to catch up

A rather belated happy new year to you all!

Well, it's been a bit of a crazy month.   I was so glad to get back home and out of hospital - but the convalescence took much longer than I ever expected.  And then there was Christmas,  New Year, my son's birthday,  We celebrated that by going to stay with him and his fiancée and  I thoroughly enjoyed walking the brand new family member - the grand-dog -  on a freezing, windswept beach. (Yes, I know it doesn't sound like fun - but it was!)

Now I'm trying to catch up in all way - revisions on the latest story being the most important. My brooding Spanish hero  is faced with meeting Rose, the woman who turned his life upside down ten years ago - and is now doing that all over again.

Today I'm blogging over at Tote Bags N Blogs  - talking about my 'determinations' for  2016. Not resolutions but things I'm determined to do more of  in 2016.

Oh, and I'm thrilled to discover that  one of my 2015 title Olivero's Outrageous Proposal  is
now reprinted in the collection 12 Best of the Year for Modern Romance.  That's something that got my year off to a good start!


Important PS  - for my lovely Australian readers - with special thanks to Helen (see comments) whose comment reminded me that I need to say this.

The book of mine that appears in the Best of The Year collection - Olivero's Outrageous

Proposal  hadn't been published in Australia in 2015 - but it is out at last this month in the Mills And Boon Sexy line.

Helen has read it already  because she had an advanced copy  for an unbiased review - and she gave it this wonderful review - and it was posted as a Featured Book on the Australian Romance Readers Association  web site - here

Part of that review said:
This is such an emotionally powerful story of revenge, desire and a marriage of convenience as two people learn a lot of truths about family. The setting is just wonderful—a villa in Tuscany, Villa D’Oro, where many sensual nights are spent together and lots of discussions take place. Love grows stronger by the day, but there are still a few hurdles to cross until they reach their wonderful HEA. This is a story that will pull you in from the first page and keep you turning the pages until the end. I loved this one and highly recommend it.

Thank you so much Helen - and the ARRA

Back home

I'm back! Thank you so much to everyone for you kind and caring get well messages. They meant such a lot to me and brightened hospital days. After a week + of IV antibiotics fighting septicaemia I'm now back home - knowing more than I care to think about of the horrible effects of a high fever. (Who knew that you shiver so much when your temp is soaring!) But I had really good care and I was able to get to know new friends and share with them while we were all stuck together. 

I've posted about this on the Tote Bags n Blogs blog page - where I'm offering giveaway of a copy of A Question of Honour  for you to give someone you think will enjoy it.

A Question of Honour is of course Part One of the Rhastaan Royals duo - and the book in which Nabil bin Rashid Al Sharifa  first appears - ten years before her turns up as the hero of my latest title Destined for the Desert King which is in the shops now. At least I hope it is - I haven't even seen it on the shelves as I haven't been into any shops except one - and there it had all sold out!

But as it seems someone has  put Christmas  on to a week on Friday, I'd  better start to do something about that!

It's good to be home.

I heart Presents blog

Things are a bit complicated and stressful at the moment so I'm not able to post much with limited internet connection and only an iPhone to use. But I do have a new title out so I want to share that with you as much as I can.

So today I wanted to let you know that I have a post over on the I heart Presents blog today. I'm talking about the special challenges of writing Destined For The Desert King and turning  Nabil
from A Question of Honour into a hero when he wasn't so much of one in that story.

Can't work out how to link using the phone but I'm sure you all know where that is!

Hope to see you there!

And I really hope life will get back to normal soon!

Surfacing from the writing cave

Sent the-book-that-would-not-end off last night ! Huge sighs of relief. Now I have a trip to Nottingham for 'Mack and Mabel' at the Theatre Royal - the I have to do something about the tip that is my office, and start on the l-o-n-g list of Things To Do - while waiting for revisions, But today is for fun!

Oh and it seems that Christmas is  sometime next month - who knew!

Quick catch up

I've been away for a few days. The Babe Magnet and I were visiting York. We were supposed to be looking at some Christmas shopping . . . well. I managed some!

We also had a wonderful Italian meal - and on Tuesday there was afternoon tea at Bettys - that's always a tradition.  Apart from eating, we had tickets for the theatre - a production of The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde). This was a fabulous production  - a slight  rewrite/revision of the original play  to make it believable when the 'romantic leads' - in this case Martin Jarvis and Nigel Havers were not exactly spring chickens. It was really funny and actually helped me look at the play again even though I've seen it several times.  Lady Bracknell was played  by the magnificent Sian Phillips with wonderful stage presence and energy in spite of her 82 years! I understand that she is also preparing her one-woman show! I want to be like her when I grow up!

One of the things about 'Earnest' that I'd forgotten is a quote about romance. This really struck me last night.
Oscar Wilde wrote:

The very essence of romance is uncertainty

Isn't that what readers love about reading romances? The fact that the relationship between the hero and the heroine is so much in doubt until very close to the end of the book. - It's that 'uncertainty'  they want to read about.

Oscar Wilde also said:

You don't love someone for their looks, or their  clothes or their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.

How true. This is something that some would-be romance writers forget  when creating 'alpha male heroes' They put too much emphasis on that 'trappings' - the  looks, the suits, the cars, the wealth . . . when really it's all about that 'song' that the hero and heroine share and no one else does.

Thanks Oscar!

Talking or romances -  in the comments  to my post on November  2nd there were two lovely reviews from Arpita Martin who has just started her own web site to chart her love of the Modern Romance books.

One of the things she said was:
. You have the gift of spinning out these stories where the heroes are so strong, , tender hearted, yet alpha macho men who will love for ever! 

Arpita- you couldn't have said anything that would please me more. That is exactly the sort of story I always try to write.

Arpita goes on:
Your latest one' Destined for the Desert King'surpasses till date all the other ones you have written.Readers should go for it in any form or shape! brilliant.Please visit www.mills-and-boon-reviews.com

Exhilarating, emotional, riveting Modern genre Romance a 5* indeed!
Nabil and Aziza are attracted to each other with their past emotional issues and yet both are able to break down their barriers at the end! Kate Walker is a genius of a writer, to hold an exceedingly well crafted story together for the romantic readers! The plot is fast moving, well focused and the couple’s wry wit, sarcasm; facial nuances make it all so believable! Brilliant page turner, to have at hand, to escape into this world of love!
What is this thing called love?

So I've been smiling all day since I read that.   Thank you!

Also in the November 2nd comments, Lidia asked:
Kate, any idea when "Destined for the Desert King" will be released in the US?

Lidia - the good news is that it will be released any minute now! The official release date on Amazon
is November 17th - which means it's available there already. And hopefully in the shops near you very soon if not there already.

Thanks for asking!  I hope you enjoy Nabil  and Aziza's story when you read it.

Tote Bags Day

Today's my day for blogging over on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs.  so maybe I'll see you over there.



I'm finally admitting that Christmas is coming . .  . so if you're looking for a stocking filler gift for someone special this might
be a chance for you while Charlie is acting  as Santa Paws.

Destined for the Desert King

Back home  after a wonderful trip to Leeds and  a great evening with 'Uncle Albert' in Churwell. It was fascinating meeting people who remembered the original  characters behind the fictional ones in  some of the stories -  specially to hear that the shop  Aunt Clara  ran in reality was always known as 'Clara's shop' to the locals.  The houses where some of  the stories are set no longer exist though, having been knocked down and new buildings put up where they used to be.  So we didn't get a chance to try to find any of the toy soldiers the Babe Magnet had buried (with full military honours!)  way back when . . .

Saturday evening was spent at a wonderful, joyous, laughter-filled production of Kiss Me Kate by  Opera North - fantastic singing and fabulous dancing.  A very special evening.  And a little trip down memory lane as the theatre was where we went on out very first date. . . one or two years ago!!

If you buy  your M&B romances from the Harlequin Mills and Boon  web site, then the newest titles are available from today,   That means that if you  can't  wait for your copy of Destined for the Desert King to be on the bookshop shelves, then you can  find a copy of the book on the M&B site right now.

I took a look at the site just now and delighted to find that, after just one day,my book is already at #4 in the Top Ten Bestsellers chart  - that made my day.

Mind you, the same page also told me that it's just seven weeks till Christmas - help!  Good job I took the opportunity to do some shopping in Leeds!

Wearing my other 'hat'

I'm off to Leeds this evening  - to play my other role, that of Mrs Babe Magnet and supporter and PA to  my husband when he's appearing at the Morley Festival this evening.

He's doing his 'Uncle Albert' one man show with readings from his book of Yorkshire short stories by the same name.  (Priory Press) 

This  should be specially interesting though  as he's appearing at Churwell Community  Centre - and Churwell  is the village where he grew up  and the village is the Uncle Albert book is based on.    Should be a real trip down memory lane - both in fiction and reality!

Destined for the Desert King

I'm so glad that everyone seems to like the new UK cover of my December book as much as I do. But I've had some messages asking me to give a little spoiler or two about the story .

So here you are:

A queen of convenience?
There’s no doubt that their marriage is one of convenience and political manoeuvring. But shy beauty Aziza El Afarim secretly hopes that her husband – the boy she once idolised – remembers something of the closeness they shared as children.

Except Sheikh Nabil bin Rashid Al Sharifa is far from the boy he used to be. The weight of loss and power has changed him beyond recognition. Where once there was warmth and generosity, now only a ruthless passion burns. He’ll give Aziza everything…except his love.

But as pressure to produce an heir mounts, can there be more than duty in the marriage bed?
Rhastaan Royals Book 2.



And for those who recognise Nabil's name - Yes he is the  man (youth)  who was supposed to have been Clementina's husband in A Question of Honour. (Rhastaan Royals Book 1)  But this is ten years later - and, believe me - he's changed.

UK Cover at last!

I've been waiting for so long  to be able to share the cover for the UK edition of my next book - Destined for The Desert King - which is out in  December (or the end of November in USA) I wasn't sure what to expect as the USA Harlequin Presents cover is so great I was a bit worried that the UK one might be a bit of a disappointment.

But I needn't have worried.  My authors' copies of the UK edition arrived this morning  in another of those wonderful moments in an author's life  that never gets dull and  I was more than thrilled to find that the great Harlequin Presents cover that I'd liked so much  on the USA  edition was also the one they've used for the UK edition.  And its rich colours and  sensual design look just as good against the UK's blue framing as they do against the Presents white and red cover.

So at last I'm able to share this with you. I hope you like it as much as I do.

As I said, this book isn't actually out  on general sale as yet,  but I've discovered a great site  called   Mills and Boon reviews where a reader who is a real fan of the Modern Romances  reads so many of the books  - and she has a  a review that says this book is:

Exhilarating, emotional, riveting Modern genre Romance a 5* indeed!

So, together the great cover and the great review have just made my day (and it needed a bit of cheering up as it has been so dark  and wet all day that we needed some brightness  brought into it.)

Autumn days

I can tell that it's definitely  becoming more autumnal these days. Not just because  the weather is getting

 colder and the evenings darker. Or because the clocks  have to go back very soon, but because of the extra number of jobs I need to do in the garden to take care of the wildlife and birds who live there.

I've just come in from  sorting things out and making sure that everyone is fed and looked after.  The jobs I had to do included:

1.  Putting down clean straw for the hedgehogs to drag into their  hog boxes to make cosy safe nests for the winter.
(We make sure the hedgehogs have these safe dens so that they don't burrow into any prepared bonfire planned for Bonfire Night)
2.  Clean the water bowl and refill it with fresh water. (The Hecks seem to have been washing their paws in it or something to make it so muddy!)
3.  Clean the plate and replenish it with special hedgehog crunchies for nourishment for the hogs so that they don;t have to go too far in the cold nights to forage for food.  We know there is one very small hedgehog there who will need to be well nourished so that he can be  string enough for a winter's hibernation.
4. Clean the bird bath, disinfect it and fill it with clean water
5. Clean the bird table and disinfect it - apparently too many birds are being killed by germs in the actual bird tables etc.
6. Put out suet cakes and fat balls for the birds who prefer to feed higher up
7. Soak the mealworms in  warm water to make them more enticing to birds (and the hedgehogs if they want some!)
8.  Put seeds and nuts in the ground feeder for birds like robins etc who prefer to feed on the ground.
9. Drain the soaked mealworms  and put them into a ground placed feeder.
10. Put some peanuts out for the mother and baby squirrel who would otherwise steal seeds

etc from the birds.

Phew!

Then I came indoors to feed the cats to make sure they didn't  ruin my good work by taking over the bird table as Charlie used to do! (He's a bit too big to do this now  - but  Ruby can still fit on to the bird table with ease>)

Retreating

I'm off  on retreat for the weekend.

I'm running a guided retreat - Focus on Writing Romantic Fiction -  at The Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick  Derbyshire  with Relax and Write. So looking forward to it. While these retreats are, obviously for the benefit of my students,  I also get so much out of them. I get to talk about writing, look at the way I do things in my novels - the ways other people do them - differently but  not wrong - everyone has their own process of writing a novel and it's great to combine ideas in the discussions.

I always come home energized and inspired and usually with a notebook crammed full of ideas for the current book - or the next one -  or the next course.

To those who are coming to Swanwick - see you soon.  Safe journey. I'm so looking forward to catching up with old friends and making new ones on this course or the Babe Magnet's Writing The Past Which is running on the same weekend.

Oh yes - and I'm delighted to hear that one of my students Kim Lain's  (who was on last year's retreat) entry to this year's So You Think You Can Write  - has been picked to be in the top 50 of the entries.  I haven't seen the full list yet but I do know Kim's name is there.

Congratulations Kim!  And good luck for the next round.

So You Think You Can Write - what if your story doesn't make it?

With the SYTYCW Top 50 being announced today, there will be  lots of entrants who didn't make the cut wondering what to do with your  submission, how to rework it so that  the editors


would like to see more of it if you want to submit it  later.


Rachael Thomas who was in the Top Ten in the contest in 2013   was one of my students on the Fishguard Advanced Romance Writing course with Writers' Holiday.   She now  has  more than five books published  after her first title  A Deal Before The Altar came out in September last year and  just had her latest submission accepted.   She knows what it's like to be successful  - and what it feels like to have a novel rejected - like most of us, she's been there and got the tee shirt.
Rachael has some great points on the best way to look at something that  was rejected the first time round  so NOW  needs reworking. She has a great blog post about - well, about 3 important things -




 1. Never give up 


 2. Never throw away any story that didn't work because - well, . . 


 3. The 'didn't work ' stories can always be reworked when you've had time to step away from them for a while then come back and rework them so they do work.
Well worth reading
.  
 I first saw this story as part of the  one to one in the Fishguard Course and  again in full in the RNA's New Writers' Scheme back in 2012 and I'm so glad to see it will now be published. Looking forward to seeing  Destiny and Zafir's story in print.

Workshops and Retreats

I've been busy writing  - head down, focus on the keyboard.  What's that they say about BICHOK?
Bum In Chair, Hands on Keyboard.  The only way to get from 'Chapter One' to The End.

But at the same time I've been thinking about and planning the Writing Retreat  with Relax and Write I'm running in a couple of weeks time.  So looking forward to meeting the  students - some I've met

Swanwick where I'll be 'retreating' on October 9th

before - some who are brand new to me. All are at different stages on their journey towards being published writers but there's one ting they must already all have in abundance - and that's commitment and determination.  You don't sign up for a weekend course and pay the fees(admittedly very reasonable)   if you're  not committed.

When people ask why I teach - specially when I tell them that when I was much younger, the last thing I wanted to do was to be a teacher -  I think of the  number of past students , either of my courses or from the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance  who are now published writers of romantic fiction. Not just with Harlequin but with other publishers too.  A wonderful result from

working with them is sharing their joy in their success and  seeing their books on the shelves - just as good as seeing my own.

 I was reminded of this twice in the past month.  First of all, when I was at the AMBA lunch in London on the 19th. At the lunch I was seated next to Amanda Cinelli, the winner of the So You Think You Can Write whose first book Resisting the Sicilian Playboy is just published. She made my day by telling me that she had the 12 Point Guide in both print and ebook form and that  she credited it with helping her a long way on her personal journey to publication. Good luck with that first book and your new  career Amanda!

But talking to Amanda, and some news I had from an ex-student this week, reminded me of an important point - and that's why I called the 12 Point Guide a 'Workbook'. There's plenty of advice and information in the text - but there are also the writing exercises at the end of each chapter.  Writing exercises that are meant to make you  - guess what - write.

I've met so many people who will start writing when they have a moment, when the kids are at school/university/in bed. . .when they have a new kitchen table (to write on)  . ..  The problem is that the only way to write a book that's publishable  is  to - write it.

And then - this is the voice of an author with 60+ books published - to rewrite it and maybe rewrite it again. The trouble with the books on Amazon or the bookshop shelves is that all the blood sweat and tears that went into writing them doesn't show in the text or the cover.

  And this is what I was reminded of today when I got some good news from another ex-student.

Fishguard Bay Hotel  where I run the Advanced Romance Writing Course

Rachael Thomas was a regular at my Fishguard Writers and Artists' Weekend  courses - first with the basic Writing Romance course and then with the Advanced Writing Romance course there in February each year. Each year I felt her writing was getting closer and close to publication standard and then for the last but one So You Think You Can Write contest she was in the top ten.  That book A Deal Before the Altar  was published last year - and several more since.

Today, the good news was that her latest (sort of) book has been accepted. No title as yet but I knew this book as Destiny's story.  Destiny is the name of the heroine.

I'm particularly pleased about this book as I first read  it - well, the origins of the current book - as her submission to the  Fishguard course back in 2012 - and then again in 2013.    It didn't work the first time  Or the second time.  But there was the seed of such a good story in there that I gave Rachael the advice I give everyone with a story that is a  'not quite' :

Put it away for a while till you can look at it with clearer eyes and see how it needs to be rewritten. Looking at it with fresh eyes - and, in this case, with more experience of writing novels that work - can shine a spotlight on a 'not quite' and turn it into a success.

Which is exactly what she did and today I got an email with the great news that this book - with Sheikh Zafir and  Destiny the heroine with the wonderful name - will be published next year.  It's fabulous news - and it reinforces my belief that if you really want to be published you need talent, obviously, luck, perhaps - but you definitely need hard work.

Write, revise, submit - revise  . . . .      and repeat . . .

Congratulations Rachael! I'm so looking forward to seeing Zafir and Destiny's story in print.  It's the perfect proof that no teacher, however brilliant, can guarantee you success in your writing, even if you follow (or try to) every word she says!

But, as I've always said, the one way you can guarantee you'll never be successful is to give up. Stop trying. Stop writing.

So those of you who are entering the So You Think You Can Write Contest this year - or who are just writing and trying - or those who will be coming on the Retreat or any other course I'm running  in the coming year - the only way is to keep on trying.

If you get a rejection, the only way is to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again.

Because the real truth is that still applies even after 63 published titles.  The only way to get 64 completed is  BICHOK - submit - revise . . .  and again. And again . . .

Good Luck!

Which reminds me - I need to do some more BICHOKing  - so I'm off back to the keyboard.

PS If you want to know any more about my courses with Writers' Holiday or Relax and Write then check out their websites - or look at the Events page on my website. (Though I know I need to update that!)

London - AMBA and the Author Party

I’ve finally managed to get home from London, sort things out, unpack and do the laundry  so that I have a chance to catch up.

With Kate Hardy aka Scary Kate

 The trip to London was great from start to finish. On the  Friday night I had dinner with Chantelle Shaw and Rachael Thomas which was so much fun. It’s always good to catch up with fellow writers and friends and have a chance to have some quality time together to really talk.   Of course Rachael was once one of my students on the Fishguard Advanced Romance Writing Course and it had been wonderful to enjoy her success as she had written more successful  books and established her position in the Harlequin Presents line-up.

This year, the newest recruit to the Presents line was Amanda Cinelli  (winner of the So You Think You Can Write contest last year) whose first book  Resisting the Sicilian Playboy is out in October.  I sat next to Amanda at the lunch and so was delighted to learn from her that she  had  a copy (OK 2 copies – the print version  and the Kindle  one) of my 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance  and she told me that it had really helped her with her writing for Harlequin. Which is great because that’s just what I wrote it for! I also had more time to chat with Andie Brock who I met briefly last year but didn’t get much of a chance to  talk to her.  And of course I had a chance to talk with my editor - and so many others of  HMB editorial .

View from the News Building

  I had a wonderful time at both the AMBA lunch and the Harlequin Author Party afterwards.   The new offices in the News Building  on London Bridge Street  are in a part of London that I don’t know well, so it was fascinating to explore a bit  and to marvel at the amazing building  that is The Shard there.

The height and expanse of The Shard makes the News Building look rather small in comparison, but by the time we had travelled up 17 floors (thankfully in an express lift!) to reach the special events area, it didn’t actually feel smaller!  The view from the windows was

Another version of that stunning view

totally stunning, with the whole of London spread out below.  Even things like the London Eye looked tiny from up there.

One of the best feelings about being at the author party was the excitement of being able to see a couple of my covers projected on to the large screens in the room. As the covers to Olivero’s Outrageous Proposal and Destined for The Desert King are two of my favourite covers it was great to be able to see them on display like that.

Cover for Olivero's Outrageous Proposal on display

At the party I was able to meet up with more friends – some  international ones too! Anna Sugden who writes for American Romance and Kandy Shepherd  (Cherish) who was over from Australia.  And I had a very special hug for lovely Nicole Locke whose newest Historical novel  Her Enemy Highlander  is out this month.   You might remember that Nicole wrote thislovely blog post to mark my 30 years of being a published author. Thanks once again Nicole!

With Anna Sugden and Kandy Shepherd

I didn’t take many photographs  during the day so I’m grateful to my friends and the official M&B photographer   Katie who took pictures so that I can show them here.

AMBA

Off to London today for the annual Association of Mills and Boon Authors meeting. Looking forward to seeing so many friends amongst the writers and editors. And... viewing the new offices in the News Building


 Dinner with Rachael Thomas tonight - always a great feeling to see an ex-student enjoying her writing success. Charlie the Maine Coon and Ruby have spotted the suitcase and are not happy!  But they have a great cat-sitter and we'll only be gone a couple of days. They'll be so well looked after(ie spoiled rotten!)


I was in the chemist's yesterday, waiting for a prescription and a lady came in to collect her. She looked at me and said 'Aren't you that book-writing lady?' So I said I was. She's been reading my books for over 20 years! And 'that's because they are so good!'

          It's moments like that that make a book-writing lady's day!