Christmas time

I'm not quite sure how it got to  9th December already -  that means it's only a couple of weeks to the big day!  I'm not at all   ready and  I still have so much to do that I'm running around like crazy and trying to wrap  and post parcels, write cards, send them in the mail.

Tomorrow my dear brother in law is coming to stay for a couple of days so we are having a

n early 'mini Christmas ' to celebrate with him.

While we're doing that, I'll be posting up a little Christmas readers' giveaway  for the 12 days of Christmas - more details of that to come asap (hopefully tomorrow  before the visitor  arrives!)

So while I was planning and trying to get organised with that, I also checked out Amazon  and was delighted to find that they're running a small sale on some of my books  in the last minute Christmas deals. Not sure how long for, but if you're quick and want to grab a kindle edition of these titles, you can get one  for £0.99

 Titles available are:
Kept For Her Baby
The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge
Bedded by the Greek Billionaire
Constantine's Revenge
Wife for a Day
No Holding Back
Flirting with Danger

Oh, and the complete Alcolar Family trilogy (3  books in one)  is available for £1.99

Finally - if you are interested in learning about writing romance, then   Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance is on sale  with 11% off the paperback   bringing the price down from  £11.99  to £10.62 - maybe you know someone who'd like to find a copy n their Christmas stocking or under the tree?

Favourite Covers 2 - my choices

So  now it's my turn. Andrea asked me to share my choice of favourite covers  and as she promised to make that lovely donation to the Tickled Pink collection for research into help for breast cancer, I want to thank her by doing just that.

There's a slight complication in that she had the UK covers to choose from - while I have the same books as her but often the UK and USA covers are rather different -  but I'll post  images of the covers anyway so you can see them - whichever version I use.

I mentioned in yesterday's post that like Andrea, I liked the cover for Man of Shadows (see above).  This was very like the image I had in my mind of my hero and heroine and although it's a long-ago title, I still like it.


One of my favourite covers - and a favourite book with literally thousands
of readers judging by sales  - is     Constantine's Revenge.  I have a thing about strong male arms  - and  hands - and this get the intensity of the story too.

There's a book called The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge  where, like  Constantine's Revenge, the cover is the same on both the USA and UK editions.   This cover is affectionately known as 'The Back' among fans - I 'm sure you can see why!   There is also, as one reader said - 'all that sexy non-touching' .
  Often when there is a sheikh in the title, and when it works for the art department , then it seems works I get  great cover art -  like  At The Sheikh's Command

In fact a 'Sheikh' title often works really well - like Destined for The Desert King where I  was delighted to see that my 'desert king' had the beard that is so much a part of his  appearance  at first.  There's a reason why he has that beard!

One of the few times when I've liked the UK cover better than the USA one has been  A Question of Honour - it's rare that I like a photo image better than a painted  cover.

But this one works for me:


These are some of my favourite covers, where the artwork comes close to the mood of the story and the hero and heroine I had in my imagination while writing the book.

It doesn't always work out that way though - sometimes I find I'm left wondering 'why?'  when I see a cover.

As an example - how about the one known in my family as 'The Headless Manicure'!

Hmmm!

Bargain Books

Have you any Kate Walker titles missing from your collection on Kindle? I've just discovered that some books of mine are ON  SALE  on Amazon.co.uk - all just 0.99p right now. 

 If you want to grab some backlist titles, now's your chance:

A Proposal to Secure his Vengeance

Bedded by  The  Greek Billionaire

Constantine's Revenge

Return of The Stranger
No Holding Back
Kept for Her Baby
The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge
Wife For a Day
Flirting with Danger
Rafael's Love-Child

It almost makes me wish I wanted to buy copies at a bargain price!

Grab a Black Friday bargain !

Because of this chest infection I've been locked indoors - mind you there 's nothing much about the weather - freezing winds, snow, now icy rain - that has made me even want to consider   venturing outside.  Charlie (who is full of tuna and other treats  - thank you to everyone who suggested them, he says!  - has been snoozing in his cosy bed all afternoon and Ruby is lying in front of the  (as yet unlit) fi
re,  waiting for the Babe Magnet to  set a match to the kindling.

So I haven't done very much about Black Friday - or  has it been Black Monday - or just Black Week all week?   Anyway, I haven't felt  like going out and hunting for bargains, though I did find some on- line which meant I didn't  have to brave the cold and rain.   And while I was doing that I found some g

reat Black Friday/Week bargains for you.

 I was looking for the details  and UK cover of my January book - more on that  later. (As you know, Harlequin are having a complete makeover with some  new and  very different cover designs . . .)  But while I was looking for A Proposal To Secure His Vengeance, I  came across  a bundle of my backlist titles that are currently  at a reduced price on Kindle.

So if there are any of these that you don't have already - or you'd like an ebook edition for convenience - here's  your chance to catch up with some past titles at

 a bargain price.

All these books are  on sale at just £0.99 on Amazon - and on  the Mills and  Boon web site

Return of the Stranger
Kept   for Her Baby
The Sicilian's Red-Hot  Revenge
Bedded by the Greek Billionaire
No Holding Back
Rafael's Love-Child
The Unexpected Child
A Sicilian Husband
Wife for a Day
 Constantine's Revenge
The Devil and Miss Jones
Flirting With Danger

Not sure how long  they will be on offer -  but  if the weather stays like it is, you might want something to curl up inside in the warmth and read  this weekend - so grab a bargain.

Cats and Courses and Kindles

It's been  a busy week.  (When is it anything else?)

There was Ruby's trip to the vet - for the routine  spaying operation.  Not before time! She was already

yelling 'I want a man!'  and importuning poor Charlie who  kept looking at me with an expression of  ' Mum, what does she want?  I don;'t understand ' on  his face!   He's so relieved she's settled down again.  And so are we. The thought that something  so small,  not yet out of kitten-hood herself could end up pregnant  and adding to the number of strays wandering about, just as she was  is just  horrible.

 She certainly hasn't had any problems with the op. She's still bounding round the house at a fast rate, eating anything put in front of her and pouncing on my toes whenever she can - her claws  and teeth are like needles.

Meanwhile, I've been preparing for  the  Advanced Writing Romance  course I'm running at Fishguard  at the end of the month. I can't wait. It's been so long since I saw the sea. And I know I'm going to to enjoy working with the   great group I have in the class. It's always so much fun. It's great  to talk about writing  with people who understand  this need to create, and it's fantastic to see how some of the students are growing and developing as writers as a result.

And, of course, we will have past student,  Rachael Thomas's success to toast this time as she's just had her very first Modern Romance/Harlequin Presents accepted.  There might be a bit of champagne involved.

And talking of courses - in an update to my website (Special thanks to my wonderful web designer Heather)  I've added all the courses coking up this year (so far) on the Events page.  There are now some basic Writing Romance courses as well as the annual Advanced Writing Romance course at Fishguard.  So if you're interested in joining us - why not take a look?

The first of these courses - at Weetwood Hall in Leeds is already selling out.  It's just about full but we might manage to squeeze another  couple of people in.  So  if you want to grab a place, do make inquiries sooner rather than later.  And if you've been on  a basic course and want to take things further -   it's not too early now to make an inquiry about Fishguard  2015!  These places always book fast  - so get your  name in now.
up

And talking about 2015, I'm discussing  the courses that might be on offer next year  now - look out for the details of those coming soon.  Details will be on my events page as soon as I know them - and at Writers' Holiday's web site or the one for Relax and Write Writing Weekends.   The links to these are also on my

Links page.

Talking of teaching writing - I have some big news coming up about the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance. Not  quite ready to talk about it yet - but hopefully all will be revealed in March. So watch this space.

And talking about re-issues of older books -  at the end of last month, M&B  reissued ebook versions of some of my older titles -
Wife For A Day
The Married Mistress
Desert Affair
and Constantine's Revenge

So if  you missed these the first time round, or  you're looking for missing  books to add to your collection - check out the Mills & Boon site or Amazon for these 'Vintage ' titles.

Quick catch up

Did you have a lovely Christmas? I hope so
Ours was a quiet,  fun and throughly enjoyable - so there was no reason at all for me to feel so tired on Boxing Day! I spent most of Monday curled up with one of the many books I received as welcome gifts and didn't really do very much at all. 

So today I still need to pick 2 winners for rthe copies of Mediterranean Tycoons!   It's been  difficult to persuade Charlie to come and pick any names and he has been so stuffed full of cat treats that he has  been outside running off the full tummy he's had all over Christmas.

Anyway - he's come back now and the names of the winners he has picked are :
Marlena
 and
Colleen.

  So please send me your  postal addresses ladies and as the Post Office opens again tomorrow, I'll get these prizes out to you.

It was supposed to ber the 12 Day s of  Christmas  Countdown to Christmas but  time ran away with me  - so to make the number up to 12 and to celebrate  the coming New Year, I'll have two more giveaways today  to finish off.

We're also celebrating the fact that today it is 4 years since Flora  came to live in this house and we had our first Maine Coon  ever.  So to mark this occasion it will be Flora who will pick the  prizewinners of the last two books.

The prize this time is one of two copies of an Australian collection  - The Greek Collection  The Price of Passion.   This contains a 'golden oldie' of mine - a 1999 book  called Constantine's Revenge.  This book has recently be rereleased as an ebook  on eHarlequin

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

And the question?

Well,  Christmas is behind us now  so let's look forward to the New Year.
Will you be making resolutions this year or is that somethign you're going to avoid this time?
What resolutioms do you think will matter mostn to you for 2012 - even is it's just not to make any resolutions at all!

Post your comments  over the next couple of days and when Flora has finished her special  chicken paté to celebrate coming to live here, she'll  pick some prize-winners.

Constantine's Revenge

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kate's Corner

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

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

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

My very first Greek hero

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Advent Calendar Day 18

Three things that coming in combination don't work too well -

1. Revisions - no not the revisions, they're fine. But a global 'search and replace name change - when the character in question has the name Ed. And you're replacing it to Arthur.

Think about it - the computer doesn't distinguish the Ed that is his name and the -ed at the end of or in - say changed, suprised or even edged. And when you're changing the name to Arthur - you get changArthur , surprisArthur and even ArthurgArthur. I am not amused

2. The blazingly bad headache that results from replacing all those Eds/Arthurs inthe wrong place

3. The fact that I have visitors tonight and am going visiting tomorrow so I'll be out all day

So - there will be a giveaway today and tomorrow - but I won 't have a moment to announce the winners until Monday. Tomorrow it will just be the book and the question.

The winner of The Greek Collection is Jayne Heponstall - I think Sid was entranced by the idea of the Mouse House. I know I was but perhaps thinks you meant real mice!

Jayne please send me your postal address and as long as the mail is still running, your book will go in it.

Today's book is Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife (2008)

Two years ago, Alannah left Raul without one word of regret. Now chance has thrown them together once more, and the proud Spanish aristocrat will see that Alannah pays for her mistake.
He had wanted Alannah Redfern the first moment he saw her. Her unique combination of purity and passion intrigued, then intoxicated him. And Raul Marcín was a man used to getting everything he wanted.

Now, Raul knows that Alannah is no longer a naive girl. Until their one night of passion proves that she is still an innocent. Raul will do whatever it takes to keep her at his mercy.

And today's question -

We will be visiting the Babe Magnet's family - who always stay in Yorkshire and wait for us to come to them! What about you? Do you stay at home and have people come to visit you for the holidays or are you the ones venturing out to visit other people? Who are you looking forward to seeing at Christmas that you haven't seen for a long time or perhaps are coming from a long way away. Or who do you wish you could see.

I'd love to see my eldest sister but she is miles and miles away in Tasmania so we have to make to with the phone and email -but at least there's that!

Come back tomorrow for anther book and another question but the winners might have to wait till Monday!

Advent Calendar Giveaway Day 17

Still 'tweaking' - but it really is only tweaks. None of those things editors think are 'tweaks' but that mean whole sections have to be unravelled and knitted back together again. But I'm concentrating on that so I can hope to have a break over Christmas.

So quickly on to prizes and questions

The winner of yesterday's prize of The Konstantos Marriage Demand is Milly

Milly - you certainly made Persuasion sound so very romantic. I'll admit it's not one of my favourite books - or even a favourite Austen but you made me want to go back and look at it again. Please send me your postal address in an email

Some of you sounded almost apologetic that you hadn't read the classics - please don't feel that way. I'm a firm believer that reading is a wonderful and (to me) vital thing in live but we all should read what we want to read and enjoy. Too many critics tell us that there are 'good' books and even 'great' books - and there are books that aren't worth reading.

To me the great books are the books you love and the books worth reading are the ones that keep you reading. War and Peace may be a 'great' book to some but if you can't get past the first three pages then it's not going to be on your 'best books ever' list. I may have an MA and have studied so many of the classics of all literatures but I love lots of wonderful popular fiction - and that's why I write it!

Anyway, I'll come back a talk about my favourite Classics of romantic literature when I've finished tweaking.

In the meantime, today's giveaway is another of those wonderful Australian collections with the fabulous covers- The Greek Collection - The Price of Passion came out in 2008 - and it has a copy of my Constantine's Revenge in it, along with The Greek Tycoon's Ultimatum by Lucy Monroe.

You'll remember Constantine's Revenge from December 8th when Michelle won a copy in the Her Greek Tycoon Collection.

His plan was to make her his mistress. . .

When Constantine Kiriazis reappeared after two years, Grace thought that he'd finally forgiven her for her lack of trust in him - and for cancelling their wedding. Certainly, Constantine's desire for had not waned. But neither had his desire for revenge . . .

He fully intended to seduce Grace, but vowed she'd only ever be his mistress - never his wife. It was only when she melted in his arms that Constantine began to wonder just who was exacting the revenge and who was paying the price?

And today's question ? Back to Christmas.

What special traditions do you have at Christmas time?

Do you go to Midnight service? Or always leave out a mince pie for Santa/Father Christmas? A carot for Rudolph? Do you open presents on Christmas Day, or like a Polish friend of mine on Christmas Eve?

Tell me your family's special traditions and you could be in with a chance of winning this great collection.

As always, answers in the comments section please.

Advent Calendar Giveaway Day 8

Oh I'm so glad I asked that question about food yesterday - the answers made for such great reading. My mouth was watering by the time I'd read through them all. I wished I had more than one book to give away because there were so many great responses. But I am running low on copies of The Italian's Forced Bride so I've left it up to Sid again.

But I have to say that along with all the traditional foods, Nas's Fijian 'lovo', Alicia's Caribbean food - is 'Black Christmas Cake' like the UK fruit cake or something else? - Oh and Valerie's Bunte Teller all stood out.

So I'm going to see whose entry Sid is most interested in . . .

And the answer is - Alicia - so obviously Sid fancies Trinidadian food too!

Alicia please email me kate AT kate-walker.com with your postal address

I'll just add an apology here if I don't get to actually answer each and ever comment posted for this contest - there's a lot of you (and I'm very glad to see you all) but it is the run-up to Christmas and as Kaelee commented I am very very busy. So I don't always get time to answer everything.

But I know I need to answer a question Nicolette asked about introducing my new kitten to all the other cats.

She said:My oldie, Tamsin, (13) and Magic (4) are getting fed-up of new boy, Joey (2). As a boy, even though he's been neutered, he keeps trying to dominate them and attacking them. They're not friends and live in separate areas of the house. I so wanted them all to get on and i don't want to get rid of Joey just so I can have a harmonious kitty home again. Any ideas?

I have to say, Nicolette that the hardest job I had was introducing Sid into the family - he was an 18 month old stray and a full male when he arrived so the other cats (all males but now neutered) weren't happy at all. It took time and patience and a lot of hissing and spitting but eventually they did settle down.

It's a little late now perhaps but one of the things I always do when introducing a new cat (I did it with Charlie) is what they call cross-stroking. You get a cloth - an old piece of towelling or a duster or something and you stroke one cat with it, then another, then another, always using the same cloth. Do this a few times and each time somehting of each cat's scent is transferred to the other cats' fur. Then when they meet up they can scent themselves on each other. It works specially if you can get strokes on their 'cheeks' by their mouths and noses - the bits they rub upagainst things when the are happy - marking with happy pheremones. That means that each cat then smells of other cats' happiness!

You could try this. And they will settle down - but you'll have to wait and be patient and just let them get on with hissing and spitting at each other. Cats soon work out an order about who's boss. There is also a spray/diffuser called Feliway that contains those phermones and can help in adjustments like this.
Good luck! But please don't get rid of Joey - they'll all settle in time. How long have you had him?

OK - on to today's giveaway. It's another 3 in 1 - and this time it's a golden oldie!

Her Greek Tycoon came out in 2003 but the novel of mine that is included in this collection is even older than that. Constantine's Revenge came out in 2000 - and it's a book I still get emails about ten years later. So may readers seem to have loved this one and it keeps getting reprinted over and over again.

So if you want a chance to win this classic Kate Walker, today's your chance.

His plan was to make her his mistress. . .

When Constantine Kiriazis reappeared after two years, Grace thought that he'd finally forgiven her for her lack of trust in him - and for cancelling their wedding. Certainly, Constantine's desire for had not waned. But neither had his desire for revenge . . .

He fully intended to seduce Grace, but vowed she'd only ever be his mistress - never his wife. It was only when she melted in his arms that Constantine began to wonder just who was exacting the revenge and who was paying the price?

Today's question? Let's leave Christmas alone for a while and think about books and romance.

Constantine's Revenge features my very first ever Greek hero. Maybe that's why it's so successful. So what about you - do you love Greek heroes? Or maybe you prefer Spaniard, Italian's like the hero of yesterday's giveaway? Or a fine, stiff-lipped English man? A charming Irishman?

Tell me about the heroes you love - and the ones you've never seen and would love to see featuring in a romance. You never know, you may inspire me!

And don't forget that 2 chances to win a copy of the new edition of 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance close this Friday 10th December

So if you're interested in being in with a chance then check out Simon Whaley's blog and Sally Quilford's. (Note - Sorry, but I think these are probably only able to post their prizes out in the UK. But I hope there will be some chances to win in America/Canada soon)

My First Kate Walker - Sarah Morgan

I'm a bit late with this - OK, a lot late !

As you know, I've been doing an occasional series of My First Kate Walker (or My Top Five Kate Walker books) from my writing friends and readers to mark my 25th anniversary of being published. The lovely Sarah Morgan wrote me a blog on this topic back in July and I've only just got around to posting it.

But I was in the middle of the posts on Conflict at the time - and I'm realy quite glad that I didn;t post this before now because it means that I can post it now and mark not only a special time for me (that 25th anniversary) but also a great moment for Sarah herself.

If you've been visting the I heart Presents blog recently, you'll have seen that as well as the list of Presents authors whose books have appeared on the USA Today bestseller list in the past week, two authors, have had their books hit the Top 50 on that list. Those authors are - Penny Jordan and my guest today - Sarah Morgan with her current Presents title One Night . . . Nine Month Scandal.

So Sarah, many congratulations on your brilliant achievement - and thank you for writing a post to share your first Kate Walker.

My First Kate Walker

It's surprisingly easy to list My First Kate Walker because it has stayed in my head (and on my shelf!) for years. It was called Constantine's Revenge. The heroine was called Grace and the story took place on a Greek island (I love Greece) but what I remember most of all was the intensity of the emotion and passion which sums up the essence of the classic Presents read and also classic Kate Walker, an author who knows exactly how to keep the reader reading long after she should have switched off the lights and gone to sleep. Another book that is firmly on my keeper shelf is Bedded by the Greek Billionaire (clearly I have a 'Greek' thing going on here.......) It was one of those books that makes your stomach swoop because the emotions were so up and down - fantastic.

Kate doesn't just understand her craft, she is able to pass on her skills to others, a quality I really admire because I am completely unable to unravel how I do what I do and the thought of passing on tips about my messy creative process to others makes me want to shrink with embarrassment. My writing process reminds me a bit of my children's attempts at cooking - it's a giant mess at the time and there's a lot of cleaning up required, but it all turns our fine in the end (usually). However there is no getting away from the fact that my best advice to an aspiring author would be 'whatever you do, don't write like me'. Kate, however, is a great teacher, a fact proven by the undying popularity of her book 'The 12 point Guide to Writing Romance'. If you're an aspiring writing and you don't have it, then buy it. If you're a writing who hates her process and would like to change it, you should buy it too.

Thanks for having me here, Kate, to celebrate your 25th anniversary. May you continue to pass on your wisdom and write beautiful stories for another 25 years.

Love Sarah

Sarah also writes Medicals and Dr Zinetti's Snow-Kissed Bride is released in November.

Thank you so much Sarah - and congratulations all over again.

A Big Thank You and An Apology

First of all thank you to everyone who posted a birthday message on my last post - they all made me smile. (Yes, Sid - even yours!) What a lovely way to add to my birthday celebrations. And it was great to 'see' so many of the visitors to the blog this way. Now I can put more names to some of the visitor count.

I had a lovely birthday -quiet and relaxing. Just visiting Beverley with the BM and having lunch there then coming home for tea and cake (choice of chocolate or lemon if enquiring minds want to know) with The Offspring and his girlfriend. The sun shone, the cats purred, I had loads of cards . . .just right And at sometime I have Australia to watch and do some more heavy duty research. I need some inspiration with a new plot to think up and to help me decide which of a couple of stories that are brewing in my head I want to go with next.

As an extra birthday present I also came home to another 'classic' reprint of one of my books brought out in Japan to celebrate their 30th anniversary this year. This time it was Constantine's Revenge. So that's 2 reprints and one translation of my recent books already this year in Japan - and it's only just May. (Joanne wondered what happened to the translations of my bokos that I receive - well I am always looking for useful ways of using these, ways that can help people. I have donated some to the international collections in libraries - some specialise in particular languages, some colleges use them for teaching foreign languages - the Japanese translations have been populer there! I've given some to an International Women's Group. Some to the Prison Service where they often have non-English people who need something in their own languages to read . . . but I'm always looking for other worthwhile ways of donating them so if anyone knows of any other places do let me know.)

The apology - I was supposed to be at the Lincoln Book Festival on Sunday 17th with Milly Johnson and Jane Johnson at a talk about romantic fiction at 4pm but sadly the event has been cancelled by the organisers as there was very little interest and only a couple of tickets sold - so if you were planning on heading for Lincoln without having booked, please don't as I won't be there!

Books downunder

I sometimes feel that when I'm posting about my books, that Australian readers get a bit of a raw deal. If I'm not careful I talk about when boks are out in the UK and when they appear in the Presents edition in America - and I tend not to say very much about the fact that they always come out in Australia in the month after their release in UK.

So in this post I'm remedying that a bit and I'm giving a special mention to all my wonderful Australian fans who are so supportive and buy and read my work - and many of them write and tell me how much they enjoy it too. Perhaps I should say G'day to all of you - and thank you! Special wave to Cindy, to Dawn, if you're reading - and to all the wonderful Aussie writers, Trish Morey, Annie West, Ally Blake, Nicola Marsh, Yvonne Lindsay, Anne Gracie, Marion Lennox . . . and I'm sure I've forgotten someone. And a hello to anyone I met when I visited the RWAus and RWNZ conferences - those memories are truly special to me.

I was thinking about my Aussie readers particularly because I've just seen the Australian M&B Sexy cover for my latest book Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife - and I was thrilled by it. The cover of the UK edition is nice enough and the upcoming Presents one is , of course, the same image in the circle on the front cover. But the Australian cover has a bigger expanse of the artwork and that was what made me really happy.

Because it shows how much the artist has taken the trouble to reproduce the scene from the book in the cover artwork. The hero and heroine were pretty well portrayed already, but now I can see that the room they are in is as I described it, that Alannah is wearing the right colour dress, if not exactly as I'd pictured it. And, most important of all, there is a huge bunch of roses on the chair. Those roses are important. They are a vital part of that scene and they can;t be seen on either of the other two covers. So I'm really happy to see them in all their glory on the Australian cover.

Another reason why I wanted to mention the Australian readers is that when I was browsing on the Mills & Boon Australia web site - which is where I spotted the cover of Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife, I also discovered something that I knew nothing about until now. And that is this reprint - The Price of Passion - in The Greek Collection. It's a reprint of my 2000 book, Constantine's Revenge (that book just keeps coming back and back) and it's in this reprint together with Lucy Monroe's The Greek Tycoon's Ultimatum.

So if you missed out on Constantine the first time round - or you want to replace a lost copy. Now's your chance. The Greek Collection is available on the M&B Australia site this month.

A Kate Bit Cats and Covers

Sid is busy working on the choice of winner for Lee's question about your favourite covers . We had a minor crisis when I realised that we had run out of cat crunchies!A quick dash to the supermarket has remedied that and so Sid can now get to work.

In the meantime, I've been looking at the covers listed as your favourites and many of them are my favourites too.

Lots of you chose the cover of the courrent 50th title - The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge - which doesn't surprise me at all. I've loved that cover from the start and it represents the book really well.

Those Sicilians are obviously very popular as several 'Sicilian' covers were chosen. One was specifically mention in the M&B Modern Romance version and that was A Sicilian Husband.

Another favourite of mine that several of you chose is Constantine's Revenge. I loved this one so much that it's the cover that is reproduced on my business cards - and used to be on my bookmarks - Sicilian's Red Hot Revenge is on them now.

As I expected, the wonderfuly rich and exotic cover of At the Sheikh's Command was very popular - both on the Presents and the M&B Modern version. I've posted the UK edition here as it shows more of the artwork on the cover. the artwork

Another cover where the UK version was chosen is Hers For A Night - where the comment was that it was - and still is - fairly rare just to have the hero alone on the front of the book.

The USA cover of The Antonkaos Marriage was another one that was popular and another cover that I totally agree with one of the comments about was the recent #1 bestseller

The Italian's Forced Bride.

Nature Nut Nancy loved the heart shaped surround given to the picture for the special February and Valentine's Day publication. But for me the way this cover is described by Olivia is exactly what I feel when I see this cover and why I personally like it so much:

Without a doubt, my favorite cover is The Italian's Forced Bride. There is no picturesque landscape as background. There are no fabulous diamonds adorning the heroine and nor is she in a flamboyant gown. But what strikes me is the intensity of the emotions of the characters as can be deduced from their body language . The hero pulling the heroine closer to him with subtle pressure. The heroine resting her hand on the hero's lower back. And the utterly sublime and anticipative expressions on them both. This cover always draws me back to re-read this story.

This is just a selection of the covers chosen - others were the Spaniard's Inconvenient Bride, Bound by Blackmail and The Groom's Revenge. If you'd like to see those covers - and more - they are all listed on the Backlist pages of my web site. You'll find a link to that here.

And I'll leave you with another preview of my brand new next cover

- this is the book that's out in November -

so here is the USA Presents cover of The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife

Great Big Blog Party 54 - Lee Hyat

Today's guest blogger is a very special cyber friend - sadly, I've never yet me Lee Hyat in person. But we've known each other for . . .Oh, since Constantine's Revenge was published - and that came out in 2000 so that makes it seven years.

My first 'meeting' with Lee was through a message in a guestbook that I had on my very first web site. She visited, signed her name, and left me a lovely message. I responded and thanked her for dropping by.I'm so glad that I did because we've been together - working on web sites etc at first and later as friends - ever since.

Lee has been involved in romance writing and reading all the time I've known her and she's one of the most active and busy people on the internet that I've ever known. I've lost count of the number of web sites she's worked with, the reviews she's written, the message boards she's moderated. I do remember that one of them was called The Best Reviews - and that just about summed it up. Lee's read so many romances, so she always has a knowledgeable opinion on what she reads - and if she loves something she says so. It's an honour to get a positive review from her because she knows so much and has read so much.

Over the years, she's done interviews with me too and she always asks great questions - the sort of thing I'd want to ask an author myself if I was interviewing someone. Lee's worked on lots of web sites but now she's reached a point where she's set up her own set of sites and she manages those. If you're interested in Romance and want to read more about it - check out My Tote Bag - and if you'd like to get some freebies from authors and collect them, check out Leena's Goodie Room too. You can get your hands on Kate Walker bookmarks and pens that way if you do.

Because that's the other reason Lee's so valuable in my life. She's always there as a friend to chat about books and writers and life in general - but she's also a great back-up to me as an author. Living in the UK, I used to have problems getting things like bookmarks designed, printed - and distributed in America - it took time I didn't have and I am not skilled in design or anything like. But through her company Author Sound Relations, Lee comes to my rescue there. She designs and organises what I need, she distributes them to conferences etc - and I could never have managed to Great Big 50th title Contest that I mentioned in my last post without Lee's help. Just check out the wonderful Spotlight page she made for me - and then she deals with the entries, posts prizes out to the winners . . . and leaves me free to do what I'm supposed to be doing - writing.

Thank you for everything Lee - for your brilliant assistance with my publicity, for your friendship over the years, and for the love of my books that rbought us together. I hope one day we'll finally meet face to face and no longer been just cyber friends.

So here's Lee Hyat

Thank you, Kate, for inviting me to blog on your site. I’m delighted to be a part of your 50th book celebrations! I’m sure everyone’s been enjoying the celebrations with you and you’ve probably been looking back on your marvellous journey, feeling quite satisfied with this great achievement.

The word FIFTY takes on a bigger, more colourful dimension when one looks over all 50 gorgeous covers for Kate’s books, don’t you all agree? It’s like having all the colours of a beautiful rainbow on your bookshelf… delighting the senses and stirring the emotions. I’ve spent quite some time at Kate’s website this past month, reading all the summaries and making a list of the still-elusive Kate Walker books I need to get my hands on.

I know Kate’s mentioned it before in one of her posts but I’m going to repeat it anyway… Kate and I met several years ago when we both happened to discover, quite by chance, each other’s websites on the same day, at almost the same time. We had a good laugh over the coincidence later but it was sort of weird at the time. Like one of those wonderful incidents that hits home with a sense of déjà vu. I think we both knew that day we were destined to get to know each other better. And we did.

Her warmth, fantastic talent and caring attitude has been a great source of inspiration over the years. I think what I respect and admire most about Kate – aside from the fantastic novels she writes…. CONSTANTINE’S REVENGE being one of my all time favorites! – is that she takes the time to inspire aspiring writers and supports them in their achievements so enthusiastically. She always gives back 150% of what she gets. I don’t know quite how she finds the time to do all that she does but she’s brilliant at it.

Kate’s had several exciting events happening lately and I know, like me, lots of people have been checking out the books and summaries on her website. I’d love to know which cover(s) from Kate’s books are your favorites. I’m personally leaning towards all the older UK covers because they’re the colorful ones (before they all became blue), reminding me of the rainbow and in terms of titles, I adore the cover for HOSTAGE BRIDE and … of course…. CONSTANTINE’S REVENGE! So please, if you read this, let me know which cover(s) appeal to you. We all know the stories are fantastic and it’s more difficult to decide with those so I’m making it easy --- just mention the titles featuring the best covers. I’m going to ask Kate to let the marvelous Sid pick a winner from the comments and I’ll send the winner a goodie package with a few good Harlequin Presents novels.

Kate, I’ve enjoyed so many of your books and I’m absolutely thrilled to see you celebrate the 50th one! My heartiest congratulations! I’m looking forward to reading many many more from you in the years ahead!

Lee

GIVEAWAY QUESTION:

Which boks of Kate's do you think have your favourite covers? Which ones do you like the best?

GIVEAWAY PRIZE:

A My Tote Bag goodie package with some great Harlequin Presents novels.

PS From Kate - What a great idea, Lee - I'm so looking forward to the answers to this one. I'd love to know which of my covers you all like best.

For my self, I'd have to agree with Lee that the coer of Constantine's Revenge is wonderful - and I love Vito and Emily on The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge - and I think a lot of you do too.

Which gives me an idea - when Sid's picked a winner (that cat is going to be so busy!) I'll collect up some of the titles and the favourite covers and post then in a separate blog - I might also do one on the covers I like least.