And the winner is . . .

Many many congratulations are due today to a lovely and very special friend of mine - someone who already scares me stupid with just her work rate and her ability to do so many things, her knowledge of history and her ability to write emotional and warm romances for two different lines.

Have you guessed yet? I'm really happy to be able to say that the RNA Romance Prize for 2008 went to Scary Kate aka Kate Hardy for her Modern Extra (well they were Modern Extra when it was published - Breakfast at Giovanni's .

For American readers, this book will be released in Presents Extra as In Bed With Her Italian Boss so look out for that.

I'm really really pleased for her. I just wish I could have been there at the lunch to share her very special moment with her. And Kate - I told you the black pearls would look great with that lovely outfit. You looked fabulous.

Interestingly, this was not one of the books that anyone picked as a potential winner. But someone - Chris, I think - got the winner of the main award right - and that was Freya North with her novel Pillow Talk. Chris - contact me and we'll talk prize books!

Many congratulations go to Freya too . The blurb of her book sounds intriguing - I suspect that on my visit to London I'm going to have to visit a bookshop . . . but then I would also need the time to read it and as my TBR pile is already toppling over . .. But I can resists everything but temptation.

And the temptation to add to my TBR is going to get even worse because today is definitely a great day to celebrate with friends.

I'd like to congratulate another friend - Karen Maitland - on the publication of her book Company of Liars. Here's another book that has a truly intriguing back 'blurb' . Here's what The Mail Books section says about it:

The year is 1348. As the Black Death spreads inexorably across southern England, nine people fleeing north meet on the road. Comprising a seller of fake religious relics, a conjuror, two wandering minstrels, a storyteller, a teenage couple on the run, a herbalist and a beautiful but sinister soothsaying child, it's a motley crew.
But its members have one thing in common: each is not what he or she seems, and as their journey progresses, so the various lies they have told begin to unravel with deadly consequences. For it's not just the pestilence snapping at their heels, but also a mysterious unseen beast — perhaps wolf, perhaps werewolf — which begins to pick them off one by one.
Karen Maitland has dug into some obscure corners of medieval history to produce an almost parallel universe; a place where myth, magic and superstition take over as the established order breaks down, but a world that nevertheless rings true. On top of that, she has fashioned a compelling mystery story that should appeal to a much wider readership than historical fiction fans; indeed, anyone looking for an engrossing, bulky fireside read.

Congratulations, Karen! And enjoy every moment of your launch party! I just can't wait till I finish with my deadline and can get a little extra uninterrupted reading time.

Finally, I have to let you know that I'm sharing in Nicola Marsh's special Be My Valentine Celebration today. There's a copy of my March book Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife on offer for you to win - and don't forget that Nicola is also offering that wonderful major prize of a goody bag of 14 novels at the end of the celebration - that's on Valentine's Day of course.

Great Big Blog Party 22 - Kate Hardy

Right - I checked - and yes, today's blogger will have time to come and chat with us today. Officially it was her turn to blog at the weekend but I knew she was agonisingly tight on a deadline so I waited until she'd finished the book before I posted her blog here.

And of course she did finish her book - not that I ever doubted it - because today's blogger is Kate Hardy - the lady I affectionately call Scary Kate. Want to know why? Well, you'll have to read my Guest Blog over on her blog party - when I get to write it that is! And Yes, Kate I will write it - promise - but there's a small touch of pots and kettle here when it comes to delivery of blog posts.

Scary Kate is only Scary Kate professionally of course -she's a one woman dynamo, writing all sorts of books at incredible rates - that's why she's having a Blog Party too - to mark her 25th - er that's her 25th Mills & Boon title - we're not counting the other non fiction books she's created as well. See what I mean? Scary?

But in real life Scary Kate isn't Scary at all - she's warm, generous with herself and her time (Scasily so when you think about the books she's writing- and her family commitments) and she's a very special friend to have in my life. And not only because she is one of the few people who can talk history and research with then BM- and stay as long in secondhand bookshops - and spend as much as he does! I find it hard to believe that it was only 5 years or so ago that we met - it feels as if she has been in my life for ever. Kate's blog post today recalls that meeting and all I can say is that I'm so glad we ended up sitting next to her or I would have missed making a great friend.

Oh yes - and that last comment about being in trouble - not a bit of it! Unless you count reducing your friend to tears of happiness on a very special occasion cause for trouble - if you didn't read about it before - or you need a reminder then check out my celebration dinner pictures here and my very special memories of that occasion here. Not to mention Kate's own memories of the event on her own blog here. Because of this, as well as Kate'ws official photo, I'm also posting a photo of a moment that really sums up our friendship and Kate herself.

Kate Hardy blogpiece for Kate Walker’s 50th

The first time I met Kate Walker, I was a relatively baby author: my first Mills & Boon had been accepted but was about six months away from publication in paperback. I’d been invited to a Mills & Boon authors’ lunch. Suddenly, from being a journalist and mum of two small children, I was in a room with all these people who were Really Famous. People whose books I’d read and loved over the years. And I was having lunch with them.

Daunting, or what? And I must’ve been looking a bit lost because this lovely woman was sitting next to me at lunch and started chatting away to me, drawing me out of my shell. I felt as if I’d known her for years. And it was only a bit later, when we finally got round to exchanging names, that I realised who she was…

A Very Famous Person.

Kate Walker.

But she didn’t act like a star. She was kind and down-to-earth and funny and warm and she made me feel as if I belonged in this group of talented (and did I mention famous?) writers.

That was back in 2002. Although I’ve known Kate personally for only five years, it feels more like fifty years – because it’s the kind of friendship you know right from the start is going to be special and last a lifetime. The kind of friendship where you ring for a five-minute chat… and two and a half hours later, you’re still talking, though it only feels as if you’ve been talking for five minutes. The kind of friendship that when you realise you’ve been shortlisted for an award and you’re panicking just a teensy bit about the fact you’ve never been to the Savoy before and you’re going to fall flat on your face or spill wine over yourself or… (take the rest as read), she stops you jabbering and says, ‘Meet me at my hotel at ten and we’ll have a cup of coffee and you can talk history with the BM, and then you can travel to the Savoy with us and we’ll hold your hand.’ (Kate – and Steve – you have no idea how grateful I still am for that.)

Over those years, we’ve laughed a lot and talked a lot and set the world to rights over a glass of wine/water/cup of coffee – to the point where we’ve both had a croaky voice, the next day. We’ve shared pictures of heroes and inspiring music and the sort of little snippets that set the novelists’ inner lightbulb flickering. It doesn’t matter that we write for different lines and we have different styles. It doesn’t matter that she’s a cat person and I’m a dog person. It doesn’t matter that she’s a vegetarian and I’m an omnivore. Our differences complement rather than divide.

I’m proud to call Kate my friend.

And I’m even prouder that she’s reached a special milestone. Fifty contemporary romance novels for M&B, all with her trademark intensity and all with the feeling that you’ve met new characters in new situations – our Kate never cheats readers by recycling.

Here’s to you, Kate Walker. By the time this is posted, I’ll have celebrated your fiftieth properly with you in person. (And I might also be in trouble… but that’s a different story…)

GIVEAWAY:
And whoops, nearly forgot. This is a blog party celebration, which means authors get to give away books! So I’m delighted to include two books that are special to me. The first is Breakfast at Giovanni’s, my newest book (which also happens to be my 25th). And the other is a release from last year – Strictly Legal – which I dedicated to Kate with love and thanks for her encouragement and support over the years. I think that says it all. Thank you, Kate.

Kate Hardy
http://www.katehardy.com/
http://katehardy.bravejournal.com/

GIVEAWAY QUESTION:
To win, just post a comment about the first time you met someone who became a very special friend.