Blogging around

Today I'm guesting over at Lucy Monroe's blog.
It's not officially part of the Big Blog Tour as I was asked  personally by Lucy to join her.

She did an interview - and of course I'm talking about The Return of The Stranger which is out in Presents Extra in October

And  as The Return of The Stranger is part of The Powerful and the Pure mini-series, over on I heart Presents  there's a poll to see which classic romance you'd like to see reworked as a Presents romance. Interestingly, one of the titles listed is  North and South by Mrs Gaskell  which was the book  I was originally asked to do.

I loved the challenge of writing a romance inspired by Wuthering Heights - but I did miss all that heavy duty research of the UK TV mini series with the inspiration of one Richard Armitage.

Oh well, I'm sure I can rope him in as  a potential new hero . . .

Birthdays and Blogs

 A couple of quick  catch ups today.First, and most important  (at least that's how she would think!)  - today is Flora's birthday. It seems amazing but she is four today and now fully grown and a very beautiful, mature Maine Coon queen.

She and Charlie have just celebrated her special day with an extra delicious breakfast of chicken and ham and have gone out into the garden to enjoy the promised sunshine. It's lovely to see them chasing each other around.

And talking of the garden,  I have hardly mentioned them this year - in fact, I've hardly seen them -  but as there was a report recently that hedgehogs are dangerously close to extinction, I thought I'd keep an eye open for the Hecks, the family of hedgehogs who live at the bottom of our garden,.  We heard snuffling  at the the beginning of summer,  and have spotted lots of fresh hedgehog droppings which  told us they were out there, we just hadn't seen them. So  after watching for them specially this last week or so, I'm glad to be able to report that there was at least one very large, mature hedgehog in the middle of the lawn enjoying  the thrown away chicken cat food. He/she was obviously stoking up for the winter hibernation. I don't know if the sightings were of the same hedgehog or two different ones but  at least there is one still in residence in Hedgehog Towers.

 It's going to be a busy week so I need to mention  a  couple of blogs I'm visiting this week - these weren't included in theBig Blog Tour  which is still going on.  Today I have a post on the Harlequin Presents  Authors' Blog  where I'm talking about  the latest book -  The Return of The Stranger - of course .  I was thrilled to see that the book is already shooting up the best seller lists over on Amazon.com even though  it's still on pr-order only and not yet released. And I was stunned that the Goodreads giveaway that Lee Hyat ran for me had nearly 1200 entries - for five copies!

I've also been invited to guest blog on Lucy Monroe's blog this   week - and I just heard that my post will go live on Friday  - there will be a giveaway with this post if you come by and say hello.

And talking of giveaways - the latest winners from the blog tour are :
Desere S from South Africa - from Marlena Cassidy's blog
And
Janice  H  and Glynis S from Talli Roland's blog (Janice and Glynis please contact me with your postal addresses so I can send out your prizes. 

The Romance Book Paradise  blog hosted by Nas Dean is still open.  And you can find out the next official stop on the blog tour by checking my author page here.

Good News 2

It seems it could be good news week - lots of nice things happening.

So first - it's a very special day for my dear friend - one of the ones I'm 'Cyber Mum' to - And that's Anna Louise Lucia.

Today is the official publication day for her very first book Run Among Thorns. Congratulations Anna!

I'm lucky enough to have my hands on a copy of the book. I've started it and I'm hooked. I just don't want to put it down and it kept me from sleeping for a l-0-n-g time last night. Great stuff. (and it got a 4 1/2 star review from Romantic Times). Anna's having a blog party to celebrate - so why not go over there and congratulate her?

Second - my own good news. The official announcement isn't up on I Heart Presents yet, but as June 1st was the official launch date, I can announce it here now -

Here's the Press Release for this - a very special link between Harlequin and Daily Lit - a company that sends books out in instalments - by email.

DailyLit Offers Free Harlequin Novel

Innovative Publisher Sends Complimentary Popular Romance Novel via E-Mail Instalments for Summer Promotion

Mamaroneck, New York – June 1, 2008 – DailyLit (http://www.dailylit.com/), the leading digital publisher and service that allows entire books to be read via short email/RSS instalments, has released a front list Harlequin title that is part of one of their most popular series, at no charge, for a limited time only.

Newly released SPANISH BILLIONAIRE, INNOCENT WIFE, part of the successful Harlequin Presents series, is now available for free via DailyLit and was written by popular Harlequin author, Kate Walker. In this summer promotion, the book will be free until August 31, 2008. Over 200 Harlequin titles are currently available for purchase from DailyLit.com.

“Our readers are having a love affair with digital, and DailyLit is an excellent alternative format for our books to reach the public” said Brent Lewis, V.P. Digital & Internet at Harlequin Enterprises. “Reading Harlequin books in installments on any device is easy and accessible to busy readers everywhere. This is a great opportunity for promotion of a popular title and DailyLit itself.”

“We have had a wonderful response from Harlequin fans using DailyLit to receive these novels, and we wanted to give them something back in return,” said Susan Danziger, President and Publisher of DailyLit. “We thought what better way than to offer them a brand new title by one of their most popular authors.”

-more-

ABOUT HARLEQUIN
Harlequin Enterprises Limited is the global leader in series romance and one of the world’s leading publishers of women’s fiction, with titles issued worldwide in 29 languages and sold in 107 international markets. The company produces 120 titles monthly and publishes more than 1,200 authors from around the world. Harlequin Enterprises Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation, a broadly based media company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TS.B). Harlequin’s Web site is located at www.eHarlequin.com. Harlequin has offices in 18 countries, including offices in Toronto, New York and London. For more information please visit http://www.eharlequin/ or press.eHarlequin.com.

ABOUT DAILYLIT
DailyLit (http://www.dailylit.com/) is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. DailyLit currently features over 900 classic and contemporary books available for free or on a Pay-Per-Read basis. Short book installments are sent via e-mail/RSS feeds and arrive in a reader’s Inbox—which can be read on an iPhone, Blackberry or other Smartphone—according to the schedule set by each reader (e.g. 7:00am every weekday). Installments can be read in less than 5 minutes, and additional installments are available on demand. DailyLit’s titles include bestselling and award winning titles, from literary fiction and romance to language learning and science fiction. Co-founded by a team of publishing professionals and technology experts, DailyLit is headquartered in Mamaroneck, New York.

On a personal level, I'm so excited to be part of this new initiative and for my book to be headlining this innovative approach to delivering romance to readers. And I'm honoured that Harlequin and Daily Lit chose my book to headline this special enterprise. I hope it's a brilliant success.

Finally - for today - as it's now June, the ebook Bundle of Kate Walker's Alcolar Family is now published and on sale here on eHarlequin. It's already the top-selling bundle download for this month.

I'm just happy that it's the full collection of Alcolar stories - with all 3 books and

the on-line read as well.

Four fiery Latin lovers, with money and sex appeal galore...four sexy, spirited women who want marriage, but on their own terms. Put them together and you have a recipe for stormy conflict, tempestuous misunderstandings...and searing desire. Top selling Harlequin Presents author Kate Walker’s Alcolar Family series will stir your emotions and stoke your imagination with its breathtaking passion and heartstopping romance. Bundle includes Twelve-Month Mistress, The Spaniard’s Inconvenient Wife and Bound by Blackmail. And as a very special free bonus, also included in this bundle is Wife for Real, the original online read that inspired Kate Walker to create the Alcolar family trilogy, available now for the first time ever.

Oh - and I'm also blogging over with Lucy Monroe today to celebrate - and I'm talking about being Swamped by Spaniards.