For my Australian Readers - part 2!

You might remember that back on   - in this post -  I told you how some  of my books would

a. be republished

and

b. would be published at a  different time to the dates on which they were published in the UK and USA

I thought I had the most up to date information then - but it seems not . . .  The publication dates have changed again - at least for the two newest novels of mine to be published . So let me bring you  up to date.

I originally  said that following this lovely review on the Australian Romance Readers Association site – and the fact that they posted it as a Featured book on their Facebook Convention page, I’ve had people asking me when Olivero’s Outrageous Proposal will appear on the bookshop shelves in Australia. Usually the Australian publication is pretty much simultaneous with the UK and  USA editions, but this time  the books have been changed around rather – so the news is that Olivero’s Outrageous Proposal will not be out in Australia until December.

Now I have to amend that to - Olivero's Outrageous Proposal will not be published in Australia until January.

So  I’m sorry to everyone who is waiting to read it. It is coming – promise!  - but there will be a little wait before it does.

That's the bad news - but the good news is that the latest novel - Destined for the Desert King -

will be published simultaneously  with the UK and USA publication dates. So that is the book that will be out in Australia in December - and the  better news is that that book published in December will be followed  by the January publication of Olivero's Outrageous Proposal.   So instead of having to wait another few months for the next Kate Walker title, you'll be able to read both of these books one after the other - in December and then January.

I hope this makes up for the wait.

But if it helps  you get through the weeks before that release date – I do have news of two other  releases in Australia coming up in the next few months.

Firstly there will be a reprint of a 2001 book  - Her Secret Bridegroom.  This will be in a special  Latin Lovers collection together with books by Miranda Lee and Lynne Graham.   I'm calling  cover of this book ‘the Chest’ – I’m sure you can see why.

Secondly, there will be a reprint collection of

the three linked Alcolar Family stories –

The Twelve Month Mistress

The Spaniard’s Inconvenient Bride

Bound By Blackmail

Which tell the stories of Joaquin, Ramon and Mercedes Alcolar – Proud modern day Spanish aristocrats – passion is their birthright!

The trilogy will be released under the title The Notorious Alcolars, and this should be out in 

September.  I now have a copy of the cover to show you  - and I'm really pleased that they've decided to use my favourite cover from the 3 books in the series. You can see it at the top of this post  - this was the cover of The Spaniard's Inconvenient Bride.

And just in case you wanted to  remind yourself of the story that started this all off – before you read/reread the trilogy  then don’t forget that the story of Alex Alcolar – Wife For Real – is available on the eHarlequin web site  here.


PS  - a reminder for anyone who has bought The Alcolar Family bundle from the Harlequin web site - this originally had the wrong story included  in it. Where it should have  been my story Wife For Real  telling the story of Alex Alcolar, there was a book by Jennifer Taylor with the same name. Since then I've been working with editorial and  everything has been sorted out - with the correct version of Wife For Real included in this collection. So if you still have that story and you'd like the one I wrote - you can update your ebook by logging into the place you bought it.  (I understand that the problems have mainly been with Barnes & Noble)

Phew!I hope that brings everything up to date!  At least you know that the two books are coming - soon!  I'll remind you all about that when I'm celebrating the publication of Destined for the Desert King in December!

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Specially for Australian readers

Following this lovely review on the Australian Romance Readers Association site – and the fact that they posted it as a Featured book on their Facebook Convention page, I’ve had people asking me when Olivero’s Outrageous Proposal will appear on the bookshop shelves in Australia. Usually the Australian publication is pretty much simultaneous with the UK and  USA editions, but this time  the books have been changed around rather – so the news is that Olivero’s Outrageous Proposal will not be out in Australia until December.

So  I’m sorry to everyone who is waiting to read it. It is coming – promise!  - but there will be a little wait before it does.

But if it helps  you get through the weeks before that release date – I do have news of two other  releases in Australia coming up in the next few months.

Firstly there will be a reprint of a 2001 book  - Her Secret Bridegroom.  This will be in a special  Latin Lovers collection together with books by Miranda Lee and Lynne Graham.   I'm calling  cover of this book ‘the Chest’ – I’m sure you can see why.

Secondly, there will be a reprint collection of

the three linked Alcolar Family stories –

The Twelve Month Mistress

The Spaniard’s Inconvenient Bride

Bound By Blackmail

Which tell the stories of Joaquin, Ramon and Mercedes Alcolar – Proud modern day Spanish aristocrats – passion is their birthright!

I don’t have a copy of the cover to show you yet but the trilogy will be released under the title The Notorious Alcolars, and this should be out in September.

And just in case you wanted to  remind yourself of the story that started this all off – before you read/reread the trilogy  then don’t forget that the story of Alex Alcolar – Wife For Real – is available on the eHarlequin web site  here.

Finding books - part two - The Alcolar Family

Back in   . . . err ,  when was it?  2004 -   I was asked to write a short story to be serialised on eHarlequin.  That story was called Wife For Real and it was about  Alex Alcolar  and his heroine Louise.   It was good fun - and an interesting writing exercise  - putting everything into such a very few words (10,000) and splitting it into  eight chapters  each one ending on a cliff hanger to keep readers  coming back for more.

When the story was posted on  the eHarlequin site, readers enjoyed it and  when  they got to the end - and discovered that Alex had a family - two brothers and a sister -  they wanted  to know more about them. As a result, by popular request,  I wrote  3 full length novels
The Twelve Month Mistress  - which was Joaquin's story
The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife  which was
Ramon's story
and  Bound By Blackmail which was the story of the one Alcolar Daughter - Mercedes

Later these  3 stories were all republished in a 3 in 1 By Request   The Alcolar Family (in the UK)   and Kate Walker's Alcolar Family Bundle  in Presents.  The Alcolar Family (UK)  didn't have a copy of Wife For Real in it - but  Kate Walker's Alcolar Family Bundle did .  Or it should have done - it was meant to do  -  but initially there was a problem. The edition of Wife For Real include
d in this bundle was  not my short story but a novel by Jennifer Taylor  - a Harlequin Romance.    So people who wanted Alex's story were disappointed.

I talked to editorial back then and had thought that the situation  was sorted out  - but it seems some of the  mixed up ebook editions have stuck around. I've had some emails from readers who were looking for the  bundle with the Kate Walker story Wife For Real in them.  When they bought the  books and found there was Jennifer's story it was not the one they were looking for.

I've also had emails from people who have bought the UK  Alcolar Family  3 in 1  -   or bought each of the original Alcolar Family titles as separate books or ebooks - they'v e not been able to get their hands on a copy of  Wife For Real either.

I took this up with my editor, and with the people who organise Harlequin ebooks. They checked on the details of this for me,  and we want to apologise to anyone who ended up with the wrong version of Wife For Real  even after all a this time.

But for everyone who's been affected by this situation -  at last I have some news for you.

 I’m really happy to say that  the production team has been working on this problem and they have  revised the content of this book bundle  so that it now contains the right version of Wife For Real. As  I understand it, if you have already bought one version you should be able to log in to the site  where you bought it and download the revised version so that you have  all of The Alcolar Family on your reader.   I hope this works for you.

Otherwise, they have also put the novella up on eHarlequin again as an on-line read so that people

can get to see it there  and find out about Alex Alcolar and his story.

You should find it here.

This on line read could end up being even more important,  because I understand that in the autumn - about September of so  - the Alcolar Family trilogy will be republished in Australia under the title The Notorious Alcolars.   I haven't yet been able to find out if Wife For Real is included in this collection - but if it's not there, I shall now be able to let readers  know about the on-line read version of this novella.

So  if you've been looking for a copy of Alex Alcolar's story Wife For Real   you should now be able to find it. Either update your Alcolar Family Bundle - or go to the   eHarlequin site  and read the story there.

And if you haven't read any of the Alcolar family books, then maybe, as happened  ten + years ago, reading about Alex and Louise will whet your appetite to find out more about  the rest of his family.

Sold out!

Congratulations to the 3 finalists in the So You think You Can Write contest.  If you haven’t read their entries – check them out on the SYTYCW page.    And look out for more news on other entries that have attracted attention and who may well be contacted by  the editors very soon.

Good luck to everyone  involved – and keep writing! Even if you’re not in this  list – or the longer list of finalists, the only way to reach your dream of being published is to keep writing, keep learning,  keep trying.

Oh – and talking of learning. I have just organised some updates on my web site, one of which was to put the updated details of  my Advanced Contemporary Romance WritingCourse in Fishguard on the Events page but   last night I heard that the final place on in February 2013 has been booked – so this course is now officially sold out.  Sorry to anyone who had hoped to get a place for 2013. But don’t forget – you can still send an email to show your interest and Gerry Hobbs will put your name on the waiting list in case anyone who has booked  drops out between now and February – this will be on a first come, first served basis so get you name in now if you  want to secure any place that comes free.

Finally, if you've missed it until now  -  my free online read, Wife For Real is running on the Mills & Boon web site. This is the story of Alexander Alcolar – the first of the Alcolar Family whose story appeared in the  called surprisingly enough – The Alcolar Family (and yes- Fiona  - they were originally 3 separate titles).   Wife For Real is now at Chapter 6 where the story is about to come to its emotional climax.  

I’ve been reading through this again for the first time in ages and I remember how much I had to pare it down to fit it into the short, serial format of the on-line reads. There was no room for extras, much description or anything but the immediate story. It was a fascinating exercise – getting the emotional impact of the story into just 10,000 words.  Reading it, I’ve been thinking how it could also be used  as a long, detailed plan of a novel, sketching out the emotional journey of the hero and heroine and  then it would be possible to go back and shade in all the details later.

I’m not very much of a planner,  but that way might work for some who need more structure. (Hmm – note to self – look at this from the point of view of  teaching on that Contemporary Romance Writing course. . . .

Good news for Australian readers

One of the books I get enquiries about so often from my Australian readers is A Sicilian Husband.  This is because this novel is part of a duo – the first title being The Sicilian’s Wife.

The first book tells the story of Cesare Santorino and his heroine Megan, and in that story readers met Cesare’s half-brother Gio Cardelli. Gio had adored his wife and had been heart-broken when  she had died tragically and far too young.

So many readers wanted to read Gio’s story – it was published in 2003 here in the UK, 2004 in America. But in Australia, it wasn’t  easy to find as it was published in a multipack of ‘Winter Warmers’ rather than as a separate title.

So if you missed it then, I have good news for you – and it’s great news for me too. Mills & Boon Australia is publishing a special reprint of both  these titles in a double volume  in their Bestsellers Collection which is out this month.

I’m so thrilled  about this for a couple of reasons – on is that A Sicilian Husband is one of my own personal favourites amongst my books. I always loved Gio from the moment I introduced him in Maegan and Cesare’s story. And secondly because it’s a real honour to have  two of my stories  reprinted in the special Bestseller series. It’s something I’ve dreamed of for a long time – and I’m really happy that the books selected are these two titles.

So I hope that if you’re one of my wonderful Australian readers who missed Gio’s story (or perhaps Cesare’s)  the first time around, or perhaps you just want to replace an old/missing edition of these stories you’ll be as glad as I am to see them back again. Or it they’re totally new to you – really hope you enjoy them this time around.

Oh - and I've  just discovered that over on the Mills & Boon website,  my novella Wife For Real is being republished  in their On Line Reads. This is the very first  story in  the series The Alcolar Family.  It isn't  available  in the reprint of the 3 in 1 Collection  - so if you wanted to know how that series began  - and to learn about Alex Alcolar  now's your chance to catch up.

(Wife For Real is included in the ebook collection of The Alcolar Family on Harlequin web site too)

Tomorrow in the first Friday in November which means that I will be blogging over on the Pink Hearts Society  site. I’m posting a second set of thoughts following on  from the So You Think You Can Write Contest  - hope to see you there!

Advent Calendar Giveaway Day 13

So we're over halfway with the Advent Calendar giveaway. It's been fun checking through my book stock and finding different titles to use as prizes. So far I haven't repeated any books, but I'm not sure how long I can continue with that. We'll see - but there will be giveaway books right up until Christmas Day.

The winner for yesterday's copy of The Good Greek Wife is - well, the winners are because once again Sid snaffled two treats in one mouthful - so the winners are

Aine and

Desere

And I need to remind winners that you need to email me with your postal address or I can't get the prize to you. I'm still waiting to hear from
Dena

Alicia

Ros
I can't send books out when I don't know where they're going!

Today's giveaway book is The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife and this is another book (the second) in The Alcolar Family trilogy. (Unfortunately I don't have any copies of the first title in this mini-series The Twelve Month Mistress in stock - they all went out as prizes etc long ago. It was a very popular title. But it is still available in ebook form as are all the other titles, or the full trilogy as a 'bundle'.)

Anyway - The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife - Ramon's story.

The convenient solution is to marry her!

Ramon Dario desperately wants the Medrano company. But the deal has a shocking condition - marriage to the notorious Estrella Medrano. Ramon won't be forced into anything, least of all into wedding a scarlet woman!

But Estrella is not what he imagined. Ramon can't get her gorgeous body out of his mind. He even starts to believe she may not deserve her reputation.

A marriage of convenience - and desire - might be a good deal after all...

The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife has a great cover. The red dress is actually very important in the story - though it doesn't really look like the one in the picture. Why? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out. I remember that the inspiration for the scene in which the heroine is wearing this dress came to me one day when I was at lunch with my editor and she told me about a wedding she'd just attended . . . I can still remember going home on the train and pulling out my notebook and scribbling frantically, determined not to let the idea vanish.

If you haven't read the book, you'll have to try to win it to find out why!

And to do that you'll need to answer today's question which is all about clothes -

What will you be wearing on Christmas Day? Do you plan to dress up, really go for glamour, or do you prefer to keep things casual? Do you wear the same thing all day or change for dinner - or a get-together in the evening?: Tell me about your planned outfit - or the one for the best party you're going to. Or the cosy sweater and jeans you plan to curl up and read in!

Answers in the comments as usual please.

Oh - and with reference to The Alcolar Family Trilogy, I've just had a couple of enquiries about the on-line short story that started off this mini series when it was published on eHarlequin. This story was called Wife For Real.

So there are three ways you can find this -

One is to go to the Mills and Boon site and find the link in the sidebar that says Free Onl Line Reads - it's just below the new M&B symbol - & - and above the list of all the series on sale and there's a row of books to indicate this, currently topped with snow! Click on the link which will take you to the Online Read page with the current onl ine read posted there

You'll see a pink heading to the Online Read Library where it says read past serials in our library

Click on this link and scroll down - serials are in alphabetical order of title so Wife For Real is close to the bottom of this page

The other way is to buy an ebook version - to download to your reader or even your computer - this is only $0.89 on eHarlequin - you go to the eHarlequin site or follow one of the links to ebooks on my web site and put Wife For Real in the search box there. Or you can go direct here

so you can get a copy of the story.

Finally, if you buy the ebook bundle of The Alcolar Family from eHarlequin then this bundle contains all three novels and the online short story in one pack.

More Alcolars

I'm busy panicking and packing as I prepare for RWA San Francisco - we fly out on Monday morning but have to get to London tomorrow so I'm at the 'how many tee shirts do I need for one week + two days?' stage.

And I'm having to be very careful not to pack a cat. Flora has got to know qhat a suitcase means and so she can be found sitting by the cases I've taken up to the bedroom with a very reproachful look on her face and is obviously making a statement that good mummies don't ever pack suitcases. Only bad Mummies pack cases and abandon their kittens like this.

But she will soon have plenty of company when the Grandkits return and this is once more a six cat household. They are staying here next week while their house is rewired this time so Flora will have plenty of company and lots of attention from The Offspring and his partner - and probably some attention from Meg, Moz and Stumpy too.

A lovely surprise in the post today - the Alcolars yet again. This time, totally unexpectedly, it's a German edition of the whole Alcolar Family trilogy all collected in one volume as a 'Sommer Spezial' . And this collection has all the stories - including that elusive Wife For Real or Alex's story.

I was intrigued to see that inside this edition someone has prepared an Alcolar Family tree to explain the rather convoluted family relationships of the whole Alcolar Family. I've never had that done before!

Right - back to the packing - first removing one grey Maine Coon teenager from on top of a bundle of underwear . . . . Bad mummy.

Cat Days of summer

Yes, I know it's supposed to be the Dog Days, but as I'm back to having a six cat household, I think Cat Days are much more appropriate. The Offspring and his lovely partner are having their house rewired and new central heating put in so while the place is a wreck and the floorboards are up, exposing lots of interesting places where an inquisitive cat might get lost, the Grandkits, Meg, Mozzie and Stumpy are back with me - and Flora is not best pleased!

Sid doesn't mind so much - he has taken quite a fancy to Moz and they even touched noses yesterday. But then Moz looks very much like a smaller feminine version of Sid so he's bound to think she's goodlooking.

I made an unexpected discovery yesterday about the Harlequin ebook bundle version of The Alcolar Family Trilogy. The bundle is supposed to contain all the Alcolar books - That's The 12 Month Mistress, The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife, Bound By Blackmail and the on-line read that started off the whole thing - Wife For Real which is Alex Alcolar's story. The bundle is specially advertised as being unique in having this:

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.

But over on eHarlequin, I was chatting with Deb who had bought the Alcolar Family Trilogy and downloaded it onto her Kindle. I was puzzled because she had reviewed a book about two characters called Jordan and Katherine under the title of Wife For Real. Now the hero and heroine in my story are called Alex and Louise and the plot of this read is nothing like the summary Deb posted.

So I have no idea what has happened here. And I don't know whether it has just happened to Deb's download , the Kindle downloads, or all the ebook bundles. I'm just glad that I found out about this mistake before the bundle had been on sale for too long. I've been making enquiries about the problem in the hope of finding out what's going on. Just as soon as I learn anything about it and have any information, I'll pass it on to you.

But in the meantime, if you have bought the ebook bundle version of The Alcolar Family and there is the story of Jordan and Katherine included in it instead of the story of Alex Alcolar and Louise, then please contact Customer Care on eHarlequin and let them know about the problem.

Next month will see the publication of the print version of The Alcolar Family in the UK in the By request series. (Though it's already available over on the Mills and Boon website). This edition has the three main stories in it. And if you want to read Alex's story then just a reminder that it's included in the on-line read library on the M&B site - or you can buy it as an ebook (for just $0.99) on eHarlequin

Oh - and talking about ebooks, if you haven't already taken up the offer then don't forget that my June release Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife is still available to download for free on the DailyLit site. You can either download Raul and Alannah's story in 56 daily instalments or click to have it downloaded immediately.

This offer is available for the rest of July and August.

The Alcolar Family

It's here! I finally got to see it - and to have a copy in my hand!

What am I talking about?

The Alcolar Family Trilogy, that's what!


My author copies arrived yesterday and I've been able to see it 'in the paper' for the first time.


And it's a wonderful feeling.

I always love the moment when the published editions of my books arrive. When I see the brand new covers, the actual pages with my words on them. And this time was really special. This is a substantial volume, 3 different stories, around 555 pages of text, and all of them mine! I've had 3 in 1 By Request volumes before now, but I've shared them with other writers - this one, with it's wonderful sunset on a beach cover is all mine! (OK - the cover's not entirely mine, but when I share it with a very special friend from 'downunder' on Trish Morey's great book A Virgin for the Taking, I'm not going to complain - and it is a great cover!)


I always loved the 'shout line' for this mini series -

Proud Spanish aristocrats . . . Passion is their birthright . . .

And there it is on the back of the collected volume, together with the names of all the three titles in the trilogy. The Twelve Month Mistress, The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife and Bound by Blackmail. The only thing that would have made it even more perfect would have been if the on-line story that started this whole thing off had managed to be included in this volume.

But at least that is in the ebook 'bundle' that is currently riding high on the eHarlequin ebooks sales charts - it's been the best selling 'bundle' all month, right from the start.

This ebook bundle does include that story Wife For Real so that every single one of those Alcolar brothers (and sister) are collected together in one place.

To have this trilogy republished as a collection is such a special moment for me - and to have it appear now, in the middle of Mills & Boon's Centenary year, is an extra special thrill. In August I'll be running a special contest to celebrate - and that will be as well as my usual Tote Bag of Books Contest which I run every summer which is also coming up. (You didn't think I'd forgotten that did you? I've been busily collecting up books to go in this year's tote and I already have a wonderful selection).


But if you want to get your hands on the print copy of The Alcolar Family Trilogy it will be available on the Mills & Boon Website from the start of July.


And for international readers, the good news is that the trilogy will also be available on The Book Depository in August, as will The Duke's Secret Wife in the same month. Don't forget that The Book Depository offers free international delivery - that's worldwide - on all the books it stocks, so if you're itching to get your hands on any of the special Mills & boon Centenary publications and they're not available where you are, then The Book Depository is the place to look. (And no, I don't get commission from TBD but I do like to think that my readers all over the world can get their hands on the books they want as cheaply possible. And they do also stock the 2nd edition of the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance which I know a lot of you have been looking for.)

Oh - and mention of The Duke's Secret Wife reminds me that I haven't announced the winners of the thank you prize for answering my questions about author's web sites and what you like or don't like about them. It's been a hectic week, but I finally managed to grab hold of Sid and put him to work. (work?) And the winners are:

Ellen and Dina

So Ellen and Dina will you please send me your mailing address and I'll get those copies of the book in the post to you. And to everyone else who answered both on my blog and in private - thank you so much - you've been a great help.

Good News Part One

I wrote a lot of blogs this week - I have a new book out and I've been asked to help a special friend celebrate a special book (haven't written that one yet!) . I had my PHS Column to write and and I was asked to guest on a couple of blogs - I Heart Presents, and I'll be Blogging With Lucy Monroe just as soon as June dawns . . . and just about all of these seem to have something of a common theme - and that involved Spaniards.

For a start, the book I have out this month has a Spanish hero. With a title like Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife, that's sort of obvious. And I have good news to share on that book as and when . . Not being deliberately mean - the good news starts on June 1st and I'm waiting for the powers that be to announce if officially. But as I'm dropping hints over on I Heart Presents, I'll do the same here and mention the words Daily Lit .

Anyway, back to those Spaniards . . . there are lots of them around at the moment.

There's Raul in Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife. (And if you remember the answer from the Here Come the Grooms contest I ran with Anne McAllister and Liz Fielding, his real name is Don Raul Esteban Marquez Marcin - not Raul Esteban as the blurb on the back of the book has it.

And of course there's Santos - Santos Cordero in the book I've just finished. The one that's now titled Cordero's Forced Bride.

And then there's the Spaniard who appears in the Centenary Celebration Collection - in The Duke's Secret Wife. His name is Don Luis Alejandro de Silva

And then, if that wasn't enough - well . . remember this?

Back in February, I came home from the 100th Birthday party, really excited and happy because I'd learned that Mills & Boon were reprinting the three books in the Alcolar Family trilogy in one By Request volume in August. That was such a thrill.

But now I've had even more good news about the Alcolars - and that is that the whole trilogy - all four books of it - will be released as an ebook Bundle on June 1st.

Hey - hang on, I can hear you thinking. Four books? How can a trilogy have four books?

Well, yes - OK - four books is a quartet. But if you remember, the very first story about any of the Alcolars was Wife For Real. That was the one where Alex Alcolar appeared - and everyone discovered at the end of the story that Alex had two brothers and a sister. As a result, people wanted to know what happened to Joaquin, Ramon and Mercedes. And so, by popular demand, The Alcolar Family was written.

A lot or readers found it difficult to get hold of a copy of Wife For Real. The on-line read on eHarlequin was taken down and it was difficult to track it down. I think it may still be available in the On Line Read Library on the Mills & Boon Site - I'm telling you this because the By Request reprint of the trilogy doesn't have this title in it.

But the ebook Bundle does!

I'm so pleased about this because it means that for the first time all the Alcolar stories are together in one complete set. And that means that so many people who have written to me because they haven't been able to collect the set, or they've missed out on Alex's story, can now download the lot in one quick and easy bundle. And that 'bundle' is going to be part of my backlist over on eHarlequin so it will be available for a l-o-n-g time.

Here's what the ebook summary has to say about The Alcolar Trilogy Bundle

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.

You can find the Alcolar Family ebundle here on eHarlequin.

So that's part one - I'm hoping I can let you know part two . . .well, it starts of June 1st too so I should be able to tell you that

Christmas Stocking Contest - Final Book details

It's a bright and crisp day here - but very cold. I've been out putting suet blocks on the bird table and soaking mealworms to feed the young robin who has visited several times.

It's beautiful and bearable - but I've been thinking of friends and readers in America who are suffering much much worse conditions in the ice storms sweeping the country. Take care and I hope you and your families keep safe and warm.

So today I have the last few books from the Christmas Stocking to tell you about.

First up is one of two titles by a lovely friend and writer, whose name is very appropriate for this seasonal contest - and that's Holly Jacobs. Holly sent me two titles - one a trilogy that she shares with Sherryl Woods and Darlene Gardener called Dashing Through the Mall. Holly's story in this volume is Deck The Halls.

The other book is Confessions of a Party Crasher -
Sneaking in is the easy part. But living it down is tough.

One corporate pink slip, and Morgan Miller is back in Pittsburgh bunking next to her mother. But when Morgan agrees to attend a posh wedding reception for fabulous 'Penny and Sam', she's appalled to learn her invitation is far from legitimate.

Though her friends agree that party crashing is a superlative way to meet men, Morgan's life is becoming completely unmanageable. Wedding photographer Conner Danning keeps shooting her swoon-worthy glances and Morgan's ex is trying to de-ex himself.

She can't wait to run home to SanDiego, but maybe living life as an 'unofficial guest' is better than no invite at all!

Holly's great book The House on Briar Hill Road (you might have read about it over on the Pink Heart Society Blog) is still available working on Amazon and eHarlequin, she's working on "my second book for my new American series " ...coming up is Everything But a Groom, Avalon Books, 12/08.

Tessa Radley's book on offer in the stocking is her June 07 Desire release Rich Man's Revenge:

He'd make her pay . . .

Hell-bent on revenge, Italian businessman Rico D'Alessio would stop at nothing to destroy the Sinclair family. Taking eldest daughter, Danielle Sinclair as his bride was a start. Making her pregnant with his heir would prove the ultimate payback. But falling for his bride of revenge? Even this most cunning of rich men had not counted on that turn of events or the secrets such a shocking union would reveal.

Tessa's current book, The Desert Bride of Al-Zayed was released in Novemer, and coming up in February 2008 is Pride and A Pregnancy Secret.

Finally, there is my own contribution to the stocking - the Mills & Boon Christmas Annual which contains a print copy of my internet story Wife For Real.

Wife for Real is the story of Alex Alcolar, the first of the Alcolar brothers, and this story started off the trilogy The Alcolar Family. This story hasn't been in print in the UK before and so hasn't been easy to find for readers who wanted to complete there collection of Alcolar Family stories.

But if you're able to download ebooks from the eHarlequin site, then it can be found there as well and it only costs $0.99. You can find it here if you're looking for it.

So that's it - all the books on offer this year! there are 12 of them - a book and great reading for each of the 12 Days of Christmas.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to go to the Contests page of my web site, answer the easy question you'll find there - and send your answer to me with the heading Christmas Stocking Contest in the subject line of the email.

You have 6 days left. On the 18th December, I'll get Sid the Cat to pick the two names from all the entries and two lucky people will have all these books sent to them as a special Christmas present.

But you have to be in it to win it - so get your entries in now.

Good luck!

If it's September, it must be . . .Christmas?

Some days seem to take on a thme of their own. Themes that can have nothing to do with the actual date, the time of year, the things you have planned for them. But sometimes several things connect up and put a focus on the day that you weren't expecting.

So yesterday's focus became Christmas - sorry, but it did!

I suppose I started it all off. My eldest sister lives in Australia - on the beautiful island of Tasmania - and so I'm used to planning ahead when it comes to buying and sending her presents. And when the presents I'm sending are, as they are this time, big, heavy books, I try to plan ahead enough to be able to send them by sea mail and so save a lot of money. Which is why yesterday morning saw me at the Post Office with two parcels.

I'd started the morning talking with lovely Lee Hyat from My Tote Bag and we were discussin plans for the next few months, so logically we mentioned possible contests coming up - planning ahead. I'll be running my usual Christmas Stocking Stuffed with books contest - the Beach Bag full of books had to be issed this year because the Great Big Blog Party grew so huge! So look out for that.

The morning mail had just arrived before I left the house - and it consisted of nothing but a batch of charity Christmas Catalogues with cards, paper, gifts etc to order. Planning ahead again.

But then I had to go and collect a parcel that the postie had tried to deliver to me - a box of my next book, The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife. I was intrigued to see the cover. I've already had copies of the Presents edition with the great cliff at sunset cover, and I was keen to see how it looked against the blue of the UK Modern Romance design.

It looks great - but what I wasn't expecting was the festive 'gift-wrapped' design on the front and the 'Season's Greetings' message. It's out in November so I suppose once again planning ahead is the point. After all, the Christmas editions of the magazines etc will be out then.

Into town and the theme continued. As I always check out the M&B shelves in WH Smith, this time I spotted the new arrivals - the 2007 - no - sorry 2008 Mills and Boon Annual. On an Indian Summer day, when the temperatures were higher than they were in the rain deluged June, the cover models heavy coats and scarves and the snowflakes whirling around them did make it stand out a bit!

I was actually rather thrilled ot see the Annual because this edition has the first appearance in print in the UK of my internet short story Wife For Real so I was able to see it in the book for the first time. This story was the one that started off the Alcolar Family Trilogy (Twelve Month Mistress, The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife, Bound By Blackmail) so if you collected all three of those - and I know many readers did - and wanted a print version of the very first part - Alex's story -= this is your chance to get a print copy of it.

(If you want an ebook copy of it then it's available on eHarlequin here.)

And when I do run the Christmas Stocking Stuffed With Books contest (come back in late November for that) I'll put a copy of the M&B Annual in with the books I've already collected up as prizes. Again, lots of wonderful friends have contributed to the collection for this.

So yesterday's theme was Christmas - all very nice but I'm a bit a purist and I prefer Christmas to be in December. Sometimes it seems that with all this forward planning, the excitement and glitter of it all is pretty worn by December 25th.

So now to see what today's theme might be - oh no, wait - I already know that - today's theme is work - writing and lots of it.

A Kate Bit

Well, the Great Big Blog Party is attracting a lot of attention - from all round the world. In the last week, my flag count showing all the different countries of the visitors to my blog has jumped up to 106. I've had my very first visitors from Brunei and from Togo - and somewhere else - I suspect it was Uganda.

You're all very welcome. I hope you're enjoying the party and that you'll keep calling back. I have plenty more Guest Bloggers to post up and more are arriving all the time. It's fun for me too - and I'm welcoming back old friends - from the Bat Cave and from eharlequin and having a wonderful time. And yesterday I received my official 'you are 50' letter from Harlequin so I have an extra little celebration to look forward to in September. One I can share with a special friend (Waves to Kate Hardy).

And I have more good news. I was going to share this with you yesterday but the mother and father of all thunderstorms broke almost directly overhead and I had to switch off the computer. I spent the evening sitting watching the wonderfully dramatic storm and talking to the BM instead - which was well worth doing.

So - news - well, in the mail yesterday were copies of an unexpected extra publication this year - I have a reprinted book out in a 3 in 1 By Request collection in August. The collection is called Bound By A Baby. The book of mine that is included in this collection is Their Secret Baby which, coincidentally, was the book given away as part of the Offspring's prize only yesterday.

And in other news - remember The Alcolar Family trilogy? I know some of you do because in the fascinating discussion about the first Kate Walker book you ever read, started by lovely Julie Bonello (who has just sent me the name of her winner . . .) several of you mentioned The Twelve Month Mistress or The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife as the book that got you hooked.

Well, if you remember The Alcolar Family, then you'll know that the very first part of that mini-series appeared as an on-line read on the internet both on eHarlequin and on the Mills & Boon website. I've lost count of the number of people who have written to me asking if it was available in print as they wanted a copy. And I've always had to disappoint them.

Until now.

Because now I know that Wife For Real is appearing in print in the 2007 Mills and Boon Annual which will be out in the UK in time for Christmas. I have no idea yet what the cover of the whole annual will look like . But I do have a picture of the 'cover' to my story so I'm posting it here for you to see. And it you're a real Kate Walker fan who wants to have actual print copies of everything I've written - here's your chance to get a copy of Wife For Real in your hands. I'll let you know when it's actually available.

If you're an ebook fan, then Wife For Real is also available in a Harlequin ebook Mini - in a rather less attractive cover - over on the eharlequin site

And talking of ebooks - I have to thank each and every one of you who bought an ebook copy of The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge since it was released at the beginning of the month - putting my 50th title on the Top Ten list as a result - and keeping it there ever since. Thank you!