New books/Old Books

I do love the way that books I wrote years ago can suddenly reappear in a new edition - a new translation. Or a reprint of a translation . . . or, as in this case, in a whole new version of an old story that's been reprinted several times already.

Today on Amazon, I was delighted to spot that my 1997 book- The Groom's Revenge had appeared in a brand new form - the  Manga edition turned into an English version as one of the line of Harlequin  Comic.  These editions are great fun because you get all the heightened emotion of the Manga version, the amazing illustrations,  but the story is all in English instead of the Japanese  translation of the original.  So, while I've always loved the Manga version, it's great to be able to actually read this version and understand it.

Checking back to see exactly when the first UK (1997) and  USA (1999)

editions appeared, I was fascinated to see the way the cover had changed along the way too. The first edition had a very square-jawed hero  and he appeared on the first Japanese edition.

But then the book was reprinted - again - in Japan in 2009  (as  a 'Classic)
 and that had a  very different cover . Now here's the Manga edition and once again my hero and heroine are reinvented and appear in a new version - and new illustrations.

I'm delighted to see this new re-reprint of a book that's  - eek - over 20 years old!

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!

More Celebrations

It seems as if there are 'Harlequin Birthdays' appearing all over the place. Yesterday I got a package of international editions of my books and amongt them was a Japanese edition with the special flash on it for Harlequin Japan's 30th Anniversary.

So with M&B's Centenary, Harlequin USA's Diamond Anniversary and now Japan's 30th, there is sop much evidence of how just long lasting and popular Harlequin Romances are. And who worldwide that popularity is. It's a great feeling to be part of such a major force in popular reading.

And a little scary to think that of those 30 years that Harlequin Japan has been around, I'll soon have been published for 25 of them! December 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of my very first published book. I'm working on celebrations for that myself.

And if there's something that brought this home to me even more, it's the fact that this particular Japanese translation is actually a reprint of one of my earlier books. It's The Groom's Revenge which was originally published in 1997 - 12 years ago! This was first published in Japan in 1997 and now it's being reissued as a 'Classic' in their 30th year.

Which is pretty amazing when I was just talking to someone about my childhood in Yorkshire when no one believed I would ever achieve my ambition of writing a single book for publication, never mind still be writing them 25 years after I first started out.

And that's something that will be very much in my mind when I head for Fishguard and the Writers' and Artists' Weekend two weeks from today. I have an interesting class, the youngest of which is just 16. How great that she - with her mother - is serious enough about her writing to go on a weekend course to learn as much as she can. I would have loved to do that when I was 16.

That's one of the reasons why I enjoy teaching writing when I can fit it in. I can't guarantee anything. My students may never ever be published - or one of them may just be the next JK Rowling - but either way they are putting their energies, time and enthusiasm into learning and trying and I really respect that.

So I'm looking forward to Fishguard. And when you add in the fact that I'll also be meeting up with wonderful friends Anne and Gerry Hobbs who run these weekends as well as the fabulous Caerleon Writers' Holidays (where I'll also be teaching in July) then I just can't wait.

Incidentally, Caerleon Writers' Holidays are celebrating their 25th this year too. Obviously 1984 was a very good year!