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!

Manga Comic in English

New covers are always great - and it's fascinating to see how the particular art departments in different countries have interpreted the way my hero and heroine look.

 Amongst those, the Manga editions are extra special - totally unique. I recently received two of the Japanese into Manga into English Manga comic editions and the way the hero's hair is shown is often unexpected. 



 After the purple hair for the Twelve Month Mistress, my Sicilian hero  in The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge  does not have a straggly pony tail - and my Greek shipping tycoon newly 'back from the dead' in The Good Greek Wife doesn't sport a bouffant grey/white/black streaked hair do! But they're interesting. 






And it's great to see old books like No Holding Back coming out, revived and revamped in these new formats

Advent Calendar - Catching up again!

Well, that was something I didn't need. Just whehn I thought I was catching  up with the  Advent Calendar, I came to post a new blog and - no internet access!!
Great  - so I've been sitting here, waiting, frustrated - hoping to be able to post  - and not been able to log on. At last, things seem to be sorted,  and I'm able to post again. Let's hope it lasts.

Ok  - so - winners -

Charlie has picked  two names  who will win their choice of books -  and they are:

Marcy who wins  Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife
and
Catherine who wins Kept for Her Baby

Marcy and Catherine please email me (see the link  at the bottom of the page) and send me your postal address and I'll get your prize in the post to you.
I'll be doing another post with your choice of my backlist as a prize  in a couple of days - but there will be a different question.

And today's choice? 
Well today has another 3 in 1 collection on offer as a prize, but  this time, all three books in the collection are my titles - The whole collection is called
Claimed By The Sicilian

And the books in it are:

Sicilian Husband Blackmailed Bride

The Sicilian’s Red-Hot Revenge

The Sicilian’s Wife

And the question -

I spent this weekend writing cards as well as wrapping presents - so when you pick Christmas cards, do you  like to  buy traditional  ones - with a Christmas scene, ths stable and the manger  or perhaps the 3 kings?

Candles Robins and Holly and things like that?

Modern bright colours?

Funny cards - with cartoons on?  ( I just received a great card with Simon's Cat on it - if you like cats and haven't seen some of these videos you will enjoy them"!)

Or gold and glittery images?
Personally I buy a variety and choose ones that I think will suit the person I'm sending it to. But I do always buy cards from charities so that I hope I can help a little bit as well.

You know the drill - just post a message in the comments section  and I'll get Kate's Cat aka Charlie on the job of picking a winner.

Now I just hope I still have an internet connection to post this!

 

Advent Calendar Day 3

I've set myself a problem with getting Charlie to pick the Advent Calendar winners - he's a much younger cat than dear Sid was so he's  out and about a lot more! I managed to get him to pick a winner for the Tote Bags 'n' Blogs prize - the winner was Martha Lawson -    and then he decided that he wanted to go out roaming while there was still some daylight and before it got too cold.  So I'll have to get him back on the job of picking a winner when he comes in for supper.

In the meantime, I want to post up today's question.

Over on Tote Bags, I was talking a bout buying and sharing ebooks - and that was on my mind because I've  been  watching how my ebooks - old and new - are selling since some were re-issued as Harlequin Treasury and M&B Vintage.  It has been interesting to see which of the older books have been bought  since they came out in this format. Amazon show a listing of the bestselling M&B books  and for the past few weeks I've been thrilled to have three books on this list  for almost a month - in spite of the fact that they were all originally published some years ago.

It's made me wonder what sparks off a new interest in an older book - word of mouth? Or some new  readers who have just found my books and want to pick up old ones?   Or readers who read these books when they originally came out  and lost their print copies so now they';re collecting ebook versions to reread. I know that's why I've been buying some of the M&B Vintage classics. 

You can see all the titles of mine that have been reissued as Vintage/Treasury titles in the great banner that Heather has made for the head of this page -  nut there are a couple of other 'oldies' that have been appearing in the Bestseller charts. The top runner for weeks now has been The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge, This is a really special book for me as it was my 50th title published. It came out back in 2007. 

The other books that have had a renewed interest in them have been  a mixed bunch - Kept For Her Baby (2009) has been appearing on the list for the past 4 weeks or so - and  now it's been joined by His Miracle Baby (2001). It makes me wonder if someone is wanting to read some older stories with babies in them. I know so many people have written to me to say that thnis are real heart tugging stories so perhaps that's it?

And then of the Vintage titles, the most popular is The Groom's Revenge  (1997)  and The Unexpected Child (also 1997)  - there's another 'baby book'.

So that set me wondering - what golden oldies would you want to pick up if you were buying |Treasury/Vintage titles?  What older books do you remember that you'd love to go back and reread, to see if they were as good as the way you remember them the first time?

You don't have to name any of my books - but I'd love to know if there are any  you'd like to find.

Today's Advent Calendar prize is one of those  bestselling, second time around books - that very special 50th title of mine - The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge.(Vito's story)
 
They shared one night of passionate lovemaking. Then in the cold light of day, her secret tore them apart. Now Vito has come back – and he’s determined to have his revenge.
Emily Lawton never expected to see him again. But Vito Corsentino has tracked her down and he wants Emily. This time he’ll take her and he’ll be the one to leave when it’s over.
But Emily has one last secret for Vito . . . She’s having his baby and if he finds out, he’ll want more than revenge!

When only seduction will settle old scores.
Part One of The Sicilian Brothers series is Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride - Guido's story
Don't forget - answers in the comments section and I'll get Charlie on to picking a winner  tomorrow.

Oh yes - and if any of you are real collectors and looking for  some real golden oldies to add to your collection - I have some of those on offer in this Advent Calendar including some  that I think are now totally out of print - keep wathcing thnis space! And I hope you'll join in the rest of the contests as you do.

Old books . . . New editions

One of the best things about writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon is the way that the books are published in so many different formats and countries all  over the world.  Every now and then a bundle of new foreign editions appears in the post and I have fun finding out which books they are and where they've been reprinted this time.

I've  had a flurry of these books lately and it's been interesting to see which 'old favourites' have turned up this time.

One is a reprint of a reprint  now appearing as a 'Select'  title in Japan. The Twelve Month Mistress always had one of my favourite covers and now I think it looks really powerful and  atmospheric in this new edition.

Another reprint of an older book appears in a French edition where I'm thrilled to be published together with my lovely friend Trish Morey - who just received her silver pin for her 25th title  -   In this edition  Trish's Secrets of Castillo Del Arco  has my  The Married Mistress included as a free promotional title - a great bargain. And Congratulations Trish on that 'silver' book!


In parcels of books arriving last week, I also  had an Italian edition of The Antonakos Marriage,   The Return of The Stranger in Greek, Spanish, Portugese, and  Hebrew. And The Devil and Miss Jones is out in France this month too.

It's been intriguing to see these foreign language editions appearing on Kindle - and so showing up on my listing on Amazon, where I can now spot German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portugese editons alongside the UK ones.  When I think back to how when I was first published, the books tended to appear on a shelf in a UK bookshop for one month and that was the only time I ever saw them on sale, this is such a great thrill to see  all these editions appearing now.

And then there are the older books, now being reproduced in the Kindle format -  after browsing on Amazon, I discovered that The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge has been brought out in this format last month -  sadly, without the gorgeous sexy cover  of the original. 

And it's great to see that in the top 100  Mills & Boon titles on sale on Amazon today, there  are four 'elderly' Kate Walker titles  listed there - The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife (in Mediterranean  Tycoons)  Kept For Her Baby, The Duke's Secret Wife  and, of course The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge. It's great to see them all enjoyuing a new lease of life  as Kindle books.

And who knows what today's post might bring!

What oldies but goldies romance books would you love to see reappearing on Kindle?

Countdown to Christmas 4

The winner of a copy of At The Sheikh's Command is Lois.  I have to admit that I love the idea of  the traditional Christmas decorations along with Star Wars figures etc.

Lois please email me with your postal address - see the email at the bottom of the blog page.

The contest for a copy of The Alcolar Family is still open over on We Write Romance until  Charlie comes in from the garden - this allows for tiome zone confusions!  Don't forget to answer the question over there to be in with a chance to win.

Today is the third Friday of the month which means that I'm over at the Pink Heart Society  for my regular Date With Kate and I'm taking the Countdown To Christmas with me.

Today's book is another 3 in 1  - with all my titles in it.  it's Claimed by the Sicilian.

 But this time the winning is slightly different. In the spirit of Christmas, this is your chance to win a copy of  this book to give to someone who you think needs or deserves a special gift at this time. You can nominate your mother, your friend, your daughter , a nurse at the local hospital . . .  And I'll send the book to you to give to her.

Claimed by The Sicilian  contains these three novels

The Sicilian's Wife

He gave her marriage - but not his love!

Marriage to Cesare Santorino is all Megan has ever wanted, although never like this! She's in deep trouble and, with no other choice, agrees to Cesare's offer of a mutually beneficial. convenient marriage.
Cesare makes no secret of his desire for her. But what about love? Megan can only hope that her proud Sicilian Husband might eventually come to see his young wife with more than just passion . . .
The story of The Sicilian's Wife is linked to A Sicilian Husband which is the story of Cesare's half-brother Gio. 

Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride

(Guido's story)
Possessed by his passion!
Dark, proud and sinfully gorgeous, Guido Corsentino is determined to reclaim his wife. Outwardly, Amber is perfect and untouchable - but Guido knows the passionate woman inside. One kiss, and he's certain she'll give him whatever he demands . . .
But Guido is also certain of something else: Amber ran away from him once—so she won't be given the opportunity to do so again. He'll protect her from the consequences of her actions . . . in his bed!

The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge

(Vito's story)
They shared one night of passionate lovemaking. Then in the cold light of day, her secret tore them apart. Now Vito has come back – and he’s determined to have his revenge.
Emily Lawton never expected to see him again. But Vito Corsentino has tracked her down and he wants Emily. This time he’ll take her and he’ll be the one to leave when it’s over.
But Emily has one last secret for Vito . . . She’s having his baby and if he finds out, he’ll want more than revenge!
When only seduction will settle old scores.

This book is now sold out in paperback on the Mills & Boon site - but you can still get an ebook copy if you don't win
The Countdown continues back on this blog tomorrow

Covers Contests and Kudos

I posted about covers over on Tote Bags 'N' Blogs yesterday, showing the UK  and the USA cover of The Proud Wife, and Nas very kindly connected me to the Australian cover which is   a much fuller version of the USA  Presents Extra cover and  actually the one that best represents a scene in the book - the board room setting, the passion between the hero and heroine. The purple dress is all wrong - that's just not the impression that my heroine Marina was trying to give - but  you can't have everything!

Anyway, I thought I'd share it with you all here.

Kudos - well, I'd completely forgotten - I've been  so busy that the fact that it's March 7th hadn't registered. So today is the day that the RNA's Pure Passion Awards are handed out. And right about now in London the ceremony is  under way. I have no idea yet who has won anything but as soon as I do know, I'll pass the information on to you - and I'll raise a glass in a toast to all the winners - and all the entrants - later tonight.

If you missed the lists of the books nominated for each of the Pure Passion Awards  then you'll find it here.

And finally - contests -

One of the things I've noticed is how many of you are trying to collect up past books of mine, from my backlist.  The Advent Calendar giveaway created a lot of interest and people were trying to win copies of the older books that they'd missed or didn't have  copies of. So  to celebrate the publication of The Proud Wife - and to mark that 3 weeks at the #1 slot - I've got together with Lee Hyat of  My Tote Bag.

In the run up to the USA publication of The Proud Wife ( April 12th I think!)  we're running a series of contests where the prizes are collectable backlist books of mine. Each  contest, there will be a chance to win different title.   This time the books you can win are: 

A copy of Cordero's Forced Bride & The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge.
You will find the details and the question you need to answer here.  Please respond to Leena and not to me!

And look out for more such contests coming up - I'll let you know too.

Advent Calendar Giveaway Day 5

The winners of yesterday's giveaway are

(yes, winnerS It was wonderful to see that so many of you had something special to celebrate - and some of those things were so very special so I was really glad I didn't have to choose. So I asked Sid to pick a couple of extra people to win copies of The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge too.

And he picked out:

Julie M

Dena

and Eva S

So ladies, will you please email me your postal address kate AT kate-walker.com and I'll organise your prizes. If you already have this book please let me know and I'll try to arrange an alternative.

How fabulous to see all those weddings and anniversaries - and grandchildren and so much good news. I'm really glad I asked that question.

There is an Advent Calendar giveaway today - but it's in a different place this time.

Today is the first Sunday of the month and that's when I blog over on Tote Bags and Blogs so that's where you'll find the giveaway question. I've been logging about the way that getting ready for Christmas is very much like preparing to write and the writing a book. So why no join me over there? You can post your answers to the Giveaway question there too - or here - it doesn't matter which!

The Giveaway book today is another 3 in 1 Collection - MistressesShackled with Rubies is a collection that came out at the start of 2010. It has stories by Lucy Monroe and Lee Wilkinson together with my own Her Secret Bridegroom which was originally published back in 2000.

Bride by deception!

After a whirlwind wedding in Venice, Amy discovered that her brand-new husband had only married her to gain a priceless old ring. Fleeing Italy, Amy never told anyone of her marriage to ruthless billionaire Vincenzo Ravenelli.

Four years later, while Amy knew she'd never really love another man as she loved Vincenzo, she needed to be free of the past. The time had come to return to Venice and confront her secret bridegroom . . .

Hope to see you over on Tote Bags. The December 6th giveaway will be on this blog as usual.

Advent Calendar Giveaway Day 4

The winner of yesterday's Advent Calendar prize - a copy of Mistress Material - goes to CHEY!

So Chey please email me - Kate AT kate-walker.com with your postal address and I'll sort that out for you.

Thank you all for your responses yesterday. It really wasn't a condition of entry that you had to include my name in your list of three - honest! But I was honoured by the number of you who did. And I agree that it is like choosing one of your children. So now you know what it feels like to be asked which of my books is my personal favourite.

That's just not possible to answer. But there are some books which are very special to me and they're more easy to list. Obviously, The Chalk Line which was my very first published title ever - or the book that is today's giveaway prize. The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge is a book I will always remember specially because, as many of you who have been reading this blog for a while will remember, this was my 50th title published back in 2007. And I can say quite honestly that this has one of my favourite ever covers. I love it.

I've chosen this as the prize this morning because I really think we need something red-hot to warm us up with the snow still so very dep outside and temperatures of -4 predicted for the rest of the weekend.

They shared one night of passionate lovemaking. Then in the cold light of day, her secret tore them apart. Now Vito has come back – and he’s determined to have his revenge.

Emily Lawton never expected to see him again. But Vito Corsentino has tracked her down and he wants Emily. This time he’ll take her and he’ ll be the one to leave when it’s over.
But Emily has one last secret for Vito . . . She’s having his baby and if he finds out, he’ll want more than revenge!

The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge is Part Two of the Sicilian Brothers duo, and obviously it's Vito's story. The other part of this series is Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride - Guido's story.

And the question for today's Advent Calendar giveaway is - The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge was a very special, landmark book for me - my 50th published title - so I celebrated that event with other writers, friends and family. And of course this year I've been celebrating my 25th year as a published author. Today I'd like to know - what special event (big or small) have you celebrated in 2010 - or are looking forward to celebrating in 2011.

Answers, as always, in the comments section.

And to answer Nicolettte's question - yes, you are allowed to keep on entering/answering right up until Christmas - I'd love to see your answers. And Sid will be happy to have plenty of cat treats to choose from.

One other thing - for those of you who are interested in the newly-released third edtion of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance , keep your eyes open all over the internet for special contests/giveaways for this special book in the run-up to Christmas. Several people/bloggers/writes I know will be offering a chance to win a copy over the next couple of weeks.

Here are two of them to start with:

Simon Says

The contest is already running

And coming next week:

Quiller's Place

There will be more - or you could just put a copy of this book on your list to Santa and hope to find it in your Christmas Stocking!
It's available to order from any good bookshop or on Amazon /Book Depository/ Amazon.com etc

The trouble with Sid . . .

. . . is that he takes his duties as a host too seriously.

Whenever we have visitors he has to check that the bed is comfortable . . .

Make sure that the chairs are just purrfect . . .

Deal with any paperwork that needs doing . . .

And then he spends lots of time being great company for the visitor before he gets down to the important job in hand . . .

Of picking winners of prizes.

But at last I managed to drag him away from being stroked, having that special spot behind his ears rubbed, being told how handsome he is. . .

to get him to pick a winner of the Claimed by the Sicilian 2 3 in 1 By Request. . . and then he went and picked two names!

So - Crystal B and Karen D - you have each won a copy of Claimed by The Sicilian

Crystal, I have your address - but I'm afraid that I'll have to wait to send your prize until the planes are flying again!

Karen, I think I have yours but I just sent an email to double check.

The answer to the question was that the titles in Claimed by The Sicilian are:
The Sicilian's Wife

Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride

The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge

Coming Up 2 - the Books

As part 2 of looking ahead at what I have coming up this year, I'm looking at the books that will be coming out. I was renewing and updating my signature that goes on my emails and I was pretty surprised to find just how many books were actually on it.

I tend to think in terms of books scheduled to come out as new titles, so that's two coming up, between now and July and the one on my keyboard at the moment, But I forget about the lovely thing that is a reprint - a republication of a past title that has proved really popular and so gets a second time in the limelight when the 'By Request' or other anthologies appear.


So I had a couple of extra books to add to the list for the first half of this year. And that gives me the chance to tell you one of my bits of really nice news.

So starting with January - official publication date is Januray 15th but I expect it may be appearing in the shops right now - it's certainly on sale on the Mills & Boon site and on Amazon.co.uk. This is The Konstantos Marriage Demand

The Greek's ruthless reunion.
Sadie Carteret and Nikos Konstantos were once blissfully in love. They planned the wedding of the year, and their union would create a powerful dynasty.
But business and pleasure should never be mixed. Nikos was accused of scheming for Sadie's money and title, and was systematically destroyed by her family. The wedding was cancelled, the relationship in tatters.
Now the ruthless billionaire has built himself back up from scratch. He will clear his name and demand what was rightfully his...
Sadie must love, honour and...obey...

The Konstantos Marriage Demand will be published in Presents EXTRA in March 2010. And I'm assuming it will be out in Australia either February or March. But while checking the Australian site, I've just discovered another unexpected bit of good news and that is that the on-line read that started off The Alcolar Family is included as a free bonus in a book with Carol Marinelli in February.

Also in January is thge special Bloggers Bundle in ebook form with We Write Romance's special selection of four favourite Presents authors - including my Twelve Month Mistress. ( Also contains books by Michelle Reid, Anne McAllister and Margaret Mayo) To mark this, I'll be talking about writing my book over on We Write Romance's blog for my Kate's Corner post onf the 15th and the other Presents authors - and several others will be joining us there.

Next up is another reprint - and this has one of my favourite covers of the year (well - if you ignore the fact that she's actually wearing pearls not the rubies that are in the title !)

Mistresses Shackled by Rubies is one of a four book collection - The Mistresses Collection that is currently on offer on the Mills & Boon site. (They're offering one book free)

My book in this collection is the 2001 title Her Secret Bridegroom.

Bride by deception!
After a whirlwind wedding in Venice, Amy discovered that her brand-new husband had only married her to gain a priceless old ring. Fleeing Italy, Amy never told anyone of her marriage to ruthless billionaire Vincenzo Ravenelli.
Four years later, while Amy knew she'd never really love another man as she loved Vincenzo, she needed to be free of the past. The time had come to return to venice and confront her secret bridegroom . . .

Next up is that piece of good news - I'm really thrilled by this.

April has the release of Claimed By The Sicilian.

This is one of those 3 in 1 By Request Anthologies - but where these reprints are usually by 3 different authors, this time, all three titles in Claimed By The Sicilian are re-released books of mine.

Sadly, I don't have a cover yet, but I can tell you that the books included in this anthology are
The Sicilian Brothers duo -

Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride, and

The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge

together with the 2002 title The Sicilian's Wife.

I'm really proud to have all three of my Sicilian titles collected together like this.

And finally, in July I have the next brand new title - The Good Greek Wife? This is part of a four book mini series telling modern stories based on the Greek Myths. I just sent in the corrected proofs for this one and I have to say that I'm intrigued to see the other stories in the series. Again, no cover as yet but as soon as I get one I'll post it here for you.

So that's what's happening between now and July - it's a little busy isn't it? But that's the way i like it.

And now I have to get back to work on the current novel so that there will be another title to add to this list after July.

All ABout Alphas 20 - Questions & Answers

Today's question comes from Caroline -

Hi Kate - love the blog and concept!
Unlike Jill my dh is what I would call an Alpha - as a retired detective in the Met police I suppose he had to be! It seems to me that the Alphas I read about (in the Moderns) are always hot shot corporate types / multi billionaires etc. etc. Sometimes I get a bit bored (GASP!) reading about these types. So my question is - Do you think an Alpha male can exist in a Modern who isn't a multi-billionaire / corporate hot shot? Or have I just crossed the line here and it's an absolute no-no for Modern's?
Caroline x

Caroline – the Modern/Presents Romance is a special case in the romance writing world – and now I think that the Modern Heat books are largely coming up close behind. (Please note I said largely – as the editors are always saying It’s all in the execution’ and with any writing one should never say there are hard and fast rules that must never ever be broken).

When I stared writing, way back in 1984, the hero simply had to be successful. This was important because romance is after all a fantasy. The reader wants to be taken away from their real world where bills have to be paid, nappies washed, floors cleaned, houses repaired . . . and into a world where these things matter so much less. They want to feel at the end of a book that the heroine will live happily ever after and part of that ‘happily’ in most people’s dreams is to have enough money not to worry about the cost of anything or their financial security.

My first hero was a very successful photographer – no billions, not even millions in his bank account. Those have come into the romance world as society has changed and probably as we can see that even doctors, lawyers, even managing directors etc can struggle to keep their heads above water. And then there’s the success element – the reader of the Modern/Presents novel wants to see evidence of the hero’s alpha status – and to most people (again I’m not say to everyone) financial success and status is what they see as demonstrating worldly success. In fact it’s ended up that really ‘billionaire’ has simply become shorthand for ‘a very successful man in his own chosen field in the world.’ And that goes into the title as a ‘buzz word’ and perhaps the readers don’t spot any real differences between one billionaire and another.

For me the important thing is that the hero has made his own way in the world. I don’t write about someone who has simply inherited the fortune/company/estate/bank that his father and grandfather and great-grandfather built up, enjoying the success and not putting in the work. Similarly with someone whose family perhaps has an aristocratic history – and he inherits the lot. I need to see someone who is putting in and has put in his own effort, earned his own fortune. So, for example, he has ‘pulled himself up by his bootstraps’ from an inauspicious and impoverished beginning or, in the book I just submitted, the hero’s father lost everything, and he has had to build it all up again.

I have bucked the trend once or twice - The Hired Husband had a hero who entered into a marriage of convenience with the heroine because his company was temporarily in difficulties after his father had died and his stepmother wanted her half of the business. And other authors have done the same – Anne McAllister’s recent One Night Love-Child has the hero, Flynn, working to make his Irish estate pay after death duties etc. It can be done – but, like having a hero who is not ‘tall dark and handsome’ you can get yourself into a situation where your book is a ‘hard sell’ – where it doesn’t have the glamour and fantasy that the reader of this particular line is looking for. And that is part of the huge success of this line. And of course one of the vital elements of the Modern/Presents story is that the hero who has had everything go his way and proved his success suddenly comes up against a situation in which he can throw all the money in the world at the problem and it won’t change a thing. He has to find a very different ‘currency’, and very different way of going about things in order to solve the problem – resolve the conflict he’s caught up in.

The other thing is that money does raise the stakes. Where a heroine has a problem, the bigger the problem the more the emotional intensity , and a problem where, say she has to find a few thousand pounds could very possibly be solved by a visit to a bank – but a few million pounds. . .? Also, if the hero is wealthy there are the problems involved in the way that people react to him – are they attracted by the money/position - or by the real man?

So again it’s a sort of shorthand – it gets the success/position/fantasy part of the story out of the way so that the reader can concentrate on the emotional part of it. Which is what they want to read.

Again when I started out, film stars, singers, authors could all be heroes – I’ve used all of them – but today’s reader knows that sometimes those worlds can be so tawdry, or relationships rarely last that they don’t find them as satisfying at feeding that happy ever after part of the fantasy at the end of the story. I’ve also created heroes who, when the heroines meet them, don’t appear to be hot-shot corporate billionaires – in The Sicilian Brothers duo both Guido and Vito were taking a year out to do something they’d most wanted to do when they’d had to concentrate on building up the company – so Guido was working as a photographer and Vito was a sculptor. This was one of my ways of showing that these guys had more to them than just money-making skills.

So now I need to turn the question back on you – do you think that you can come up with a hero who isn’t “a multi-billionaire / corporate hot shot” and give him the success/status/glamour that the readers want? If you can then go for it – and I hope you succeed. Once again to go back over those often quoted but so important comments – there aren’t any rules and (all together now!) It’s all in the execution.
© Kate Walker 2009